They have always walked among us. Some shift shape. Some drink blood. Some step freely between worlds to marvel at the kaleidoscope of lives lived differently. Now, some have chosen to show themselves to us. Others will stop at nothing to keep their secrets. But is humanity ready to live with monsters?
Spooktastic Reads
Autumn is creeping up on us with its promise of arboreal colour, cosy sweaters, and dark nights perfect for curling up with a book that sets our hearts racing. As ever, your Wyrd & Wonder team are here to help! Spooktastic Reads will be back to dare the darker side of fantasy in the 13 days and nights leading up to Hallowe’en.
What? Oh! No, not – not you. You’re lovely. But one of my (admittedly intermittent) Spooktastic traditions is to divert from the strictly fictional into the fantastic realms of myth, (urban) legend and superstition. In past years I’ve talked about weird phenomena and haunts; this year I want to talk about curses.
The nights are closing in, the wind is wailing, and the fantasy adventures of May feel like forever ago. But there’s an autumnal fix of Wyrd and Wonder on the way! Spooktastic Reads will be back in October to dare the darker side of fantasy for 13 days leading up to Hallowe’en. Are you brave enough to join us?
Top Ten Tuesday is was created by The Broke and the Bookish, and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. We’re celebrating all things spooky for Hallowe’en, so I’m diverting from books to consider the stories that haunt us outside their pages.
Wyrd and Wonder seems like a long-ago dream, but there’s time for more fantasy flailing before year’s end. We’re delighted to confirm Spooktastic Reads will be back to venture into the darker reaches of fantasy for 13 days leading up to Hallowe’en. Are you brave enough to join us?
A summer digging up Norse ruins in Greenland should have been amazing, but with a flu pandemic breaking out back home, six haunted post-docs question their choices – and their sanity. Can they rely on one another to get through the Arctic night?
Elspeth Reeves has put the horrors of the Carrion King story behind her. When archaeologists unearth the bones of a long-dead witch, there are mutters that her centuries-old curse will be reawakened. But is the vengeful spirit of Agnes Levett really behind the spate of murders that follow?
Top Ten Tuesday is was created by The Broke and the Bookish, and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It’s all about books, lists and sharing the love we have of both with our bookish friends. As it’s nearly Hallowe’en, we’re celebrating all things spooky and I’m diverting from books this week to recall other sorts of scary, unexplained or just downright weird tales…
The Atargatis was found deserted and covered in blood. Footage showing all aboard being eaten by mermaids was dismissed as a hoax. But now Imagine Entertainment plan to send a second ship to prove the lovely ladies of the sea exist. What can possibly go wrong?
Doctor Faraday has been obsessed with Hundreds Hall since he was a child. Now he’s the Ayres’ family doctor, watching as the crumbling Hall devours their fortune, their sanity and their lives. As strange and threatening events multiply, Faraday insists on rational explanations. Is he right? Or will Hundreds Hall be the death of them all?
Elspeth Reeves goes home to quiet Wilsby-under-Wychwood to regroup after her job and her relationship end abruptly. But there’s a body in the woods at the bottom of her Mum’s garden, and a black magician who will keep killing until he punctures the veil between the living and the dead. What does Ellie believe in? What does she have to prove?
Has Wyrd and Wonder faded like a dream of spring now that Autumn is well and truly here? Never fear – with Hallowe’en creeping up on us, Lisa, Jorie and I decided it was time to don our hooded cloaks, cast a ward against evil and seek out more fantasy before our winter SciFi love-in. Will you join us on the dark paths?
I always suspected September would be a month too far in the tightrope of work vs well-being, and that pretty much panned out as expected. Exhaustion and headaches made for a short temper, a terrible attention span and less blogging than I would have liked, but thankfully didn’t completely curtail my reading. And I now get some time off, HOORAY!
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