Piranesi by Suzanna Clarke; Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020. I always feel a little bit guilty when I fall in love with the first book by a relatively new author because I know that I’ll inevitably wait for their next work with anticipation and think of it in terms of the first book. “Ah, yes,” I’ll say, … Continue reading Review: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
Atop the frozen river breaks footstepsThe caravan of rags, thrown from estatesCarried by wind and settled on pathsAhead a horse, rearing, breaks through iceThere is no ground on which to runAll is fragile, shuffling and unsteady they moveThere is no savior where tiptoe may break glassSkin tears from frost, thrashingProduces a long, tender threadIn two … Continue reading Unfinished Canto of Blood & Crystal
Cherub Street They say if you go on a Full lit night down to Cherub street, Past the sundown There is a woman with Rotted pettycoats And arms so thin the Veins are bulging worms, who Carries a bell jar she uses To trap moonlight. They say If you ask her how It tastes she will … Continue reading Cherub Street- A Poem
The Smoke Over Turisall The old man laid on a bed of furs. Minks, bears, otters, and squirrels were all stitched together into a massive wrap, cocooning his frail body like a sickly butterfly. He clenched a long, ancient pipe between his teeth. It would have been worth something once, finely crafted with minute engravings … Continue reading The Smoke Over Turisall – A Story
This moment, which I might have been waiting for my entire life all unknowing - this moment of an encounter with the most beautiful, the most terrible thing I might ever experience - was beyond me. … Continue reading The Function of the Weird
Nestled deep in the European Forests, somewhere between where the Šumava ends and the Böhmerwald begins exists the small city of Luchtzig. It would remain an entirely unremarkable city (known primarily for its tradition of fine furniture left by its early Bohemian-German roots) if it were not nearly destroyed in its entirety during WWII. The … Continue reading Of Luchtzig and its Ghost
I. So said the hand in clutching pen, Written upon sheet upon sheet in endless scroll With trembling laid down, as the pitch of the sea Fierce rolling summoned in his ink: So began as all began Begotten storm in song. Swung the lantern below in theft of the Sun, Dawning upon the Face of we … Continue reading Cantos of Blood & Crystal I-V: A Poem of Dark Fantasy
I was drawn into The Vorrh by the voices of other artists: Alan Moore, Iain Sinclair, Jeff Vandermeer, and even the elusive Tom Waits all hailed it as wondrous, dark, and engrossing. These were voices I respected, and they drew me into the jungle with their calls. In many ways, a summary of The Vorrh … Continue reading A Look at a Book: The Vorrh
One of the things that fascinates me the most within the realm of Fantasy and Sci-fi is the presentation of morality systems with the concept of the “other.” Much has been written about otherness, and what I’m writing here is in no way going to be a comprehensive review of this very broad, heavily debated … Continue reading Other, Self, and the Fictitious Identity
Pen and Screen 