Recent Reads

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Never Whistle at Night

Publisherโ€™s Description Many Indigenous people believe that one should never whistle at night. This belief takes many forms: for instance, Native Hawaiians believe it summons the Hukaiโ€™po, the spirits of ancient warriors, and Native Mexicans say it calls Lechuza, a witch that can transform into an owl. But what all these legends hold in common… Continue reading Never Whistle at Night

reads, Recent Reads

Shanghai Immortal

Publisherโ€™s Description Half vampire. Half fox-spirit. All trouble.Pawned by her mother to the King of Hell as a child, Lady Jing is half-vampire, half-hulijing fox-spirit and all sasshole. As the Kingโ€™s ward, she has spent the past ninety years running errands, dodging the taunts of the spiteful hulijing courtiers, and trying to control her explosive… Continue reading Shanghai Immortal

events, Writing

2023 Awards Season

Itโ€™s that time of year again when 2023 Awards seasons rolls around. I have several works eligible in Horror and Fantasy categories for short fiction, Collections and Novelettes for the Aurealis Awards, Stoker Awards, British Fantasy Awards, Ditmar Awards, Australian Shadows Awards, Nebula Awards, Hugo Awards, Otherwise Awards, Shirley Jackson Awards & World Fantasy Awards.… Continue reading 2023 Awards Season

research

Slavic Folklore: The Likho

Art - Marek Hapon The likho is part of Eastern Slavic fairy tales. Although not as frequently mentioned as the witch Baba Yaga, the likho assumes many guises from an old woman clad in black or a male goblin-like being. The common feature in both is the likho has only one eye. In the pre-Christian… Continue reading Slavic Folklore: The Likho

research, Writing

Norse Myth: Nidhogg

Nidhogg (Old Norse Nรญรฐhรถggr, โ€œHe Who Strikes with Maliceโ€) is one of several serpents or dragons in the Nine Worlds. The most famous serpent is Jormungand or the Midgard-serpent but Nidhogg is a dragon trapped beneath the Yggdrasil and constantly gnawing at its roots and corpses. Nidhogg is a force for chaos by destroying Yggdrasil,… Continue reading Norse Myth: Nidhogg

research, Writing

Greek Myth: Sirens

Funerary statue of a siren with a shell lyre, c.โ€‰370 BCE In Ancient Greek mythology, the sirens are vaguely described by various sources but are usually interpreted as being large birds with the heads of women. In the classic Ancient Greek legend The Odyssey attributed to Homer, the hero Odysseusโ€™s ship is attacked by sirens… Continue reading Greek Myth: Sirens

events, Writing

Asylumfest Horror Convention

May Day Hills Historic Asylum AsylumFest 2023 will be held October 27 - 29 in Mayday Hills located within Beechworth, Victoria. Mayday Hills operated from 1867 to 1995 and was one of the largest mental health facilities in the state, with over 1200 patients and 500 staff at its peak. Today, it is a heritage… Continue reading Asylumfest Horror Convention

reads, Recent Reads

Viking Women

Publisherโ€™s Description Letโ€™s travel in time together, a thousand or so years back, and meet Viking women in their hearth-lit world. How did these medieval viragoes live, love and die? How can we encounter them as flesh-and-blood beings with fears and feelings โ€“ not just as names in sagas or runes carved into stone? In… Continue reading Viking Women

events, Long Fiction, Short Fiction, Writing

Conflux Convention

Iโ€™ll be attending the 17th Conflux Speculative Fiction Convention in Canberra from 29th September - 3rd October, 2023. Iโ€™ll be in the Dealerโ€™s Room - All weekend!! Book Promo โ€” Cursed Shards edited by Leanbh Pearson with Stephen Herczeg, 29th September, Friday 5.30 pm. Iโ€™ll be on 3 panels: Entrances to Evil: Doors in Dark… Continue reading Conflux Convention