In about 100 words, Dale Nelson gives us a seasonally appropriate short, short story.

World of Spirits
By Dale Nelson

The first spirit showed him himself as a boy absorbed by Pac-Man.  He didn’t want to go outside and play.  The second spirit showed him his present-day self, hunched over in his cubicle.  Olivia walked sadly past him.  The third spirit showed mourners glancing at their smartphones as a coffin was lowered.

“Must these things be?” he cried to the mute and terrible form. 

He woke.  Snow-light shone up into his bedroom.  He leaped out of bed and flung up his window.

“Merry Christmas!” he cried to the street where no one passed.  They were all inside with their devices.

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Copyright 2022 by Dale Nelson. All rights reserved.

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NEW POETRY

Inherence / Repercussion by Joshua Alan Sturgill

The Pilgrimage, Book II: Part 21 by Phillip Neal Tippin

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THE WEEKLY MACHEN

What Pays In Coventry: And in the heart of the town, high on the hill, there are two great churches in a kind of close, within a few yards of one another. The larger is cathedral-like in its it proportions—I believe it has of late become—a cathedral—and each church sends up a noble spire, the flame of the old devotion and adoration aspiring upward: for in those days the very stones changed their natural substance and became fire and light.

Darkly Bright Press is pleased to announce the upcoming publication of Chasing the Burr, the first full-length collection by poet Bryn Homuth. Presenting nuanced and subtle theological imagery, Homuth’s work focuses on the themes of life, death and memory. The poet beautifully positions family, community and labor as foundational cornerstones for a traditional and hierarchical understanding of creation. More details to follow in the coming weeks.

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NEW POETRY

Theotokion by Joshua Alan Sturgill

The Pilgrimage, Book II: Part 20 by Phillip Neal Tippin

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THE WEEKLY MACHEN

Joy for Belgian Children: They are overwhelmed with misery; let us do what we can to render their estate less unhappy. Sorrow has come to these children without a country, but the season of peace and goodwill draws on and draws near in the midst of the wild war; let us make an offering of peace and good will to the little exiles, and show them, even in those sad days, something of the meaning of “A Merry Christmas.”

After selling out at the Inklings Festival in October, Joshua Alan Sturgill’s new poetry collection is now available for purchase. Now A Major Motion Picture is a poetical tour de force which contemplates word and image in a book of changes.

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NEW POETRY

Patience by Joshua Alan Sturgill

The Pilgrimage, Book II: Part 19 by Phillip Neal Tippin

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THE WEEKLY MACHEN

Journal of the Lonely Soldier: Though we have by no means been a super-spiritual nation in these later years, we have cherished a sort of affectation of spirituality. We have pretended that good meats and drinks are unworthy, trifling things, beneath our condescension. That may be good gospel for ghosts, but it is of no service for men …

AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE:

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE
by Joshua Alan Sturgill

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Recently, Richard W. Rohlin announced the development of a table-top game based on his fictional work. The basis of this project is sourced from The World Under Starlight, a large collection of Rohlin’s writings which also provided the material for Akboritha. Crowdfunding for the project will begin in 2023.

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NEW POETRY

What I Think When I Think Of The Moon by Joshua Alan Sturgill

The Pilgrimage, Book II: Part 18 by Phillip Neal Tippin

Graveside by Fr. Gabriel Rochelle

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THE WEEKLY MACHEN

My Visit to the “Trenches”: I followed him with some anxiety. We went out into a street, where the houses seemed standing firmly, safe, and secure; and then he suddenly and hastily dived up a narrow alley. Then we dodged into a house that had been badly knocked about by a German shell, and peered out cautiously; and there were the trenches.

MACHEN STUDIES

This week, we offer an article excerpted from the new collection, Mist and Mystery, in which Machen reviews a supernatural novel by Fr. R. H. Benson.

I should think that the author has mingled a good deal in the circles which hover about the foolish and forbidden and dangerous thing called “occult science.”

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NEW POETRY

Who Are Awake by Joshua Alan Sturgill

The Pilgrimage, Book II: Part 17 by Phillip Neal Tippin

Norse Triptych by Benjamin Rozonoyer

Jesse K. Butler has published a new poem: Too Much Morningtime. Congratulations!

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THE WEEKLY MACHEN

The Pitiful Army: Here stuck out one boot with a ravel of string pretending to keep it in position. Here was an enamelled saucepan; another jolt and it would drop loose. And here were lace curtains, torn from some once cheerful window and huddled in with all the rest. And the homes where all these poor belongings once had their place are now ruins, with the marks of blood and fire upon them.

At the 2022 Inklings Festival, I gave a brief talk entitled Publishing for the Moral Imagination. Its goal is to provide an apologetic for Darkly Bright Press and discuss how the most recent publications fulfill the mission.

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Akboritha by Richard W. Rohlin

Mist and Mystery: Recovered Stories and Essays by Arthur Machen

Now A Major Motion Picture by Joshua Alan Sturgill is currently out of stock. Some copies may be available from Eighth Day Books.

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NEW POETRY

Where (Not) To Look by Joshua Alan Sturgill

The Pilgrimage, Book II: Part 16 by Phillip Neal Tippin

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GHOST STORIES

Man-Size in Marble by E. Nesbit: An ancient horror haunts a young married couple.

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THE WEEKLY MACHEN

The Joy of London II: The boy reads of swords, and perhaps has a toy sword as a plaything, a “sword” becomes to him almost a symbol and a sacrament, something; splendid and terrific and vague like “Bagdad” and “Rome” and “martyr.” He comes up to London and sees the Guards at Whitewall; awful figures, all shining and scarlet, with actual drawn swords in their hands, glittering, and terrible, and eloquent of sudden death. And faith is realised, and more than realised.

Books, Beer and Friendship… Once again, the Eighth Day Institute presented a wonderful weekend for lovers of literature at the Inklings Octoberfest. This year, Dr. Geoffrey Reiter and Richard W. Rohlin provided insightful lectures on George MacDonald and the changing intellectual and spiritual landscape of his time. In addition to discussing this important author, the festival was an opportunity for friends to gather and enjoy community.

This type of experience cannot be recommended strenuously enough. It is a balm to weary souls in a noisy and chaotic world. Consider joining.

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At this year’s event, Darkly Bright Press released three books.

Akboritha by Richard W. Rohlin: The second impression is now available.

Mist and Mystery: Recovered Stories and Essays by Arthur Machen

Now A Major Motion Picture, the second poetry collection by Joshua Alan Sturgill is already out of stock. A new production run will be printed in the coming weeks. Likewise, his first collection, As Far As I Can Tell, is also temporarily out of stock. Some copies of both collections may still be available from Eighth Day Books.

Additionally, both A Secret Language and Dreamt in Fire by Arthur Machen are now Out of Print. Again, the few remaining copies may still be found at Eighth Day Books.

This weekend, Darkly Bright Press will be present at the 2022 Inklings Festival in Wichita, Kansas. The Festival will see the release of a new impression of Richard W. Rohlin’s Akboritha, as well as the debut of Joshua Alan Sturgill’s Now A Major Motion Picture, his second poetry collection. Additionally, there will be copies of Mist and Mystery, recovered stories and essays by Arthur Machen.

On Sunday afternoon, I will be giving a short talk, “Publishing for the Moral Imagination,” which will hopefully shed light on why these books should be read.

All three books are scheduled to be available for purchase from the website during the following week. 

Now to the newest posts…

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NEW POETRY

Prothesis by Joshua Alan Sturgill

The Pilgrimage, Book II: Part 15 by Phillip Neal Tippin

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THE WEEKLY MACHEN

Our Lost Paradise: The sweetness of the breath of the sea mingles with the sweetness of the breath of the wood; the little stream breaks from the fountain in the hill, and goes on shining and rejoicing on its way, and the rich note of the blackbird swells and thrills out of the green gloom of the thicket. I thought of these things, and then I remembered that it is only given to high masters and initiates to translate the wonder and mystery of the earth into common speech.

“And here, though we are initiated in the mysteries,
we are assuredly not in the mists.”

Mist and Mystery: Recovered Stories and Essays from Arthur Machen

We are ushered onto a new journey into unknown regions where wonders await, yet the path is narrow and fringed by veiled dangers. Fortunately for the reader, there are few guides as experienced or intriguing as Arthur Machen, a man of Gwent. In this new collection of rare tales and forgotten articles, Machen directs us through mist and mystery to “a secret path leading to an undiscovered country.”

In the tradition of classic collections such as Dog and Duck, Mist and Mystery is an open invitation to recover both enchantment and romance.

This new volume will be released at the upcoming Inklings Festival in Wichita, Kansas during October 21-23.

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NEW POETRY

Eighteen Death Haiku by Joshua Alan Sturgill

The Pilgrimage, Book II: Part 14 by Phillip Neal Tippin

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THE WEEKLY MACHEN

In Bed with “The Flu”: I crawled painfully out of bed and tottered. I lit a pipe, and a rending, tearing cough began to crash through me. I held on to a chest of drawers, and the cough laid hold of me and possessed me and shook me to and fro; the pipe was clearly out of the question. I tried a cup of tea, and discovered that the cup held an intensely offensive fluid, of an evil flavour that ten old-fashioned apothecaries, with the nastiest drugs in the pharmacopœia at their service, could never possibly have obtained, not if each one of them had lived ten lives of mortal men.

Today the Sun descends
to embrace the Moon.

Darkly Bright Press is pleased to present the second full-length poetry collection by Joshua Alan Sturgill. Now A Major Motion Picture is a voyage into the cosmic and intimate. His best work to date, Sturgill guides the reader across the thin boundaries between reality and illusion… mysticism and science… exile and home.

Now A Major Motion Picture will be released at the upcoming Inklings Festival in Wichita, Kansas during October 21-23. The poet will be present to sign copies.

From the new collection: Shatter (Read by Joshua Alan Sturgill)

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NEW POETRY

Enclosed, Disguised by Joshua Alan Sturgill

The Pilgrimage, Book II: Part 13 by Phillip Neal Tippin

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THE WEEKLY MACHEN

The Library Table: I wish I could tell the tale of how the Leprecauns—fairy cobblers—laid an information before the local constabulary, how the beasts talked together, and how the fairy host and all the old gods of Ireland were mustered to set free the Philosopher from the custody of the police-sergeant; but space fails me. I can only say that here is a book enchanting and delightful and wise: go and buy it.