NEW POETRY
Water, As A Witness by Joshua Alan Sturgill
Homeric Musings by Benjamin Rozonoyer
Tanks As They Really Are: There is a wickedness upon the earth greater than any that the age of the monsters knew; and so the monsters have returned to be the ministers of vengeance. Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out …
NEW POETRY
Song of the Pacific Boatman by Joshua Alan Sturgill
Unsaid Words by Claire Brandenburg
Recently, Deacon Anthony (Gaelan) Gilbert, the author of One Is Found First, appeared on an episode of the Amon Sûl podcast to discuss a chapter from The Hobbit.
The New Beer: I do not know that I am altogether sorry to have failed in the Quest of the Unholy Bottle! It was reported that the Liquor Control Board, ever tireless in its efforts to promote the joys and pleasures of the lieges had invented a new beer. It was not like common beer. It did not cheer. It did not inebriate. It simply created a sensation of fulness. …
NEW POETRY
Room of Exits by Joshua Alan Sturgill
Jacob and Esau by Thomas Barton
God and the War: Thus I fail to see that the “religious difficulties aroused by the present condition of the world” are legitimate difficulties; that is, if it is to be argued that we have suddenly been confronted by an entirely new set of facts, by fresh evidence, which must be met successfully, if we are going to hold to our belief in God.
NEW POETRY
Standard of Living by Joshua Alan Sturgill
Winter Musings by Benjamin Rozonoyer
The Joy of Life: I am not become a prophet of the gospel of work for work’s sake – or for money’s sake either. I shall never be a good American, nor believe that hustling is in itself a virtue and that money, the result of hustling, is the supreme end of life. We live well when we fulfill the command that Rabelais made the motto of his great book – “Vivez joyeux,” live joyously. Joy is the end of life: everything that leads to that end is good, everything that turns a man from it is evil. …
Stock Update
A Reader of Curious Books by Arthur Machen is back in stock.
NEW POETRY: Bar Gods by Joshua Alan Sturgill
The Bugle and the Birds: In these days the words mystic, mysticism, are made, generally enough, the cover on the one hand of such frantic impostures and follies, on the other of such frigid and repulsive pedantries, that one hesitates to employ them. Yet one must not abandon one’s treasures to the enemy if by any possibility they may be saved…
Low Stock Update
Levavi Oculos by Arthur Machen is now Out of Print.
We are temporarily out of stock of A Reader of Curious Books by Arthur Machen. A new shipment of copies is en route.
New Prose & Poetry
Pamela Bruns offers a new fairy tale, The Three Youths. In this piece, she successfully weaves theological parable into a childlike tale of wonder.
Timing by Joshua Alan Sturgill
Today, we begin a new series focused on the journalism of Arthur Machen. Far from being banal hackwork, Machen’s large body of articles reflects his desire to seek the ecstatic and wonderful in all things. A new article will posted every Thursday. In addition, Machen Studies will become a space for longer meditations on the writer’s work, with postings on an irregular basis.
The 2021 Inklings Festival is continuing to garner interest. Two brief write-ups appeared in the latest issue of Machenalia, a newsletter of the Friends of Arthur Machen. An item also appeared on scholar Douglas A. Anderson’s site Tolkien and Fantasy.
Vanishing Limited Editions
Levavi Oculos by Arthur Machen: 1 copy remaining
One Is Found First (Hardcover, Limited & Signed) by Gaelan Gilbert: 5 copies remaining
A Secret Language by Arthur Machen: 9 copies remaining
This week, we celebrate the Feast of St. Ilar, the enigmatic and unknown saint who celebrated the Mass to the men and animals of Wales in Arthur Machen’s Levavi Oculos. Only three copies remain of the limited edition chapbook of this mystical tale.
New poetry from Joshua Alan Sturgill: The Old Learning & I Am Like The Birds.
Sex & Lies: Consider attending for Great Speakers and Events. More Information.
NEW POETRY
Joshua Alan Sturgill: Scientia Nostra
Linda Lobmeyer: What the Neighbors See
NEW POETRY
Joshua Alan Sturgill completes Heir of Prophecies: Parts IX & X
Tălmaciu by Pamela Bruns
Whale Wail by Benjamin Rozonoyer
A Sheaf of Yule Log Stories
In North America, we are accustomed to think about ghostly and creepy tales during autumn, most especially at the end of October. However, in Merrie o’ England, the tradition for telling such stories occurs in winter, and somewhat counterintuitively, during Christmastime. The low winter sun and long cold evenings were quite conducive to the sharing of chillers and spine-tinglers with the most famous and obvious example of this long-standing tradition being typified in A Christmas Carol by Dickens. Another fine historical instance was the yearly reading of a new ghost story by M. R. James. In grand fashion, the master held a select audience spellbound every Christmas Eve with many of the recited tales finding publication after their yuletide debut. This phenomenon was finely defended by the words of our guide for this Christmas season: “These particular stories lie on the border land between the seen and unseen; they may be very incredible; but they will serve to pass away the happy time around the Yule Log, when mythic stories are most acceptable.”
The Reverend Augustine David Crake (1836-1890) belongs to a long list of English priests who contributed to ghost story literature, including Sabine Baring-Gould, whom he name-drops, and E. G. Swain. Mostly, Crake wrote historical religious fiction and devotional books, but we will be exploring his singular contribution to the fantastic, A Sheaf of Yule Log Stories (1888). The book is a collection of stories Crake heard around the fireplace as a child in the 1840s and is divided into the seven nights of Christmas week. Below is the first story.
Crake’s Introduction to the volume is not to be passed over. It is a delightful recounting of Crake’s childhood holidays full of snow-laden hills, iceskating atop deep lakes and the nightly sharing of cheer and spine-tingling thrills. Seemingly, it is a time and experience now vanished. In an era of drone-delivered consumer products, major holiday discounts and a multiplicity of screens, we don’t seem to talk to each other; we don’t share stories any longer. Say what you will about “progress,” but I feel a loss.
This week, Joshua Alan Sturgill crossed the threshold of 200 contributions to the Darkly Bright website. Since 2018, Sturgill has provided us with an astounding body of work including poetry, essays and fairy tales. A very short list of recommended highlights:
Literacy as Medicine for Obsessive Thoughts
NEW POETRY
The Violent by Linda Lobmeyer
Joshua Alan Sturgill: Heir of Prophecies, Part VI, VII & VIII
MACHEN STUDIES
Closing out a successful year for Machen study and appreciation, we present the fifth and penultimate chapter from Far Off Things, that enigmatic volume of memoirs by the Apostle of Wonder.
darklybrightpress.com 