Continuing the story of the dream team tackling supernatural nightmares, 'Relight My Fire' takes the Stranger Times gang to a whole new level of weird. And thanks to its title, makes Take That and Lulu your daily internal soundtrack.
Showing posts with label supernatural. Show all posts
Showing posts with label supernatural. Show all posts
02 August 2025
This Book will Give you an Ear Worm...
Continuing the story of the dream team tackling supernatural nightmares, 'Relight My Fire' takes the Stranger Times gang to a whole new level of weird. And thanks to its title, makes Take That and Lulu your daily internal soundtrack.
26 June 2023
'Broken Light' by Joanne Harris
02 April 2023
'The Stranger Times' by CK McDonnell
11 May 2020
Hell Hath No Fury
'The Devil's Blade' by Mark Adler (Gollancz, 2020)
"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" goes the old saying, and
there is no fury like Julie D'Aubigny's in 'The Devil's Blade' by Mark Alder.
17th Century France: When wannabe diva Julie D'Aubigny is summoned to perform in a forest near Paris, she believes it's the opportunity to find a great patron and finally realise her dream of joining the city's Opera. Instead, she finds herself cornered by a secret society of aristocratic satanists, who sacrifice her beautiful voice at the point of a sword. Wronged and refusing to be silenced, Julie makes her own pact with the Devil and begins to hunt
down and slaughter the men who stole her future. But can she find them before the year is
out? Will the Devil keep to their
bargain? Can she save her own soul from
the fires of Hell?
22 June 2014
Wondering About
On the train back from the British Museum, I randomly started reading 'The Psychic Tourist' by journalist William Little. Yesterday, I finished it.
The journey begins when Little buys an astrological birth chart for his sister and her daughter as a gift. Unfortunately, they both predict a water-related death, something which terrifies his sibling and affects badly, making her avoid travelling on or over water at any cost and give up water-based hobbies. Upset that his gift has caused so much distress, Little decides to start and investigation into the world of psychics and prediction to find a way to undo the damage he's done.
Having enjoyed 'Will Storr vs the Supernatural', I hoped that this too would be an interesting and thought provoking read. It's also described as funny in a number of reviews, so I thought it would be entertaining too. Unfortunately, although it does start off in a similar way as Storr's book, it meanders quite a lot and doesn't always seem to stick to it's destination of the truth about predicting the future, often straying into a more general look at psychics instead. It's almost as if the author wanted to write a different book but couldn't control his own destiny.
By the end, the more lighthearted tone is all but out of sight. While it's interesting that Little takes his investigation to a new level, interviewing a combination of Physicists, Nobel-prize winners and experts in Quantum Theory, it means he has to resort to including long quotes from books and people. I can understand why. Many of these ideas are hard to understand for non-academics and it's safer to quote directly rather than try to explain it in lay language and lose meaning. Unfortunately, this style also gives the book an essay feel, and essays are not usually fun or amusing. Although if anyone knows of a funny, understandable and accurate essay on Quantum Physics, I'd love to hear about it!
Overall, 'The Psychic Tourist' was a bit of a disappointment. With a rewrite that tightens up the structure and maps out the science so it's easier to understand, it would be a better book. It's a shame as there are a lot of great and interesting ideas in here, many of which need to be shared with people like Little's sister to free them from excessive worry. Maybe in the future Little will have the opportunity to revisit this book and give it a polish. Who knows..!
Now, back to Groucho Marx!
The journey begins when Little buys an astrological birth chart for his sister and her daughter as a gift. Unfortunately, they both predict a water-related death, something which terrifies his sibling and affects badly, making her avoid travelling on or over water at any cost and give up water-based hobbies. Upset that his gift has caused so much distress, Little decides to start and investigation into the world of psychics and prediction to find a way to undo the damage he's done.
Having enjoyed 'Will Storr vs the Supernatural', I hoped that this too would be an interesting and thought provoking read. It's also described as funny in a number of reviews, so I thought it would be entertaining too. Unfortunately, although it does start off in a similar way as Storr's book, it meanders quite a lot and doesn't always seem to stick to it's destination of the truth about predicting the future, often straying into a more general look at psychics instead. It's almost as if the author wanted to write a different book but couldn't control his own destiny.
By the end, the more lighthearted tone is all but out of sight. While it's interesting that Little takes his investigation to a new level, interviewing a combination of Physicists, Nobel-prize winners and experts in Quantum Theory, it means he has to resort to including long quotes from books and people. I can understand why. Many of these ideas are hard to understand for non-academics and it's safer to quote directly rather than try to explain it in lay language and lose meaning. Unfortunately, this style also gives the book an essay feel, and essays are not usually fun or amusing. Although if anyone knows of a funny, understandable and accurate essay on Quantum Physics, I'd love to hear about it!
Overall, 'The Psychic Tourist' was a bit of a disappointment. With a rewrite that tightens up the structure and maps out the science so it's easier to understand, it would be a better book. It's a shame as there are a lot of great and interesting ideas in here, many of which need to be shared with people like Little's sister to free them from excessive worry. Maybe in the future Little will have the opportunity to revisit this book and give it a polish. Who knows..!
Now, back to Groucho Marx!
01 August 2013
The Truth is Out There
After 'The White Queen', I needed a bit of a break from the Plantagenets, so did a bit of a lucky dip and picked up 'Will Storr vs The Supernatural' by Will Storr (funny that!).
In 'Will Storr vs The Supernatural', the journalist tackles some big questions; Do ghosts exist? Can people be possessed? Is there life after death? In 21 snappy chapters, Storr interviews demonologists, paranormal investigators, exorcists, psychologists and psychics looking for answers in some of the shadowiest corners of eccentricity. Will he find some truth or just get lost in the dark?
Like a scary story, this book just made you keep reading. Each chapter is punchy and takes you somewhere that most people will never go. After all, even the most hardened sceptic probably doesn't fancy spending the night in the cold, dark and damp of a supposedly haunted house.
Throughout, our guide manages to tread a careful path between open minded and sceptical, letting his curiosity take control. The subjects' stories are told with compassion and humanity, never losing sight of the likely driving forces behind their often frowned upon beliefs: loss, insecurity and the fear of death.
Despite its subject, this book is anything but heavy and serious. It's not a scientific or psychological treatise on the supernatural, so don't expect a convincing argument one way or another. It's one person's conclusions drawn from his own experiences and encounters. It's also written for entertainment and while it's not necessarily laugh-out-loud funny, it is amusing without mocking the interviewees or their beliefs.
Overall, I found this book fascinating and loved Storr's style of writing and turn of phrase. Far from frightening me off, I will be looking up other books by the author and hoping for more of the same.
Now, a bit of time travel. Back to the Red Queen!
In 'Will Storr vs The Supernatural', the journalist tackles some big questions; Do ghosts exist? Can people be possessed? Is there life after death? In 21 snappy chapters, Storr interviews demonologists, paranormal investigators, exorcists, psychologists and psychics looking for answers in some of the shadowiest corners of eccentricity. Will he find some truth or just get lost in the dark?
Like a scary story, this book just made you keep reading. Each chapter is punchy and takes you somewhere that most people will never go. After all, even the most hardened sceptic probably doesn't fancy spending the night in the cold, dark and damp of a supposedly haunted house.
 |
| 'Will Storr vs The Supernatural' by Will Storr (Ebury Press, 2006) |
Despite its subject, this book is anything but heavy and serious. It's not a scientific or psychological treatise on the supernatural, so don't expect a convincing argument one way or another. It's one person's conclusions drawn from his own experiences and encounters. It's also written for entertainment and while it's not necessarily laugh-out-loud funny, it is amusing without mocking the interviewees or their beliefs.
Overall, I found this book fascinating and loved Storr's style of writing and turn of phrase. Far from frightening me off, I will be looking up other books by the author and hoping for more of the same.
Now, a bit of time travel. Back to the Red Queen!
12 February 2013
A Life Extraordinary
I've just finished 'Fluke' by James Herbert, which probably wins the 'shortest title on the list' competition!
'Fluke' is the story of a dog with a difference. He may look like a scruffy, underfed mongrel, but Fluke remembers being something else - a human. At first he has just an inkling that he's not the same as other canines - he doesn't feel and see the way they do - and as he grows from puppy to adult, memories of his pre-dog life begin to filter through. Unfortunately, by the time he realises that memory can be a false friend, it's far too late...
I found this book totally absorbing. We follow Fluke from his birth through an eventful canine life which encompasses dysfunctional marriages, criminal fraternities and deceptive old ladies, not to mention a menagerie of pets and British wildlife. The book is written in the first person and I was completely hooked by the narrative from the very beginning. Even though I guessed what had happened to Fluke quite early on, there was still a great twist in the tale that I didn't expect at the end. The story is very character-driven and I found I couldn't help wanting to know what was going to happen to Fluke next.
One thing I would say is don't be put off by the 'horror' label often applied to Mr Herbert's work. I really can't handle anything graphically violent or scary, but enjoyed this and didn't think it felt like a 'horror' novel at all. It's got a slightly unusual perspective and the first person narrative means that you are right in the thick of all the action, but it certainly didn't give me nightmares! I've been known to stop reading books by the man often considered Herbert's American equivalent, Stephen King, because I found them too revolting, but I didn't find that at all with 'Fluke'. The subject is a bit off the wall, but it certainly wasn't horrific!
Overall, I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes stories which explore unusual ideas and take a slightly skewed view of life. You'll never look at an animal in the same way again!
Now, what next?
'Fluke' is the story of a dog with a difference. He may look like a scruffy, underfed mongrel, but Fluke remembers being something else - a human. At first he has just an inkling that he's not the same as other canines - he doesn't feel and see the way they do - and as he grows from puppy to adult, memories of his pre-dog life begin to filter through. Unfortunately, by the time he realises that memory can be a false friend, it's far too late...
 |
| 'Fluke' by James Herbert (1999, Pan Books) |
One thing I would say is don't be put off by the 'horror' label often applied to Mr Herbert's work. I really can't handle anything graphically violent or scary, but enjoyed this and didn't think it felt like a 'horror' novel at all. It's got a slightly unusual perspective and the first person narrative means that you are right in the thick of all the action, but it certainly didn't give me nightmares! I've been known to stop reading books by the man often considered Herbert's American equivalent, Stephen King, because I found them too revolting, but I didn't find that at all with 'Fluke'. The subject is a bit off the wall, but it certainly wasn't horrific!
Overall, I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes stories which explore unusual ideas and take a slightly skewed view of life. You'll never look at an animal in the same way again!
Now, what next?
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