Pwscat Chilling in the Morning Sunshine

 

Polar Christmas Reading

It has been a recent tradition of mine these past few Christmas' to read a vintage ghost story published in Seth's illustrated range of books. Last month's title I chose to read was The Captain of the Polestar by Arthur Conan Doyle. 

Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Captain of the Polestar (1883) presents a chilling ghost story set against the backdrop of the desolate Arctic. The narrative follows John McAlister Ray, a ship's doctor aboard the Polestar, as he documents the unsettling experiences surrounding Captain Craigie. Through Ray's journal entries, the tale unfolds the psychological turmoil and supernatural disturbances that plague the captain, whose fixation on ghostly visions merges madness with the uncanny. 

Reading the story reminded me of another tale I read a few years back - the more modern and longer Dark Matter (2010) by Michelle Paver, which also navigates themes of isolation and fear within an Arctic setting. In this later book, the protagonist, Jack Miller, part of a doomed scientific mission, faces spectral occurrences as the endless Arctic night envelops him. Despite the gap of over a hundred years between the two works, both stories resonate with thematic parallels, and generate an atmosphere of dread stemming from human vulnerability in unforgiving environments.

Both narratives effectively employ the Arctic landscape as a backdrop for psychological and supernatural horror. In Doyle's The Captain of the Polestar, the frozen sea becomes an unforgiving force, mirroring Craigie’s troubled mind. Conversely, Paver's Dark Matter delves into the suffocating isolation of the Arctic, using the perpetual darkness to symbolize the encroaching fears of the unknown. While Doyle's writing is richly evocative, Paver creates a more visceral experience, vividly illustrating the relentless cold and silence that amplify the tension.

At the heart of both stories lies the fragile human psyche under extreme duress. Captain Craigie’s visions and unstable behaviour in The Captain of the Polestar echo Jack’s growing paranoia in Dark Matter. However, while Doyle leaves the supernatural elements open to interpretation—raising questions about the reality of the apparitions—Paver confirms the existence of sinister forces. This difference positions Doyle’s tale as a more enigmatic reflection of Victorian doubt, whereas Paver presents a contemporary psychological horror grounded in tangible threats.

In Doyle’s narrative, the brevity of the story shapes its characters; Captain Craigie remains an enigmatic figure, and Ray largely serves as an observer. In contrast, Paver’s Dark Matter provides a more profound emotional connection to Jack, whose personal fears and ambitions enrich his character's descent into madness. Paver, in developing her story to novel length, also creates a more robust cast of supporting characters, intensifying the story's tragic stakes.

Doyle’s prose, reflective of the Victorian era, possesses an elegance that may seem restrained by modern standards, favouring suggestion and ambience over explicit horror. In contrast, Paver's writing employs contemporary storytelling techniques, intertwining psychological tension with vivid sensory descriptions that immerse the reader in the protagonist's dread and isolation. The Captain of the Polestar stands as a notable example of Victorian ghost literature, infused with mystery and understated terror, while Dark Matter offers a more immediate and visceral horror experience, highlighting psychological intricacies and the unyielding threat posed by its Arctic setting. Readers drawn to ambiguous, atmospheric ghost stories may find resonance in Doyle’s work, whereas those in search of a harrowing, immersive narrative may gravitate towards Paver’s contemporary interpretation. Both tales, however, masterfully illustrate the lasting impact of the Arctic as a canvas for examining human vulnerability amidst extreme conditions. 

I would highly recommend both tales to ghost story enthusiasts.  And, given their chilly settings, the pair make for a fantastic supernatural Christmas reading treat.

And whilst Doyle's short story can be easily found in numerous anthologies, I do suggest you find the version I read over Christmas, if only for the small book's cool design, and Seth's cool minimalist yet highly evocative illustrations.

Watch this space for more info on Seth's range of Christmas ghost stories...

Sleeping Stuart Little

Goodbye Crimbo

 Goodbye Crimbo decorations. For another year...

Up Early

Up early to continue work on my final draft of Familiar...

 

Back to work

Car still bust so bus for me this morning. And the icy pavements were not as kind as the bustop.

Following on from yesterday's roof-top timelapse video, here are 24 hours overlooking Swansea presented in just 6 minutes. Watch out for those rain clouds! 

Forget the Fireworks

Forget the fireworks displays that took place today to see in the new year. The best display was saved for the early evening when a rather fantastic burst of the Northern Lights illuminated the Swansea skies. Thanks to a really excellent piece of kit Mrs E got from Santa, which she set up on the roof outside our attic window, we didn't even need to leave the house to be entertained with this appearance:

Here are a couple of pics of it from my phone camera too:

Thanks to Mrs  E's technical skills, we can even present this phantasmagorical timelapse of the whole display for your delectation. Happy New Year!

New Year's Plans for 2025

Okay, here are my plans for 2025. No strict deadlines as I want as much of a stress free year as I am able to manifest.

Publishing Targets: 

Familiar should be published within the first half of the year. As I have already noted in my blog, this will be my 9th and final novel. I will still be writing, but will be sticking to more short-form work, such as guidebooks. 

Fiction-wise, I will be restricting myself to short stories for a future compilation of Christmas ghost stories. Going forward, I think one new addition to this project a year will keep my creative urges sufficiently fed. I am currently undecided on when the writing of these ghost stories will commence this. The Christmas of 2026 will probably see the first one see light of day, given the the heavy stack of projects I have already piled up for 2025. 

My x4 Explore Gower titles will each get updated this next year for their second editions.

Whilst on the topic of updates, both Avalon and my Guy N Smith zine will get significant updates. Probable publishing dates for these latter x2 projects is mid 2025. 

I will also be publishing a 2nd Guy N Smith zine in May/June next year. I'm not sure what I will be personally contributing to the book, other than collating its content. We'll see. The project will only get released though if enough contributors come forward and if the combined effort will make Guy's family proud of what he inspired in others. His memory deserves our best efforts. For any Guy fans reading this, please send me your contributions as early as you can over the next month or two. 

Oh, and look out for a new professional website to advertise my wares sometime soon... 

Pastimes: 

 

As my regular blog and socials readers will already know, I have a new hobby lined up for next year - one specifically designed to get me out into the world a little more - Magnet Fishing. For anyone not aware of how exciting this hobby can be, check out this guy's magnetic adventures on Youtube - bombs, bikes, safes, knives, guns, he has dragged them all from the water, and more. I wonder what my magnet will dredge from the waters during 2025. Folk following my blog and socials can to keep up-to-date on the adventures to come. 

Holidays: 

Finally, because the major fire that crashed our lives in early 2024, which took away the lovely Sooshcat from our company, we had to cancel all of our holiday plans this past year. They are now firmly back on the cards now, with a May Day visit to the legendary Glastonbury, a Christmas stay in Japan, as well as a visit to Norwich to spend more precious time with my lovely first-born, whose company I still constantly crave. See you soon Ambikin XXXX And that's kind of that. Let's just see how the year unfurls. But please, pretty please, make it better than 2024!

🫨

What a cracking end to a godawful year:

Back to Work

Back to work after the Crimbo festivities. Short day made it bearable, though the rest of the work day was taken up with a hospital visit to see the opthalmic doctor.

It wasn't the best of experiences as I had a syringe pushed into my left eye tear ductt and saline squirted though it into my right nostril-ugh!! Upshot of that and various other checks and tests carried out is I need a tear duct readjusting ing in my left eyelid, which apparently requires 10 seconds of surgery. 

If that doesn't solve my issue, then I will need to have the corner of my eyelid tightened at an even later date.

For now though, it's another waiting game as the required surgery is being classed as just routine. Tick Tock. Tick tock.

2024 Review - Part 3

2024 is certainly ending a lot better than it began. I left the department that was giving me so much grief just weeks after giving myself a push and forcing myself to leave my comfort zone. I now have x2 jobs with my employer - one where I can put my writing skills into practice and have time to actual engage with my work rather than a robotic data entry clerk, which is work that literally drives me to despair!! I work that job x3 days a week, whilst spending the other x2 days, in the PCS union office. And so 2024 ends with me finally enjoying my paid work 🙂.

On a personal level, I have never been as happy as I have been these past few months. Both my physical health and mental well-being and making me excited to be alive, which, trust me, is not something I though I would be saying this time last year.

Financially we are doing well (thanks to  hard-earned job). The unburdening of struggling with day to day living expenses is something we have only achieved recently, and it really feels good to appreciate this security.

Finally, and importantly, I am at a place creatively where I can look back at my personal work with pride. 2025 already looks busy, and I hope to find time in the next x12 months to consolidate my creative portfolio and squeeze my way into some new ventures - more of which you'll discover in my upcoming New Year's blog entry...

My New 2025 Hobby

Christmas Mushroom 2024

Cheers to Cal for his latest hand-crafted Crimbo mushroon gift:

And here it is among my growing collection 🙂:

A Christmas Carol Pop Funko review

This is a fantastic set of figures. Scrooge is my favourite of the set by a country mile.

The ghost of Christmas present is perfect too, as is Jacob Marley, which has a fantastic texture to its glow in the dark surface. Tiny Tim was captured well with some amazing detail on the pop. 

The ghost of Chrismas yet to come had an amazing soft feel to its trailing rags. A nice feature, which would have made the figure more striking, but is sadly missing, would have been to have have included the faces if Ignorance and Want peeking through the rags.

The only real disappointing figure for me in the set was the ghost of Christmas past, which was too yellow, the candles were a too blocky and, without its box labling might not have been recognised as A Chrismas Carol Figure. This latter fault is perhaps also present in the Ghost of Christas yet to come. All in all though, it is a great set. Each figure comes with a great snowy London street stand that can interlock to present the collection nicely. And making three of the ghosts glow in the dark is also a cool feature. 

As for my photography, I think I will do better on a second attempt.

Boxing Day Garden

I put our Christmas day leftovers out in the garden in the afternoon to feed any hungry wildlife that happenned to pass by our patio. Whilst the second visitor was no suprise and cleaned up the bulk of the meal, the first visitor got a few roast potatoes down their throat before the food was cleared:
 

A foggy close to Boxing Day: