Shell Island - Part 2/4

Crabs aside, Shell Island is as beautiful location as its name suggests. I just hope I managed to capture its splendour on my phone camera:

I will share more photographs of the island in my next post...

Shell Island - Part 1/4

Ignoring the dismal weather forecast, I headed out on a Guy N Smith pilgrimage to Shell Island for a couple of days this morning. This was the setting of his classic 1970's pulp horror classic novel Night of the Crabs. As we neared the place, and saw the signpost mentioned in his crabtastic book, I knew it was going tobbe a hellishly good holiday break.

It was good to see Shell Island still remembers the time of total carnage when crabs the size of cows invaded the resort lol:

And it was impossible to come away from the camping shop without this reminder of my time on the island:

These days, it looks like the local seagulls are keeping residents and visitors to Shell Island safe and sound!

I will be polite and not mention what happened in the dunes overlooking Shell Island beach in Night of the Crabs. Here I am though, just saying hi:

And doing some obligatory reading:

Medieval Lego

Well, it took up a fair chunk of my spare time over the past week, but it is finally complete. 🙂

Horror Film Lego Quiz 2

 Finally got around to making my second for my new lego horror quiz book. Can you guess the film that featured this scene I have reproduced in Lego?

Note-taking...

Taking notes as I listen to the classic Night of the Crab, as I am heading to it setting - Shell Island very soon...

3a.m.

 

Snapping Up Baxter

I had to snap up this copy of Baxter as I did not even know of its existence, let alone seen it offered for sale: 

If you want to see my other edition of this excellent novel, you can check it out here.

Continuing Gower Beaches

Continuing work, and ahead of schedule, of the new edition of my Explore Gower beaches page.

Daughter of Darkness by J.. Lowell

 I have finally got my hands on a decent copy of this book, the first novel I ever read in one day:

It is similar to, though not quite in the same league as Elizabeth by Jessica Hamilton. And annoyingly (for me at least), just like Elizabeth, it was written under a pen name.

J.R. Lowell is actually a pseudonym of the husband and wife writing team Jan K & Robert M Lowell.

As you can see from the pic below, I have a bit of a soft spot for this book and its various editions:

Avalon 2 86/100

This was a bit of technical challenge to get published. But, finally, on day 86 of my 100 day challenge, Avalon 2 has been published. You can buy yourself a copy here.

Cheap Thrills and Sunken Treasures

Took a half day from work and visited my favourite local garden centre this afternoon.

I do love the plant pots they sell. They look like sunken treasures from a long lost civilisation that have been rescued from the oceans. Unfortunately, they carry a price that reflects that look - ranging from £40 for a small pot to £200 for the larger ones!

Though I had to leave without one of these acheing beautiful items, I did pick up a bag of duck food for 50p at the garden centre till, which was really enjoyed by by the comical birdies:

It Starts...

As my 2025 creative projects are entering their final stages, it's time to announce a book I have now started work on and will hopefully publish in 2026. It is a Lego build quiz book where you have to guess the title of the horror film from the still of a lesser known scene I have reacreated from the little plastic bricks. 

As an example, here is my first Lego build from a scene of one of my favourite classic horror films:

Can yo guess the film?

Billy on a Bike

 Whilst I am certainly not a fan of the Saw films, this was a must-have for my horror Pop Funko collection.

An August Leaf

Spent the day in the garden chilling and making the most of the Summer weather.

A richly-hued leaf fluttered to the ground before me as I read, reminding me of the ever- rotating wheel of the season. Autumn will be here before we know it. I tucked the leaf in my book as a useful bookmark, and savoured the heat of the sun all the more day because it transient nature.

Memories of Magic

 I love the effects our garden fires have on our fire-bin. It almost looks enchanted lol.

Sprite Night

 

There is a definite primitive pleasure to be savoured in the act of creating and settling for the evening before a garden fire. As well as clearing the garden of debris collected from the maintenance of hedges and shrubbery and other natural waste, it also allows the mind to discard the clutter of everyday thought. Its warmth and wonder roots your body before its flames, allowing the mind the time immerse itself in contemplation. Its meditative quality is primordial, its metamorphosis of matter a personal invitation to return to deeper reflection. 

A swig or two on the fermentation of certain fruits aids the journey away from the mechanised and digitalised world of your everyday reality. And suddenly, if you permit it, you can explore an ancestral magic that is a rich and powerful balm for you soul.

Before you know it, your imagination, unshackled from logic and science, is free to roam the worlds of long-past millennia, where the flames you tend can become a portal, releasing fire sprites momentary life to explore the heavens.

Morning Joe

Enjoying a cup of Morning Joe:

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