Out of the Blue

I do love it when a new project infatuates me out of the blue...

Caturday

The 2nd Armada Ghost Book

Armada were quick to follow the success of The Armada Ghost Book with the publication of The 2nd Armada Ghost book the following year.

Christine Bernard retook the helm as the ghost story compiler, but her choices in this second volume suggest this book might have been a bit of a rush job. The clue to the kind of tales required for this book was surely in the title. But Bernard's collection of far-flung tales appears as though cribbed from a possible alternate venture, and hemmed within the Armada Ghost Book franchise as a quick cash-grab after the popularity of the first in the series.

Whether Bernard's selection really was a misunderstanding of her brief, or she was annoyed the change of book title had made her anthologising skills look questionable and so turned down the offer of the third book, the lack of ghosts within the pages of this second book in the franchise did not go unnoticed and a new editor took the helm of the series for the third Armada Ghost Book...

Gino D'Achille's 'running boy' motif artwork kept the franchise's visuals on point, with the cover art appearing to depict the lad racing from a ferocious bat borne from the fiery pits of hell itself. Only when the book is flipped over to read the advertising blurb does the reader realise the location is actually an ancient graveyard with subsiding tombstones, set beneath a stormy blood-coloured sunset.

Armada Ghost Books

With my Seth's Christmas Ghost Stories up-to-date (it turns out the book I am waiting for doesn't reach these shores until May), I decided to grow the odd few Armada Ghost Books I have into a real collection. 

I will share them as I add each next volume in the series to my shelves, but I wanted to use today's post for the very first book in the series, which by 1978 came in two editions.

With the plume of ghostly anthologies being published in the gloriously creative 1960s, it was hardly a surprise when, in 1967 Armada produced a children's version of the great and hugely popular Fontana and Pan ghost story collections:

Whilst the collection was aimed squarely at older children, their covers promised genuine eerie content and their intended audience lapped them up with relish.

The Armada Ghost Book's cover featured a young lad racing from a huge and terrifying spectral lady in white. The whole scene is beautifully illustrated by artist Gino D'Achille with a suitably crooked tree and a ragged fat crow completing the front image: 

The rear cover continues the scene and introduces more crows and an archetypal haunted house in a stage of creepy disrepair. A sole light shines from a window beneath its tall tower and suggests the boy, has awakened something he oughtn't have whilst investigating the decrepit property. 

It's a great cover, and, to ensure a prospective reader purchases the book whilst browsing its pages in a bookshop, the artist was commissioned to illustrate several of the stories contained in the volume.

The book contains 11 eclectic tales and was a huge success for Armada, spawning another 14 entries in the series before concluding in 1983.

To blend the book seamlessly with its sequels, it was republished with a fresh reworking of the original cover art and a new title in 1978:

The book's contents, however, remained identical:

Lophophora

I couldn't resist purchasing one of these these rare sacred cacti plants from the garden centre today 🙂

Explore Gower - Faery folklore on the Gower Peninsula

Pwscat proof-reading my book

I unexpectedly booked a day off work today, and spent it completing the update to my Explore Gower book - The Verry Volk ~Faery folklore on the Gower Peninsula:

A Day in the Garden

 Today felt like the end of an era as I continued work dismantling our no-longer-needed chicken run.

It felt good to spend some time outside in the open air again and see the signs all around me that the horrible winter has finally passed.

My Chalice Well sycamores are really starting to come into their own now. I grew these three trees from seeds collected from Glastonbury many moons ago now:

Happy Budhha continues to smile no matter what circumstances he finds himself in - a guide for us all:

I caught this earthy fella mid-snack as I lifted him to his feet again after he'd spent the last winter face down in the soil:

It really was an enchanting afternoon, well spent in the rare Welsh sunshine!

#Caturday ~ 4 Paws & a Tail

 

Gower Ghosts.2

Well, what a cracking start to Spring! Day 1 and I have only gone and completed the update of the Explore Gower book - Gower Ghosts!

Purchases

Look what beauties arrived today:

 

Alluring Trees

These trees always catch my eyes whenever we drive home after picking my son from work. And now I can share the with you 🙂

Frustrating February

Whilst January 2025 seemed to last 80 days, Febbray seems like it lasted just 8 days. But what a frustrating 8 days they were.

The month started out well with Familiar, my last novel, getting published within the first week of February. Unfortunately, things kind of went downhill after that. 

Whilst I managed to complete one more creative project this month - the update and reissue of Guy N. Smith - 50 years of Pulp horror, it was not an easy edit and took three weeks of nightly configuration to get my original word doc aligning properly on the final book proof.

So, what is in store for March? 

March will (hopefully) see the republishing of x2 Explore Gower books, namely The Verry Volk and Gower Ghosts. It may also see me start work on the second edition of the Guy N. Smith zine. At the moment, I still don't know whether this volume will see the light of day as I don't think I have received enough content for it as of yet. With the deadline for contributions being the close of March, there is still time for an avalanche of contributions to reach me though. 

Whether the second Guy N Smith zine goes ahead or not, I will continue to get as much work done on my first ghost story, which was originally intended for that zine.

March will also see my first field trip of 2025. I won't be heading out far, just Parkmill, or more specifically, a field near the village where I have spotted some trees that have grown into and have been mutated by metal bars placed around their girths to protect them as saplings. These should hopefully provide for some interesting photography. 

So, by the end of the forthcoming month, The Verry Volk + Gower Ghosts should be be back on sale in superior manifestations, the bones of my first Christmas ghost story should be assembled, and I should have produced some nice pics of characteristic Gower trees. 

Watch this space to keep up with my progress on these and maybe other creative projects as we finally say goodbye to winter and take a welcoming step into the early Spring...

A Visit by Shirley Jackson

 I had to order this book from the USA as it costs an arm and a leg here in the UK. 

Guy N Smith Zine 1 Update

 Updating my Guy N Smith zine took longer than I envisioned. But, it is finally done, and here is a first look at the new cover I have given the zine:

A blast from the past.

I remember buying this radio about a half century or so ago as a child. It used up all of my birthday money and I found it really liberating to plug in the mono earphone and be transported to a different experience. One of the first things I remember hearing on it was Jeff Wayne's musical version of War of the world, whose live show I will hopefully be seeing with my father in five six or so weeks.

Anyway, I bought a 9v battery for it yesterday and, guess what? It still works! There ate only 2 channels it can still receive in this day and age though, lol:

Honesty Sown

I picked some seeds from this Honestly plant I found growing in Knighton last September, when I attended last year's Guy N Smith con. Today, I sowed them 🙂🌱

Cone

Found this in our garden today:

The Amethyst Cross

With the arrival of this little gem, my Seth's Christmas Ghost Stories collection is just x2 books short of completion...

There is still no sign of A Visit by Shirley Jackson, which could be anywhere between here and the USA. The post was less than a fiver so I just hope it turn up as I snagged it as a cheap price and I haven't seen it avalaible at a price I am willing to pay anywhere else online. 

One of Seth's 2024 issues, Captail Dalgerty Returns ended up being unavailable, but I have finally managed to source and order another copy at that. It is just a waiting game now... 

Our Bedroom in TV Light

Cat TV

My furry daughter spent Friday night watching Cat TV:

Gower Ghosts

 I am still edidting Gower Ghosts at every opportunity I get.

Misty Muse

Very misty day today. And it aroused my muse, which is already slowly drip-feeding me a short ghost story set in a fog bound office block...

Witch Hazel

The outstanding plant in our, albeit winter-bleak, garden at the moment has to be our Witch Hazel. Watch this space for its successor...

Gower Ghosts

Still working on the second edition of my Gower Ghosts.

Breathing Space

What the hell am I doing? Ineed to take a chill pill. Despite wanting to drastically reduce my workload, I have been ploughing through my year's schedule as through my year's schedule as though the devil himself was chasing me. Having already republished an updated issue of Avalon, plus my latest novel, Familar, this year, I seem to have scedules several more titles to be updated in the last couple of months left to February.

Having spent ridiculous hours over many evenings pouring over the edits and typesetting of the Guy N Smith fanzine update, I have decided to ease my foot off the accelerator a little now. As such, I can only now guarantee that the GNS zine will see a reissue by the close of February. The reissue of Explore Gower's Verry Volk and Gower Ghosts could therefor be delayed, with their republication dates now pushed back to sometime in March? Allowing me some breathing space 🙂

The above said, what did I do within minutes of finishing work this afternoon? Edit Gower Ghosts lol.

Ghostly and Ghastly

What kind of kid's book had illustrations like these?