Monthly Archives: August 2011

Uncanny pic of the day: Rackham meets Rossetti

Posted on August 31, 2011 by

I keep name-checking the great Arthur Rackham, so here he is with one of his stunning colour illustrations to Christina Rossetti’s classic poem of fairy inveigling, ‘Goblin Market’.

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Uncanny pic of the day: Weird Wiertz

Posted on August 30, 2011 by

One of the many weird images painted by 19th century Belgian artist Antione Wiertz. This one, of course, represents the horror of a premature burial. Wiertz’s images were considered so disturbing that they were not allowed to be shown in … Continue reading →

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Uncanny Book Club: Harry Price

Posted on August 30, 2011 by

Original copies of early works by the famous/infamous ghost hunter Harry Price are now difficult to track down and expensive when you do. A few years ago I followed on eBay a copy of ‘The Haunting of Cashen’s Gap’, Price’s … Continue reading →

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Uncanny pic of the day: Virgil Finlay

Posted on August 27, 2011 by

Virgil Finlay must surely have been the most accomplished of all the ‘pulp’ fantasy and science fiction artists. I’ve chosen this example – an illustration to Robert E Howard’s ‘Skull Face’ from Weird Tales – out of my many other favoruites … Continue reading →

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Uncanny pic of the day: Sidney Sime

Posted on August 26, 2011 by

Image of the day is this superbly eerie illustration by one of my favourite illustrators of the Edwardian era, Sidney Sime. It comes from a 1906 copy of Pall Mall Magazine in my collection. Unlike Rackham, Dulac, Harry Clarke etc … Continue reading →

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‘UFO’ descends on Loch Ness

Posted on August 23, 2011 by

According to a recent news report, a large but unidentified object was seen to crash, or descend anyway, near the shores of Loch Ness. It was described as blue and resembling a balloon but police and rescue servcies were unable … Continue reading →

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Uncanny Book Club: British Goblins by Wirt Sikes

Posted on August 23, 2011 by

Yep, that’s not a typo: the author really is called that. Wirt Sikes was the American ambassador to South Wales and while in residence he decided to research and write about the folk tales of his adopted home. He drew … Continue reading →

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Uncanny Book Club: Haunted England by Christina Hole

Posted on August 22, 2011 by

The second book I’ve pulled off my shelves is Christina Hole’s ‘Survey of English Ghost-lore’, ‘Haunted England’. My copy is the 1941 edition from Batsford with the striking John Farleigh cover. ‘Haunted England’ remains the perfect introduction to anyone just … Continue reading →

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Uncanny Book Club: Ghost-lore goes art nouveau

Posted on August 21, 2011 by

I am a book nut. I keep buying the bloody things. I can’t help it. I just can’t see me ever really buying into the whole Kindle-type pretend book thing. I love the feel of a book, the design, the … Continue reading →

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Fairies cross the Mersey

Posted on August 13, 2011 by

The latest article on Uncanny UK is a contribution from Nigel Watson. Nigel revisits two very odd incidents that occurred in Merseyside during 1964, when children reported being harassed by, of all things, leprechauns! Some even said that the Little … Continue reading →

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