‘The Mechanical Gorilla’ is a sci-fi romp which brings together the British Bigfoot, robotics, the Cold War and interdimensional comings and goings in one entertaining package. Fans of forteana, the paranormal and sci-fi should all consider checking it out. ‘The Mechanical Gorilla’ by Dr Andrew May is available as an ebook at: http://tinyurl.com/cxhdslk

The stories are listed chronologically, from the 17th to the 20th centuries, providing a loose narrative as the style and context of the ghost stories evolve. This approach also reflects the academic expertise employed in the work: the author is a former editor of the ‘Folklore’ journal. I note that, like me, Gillian lives in North Wales, and Welsh yarns are well represented. They include ‘The Golden King of Bryn-yr-Ellyllon’, from my home town of Mold, and one of my favourite ghost stories from anywhere, a weird tale Gillian has entitled ‘Colonel Bowen Visits His Wife’  but which for some reason I’ve come to think of as ‘The Demon Husband’. I’ve uploaded this eerie account of a frightening haunting in South Wales at: http://www.uncannyuk.com/1081/demon_husband_of_gower/

All the usual suspects are here: Silky, Tregeagle, Cock Lane, Cauld Lads, Boggarts, Padfoot and Co, crisis apparitions and prophecies. But there are a number of less well-known spooks, too, including a long section of previously unpublished accounts collected by a keen scholar of Lincolnshire folklore in the first half of the 20th century. The most recent accounts are also previously unrecorded in print: a selection of stories collected orally by the author herself. There are gems among both collections.

‘The 100 Best British Ghost Stories’ by Gillian Bennett is an expertly compiled collection of UK ghost-lore, and a handy and welcome addition to the bookshelf.

The accounts date from Ancient Greece and continue chapter by chapter through the Middle Ages, the early modern period, the great spiritualism revival of the 19th and early 20th centuries and into the present day. For me, the earlier stories were that much more interesting, simply because they were less familiar. I have selected one of these, an account from 12th century Suffolk, and included it on the main site at http://www.uncannyuk.com/1077/suffolk-poltergeist/.

But Maxwell-Stuart isn’t just content with unearthing stories: he also sets them in context with the beliefs prevalent at the times they manifested and discusses various theories put forward to explain them. Poltergeists is an erudite work of history and to an extent of theology, too. It has rather more to say than, for example, Harry Price’s, Sacheverell Sitwell’s or even Colin Wilson’s works on the same subject. It’s not a light read but is highly recommended.

Poltergeists: The History of Violent Ghostly Phenomena by P G Maxwell-Davies was published by Amberely in 2011.

In the meantime, you might like to check out the latest article on Uncanny UK, which is about a sinister witch-like being who supernaturally spread disease in a small village in Mid Wales: http://www.uncannyuk.com/1073/ceredigion-witch/

The Rev Felix Aubel, a church minister in Carmarthenshire, has a new book out, in which he describes himself as ‘a rebel’. In response to the census report in which 83 people in Wales stated their religion as ‘witch’ (according to the Daily Telegraph – it may have been Wiccan), the Rev Aubel announced that ‘this is no joke’ and that he has personal experience of malevolent witchcraft in his parish. Specifically, he referred to the ‘evil eye’. His evidence is more than shaky. He refers to a ‘childless spinster’ (very suspicious these unmarried women!) casting the evil eye over a new mum and her child. Mum and baby later suffered from some form of breathlessness ‘for no apparent medical reason’.

He says: “The spinster even visited the mother and child in hospital while I was speaking to them. It became obvious to me that the spinster was praising the baby to its mother in a very false and patronising way. This is one of the most noticeable characteristics of the utilisation of the ‘evil eye’.”

“Realising this,” continues this literally unbelievable man, “I asked the spinster to say “God bless you” to the baby, having just said what a beautiful child the mother had. After that the spinster immediately walked away without uttering another word.”

All the proof you want then of an actual witch able to cast actual harmful spells.

Aubel also tells a story that in 1994 an Anglican church minister had to ‘raise a curse’ placed on a church member by a witch who had utilised the old pins-in-a-doll routine.

So in both cases he is stating without equivocation that one person is able to supernaturally bring ill effects on to another. It seems hard to credit from a minister in the 21st century – although it does become easier to credit when one recalls that he has a book to plug.

This sort of ill-informed superstitious scaremongering is the thin edge of the wedge that leads to tragedies like the ‘Satanic Abuse’ travesties that caused so much harm to innocent families and a great deal of shame to social services departments and a national children’s charity.

I am reminded of the words of a magistrate, presiding at the trial of a number of people elsewhere in South Wales who had violently abused a 90-year-old woman because they thought she might have been a witch. Sentencing her attackers, the magistrate said ‘he regretted that there was anyone in the kingdom who should have been so deplorably ignorant as to have fallen into such an error [of believing in witchcraft]‘. He said this in 1827. Now, 186 years later, we have a supposedly Christian minister encouraging just such an error.

You can read the full story at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/9772379/Witchcraft-thriving-in-the-Welsh-countryside.html

My Christmassy weird tale ‘The Yule Log’ has now appeared in The Lovecraft Ezine. My thanks to editor Mike Davis for including it and for the kind comments I’ve already received from readers. I’m excited about this because it’s a long time since I’ve written a short story and it didn’t come easy! It’s set in Edwardian Ireland and mixes some fairylore with the Lovecraftian themes of the Deep Ones and Cthulhu and is just a little bit tongue-in-cheek…

If you’re interested in reading it, it’s up online at: http://lovecraftzine.com/issues/2012-2/issue-20-december-2012/yule-log-by-richard-holland/

You can also download a free PDF of the mag or buy a version for Kindle or Nook for a very modest 99c (about 70p) from the main site http://lovecraftzine.com

The Lovecraft Ezine is an excellent showcase of new weird fiction and I must admit I feel a mite intimidated by the quality of some of the writing I’ve enjoyed in it over the past few months. That won’t stop me from submitting another one, though!

Three of these are ghost books, as you might expect. The other is considerably more unusual (for me) and is presenting quite a challenge. I’ve been commissioned to write about one of the most horrific acts of terrorism on British soil: the IRA bombing in Warrington town centre in 1993. Fifty-six people were injured by the blasts and two children were killed. It’s a tricky thing to write about when one considers not only the emotion attached to the tragedy but also the complicated history of ‘The Troubles’. What’s made the project much more difficult is that I’ve been asked to write it for children aged 12 and under! I could have written twice as many words in half the time.

The commission came from Wendy and Colin Parry, the parents of one of the children who was killed. Naturally, I wanted to do the very best job I could for them. Wendy and Colin now run a charity, the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace, named after the two boys who lost their lives, which works to help British victims of terrorism and to end violent conflict of all kinds. (You can read about their important work at www.foundation4peace.com).

I completed the first draft of this book just before Christmas and hope to have their comments later this week. I’m quite nervous. I hope I haven’t let them down.

As I say, I have three other books to write, too (one is almost finished), so I’m going to be very busy but I’ll do my best not to let this blog lie fallow for so long again.

Here’s to a busy and successful year for all of us!

The November issue is currently, free as a downloadable PDF and available at a modest price for Kindle, Nook etc in a week or two. Visit http://www.lovecraftzine.com for more.

Both apps use Google maps to pinpoint the haunted locations of these historic and very spooky cities. The sites are all clearly labelled: all you have to do is click on them to read about the sites and the ghosts said to be haunting them. Or you can browse and search the database, which has been researched and written by me.

Both London and Edinburgh have famously haunted locations but there are many other much less well-known places which are just as interesting: pubs, parks, stations, streets and obscure houses. There are over 300 haunted sites on Ghost Finder London and the haunted locations in Edinburgh have been arranged with those of the Royal Mile first, then radiating out to the outlying areas, making it particularly useful for the tourist.

They’re not free – you’ll have to pay all of £1.49 for Ghost Finder London (the same as half a pint in a haunted pub!) and just 69p for Ghost Finder Edinburgh. The iPhone versions are the same price.

To learn more about the version of Ghost Finder London please visit: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/ghost-finder-london/id493251459?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

For Ghost Finder Edinburgh visit: https://itunes.apple.com/app/ghost-finder-edinburgh/id509902065?mt=8