Maria J Pérez Cuervo

My interests then were the same as now, but before the internet it was difficult to expand your knowledge. I must have been 17-18, my friends were goths or metalheads. I probably wanted more of weird England after discovering Led Zeppelin and might have heard their name mentioned somewhere.

I’ve just received a piece for the next Hellebore with a whole section devoted to this album, so had to put it on. I got this record 25-30 years ago, without knowing anything about JT.

Jethro Tull’s Song from the Wood

#NowPlaying

A giant serpent coils around a stone circle and worshippers turning to stone; in the centre a beam of light shoots.down from the sky.

🎨 Les Matthews, painting for the series ‘Children of the Stones’ (1977) #StandingStoneSunday

Hellebores and well lid in the background

Hellebores at the Chalice Well, Glastonbury. The well lid was designed by Frederick Bligh Bond and Alice Buckton. The Vesica Piscis symbol represents the union of opposites and the meeting of two realms.

Happy birthday, Jack! Have a magnificent day 💖

Illustration from The Willows, a short story by Blackwood, where something only faintly visible moves among the trees

“Ritual is the passage way of the soul into the Infinite.”
—Algernon Blackwood

🖤🖤🖤

Still from The Mummy, 1932: Teach me the ancient summons, the holy spells l've forgotten.

Another research day.

Thanks, Morgan!

Around April, as far as I know!

Yeah, it had a small release around end of Jan. I watched a screener a few months back, but the sound design is so gorgeous I definitely recommend seeing it on the big screen.

1970s Wales, a fairy ring, an otherworldly child, repressed memories, hallucinatory landscapes and layers of menacing whispers and unsettling sounds. With these credentials, Rabbit Trap will appeal to connoisseurs of folklore, folk horror and hauntology. MARIA J PÉREZ CUERVO spoke to director BRYN CHAINEY about his debut feature film and its influences. With the current dynamics of blink-and-you'll-miss-it cinema releases followed by their drowning in the whirlpool of streaming services, independ. ent films can be easy to overlook, but Bryn Chainey's first full-length feature deserves attention as one of the most interesting folk horror adjacent efforts of recent years. Darcy (Dev Patel) and Daphne (Rose McEwen) are a musician couple who seclude themselves in a house in the Welsh countryside to work on their new album, but when Darcy steps into a fairy ring, something slippery and ancient is summoned. The arrival of a mercurial, androgynous child (Jade Croot) reawakens a past trauma, destabilising the delicate dynamics between the couple. At the core of the film are hallucinatory sequences

My conversation with film director Bryn Chainey on folklore, folk horror and hauntology in RABBIT TRAP (starring Dev Patel and Rose McEwen) is out now in Fortean Times.

Ligeia is probably my favourite from the cycle. You’re in for a treat!

Barbara and Vincent are great together in The Pit and the Pendulum

Love Tomb of Ligeia, but the scream queen in question is the fabulous Elizabeth Shepherd.

I've said it before but, in the absence of proper regulation and the licensing of metal detecting, then we must rely on the good old fashioned fairy curses attached to each and every hoard. Let the folk beyond the veil sort it out. 🏺🪙🧚🏼‍♂️☠️

I went to see Wuthering Heights with an open mind. Found it desperately shallow, neither romantic nor horny, and too tame to be campy. The Barbara Cartlandesque aesthetic of the second half and the mutton chops and golden earrings were the highlights for me.

The second one was a churchyard picnic, so not bad either ☺️

We watched The Phantom of the Opera (Lon Chaney, 1925) with a live piano accompaniment, then went for a midnight cup of tea and cake.

Michael Shannon To Star In THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI Remake Michael Shannon will star as the titular villain in a contemporary take on THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI from AS ABOVE, SO BELOW's John Erick Dowdle.

A Carnivale-style Caligari starring the ever magnificent Michael Shannon? I’m in.
www.fangoria.com/michael-shan...

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THREE writers ahead of the deadline!

I need a shrine to Sol in my living room.
#SAD

Carving of the sun god Sol that would have been illuminated from behind so that in the low light of the temple, worshippers would have seen his eyes, mouth and the rays of his solar crown glowing.

Carving of the sun god Sol that would have been illuminated from behind so that in the low light of the temple, worshippers would have seen his eyes, mouth and the rays of his solar crown glowing.

Beautifully dramatic lighting effect in this altar depicting the god Sol found near Edinburgh. In the low light of the temple, worshippers would see Sol’s eyes, mouth and the rays of his solar crown glowing.

www.independent.co.uk/news/science...

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Another writer ahead of the deadline

We were talking about the soundtrack too. Theme Romantique is hauntingly beautiful, but I also love the quirky waltzy /carnivale-type theme (my partner doesn’t).

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Me when a writer sends their piece ahead of the deadline

The title alone used to scare the daylights out of me, but Eyes Without a Face ended up being one of my favourite films. Haunting and unsettling, gruesome at times, yet poetic and oddly beautiful. Rewatching it tonight.

Church at dusk

Went for a walk and happened by this church, which has been turned into flats. Imagine these were your living room windows!

I’m sure it will!