Wyrd Scenes at Luminous Books this Christmas

It took more than a week to put together a post commemorating the launch of Wyrd Tales 2 at Luminous Books last Saturday, but only because I spent almost that long sorting through Sarah Sparkes’excellent photographic documentation of the event. Coordinated by the most reverend English Heretic, the launch began in an unexpected cascade of sparks, courtesy of the kustom kar kommando grinding the door panel of an old ice-cream truck outside the bookshop entrance – judging by the effort he was putting it into, it will be the bitchin’-est hot rod Mr Whippy North East London has ever seen. Inside the shop, the walls were resplendent with Wyrd Tales 2 artwork by the likes of Lisa Cradduck, Dean Kenning, Phil Legard and Sarah Sparkes. The evening itself included readings from the new anthology by English Heretic on the highly seasonal topic of ritualistic mass suicide and Norfolk ornithological observation, Mark Fisher on M R James, Brian Eno and undetected landmarks, plus my own reading of an extract from ‘The Storm Towers of Atlantis’, the full text of which can be found between the covers of Wyrd Tales 2. In this pleasurable endeavour I was abetted by Mark Pilkington of Indigo Octagon, whose usual number had been halved by an outbreak of pre-Santacon 2011 flu, tweaking some amazing electronic sounds of his circuit boards, plus a large-scale projection of Phil Legrand’s outstanding cover art for my story. His Turner-esque rendering of a giant crab claw breaking the waves continues to haunt my dreams. My heartfelt appreciation goes out to everyone involved in a night that absolutely refused in every way to communicate the true meaning of Christmas – I humbly salute you all.

Copies of Wyrd Tales 2 are currently available from the English Heretic Souvenir Shop, but stocks are dwindling fast.

Pictured above from top to bottom: Confused spirits gathering on a Christmas night (left to right) Mark Fisher, KH, Mark Pilkington, English Heretic; English Heretic presents First Reports of a Tantric Death Cult at Ganges; Mark Fisher reads from his essay ‘Bleak and Solemn…’ The Hauntological Landscapes of MR James; Mark Pilkington watched over by spirits of the deep; KH with Mark Pilkington of Indigo Octagon present The Storm Towers of Atlantis; KH threatened by a giant crab claw – all photographs by the splendid Sarah Sparkes.

Note: As well as supplying an excellent gallery space, Luminous Books also specializes in artist publications together with a select range of vintage second-hand volumes covering a wide subject area, and is therefore worthy of your custom and support – so start 2102 by subscribing to their RSS feed.