Round the Herne

This is just a bit of whimsy to give my three remaining brain cells a bit of exercise (been under the weather lately and lacking creativity). I like the idea of a serialised story, so here is the first entry in a highly derivative YA fantasy, praise be to St Plagiarus. Not sure how much further, or how regularly, I will continue this but at least it has kickstarted the grey matter once again. CHAPTER 1    Catriona stood before the stone doorway, her fingers traced the triquetra carved into the ancient wooden door. It looked early medieval, ancient in a city where every other building seemed steeped in centuries. The carved symbol matched that on the letterhead that she had received back in March inviting her to study Celtic History at Gorsedd College, Cambridge. Catriona had applied to study in Cambridge, but at Peterhouse not at this college. She hadn’t even heard of Gorsedd College much less applied to it, but the offer was excellent and especially sweet with the bursary...

 This is my reading of the 1921 short horror story "The Picture in the House" by H P Lovecraft. It is another of the stories from the book gifted me at Yule by a good friend - I have already recorded a few of the shorter samples. The recording is a bit odd due to my recovering from a throat infection. Apologies to any American listeners for the dreadful attempt at a backwoods accent - I've never been tot he States so have no real idea (outside of the movies) what the regional accents are like. Lovecraft writes heavily accented dialogue, which is quite fun to read aloud.

 This month (on Feb 26th at 7.30pm) the Suffolk Jungian Circle will have an online debate around the celebrity death match of Freud vs Jung - where are their ideas similar and where do they differ? To help get the discussion rolling, I've recorded a few initial thoughts in the video below. If anyone would like to be sent the Teams link to take part, drop me a line or leave a message on this blog.

 I gave this talk at a college event in December 2024, recording it now on the off-chance that it might eb of interest to some followers on YouTube or this Blog. The talk interprets some of the ghost stories written by E F Benson, Saki, M R James, and Forrest Reid in the light of sexuality and social isolation. If nothing else, I rather hope that this talk will inspire listeners to want to read the works of the respective authors.