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Maledette lacrime di sangue
by Jesús Salas y Lourdes DelgadoCastrolobos, un paese sperduto nel nord della Spagna dove avvengono sparizioni misteriose ed eventi mistici. Dopo il ritrovamento del corpo di una giornalista, l’emittente televisiva impegnata nei reportage sulle lacrime di sangue della Vergine di Llercia invia altri giornalisti per indagare sull’accaduto e per cercare di far andare poi in onda un servizio che riguarda il mistero che avvolge questi eventi mistici riguardanti le lacrime della madonna. Nel frattempo, la polizia brancola nel buio e, dopo il ritrovamento del corpo di un altro giornalista e la scomparsa di una sua collega, un investigatore della Chiesa inizia a fare luce su quella situazione così occulta e talvolta perversa.
Maleficio (Flash Relatos)
by Marguerite YourcenarLa maldad, ¿nace o se crea? ¿Hasta qué punto la opinión de los demás convierte a alguien en malvado? La terrible enfermedad de Amande no tiene cura. Tras visitar a médicos y especialistas su vida se disuelve sin que su familia encuentre otra solución que ponerla en manos de Cattanéo d'Aigues, un curandero que afirma tener la cura al maleficio que consume a la joven. En una habitación oscura y cargada de un ambiente opresivo, Cattanéo realizará un ritual que desatará los sentimientos más extremos de cada uno de los participantes en el ritual, en un final tan sorprendente como perverso.
Maleficio (Los Jet De Plaza And Janes Ser. #Vol. 102)
by Stephen KingUna obra escalofriante que hará estremecerse a los más doctos en la literatura de terror del maestro Stephen King. Como buen americano, Billy Halleck es un hombre a la vez favorecido y perjudicado por la buena vida estadounidense: por un lado posee una buena casa, una familia feliz y una exitosa carrera como abogado; pero por el otro padece sobrepeso (le sobran más de 20 quilos) y su doctor no deja de recordarle que debería controlarlo si no quiere acabar con un ataque al corazón. Un mal día, debido a un accidente por conducción temeraria, Billy acaba con la vida de una gitana que estaba cruzando la calle. El anciano padre de la fallecida decide vengarse: sorprende a Billy a la salida de los juzgados y, acariciándole la cara, pronuncia las palabras «más delgado». Tras seis semanas y cuarenta quilos menos, Billy Halleck se convierte en un desecho humano. En el colmo de la desesperación, intenta encontrar una solución jugando con las fuerzas de la vida y de la muerte... La crítica ha dicho...«Maleficio amenaza el ánimo del lector hasta la última página.»Publishers Weekly
Maleficium
by David Homel Fred A. Reed Martine DesjardinsMartine Desjardins delivers to readers of Maleficium the unexpurgated revelations of Vicar Jerome Savoie, a heretic priest in nineteenth century Montreal. Braving threats from the Catholic Church, Savoie dares to violate the sanctity of the confessional in this confession-within-a-confession, in which seven penitents, each afflicted with a debilitating malady or struck with a crippling deformity, relates his encounter with an enigmatic young woman whose lips bear a striking scar.As these men penetrate deep into the exotic Orient, each falls victim to his own secret vice. One treks through Ethiopia in search of wingless locusts. Another hunts for fly-whisks among the clove plantations of Zanzibar. Yet others bargain for saffron in a Srinagar bazaar, search for the rarest frankincense, and pursue the coveted hawksbill turtle in the Sea of Oman. Two more seek the formula for sabon Nablus in Palestine or haggle over Persian carpets in the royal gardens of Shiraz. The men's individual forms of punishment, revealed through the agency of the young woman, are wrought upon their bodies.Baroque in its complexity, Kafka-like in its inexorable mechanics, Maleficium by turns astonishes, amuses, and beguiles. Then author Martine Desjardins's Vicar Savoie-as in any confession worth its communion wafer-saves the best (or worst) for last.Maleficium won the Prix Jacques Brossard and was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award (French Fiction), the Prix des libraires du Québec, the Prix des cinq continents de la Francophonie, and the Prix France-Québec.
Malevolent: A Kendra Spark Novel (A Kendra Spark Novel #2)
by S. Peters DavisKendra Spark, suspense-mystery romance author and communicator with the dead. Jenna Powers, ghostified criminal analyst, sticks close to the case as she and Kendra are also marked by the same malevolent supernatural force. Derek Knight, lead FBI Agent on this case, learns of the malevolent entity and the deeper paranormal realm of danger. Kendra’s unfiltered feelings for Derek struggle to take a backseat, and as the menacing threat grows more intense, so does her passion for Derek. Derek faces uncertainties he’s never dealt with in his past, like malicious entities and the loss of his heart to love. How can he protect Kendra against forces he can’t see? As boundless supernatural danger intertwines with the future reality of the trafficked teens, Kendra and Jenna realize only they can shoulder the rescue by calling in a voodoo priestess…
Malice of Crows (The\shadow Ser. #3)
by Lila BowenThe sequel to Conspiracy of Ravens and third novel in Lila Bowen's widely-acclaimed Shadow series.The Ranger known as Rhett has shut down a terrible enterprise running on the blood of magical folk, but failed to catch the dark alchemist behind it. And now the Shadow refuses to let him rest.Rhett must make the ultimate transformation if he has any hope of stopping the alchemist or fulfilling his destiny; he must become the leader of a new Rangers outpost. But to save his friends, and the lives of countless others, Rhett will first have to lead the Rangers on a mission more dangerous than anything they've ever faced. The ShadowWake of VulturesConspiracy of RavensMalice of Crows
Malice of Crows: The Shadow, Book Three (The Shadow #3)
by Lila Bowen'I don't care what else you've seen in the bookstore today. Read this one' Kevin Hearne on Wake of Vultures'I enjoyed the hell out of it' Patrick Rothfuss on Wake of Vultures'Quite simply, brilliant. A mind-bending mix of history, fantasy and folklore, it's a wild bronco of a read that'll leave you breathless for more' Rachel Caine on Wake of Vultures 'Weird and wonderful . . . Hot damn, this book is good' Chuck Wendig on Wake of VulturesThe Ranger known as Rhett has shut down a terrible enterprise running on the blood and bones of magical folk, but failed to destroy the dark alchemist behind it. Now his destiny as the Shadow refuses to let him rest.To save his friends - and the lives of countless others - he'll first have to lead them on a mission more dangerous than anything they've ever faced.Malice of Crows is the gripping third instalment of the acclaimed Shadow series, starring a hero who has been hailed as 'one of the iconic characters of this generation'.
Malicious Intent: A Murderous Collection
by Elizabeth DearlTales for every mood, running the gamut from quirky mystery to chilling horror. When a lifelong friend betrays her trust once too often, an elderly woman plans the ultimate revenge. A young drifter meets a famous artist, with grisly results. A secretary's get-rich-quick scheme backfires. Recently released from a mental institution, a woman fears she's hallucinating -- but is she? A detective makes use of an unusual witness. A woman escapes her coffin for a final farewell. A real estate agent discovers why her best model home is scaring away customers. Is a cache of confederate gold really haunted? Often strange, sometimes startling, always unpredictable, these stories and more await you in Malicious Intent.
Malicroix (Folio Series)
by Henri BoscoFans of the style of William Faulkner will want to read Henri Bosco, four-time nominee for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Available in English for the first time, Malicroix tells the story of a recluse living in the French countryside, unraveling how he came to a life of solitude.Henri Bosco, like his contemporary Jean Giono, is one of the regional masters of modern French literature, a writer who dwells above all on the grandeur, beauty, and ferocious unpredictability of the natural world. Malicroix, set in the early nineteenth century, is widely considered to be Bosco&’s greatest book. Here he invests a classic coming-of-age story with a wild, mythic glamour. A nice young man, of stolidly unimaginative, good bourgeois stock, is surprised to inherit a house on an island in the Rhône, in the famously desolate and untamed region of the Camargue. The terms of his great-uncle&’s will are even more surprising: the young man must take up solitary residence in the house for a full three months before he will be permitted to take possession of it. With only a taciturn shepherd and his dog for occasional company, he finds himself surrounded by the huge and turbulent river (always threatening to flood the island and surrounding countryside) and the wind, battering at his all-too-fragile house, shrieking from on high. And there is another condition of the will, a challenging task he must perform, even as others scheme to make his house their own. Only under threat can the young man come to terms with both his strange inheritance and himself.
Malorie: A Bird Box Novel
by Josh MalermanIn the thrilling sequel to Bird Box, the inspiration for the record-breaking Netflix film that starred Sandra Bullock and &“absolutely riveted&” Stephen King, New York Times bestselling author Josh Malerman brings unseen horrors to life. &“This sequel is as tense and harrowing as the original, with a new depth that raises the stakes.&”—Riley Sager, author of Lock Every DoorTwelve years after Malorie and her children rowed up the river to safety, a blindfold is still the only thing that stands between sanity and madness. One glimpse of the creatures that stalk the world will drive a person to unspeakable violence.There remains no explanation. No solution.All Malorie can do is survive—and impart her fierce will to do so on her children. Don&’t get lazy, she tells them. Don&’t take off your blindfold. AND DON&’T LOOK.But then comes what feels like impossible news. And with it, the first time Malorie has allowed herself to hope.Someone very dear to her, someone she believed dead, may be alive.Malorie has already lost so much: her sister, a house full of people who meant everything, and any chance at an ordinary life. But getting her life back means returning to a world full of unknowable horrors—and risking the lives of her children again.Because the creatures are not the only thing Malorie fears: There are the people who claim to have caught and experimented on the creatures. Murmerings of monstrous inventions and dangerous new ideas. And rumors that the creatures themselves have changed into something even more frightening.Malorie has a harrowing choice to make: to live by the rules of survival that have served her so well, or to venture into the darkness and reach for hope once more.
Malum. Soul Ravager 3 (Soul Ravager #3)
by Cesarino Bellini ArtioliThe odyssey of Lord Samuel Kainz continues. Hunted by Death, cursed by life, forged by ambition, he knows neither surrender nor defeat. He has no qualms about annihilating anyone or anything that stands between him and his goal. The fate that awaits him is to cancel himself in the oblivion of the afterlife, like all living beings on this earth, but the same will that saved him will lead him far beyond human possibilities. He will sacrifice his life in search of ascension, towards that power that allows him to challenge God and his Horsemen. This will and strength will lead him to the Apotheosis or to the most enormous and ruinous defeat. The time to flee and hide is over, the time has come to make known what a man is capable of who is armed with a strong will and limitless arrogance.
Mamba Point
by Kurtis ScalettaAfter moving with his family to Liberia, twelve-year-old Linus discovers that he has a mystical connection with the black mamba, one of the deadliest snakes in Africa, which he is told will give him some of the snake's characteristics. Includes note by the author about his experiences as a thirteen-year-old American living in Liberia in 1982.
Mammon
by Michael HagueMichael Hague is an American illustrator and writer, primarily of children's fantasy books. He has illustrated such classics such as The Wind in the Willows, The Wizard of Oz, The Hobbit and the stories of Hans Christian Andersen. He is renowned for the intricate and realistic detail he brings to his work, and the rich colors he chooses. A horrifyingly beautiful vampire story, this lavishly illustrated adventure starts on the streets of 1920s London and ends at the gates of Hell.A horrifyingly beautiful vampire story, this lavishly illustrated adventure starts on the streets of 1920s London and ends at the gates of Hell. Writer Jonathan Meeks is captivated by the story of Dracula. On a quest for immortality, to discover if there is truth at the heart of the vampire myth, Meeks discovers there is far more truth in fiction.
Mammoth Books presents A Clutch of Zombies: Four Stories by Scott Edelman, Joe R. Lansdale, Albert E. Cowdrey and Karina Sumner Smith
by Joe R. Lansdale Albert E. Cowdrey Karina Sumner SmithIn this grizzly anthology of the undead, four fascinatingly horrid dystopian universes are described, with zombies taking centre stage.Included are:What Will Come After - Scott EdelmanIn this most personal of zombie stories, the author imagines himself as the protagonist, looking ahead to what would happen after his own death . . . and rebirth. Christmas with the Dead - Joe R. LansdaleThe ultimate in holiday horror stories.Fort Clay, Louisiana: A Tragical History - Albert E. CowdreyWhen a young photographer welcomes an elderly man to her house to see the book she has published about a long-deserted 19th century military fort on the Mississippi, watery southern horrors emerge from the past.When the Zombies Win - Karina Sumner-SmithThe ultimate in dystopian what-ifs, Karina Sumner-Smith's story is set after the zombie apocalypse has reached its zenith. When there's no one left to infect, where do the zombies turn?
Mammoth Books presents A Clutch of Zombies: Four Stories by Scott Edelman, Joe R. Lansdale, Albert E. Cowdrey and Karina Sumner Smith (Mammoth Books #226)
by Joe R. Lansdale Albert E. Cowdrey Karina Sumner Smith Scott EldermanIn this grizzly anthology of the undead, four fascinatingly horrid dystopian universes are described, with zombies taking centre stage.Included are:What Will Come After - Scott EdelmanIn this most personal of zombie stories, the author imagines himself as the protagonist, looking ahead to what would happen after his own death . . . and rebirth. Christmas with the Dead - Joe R. LansdaleThe ultimate in holiday horror stories.Fort Clay, Louisiana: A Tragical History - Albert E. CowdreyWhen a young photographer welcomes an elderly man to her house to see the book she has published about a long-deserted 19th century military fort on the Mississippi, watery southern horrors emerge from the past.When the Zombies Win - Karina Sumner-SmithThe ultimate in dystopian what-ifs, Karina Sumner-Smith's story is set after the zombie apocalypse has reached its zenith. When there's no one left to infect, where do the zombies turn?
Mammoth Books presents A Ghostly Gathering: Four Stories by Thana Niveau, Mark Morris, Angela Slatter and Ramsey Campbell
by Ramsey Campbell Mark Morris Angela SlatterThe Pier - Thana Niveau"The pier exists," explains Thana Niveau, "and yes, it is decorated with strange plaques and cryptic memorials, although none are quite as morbid as I've invented."It's mostly Clevedon Pier, which is where the story was born. I was reading the plaques one day and a couple of the quirkier ones made me wonder. What if they weren't written by the living to remember the dead at all, but were instead a channel for voices from somewhere else?"Somerset is the original Wicker Man country, after all. It's a place rich in pagan tradition and many of its strange rituals are lost to time. Or are they?"Fallen Boys - Mark Morris"Porthellion Quay, which features in this story, is a real place - only the name is different," says Morris. "My family and I spent a lovely, sunny day there one summer a few years ago during a Cornish holiday."I love Cornwall not only because it's breathtakingly beautiful, but also because it is wild and rugged and desolate, and because past echoes and ancient legends seem to seep out of the very rock. It's a landscape which lends itself perfectly to the kinds of ghost stories I love, of which it seems there are far too few these days - stories which are not cosy and comforting and familiar, but which are dark and insidious, and evoke a crawling sense of dread."Lavender and Lychgates - Angela Slatter"'Lavender and Lychgates' is the second last story in Sourdough and Other Stories," recalls Slatter. "I had ideas I wanted to continue to explore - consequences of actions in an earlier story in the collection - and I had a picture in my head of a young girl in a graveyard."Many years ago, a friend had told me a garbled tale of lilacs and lychgates, the details of which I cannot remember. I managed to garble it even more, and I couldn't get the words 'lavender and lychgates' out of my head, nor the image of shadows swirling in the apex of a lychgate roof above the heads of people passing out underneath. I also wondered what happens when you hang onto a memory too tightly."With the Angels - Ramsey Campbell"My fellow clansman Paul Campbell will remember the birth of this tale," he reveals. "At the Dead Dog party after the 2010 World Horror Convention in Brighton, someone was throwing a delighted toddler into the air. I was ambushed by an idea and had to apologise to Paul for rushing away to my room to scribble notes. The result is here."
Mammoth Books presents A Ghostly Gathering: Four Stories by Thana Niveau, Mark Morris, Angela Slatter and Ramsey Campbell (Mammoth Books #203)
by Ramsey Campbell Mark Morris Angela Slatter Thana NiveauThe Pier - Thana Niveau"The pier exists," explains Thana Niveau, "and yes, it is decorated with strange plaques and cryptic memorials, although none are quite as morbid as I've invented."It's mostly Clevedon Pier, which is where the story was born. I was reading the plaques one day and a couple of the quirkier ones made me wonder. What if they weren't written by the living to remember the dead at all, but were instead a channel for voices from somewhere else?"Somerset is the original Wicker Man country, after all. It's a place rich in pagan tradition and many of its strange rituals are lost to time. Or are they?"Fallen Boys - Mark Morris"Porthellion Quay, which features in this story, is a real place - only the name is different," says Morris. "My family and I spent a lovely, sunny day there one summer a few years ago during a Cornish holiday."I love Cornwall not only because it's breathtakingly beautiful, but also because it is wild and rugged and desolate, and because past echoes and ancient legends seem to seep out of the very rock. It's a landscape which lends itself perfectly to the kinds of ghost stories I love, of which it seems there are far too few these days - stories which are not cosy and comforting and familiar, but which are dark and insidious, and evoke a crawling sense of dread."Lavender and Lychgates - Angela Slatter"'Lavender and Lychgates' is the second last story in Sourdough and Other Stories," recalls Slatter. "I had ideas I wanted to continue to explore - consequences of actions in an earlier story in the collection - and I had a picture in my head of a young girl in a graveyard."Many years ago, a friend had told me a garbled tale of lilacs and lychgates, the details of which I cannot remember. I managed to garble it even more, and I couldn't get the words 'lavender and lychgates' out of my head, nor the image of shadows swirling in the apex of a lychgate roof above the heads of people passing out underneath. I also wondered what happens when you hang onto a memory too tightly."With the Angels - Ramsey Campbell"My fellow clansman Paul Campbell will remember the birth of this tale," he reveals. "At the Dead Dog party after the 2010 World Horror Convention in Brighton, someone was throwing a delighted toddler into the air. I was ambushed by an idea and had to apologise to Paul for rushing away to my room to scribble notes. The result is here."
Mammoth Books presents Christmas with the Dead
by Joe R. Lansdale"I wrote 'Christmas with the Dead' simply because I wanted to write a holiday horror story," Lansdale admits. "This was the result."
Mammoth Books presents Christmas with the Dead (Mammoth Books #415)
by Joe R. LansdaleI wrote 'Christmas with the Dead' simply because I wanted to write a holiday horror story," Lansdale admits. "This was the result.
Mammoth Books presents Cold to the Touch
by Simon Strantzas"Stories often find their origins in unexpected ways," Strantzas reveals. "I was inspired in this case by a photograph of a Zen garden I once used as my computer's desktop background. After staring at it day-in and day-out while I worked, I began to wonder about that dark circle of rocks and just what its true purpose might be. "There was something there in the coldness of the photograph, something that brought to mind the barren vistas of the Canadian Arctic, which ended up being the perfect setting for my tale of tested faith."
Mammoth Books presents Cold to the Touch (Mammoth Books #436)
by Simon StrantzasStories often find their origins in unexpected ways," Strantzas reveals. "I was inspired in this case by a photograph of a Zen garden I once used as my computer's desktop background. After staring at it day-in and day-out while I worked, I began to wonder about that dark circle of rocks and just what its true purpose might be. "There was something there in the coldness of the photograph, something that brought to mind the barren vistas of the Canadian Arctic, which ended up being the perfect setting for my tale of tested faith.
Mammoth Books presents Demonic Dreams: Three Stories by Christopher Fowler, Robert Shearman and Norman Partridge
by Christopher Fowler Norman Partridge Robert ShearmanOh I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside - Christopher FowlerChristopher Fowler explains "'. . . Seaside' came about firstly because I was commissioned to write a story for the World Horror Convention souvenir book and, as the event was to take place in Brighton, it seemed logical to set a tale on the South coast of England."I had written a fantasy novel, Calabash, some years earlier, hinting at the dark madness of such seaside towns, which are the antithesis of their Mediterranean counterparts. I thought of the depressing Morrissey song "Every Day is Like Sunday", which captures the awfulness of English resorts."Coincidentally, Kim Newman and I were discussing the inherent creepiness of pantomime dames, and I decided it was time to give vent to my horror of these coastal pleasure domes. I wish I'd thought to include screaming gangs of hen-nighters as well. And I thought it was a nice touch to have everyone in the story telling the hero to 'fuck off' until he finally does."Featherweight - Robert Shearman"I don't like writing at home much," admits the author. "Home is a place for sleeping and eating and watching afternoon game shows on TV. There are too many distractions. So, years ago, I decided I'd only write first drafts in art galleries."And the best of them all is the National Gallery, in London, a pigeon's throw from Nelson's Column. I can walk around there with my notebook, thinking up stories - and if I get bored, there are lots of expensive pictures to look at. Perfect."A lot of those paintings, however, have angels in them. They're all over the place, wings raised, halos gleaming - perching on clouds, blowing trumpets, hovering around the Virgin Mary as if they're her strange naked childlike bodyguards. And I began to notice. That, whenever the writing is going well, the angels seemed happy, and would smile at me. And whenever the words weren't coming out right, when I felt sluggish, when I thought I'd rather take off and get myself a beer, they'd start to glare."I wrote this story in the National Gallery. Accompanied by a lot of glaring angels. Enjoy."Lesser Demons - Norman Partridge"I was surprised to receive an invitation for S.T. Joshi's Black Wings," reveals Partridge, "an anthology of Lovecraftian fiction. Although I knew S.T. admired my work, I've never quite seen myself as a Mythos writer."While I respect H.P. Lovecraft and his contribution to horror, I've never felt that his worldview (or maybe I should say universeview) meshed with mine."In the end, that's what made the story work . . . at least for me. I concentrated on my differences with Lovecraft, and approached the material from a place where Jim Thompson would be more comfortable than HPL. And I'm delighted that so many people have enjoyed the tale - it was a lot of fun to write."
Mammoth Books presents Demonic Dreams: Three Stories by Christopher Fowler, Robert Shearman and Norman Partridge (Mammoth Books #261)
by Christopher Fowler Norman Partridge Robert ShearmanOh I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside - Christopher FowlerChristopher Fowler explains "'. . . Seaside' came about firstly because I was commissioned to write a story for the World Horror Convention souvenir book and, as the event was to take place in Brighton, it seemed logical to set a tale on the South coast of England."I had written a fantasy novel, Calabash, some years earlier, hinting at the dark madness of such seaside towns, which are the antithesis of their Mediterranean counterparts. I thought of the depressing Morrissey song "Every Day is Like Sunday", which captures the awfulness of English resorts."Coincidentally, Kim Newman and I were discussing the inherent creepiness of pantomime dames, and I decided it was time to give vent to my horror of these coastal pleasure domes. I wish I'd thought to include screaming gangs of hen-nighters as well. And I thought it was a nice touch to have everyone in the story telling the hero to 'fuck off' until he finally does."Featherweight - Robert Shearman"I don't like writing at home much," admits the author. "Home is a place for sleeping and eating and watching afternoon game shows on TV. There are too many distractions. So, years ago, I decided I'd only write first drafts in art galleries."And the best of them all is the National Gallery, in London, a pigeon's throw from Nelson's Column. I can walk around there with my notebook, thinking up stories - and if I get bored, there are lots of expensive pictures to look at. Perfect."A lot of those paintings, however, have angels in them. They're all over the place, wings raised, halos gleaming - perching on clouds, blowing trumpets, hovering around the Virgin Mary as if they're her strange naked childlike bodyguards. And I began to notice. That, whenever the writing is going well, the angels seemed happy, and would smile at me. And whenever the words weren't coming out right, when I felt sluggish, when I thought I'd rather take off and get myself a beer, they'd start to glare."I wrote this story in the National Gallery. Accompanied by a lot of glaring angels. Enjoy."Lesser Demons - Norman Partridge"I was surprised to receive an invitation for S.T. Joshi's Black Wings," reveals Partridge, "an anthology of Lovecraftian fiction. Although I knew S.T. admired my work, I've never quite seen myself as a Mythos writer."While I respect H.P. Lovecraft and his contribution to horror, I've never felt that his worldview (or maybe I should say universeview) meshed with mine."In the end, that's what made the story work . . . at least for me. I concentrated on my differences with Lovecraft, and approached the material from a place where Jim Thompson would be more comfortable than HPL. And I'm delighted that so many people have enjoyed the tale - it was a lot of fun to write."
Mammoth Books presents Featherweight
by Robert ShearmanI don't like writing at home much," admits Shearman. "Home is a place for sleeping and eating and watching afternoon game shows on TV. There are too many distractions. So, years ago, I decided I'd only write first drafts in art galleries."And the best of them all is the National Gallery, in London, a pigeon's throw from Nelson's Column. I can walk around there with my notebook, thinking up stories - and if I get bored, there are lots of expensive pictures to look at. Perfect."A lot of those paintings, however, have angels in them. They're all over the place, wings raised, halos gleaming - perching on clouds, blowing trumpets, hovering around the Virgin Mary as if they're her strange naked childlike bodyguards. And I began to notice. That, whenever the writing is going well, the angels seemed happy, and would smile at me. And whenever the words weren't coming out right, when I felt sluggish, when I thought I'd rather take off and get myself a beer, they'd start to glare."I wrote this story in the National Gallery. Accompanied by a lot of glaring angels. Enjoy.
Mammoth Books presents Featherweight (Mammoth Books #427)
by Robert ShearmanI don't like writing at home much," admits Shearman. "Home is a place for sleeping and eating and watching afternoon game shows on TV. There are too many distractions. So, years ago, I decided I'd only write first drafts in art galleries."And the best of them all is the National Gallery, in London, a pigeon's throw from Nelson's Column. I can walk around there with my notebook, thinking up stories - and if I get bored, there are lots of expensive pictures to look at. Perfect."A lot of those paintings, however, have angels in them. They're all over the place, wings raised, halos gleaming - perching on clouds, blowing trumpets, hovering around the Virgin Mary as if they're her strange naked childlike bodyguards. And I began to notice. That, whenever the writing is going well, the angels seemed happy, and would smile at me. And whenever the words weren't coming out right, when I felt sluggish, when I thought I'd rather take off and get myself a beer, they'd start to glare."I wrote this story in the National Gallery. Accompanied by a lot of glaring angels. Enjoy.