Author Archives: Big Bearded Bookseller

Epitaphs from the Abyss

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Brian Azzarello, and others. Oni Press. (128p) ISBN: 9781637157534. Horror, Graphic Novel, Netgalley, read 18/01/25, Electronic Format ★★★★★

Epitaphs from the Abyss

Epitaphs from the Abyss

I’ve always loved these anthology type horror (and sci-fi) comics, they are so ripe for playfulness and experimentation. Or just running with the classic tropes and enjoying themselves.

and I’ve got to say Epitaphs has really embraced the second of these with a great breadth of sub-genre works.

I really was just in the mood for this anthology coming off a binge read of a single author it was nice to read a nice mix from different authors with all the great artists joining in.

Each of the four volumes are introduced by the Grave-Digger (Crypt Keeper, et al) with pithy asides relating to each story in the volume.

For me there wasn’t a weak story in this anthology, though some were stronger than others, they all hit the mark. Whether that was humorous and a wee bit gross (US vs US), the dark home invasion (Family Values), fun zombie (Gray Green Memories), or Hillbilly fun (Dead From Exposure) I was kept rapt throughout and once more finished this in a single sitting.

I loved the how the anthology used so many different artists, it is always good to see such a varied collection of art styles and I’ve now got a little list of artists to look out for 😉.

I received this from Oni Press and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Dune Saga

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Dune, the best cover

Dune, the best cover

In memory of David Lynch I think I’ll read the whole of the Dune universe for the first time, and read it in chronological order, all the short stories, novellas, and expanded universe.

I’ve been reading the original saga since the late 70s and it was one of the first series of books that I remember being excited about a new addition coming out, but I’ve always avoided reading any of the books outside of Frank Herbert’s original six just in case I was disappointed and it spoiled the whole ‘universe’, but now I feel I should really give them a go to round out everything.

I’ve always had a soft spot for the David Lynch film no matter what other people say, and no matter how much it diverted from the source material. It was visually stunning for the time and I’m going to watch that again this evening, and will probably watch all the Dune TV and film output as well as read the books.

There is an article on Tor.com called ‘Where to Start with the Dune Universe‘ and I’m going to follow the chronological reading order they recommend, and to this end have just got myself a copy of ‘The Road to Dune’ that has a lot of the early short stories in it.

I’ll give a really brief review of each story/book as I read them so you’ll see this post pop to the top of the blog occasionally as I read another part of the saga.

  • “Hunting Harkonnens” (story, The Road to Dune / Tales of Dune)
  • Dune: The Butlerian Jihad
  • “Whipping Mek” (story, The Road to Dune)
  • Dune: The Machine Crusade
  • “The Faces of a Martyr” (story, The Road to Dune)
  • Dune: The Battle of Corrin
  • Sisterhood of Dune
  • Mentats of Dune
  • “Red Plague” (story, Tales of Dune)
  • Navigators of Dune
  • “Imperial Court” (included in Sands of Dune)
  • Edge of a Crysknife” (included in Sands of Dune)
  • Dune: House Atreides
  • Dune: House Harkonnen
  • “Blood and Water” (standalone excerpt from House Harkonnen)
  • Dune: House Corrino
  • Fremen Justice” (also published as “Nighttime Shadows of Open Sand”, standalone excerpt from House Corrino)
  • “Wedding Silk” (story, Tales of Dune)
  • Princess of Dune
  • The Duke of Caladan
  • The Lady of Caladan
  • The Heir of Caladan
  • Dune
  • “A Whisper of Caladan Seas” (story, The Road to Dune)
  • “Blood of the Sardukar” (included in Sands of Dune)
  • “The Waters of Kanly” (story, Infinite Stars)
  • Paul of Dune
  • Dune Messiah
  • The Winds of Dune
  • Children of Dune
  • God Emperor of Dune
  • Heretics of Dune
  • Chapter House Dune
  • “Sea Child” (story, Tales of Dune)
  • “Treasure in the Sand” (story, Tales of Dune)
  • Hunters of Dune
  • Sandworms of Dune

 

  • The Road to Dune
  • Tales of Dune
  • Dreamer of Dune [biography of Frank Herbert]
  • The Dune Encyclopedia [hard to get]

Sour Cherry and Pistachio Biscotti

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Sour Cherry and Pistachio Biscotti

Sour Cherry and Pistachio Biscotti

  • 100g pistachio
  • 50g sour cherries
  • 250g caster sugar
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds (optional but not really 😉)
  • Grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
  • 250g plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp fine salt
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • Icing sugar or flour, to dust

This is the perfect recipe to make on a bumbling Sunday morning, just gradually get everything ready in separate bowls before heating the oven to 200C/400F/gas mark six. Spread the nuts out on a baking tray and bake for about seven minutes. Allow to cool a little, then roughly chop.

Meanwhile, put 1 tbsp of the sugar in a mortar with the fennel seeds (if using) and bruise them together. Stir this, along with the zest, into the remaining sugar (if you’re not using the seeds, skip this step). Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.

Mix the sugar with the flour, baking powder and salt, then stir in the eggs, followed by the almonds. Bring it all together into a dough.

Dust a work surface lightly with icing sugar or flour, then divide the dough into two. Roll into sausages about 5cm in diameter, then arrange well apart on the tray and flatten slightly. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and firm on the outside. Remove from the oven and leave to cool a little, reducing the heat to 150C.

Transfer to a chopping board and, using a bread knife, cut into diagonal slices about 1cm wide. Lay the slices on the baking tray and bake for a further 20-25 minutes, or until golden, then turn over and repeat (they’ll probably need less time on the other side). Allow to cool, then store in an airtight container, the more they are packed in the longer they’ll last.

Palace Hub Gallery, Redcar

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Blue Redcar Morning

Blue Redcar Morning

After a lot of thought I finally decided to submit some of my photographic work to the Palace Hub Gallery in Redcar to see if I could get some exhibited.

The series was photographs of Redcar beach on a wintery dawn, which gave a really lovely blue cast to the sky.

I had three accepted for the group exhibition 🙂

This really meant I had to get more work done on my website in preparation for these being shown, and to keep moving forward with my practice (which I didn’t of course)

Annoyingly though I had forgotten that there was also an alternative process exhibition which I could have submitted Cyanotype images into.

(this show was in 2015)

Books of 2025

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Books of 2025

Books of 2025

Well it’s that time to set up a ‘What I’ve Read This Year’ page, this is where I keep track of what I’ve read in a year and make a list that includes links to the reviews.

I am sort of using StoryGraph to track owned and read books, but I still like this page as it is so satisfying.

This year sees me going on a more horror/folklore oriented kick, so slasher, fungal, ghost stories, mythology, witchy things, and much more – both fiction and non-fiction and for all age groups.

As always I don’t review three star reads or below.

  1. A Ride Across America (05/06/25) ★★★☆☆
  2. The World’s Worst Alien (02/06/25) ★★★☆☆
  3. Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master (28/05/25) ★★★★☆
  4. Ionheart (21/05/25) ★★★★☆
  5. Slow Trains Around Britain (20/05/25) ★★★☆☆
  6. The Little Book of Trolls (17/05/25) ★★★☆☆
  7. Little Visitors & Other Abductions (16/05/25) ★★★★☆
  8. Mayowa and the Sea of Words (14/05/25) ★★★★☆
  9. Art Work: On the Creative Life (10/05/25) ★★★★☆
  10. Reframing Women Printmakers (08/05/25) ★★★☆☆
  11. Uncredited (02/05/25) ★★★☆☆
  12. Blueprint to Cyanotype (27/04/25) ★★★☆☆
  13. Have You Ever Wondered What You Will Be? (26/04/25) ★★★☆☆
  14. The War of the Maps (The Vanished Kingdom Book 3) (26/04/25) ★★★☆☆
  15. A Bear Belongs (26/04/25) ★★★☆☆
  16. Land of the Last Wildcat (25/04/25) ★★★☆☆
  17. Skin Police Volume 1 (23/04/25) ★★★★☆
  18. The Secret Romantic’s Book of Magic (23/04/25) ★★★★★
  19. Meat Eaters (22/04/25) ★★★★★
  20. Don McCullin (19/04/25) ★★★☆☆
  21. Bite Risk: Cold Blood (18/04/25) ★★★★☆
  22. A Box Full of Murders (17/04/25) ★★★★☆
  23. There Is No Giant In This Story (17/04/25) ★★★★☆
  24. The Biggest Dog In The Book (17/04/25) ★★★★★
  25. The Fib (14/04/25) ★★★★☆
  26. EC Cruel Universe (13/04/25) ★★★★☆
  27. When I Arrived at the Castle (13/04/25) ★★★☆☆
  28. Kick the Latch (13/04/25) ★★★★☆
  29. Failed Summer Vacation (11/04/25) ★★★★☆
  30. Basil Dreams Big (10/04/25) ★★★★★
  31. How To Be A Viking (09/04/25) ★★★★☆
  32. Riverskin (09/04/25) ★★★☆☆
  33. The Cat Bride (08/04/25) ★★★☆☆
  34. Fishfolk (07/04/25) ★★★☆☆
  35. Where is the Cat? (07/04/25) ★★★★☆
  36. MrBallen Presents: Strange, Dark & Mysterious (05/04/25) ★★★☆☆
  37. Wolf Siren (05/04/25) ★★★★★
  38. Ghost Town (02/04/25) ★★★★☆
  39. North American Lake Monsters (02/04/25) ★★★☆☆
  40. A Wizard of Earthsea: A Graphic Novel (01/04/25) ★★★★★
  41. Coven (01/04/25) ★★☆☆☆
  42. Heavy Metal Badger (31/03/25) ★★★★☆
  43. The Girl Who Sold Time (30/03/25) ★★★★☆
  44. Emerald and the Sea Sprites (30/03/25) ★★★☆☆
  45. England: A Natural History (29/03/25) ★★★☆☆
  46. Sometimes I Just WON’T (28/03/25) ★★★★☆
  47. Hank Goes Honk (28/03/25) ★★★★☆
  48. The Café at the Edge of the Woods (26/03/25) ★★★★☆
  49. Outsider Art (26/03/25) ★★★☆☆
  50. The Lost Sunday (23/03/25) ★★★★★
  51. The Hotel (23/02/25) ★★★★★
  52. Shadowlands (23/03/05) ★★★☆☆
  53. Cloud Boy (22/03/25) ★★★★☆
  54. The Madman’s Guide to Stamp Collecting (22/03/25) ★★★☆☆
  55. Where Did She Go? (20/03/25) ★★★★☆
  56. Buzz Sausage Wolf (20/03/25) ★★★★☆
  57. The Godfathers of Horror Films (18/03/25) ★★★★☆
  58. Incidents Around The House (17/03/25) ★☆☆☆☆
  59. Serial Chillers: The Witch in the Wood (16/03/25) ★★★★★
  60. Uprooted (13/03/25) ★★☆☆☆
  61. Herbal Chronicles (12/03/25) ★★★★☆
  62. The Salt Grows Heavy (11/03/25) ★★★★★
  63. The Butcher of the Forest (09/03/25) ★★★★☆
  64. Idle Grounds (06/03/25) ★★☆☆☆
  65. This Place Kills Me (05/03/25) ★★★★☆
  66. Strange Tales From Japan (05/03/25) ★★★★☆
  67. It Came From The Multiplex (03/03/25) ★★★★★
  68. Snails of the Unexpected (01/03/25) ★★★★☆
  69. They Bloom at Night (01/03/25) ★★★☆☆
  70. Grumpfort (28/02/25) ★★★★☆
  71. Aliens Love Underpants (27/02/25) ★★★★☆
  72. The Biggest Breakfast (27/02/25) ★★★★☆
  73. Faithbreaker (26/02/25) ★★★★★
  74. The Many Hauntings of the Manning Family (9/02/25) ★★★★☆
  75. I Know What UFO Did Last Summer (16/02/25) ★★★★☆
  76. After (12/02/25) ★★★★☆
  77. Monsterland (12/02/25) ★★★★★
  78. The Invitation (11/02/25) ★★★☆☆
  79. The Freak (11/02/25) ★★★☆☆
  80. The Green Kingdom (07/02/25) ★★★☆☆
  81. How to Be Avant-Garde (06/02/25) ★★★★☆
  82. Read This If You Want To Take Great Photographs (04/02/25) ★★★★☆
  83. Scuttler’s Cove (31/01/25) ★★★★☆
  84. The Power of Words (31/01/25) ★★★☆☆
  85. Wild Card (22/01/25) ★★★★☆
  86. Withered Hill (22/01/25) ★★★★★
  87. Epitaphs from the Abyss (18/01/25) ★★★★★
  88. Man’s War Against Nature (17/01/25) ★★★☆☆
  89. The Democracy of Species (13/01/25) ★★★☆☆
  90. Tales From the Folly (12/01/25) ★★★☆☆
  91. Stray Cat Blues (12/01/25) ★★★☆☆
  92. Here Be Dragons (12/01/25) ★★★☆☆
  93. Deadly Ever After (12/01/25) ★★★☆☆
  94. Monday, Monday (12/01/25) ★★★☆☆
  95. Amongst Our Weapons (11/01/25) ★★★★★
  96. False Value (08/01/25) ★★★★☆
  97. Joker: DC Compact Comics Edition (07/01/25) ★★★☆☆
  98. The Casebook of Carnacki The Ghost Finder (06/01/25) ★★★☆☆
  99. The October Man (04/01/25) ★★★★☆
  100. Sick Houses (03/01/25) ★★★★☆
  101. Nothing But Blackened Teeth (02/01/25) ★★★★☆

Drawn to the Dungeons

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Drawn to the Dungeons

Drawn to the Dungeons

It’s funny, I was almost out, very nearly gone, I was in the process of listing the books to sell them on Ebay and I suddenly remembered 3.5 and don’t want that to happen to me again.

This time I’m going to keep the books so that at least I’ve one full edition of D&D to play if need be, and the plan is to start playing once more on a Sunday night at a local games club I’ve found, which meets just down the road!

Therefore I thought I’d make a checklist to remind myself of what I still need to get.

Core Rule Books

  • Player’s Handbook (2014)
  • Dungeon Master’s Guide (2014)
  • Monster Manual (2014)
  • Player’s Handbook (2024)
  • Dungeon Master’s Guide (2024)
  • Monster Manual (2024)

Supplements

  • Volo’s Guide to Monsters
  • Xanathar’s Guide to Everything
  • Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes
  • Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything
  • Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons
  • Monsters of the Multiverse
  • Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
  • The Book of Many Things

Campaign Settings

  • Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide
  • Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica
  • Acquisitions Incorporated
  • Eberron: Rising from the Last War
  • Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount
  • Mythic Odysseys of Theros
  • Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
  • Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos
  • Spelljammer: Adventures in Space
  • Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse

Adventures

  • Hoard of the Dragon Queen
  • The Rise of Tiamat
  • Princes of the Apocalypse
  • Out of the Abyss
  • Curse of Strahd
  • Storm King’s Thunder
  • Tales from the Yawning Portal
  • Tomb of Annihilation
  • Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
  • Waterdeep: Dungeon of the Mad Mage
  • Stranger Things: The Hunt for Thessalhydra
  • Ghosts of Saltmarsh
  • Essentials Kit
  • Baldurs Gate: Descent into Avernus
  • Dungeons & Dragons vs Rick and Morty
  • Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden
  • Candlekeep Mysteries
  • Wild Beyond the Witchlight
  • Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep
  • Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel
  • Starter Set: Dragons of Stormwreck Isle
  • Dragonlance: Shadow of the Dragon Queen
  • Tyranny of Dragons Re-release
  • Keys from the Golden Vault
  • Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk
  • Vecna: Eve of Ruin
  • Quests from the Infinite Staircase
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