This is Wyrd Britain's 11th year and I'd like to thank everyone who has supported the blog; the publishers, the authors, the labels, the musicians and most of all the readers.
I always intended Wyrd Britain to be a celebration of the strange, the dark, the eccentric, the unique, the experimental and the weird and I'm always humbled that so many people want to celebrate it with me.
So here's wishing you all a peaceful, joyous, creative and, most crucially, a wyrd and wonderful 2026.
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Tom Shift and Oliver Keele are pen-pals. They were introduced through their respective cancer clinics. From reading Oliver's letters, To.m has deduced that Oliver is lonely and somewhat nomadic. He appears to live hand to mouth at a series of cheap B&Bs.When Oliver suggests they meet up, Tom agrees. Neither of them have long left. And, while Saltwash seems an unlikely kind of place for a holiday, he goes with it. The Castle Hotel is one of the few places still open in an off-season seaside town that has definitely seen better days but it's surprisingly busy. It becomes clear that the guests are all there for some kind of reunion, and that they know Oliver.
This was an odd little read, and I can't decide if it worked for me or not.
Essentially, this is a book length riff on Shirley Jackson's brilliant short story, 'The Lottery' but in Hurley's version 'Tom Swift', a regretful man coming to the end of his life thanks to a tumor deep in his brain, is invited to a meet up at a dilapadated hotel in the northern seaside town of the title. One there,instead of 'Oliver',the enigmatic penpal he expected, he finds himself amidst a strange assortment of individuals all inexplicably excited for thhe nigt ahead.
Hurley's a delightful writer, the story is populated with real, flawed, interesting people and the tale unfolds gently and with compassion, but in it's conclusion it all, for me at least, fell a little flat. It's an ending that makes sense but was less of one than I hoped for.
If you enjoy what we do here on Wyrd Britain and would like to help us continue then we would very much welcome a donation towards keeping the blog going - paypal.me/wyrdbritain
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If you enjoy what we do here on Wyrd Britain and would like to help us continue then we would very much welcome a donation towards keeping the blog going - paypal.me/wyrdbritain
Affiliate links are provided for your convenience and to help mitigate running costs.
Today, December 11th 2025 would have been the 97th birthday of artist and puppet maker, Peter Firmin.
Firmin, along with his friend, Oliver Postgate, composers and musicians like Vernon Elliott, Sandra Kerr and John Faulkner and various family members created some of the most enduring and endearing childrens televison programmes from a cowshed at Firmin's home. Firmin and Postgate through their production company Smallfilms created shows like Ivor the Engine, Noggin the Nog, Pogles' Wood,Clangers & Bagpuss, shows that remained embedded in the popular imagination - entire generations can still imitate the Clanger's swanee whistle speech, Bagpuss' yawn or the sound of Ivor's engine.
Peter Firmin sadly passed in 2018 - Oliver Postage, a decade before in 2008 - but their creations live on. The video below documents Firmin's receipt of the BAFTA Children's Special Award 2014 and includes a lovely little behind the scenes film of both creators as well as Firmin's speech - where we get to find out how much his daughter Emily was paid for her appearence in Bagpuss.
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Coming in January from Sarob Press is a new 4 author collection called 'Votive Offerings'
From the mail out...
Four ‘all new’ long stories (or novelettes) imbued with the mystery and otherworldliness of place and of landscape – strange, secret, mystical and ancient.
In “Roman Masks” by Mark Valentine art college teachers and their students in north west England invoke, through strange ritual, ancient gods and terrible dark forces at a coastal temple ruin.
John Howard’s weirdly enigmatic “Desire Path” takes the unwary reader along pathways long forgotten and thought lost ~ but what if you could walk along ways that no longer exist?
“Figures in a Landscape” by Peter Bell finds its heroine seeking a lost (or possibly mythic) Welsh hill figure and discovering the seemingly harmless to be anything but.
Colin Insole’s “The April Rainers” is a tale of the re-emergence of something old, powerful and malevolent, and the story of the centuries-old fellowship pledged to protect the land and keep it safe from the terror.
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In 1973, a year after his curiosity was warned as 'Mr Paxton', Peter Vaughan had another ghostly encounter as 'Steven Royds' in this lovely little spooky two-hander based on stories by A.M. Burrage (Nobody's House) and Ambrose Bierce (The Middle Toe of the Right Foot).
Royds arrives at the Harboys house late one night and begs admittance from the housekeeper, Mrs Park (Rosalie Crutchley - The Haunting), claiming he's there to tour the house with a view to buying. Having some knowledge of the events that had left to house empty for the previous two decades he subsequently demands to spend the night in the haunted master bedroom.
This lovely little gothic, haunted house short film is very much in the classic Ghost Story for Christmas tradition. It looks stunning, sounds great and is beautifully performed by Vaughan and Crutchley and is deserving of a much greater audience.
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Originally published in 2018, by Zagava 'The Uncertainty of All Earthly Things' is a collection of short stories by Wyrd Britain favourite, Mark Valentine. On December 1st, Tartarus Press are re-publishing this long out of print collection with the addition of nine stories or vignettes written at the same time but omitting the selection of journal entries.
From the Tartarus Press release notes...
All the stories were originally selected for anthologies or journals. ‘Vain Shadows Flee’ was included in Best British Short Stories 2016 edited by Nicholas Royle (Salt Publishing), and ‘Yes, I Knew the Venusian Commodore’ was translated into Spanish by MarÃa Pilar San Roman in an award-winning anthology.
The artwork depicts the mysterious Three Headed King motif from the ancient church at Sancreed in the far west of Cornwall, which appears in the title story. Other stories are about the ancient mysteries of Palmyra and Jerusalem, the music of Stonehenge and of the fabulously rare record Goat Songs, the uncanny in performances of Milton’s Comus and Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, and the wondrous influences of a toy cockatrice.
I was privileged to receive a copy of the original edition about which I wrote that this book finds Mark "exploring ephemeral landscapes of the unknowable and the inimitable. He tells stories of the borderlands, of the thin places where glimpses are caught of the otherwheres, where the truly (un)lucky get to tread on soil unused to human feet. Stories of those liminal places where a travellers only map would be the tales told of them."
And, that he takes us on, "journeys both sinister and beautiful (often simultaneously) to places terrifying and beguiling (often simultaneously) in the company of the lost, the curious, the brave and the foolish and in each we can see ourselves as they react to the outrageous in deeply human ways."
This new edition of 'The Uncertainty of All Earthly Things' is available as a 350 copy limited edition hardback and is sure to sell out fast. Order now at...
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Lennard Pearce (Grandad in Only Fool and Horses) stars as "Edward Langdon' an MP who, after the ritual murder of his wife, comes up with the novel idea of raising a mediaeval heretic (David Allister) from the dead, directing it to blow up a school, and therefore gaining support for his attempt to bring back the death penalty.
Pulled into his plan are Eileen' (Gwyneth Powell - Grange Hill's 'Mrs McClusky'), mother of one of the murdered children, a fish porter (Roger Bizley) and a psychiatrist (John Bennett) all of whom have a previous connection with the revenant.
Written, directed and produced by Ian F.H. Lloyd, it's a slow and strange little film with an almost lysergic atmosphere. With it's lethargic pacing, odd camera angles - so very many close-ups - and arthouse sensibilities it's not going to be for everyone, but revolving around a suitably eldritch performance from Allister as the undead heathen it's an intriguing entry in the annals of wyrd British film.
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"The Shout is one of the great films about sound." - Suzy Mangion
Adapted in 1978 from a Robert Graves short story, director Jerzy Skolimowski's 'The Shout' is a stunning exploration of avarice, obsession, lust, and cruelty as the quiet, idyllic lives of Anthony and Rachel Fielding (John Hurt & Susannah York) are subsumed by the machinations of an interloper, Crossley (Alan Bates).
It is sound though that is very much the focus of the film; from Anthony's sonic experimentation to Crossley's mortiferous shout, and the two short progish pieces by Mike Rutherford and Tony Banks of Genesis but it's the score by Rupert Hine married to the sound design by Alan Bell that is the shining jewel at the heart of the movie.
From the press release...
"The film’s score and audio effects were almost entirely created by the songwriter and record producer Rupert Hine (Thinkman, Quantum Jump, Rush, Stevie Nicks, Kevin Ayers, Nico, Howard Jones, Underworld, Tina Turner & more). Rupert recorded reels of ideas and experiments for the film between 1977 and 1978 using an EMS VCS3, Yamaha CS80, Eventide Harmoniser and Roland Space Echo. He also created Crossley‘s terrifying shout and other foley effects such as the musique concrète for John Hurt’s home studio scenes.
Listen closely and you’ll hear Rupert's sounds scattered throughout the film, discreetly mixed by award-winning sound editor Alan Bell (The Man Who Fell To Earth, The Bounty) and Tony Jackson who use them to establish the film’s creeping dread. At other times Rupert’s effects are used to startling effect, violently jolting viewers as the occult drama unfolds."
Released on 5th December by Buried Treasure Records, with pre-orders available from the 28th of November on their Bandcamp page at
'The Shout' is a testimony to the creativity of Rupert Hine, who sadly passed before the completion of this long overdue release.
A neglected milestone in the history of electronic music, a perfect companion piece to the work of those beavering away in the Dark depths of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop and an essential item for devotees of both.
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Convened by The Guardian newspaper, and coinciding with the publication of Moore's short story collection, 'IIlluminations', this genial interview between author Alan Moore and comedian Stewart Lee explores the various stories within the book touching on recurring narative themes and strategies in Moore's writing as well as a quick discussion of the then unfinished 'The Great When', of authors, Arthur Machen, William Hope Hodgson, Alan Garner, M.R. James and Robert Aickman.
I'd previously avoided watching this because 'Illuminations' appeared during my long Covid doldrums and I never managed to read further than the first story and having now watched this I need to try again now that my brain is a bit clearer. There're a few conversations on YouTube between these two and they're all well worth a listen as they obviously greatly enjoy each others company and as ever this is both interesting and dare I say illuminating.
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Written by legendary Wyrd Britain screenwriter Brian Clemens - who really should have done better - 'Serenade for Dead Lovers' - the best song title Bauhaus never used - revolves around an old village hall, a 40 year old romance and, for seemingly absolutely no resaon at all, a dud German bomb. Travis and Connery do their best but there's too little here for them to really work with and what could have been a delicately poignant ghostly tale of love lost and found falls pretty flat.
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"I'm a doctor, but probably not the one you were expecting"
On 14th November 2013 - which also happened to be Paul McGann's 54th birthday - some seventeen and half years after he woke up in a New York morgue the 8th Doctor finally appeared on TV again just in time for the shows 50th anniversary and to regenerate into The War Doctor.
"Physician heal thyself"
Having not survived a crash from space when an attempted rescue goes awry, The Doctor is offered a chance to choose his next regeneration by the Sisterhood of Karn, who hadn't been seen in the series since the 4th Doctor serial 'The Brain of Morbius'. With a mind to stopping the 'Time War' between the Time Lords and the Daleks he chooses to shed the mantle of healer and instead become a warrior.
"Doctor no more."
It's always been such a shame that we got so few glimpses of McGann's Doctor - there's been a third since, where we discovered he's averse to wearing robes - but with a battery of Big Finish audios to his name and those few televised performances that show he's only got better as he's got older he remains the longest serving Doctor and the one most deserving of a revival.
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The video below is a short interview with Miller giving a brief overview of his life and work. For those of you who wish to delve deeper I can recommend this two part interview and discussion.
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On the 14th of November, Buried Treasure will be releasing, 'Leviathan Whispers' the deeply spiritual and majestically folkloric new album from Tim Hill.
From the press release:
Leviathan Whispers is an album of longings, laments, deleriums, and drones, both savage and sublime. Brass and woodwind instruments sing over and through autumnal netherlands, heralding ancient spirits and mysterious creatures. There are breaths, hums, and bone songs for shadows and flames to dance to.
Tim Hill is an inspirational figure within the UK arts, jazz, noise, and improv world. Since the 1980's he's operated as a shapeshitfing maverik, fearlessly exploring Britain's diverse musical traditions, from rough music to industrial folk, free jazz to dub, post-punk to avant-rock, incorporating electronics, hymn, noise and drone.
I've got to admit that, despite his formidable pedigree, Hill is new to me, but on the evidence of what I hear here, I need to rectify that.
The music, built using saxophones, tape loops, synths, woodwind and reed instruments, and with the assistance of Nurse With Wound's Colin Potter and drone maestro Jonathan Coleclough, maintains a deeply esoteric quality that exists in both the spiritual jazz realms of the likes of Pharoah Sanders or, more recently. Shabaka Hutchings and the mystical sidereality of the Blakeian Albion of the imagination expressed by the likes of Coil or Cyclobe. It's a fascinating combination, a uniquely British interpretation of spiritual jazz that's born from the hedgerows and holloways, and from standing stones and stories told, and it rewards deep, immersive listening that slowly reveal its more hermetical dimensions.
'Leviathan Whispers' will be released on "recycled and randomly coloured vinyl" and is available in stores from Friday 14th November.
Alternatively, preorders are currently being taken on the Buried Treasure Bandcamp here...
Additionally, to celebrate the launch, there will be a live performance and talk by Tim Hill on Sat, 15th Nov in the Victorian chapel beneath Royal Berks Hospital, Reading.
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Mark Valentine’s book-collecting began with classic supernatural and fantastic fiction and decadent poetry but soon included antiquities, folklore and the Arthurian legends. The first of these enthusiasms is reflected here in essays on Walter de la Mare, M.R. James, Arthur Machen, William Hope Hodgson and David Lindsay and on lesser-known modern ghost stories. There are also several essays on slim volumes of rare and strange verse.
He also explores the origins of the Red Lion inn sign, the enjoyable wanderings of 1930s antiquarians and ramblers, and the keen weather-watchers behind the irresistible title British Thunderstorms, Continuing Summer Thunderstorms. The author speculates on the secrets behind an interwar listing of obscure periodicals and on the odd finds at a village hall flea market. Readers will find in all these essays a delight in the obscurer byways and an engaging interest in the unlikeliest places
I'm a bit of a whim reader of non-fiction these days, I used to read lots but now, with very few exceptions, I rarely find myself picking up anything other than fiction. Those exceptions tend to be an occasional music study, a random curio and any and all of Mark Valentine's explorations of forgotten books and underappreciated authors, with intermittent digressions into the likes of pub signs and barometric observations.
'The Thunderstorm Collectors' is not the latest of Mark's collections from Tartarus Press, I still have that one waiting on my shelf. This one came out a year or so ago and got lost amidst my long-COVID malaise but is still available from the publisher as one of their lovely paperback editions.
I love these books although my bank balance is less keen as Mark guides us through a tantalising and often irresitable array of goodies interlaced with fascinating and typcally erudite examinations of those authors of more lasting reputations such as Walter de la Mare, Arthur Machen & William Hope Hodgson.
There's much to entice here and several things have, inevitably, been added to the wants list. Additionally, some of the most interesting pieces here are the ones dealing with Mark's love of ephemera and of the edges of his main focus as he takes us into various Earth mysteries, landscape records and the vagaries of collecting.
As ever, with Mark's books - both fiction and non - we heartily recommend this and suggest that those wishing to try out his work would be well advised to grab one of these fabulous collections and to check out his Wormwoodiana blog.
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