Michael Bailey

From the mind of award-winning author and editor Michael Bailey comes Inkblots and Blood Spots, a painfully beautiful collection of short stories and poetry that reaches deep into the imagination, breaking hearts and boundaries along the way... In a lyrical and uninterrupted dance, Bailey entwines evocative literary short fiction with rhythmic poetry and comes full circle in one seamless collection. His stellar performance is accompanied by the stunning artwork of Daniele Serra, winner of the British Fantasy Award, and an Introduction by the legendary Douglas E. Winter. Stories include the Bram Stoker nominated "Fireman / Primal Tongue," which also received an Honorable Mention for Year's Best Horror; "Dandelion Clocks," a haunting, melodic tribute to the tragedy of 9/11; "I Wanted Black," where a young boy's birthday is anything but cause to celebrate; "Mum," a tale of two sisters unfolding like the bandages on their mother's badly burned body... Take a surreal stroll through a carnival in "Underwater Ferris Wheel," where the biggest attraction may be your last ride; witness a pregnant woman's harrowing encounter with soul-stealing faerie in "Not the Child"; and find out why it gets cold in a little girl's room at night when she sees "A Light in the Closet."

Awarded 2013 PROSE Honorable Mention in Media & Cultural Studies With the resurgent interest in his work today, this is a timely reevaluation of this foundational figure in Cultural Studies, a critical but friendly review of both Hoggart's work and reputation. Re-examines the reputation of one of the ‘inventors’ of Cultural StudiesUses new archival sources to critically evaluate Hoggart's contribution and influence, set his work in context, and determine its current relevanceAddresses detractors and their positions of Hoggart, delineating long-term ideological battles within academiaBrings cultural studies, literary criticism, and social history to bear on this figure whose interests spread across disciplines, to create a text which blends many threads into a coherent whole

The sick imagination of Michael Bailey brings you thirteen dark poems and thirteen tales of the macabre and some bonus content ] that will make you think twice before turning your room dark for the night. A young woman chews her fingernails raw, unable to stop; a television set dangles from an apartment complex window; a large chest is found containing only a banded bouquet of wilted flowers; a stitched bear named Thatch bleeds at the neck, his stuffing torn out; a man wakes up duct-taped to a mammoth wooden chair. Between writing the novels PALINDROME HANNAH and PHOENIX ROSE, Michael Bailey penned and published a number of short fiction and poetry pieces, some of which can be found in literary magazines and anthologies around the world. A few of these fallen dragon scales and flower petals are reprinted here, while others are completely original to this collection, Once you crack the spine, there's no going back. This second edition contains a bonus script and graphic adaptation of "Plasty," a collaboration with artist L.A. Spooner, and three previously unpublished flash fiction pieces.

But what happens behind the closed doors of this intriguing society that only admits the most gifted magicians? In this fascinating history of the Magic Circle and magical performers, its former president, Michael Bailey, reveals how the society was created and what it stands for in a time when magic has become more and more sophisticated. Using his unique knowledge of the inside of this worldwide phenomenon, he documents the origins of magical performance and the subsequent beginnings of the society, including how it has changed in its hundred years of existence.This mesmerising book also chronicles the lives of some of the Circle's most famous performers, including Paul Daniels, David Copperfield and Channing Pollock. He takes the reader through the history of magical performers, from the age-old myth of the Indian Rope Trick and how the Rabbit from a Hat trick came about. He describes a selection of the world's greatest tricks and illusions, and discusses topics such as entry to the Circle, women in magic (including the 'beautiful assistant') and the motto 'indocilis privata loqui' ('keep mum'). This absorbing volume is a must for all those fascinated by the secret world of magic and magical performers, and will be an invaluable addition to any would-be magician's bookshelf.

Enter a cruel palindrome world: a symmetric place where disturbing situations displace the common; where good acts transmute to evil ones; where windows and mirrors are interchangable. Within, characters influence each other through macabre arrangements of involuntary happenstance, and learn the inevitabilities of coincidence. A segmented story of a mother and daughter intertwines the others. This hidden sixth story, assembled from the five separate narratives, uncovers the sad life of a child who carries a palindrome name, and her struggling teenage mother. With five stories heading one direction, and Hannah traveling the opposite, the story unfolds like a palindrome. A puzzle within a puzzle.