R. L. McCallum

From the Gallery of Gothic Verse I have displayed here thirty one poems from the depths of melancholy, which are accompanied by related portraits of death and darkness.

The greatest dread of humankind is the fear of the unknown. This anthology of eight stories reflects the terrors of the supernatural and the subjects that occupy the realms of the abstruse. From a man who returns home after a stint in a mental institution to find that home is not the same anymore to the final story of a lamp that is more than its beautiful and aesthetic features, these frightful tales step beyond the tangible dominion of the living and into the ethereal expanse that lies beyond the periphery of our knowledge.

The pathways to rational thought are frequently obstructed by the irrational voices of life. The poems in this chapbook reflect a few of those obstacles along with a few signs of reality in a twisted world where life seem no more than an illusion.

After being listed as MIA ten years previously, the remains of an American soldier are returned home from Vietnam, but after burial the remains rise to seek revenge upon those in his home town who were responsible for his pregnant girlfriend's tragic death, and for the torments he suffered due to his spiritual beliefs. As he had just purchased a new, high performance sports car before his deployment, it became one of his most cherished possessions, second to his beloved girlfriend, Holly. And so, driven by the madness of love, and the magic of the Druids, he takes his dilapidated car, which returns to its former state of showroom condition, and begins his ghostly rampage of death and destruction.

An AnthologySix Tales of the Paranormal.A travel writer and avid bicyclist is the focus of the first story, who, on Allhallows Eve, takes a ride on his bicycle from York, England to the moors of Yorkshire in search of ghost stories, he unfortunately finds himself in an unusual haunted house and in a peculiar situation. The second story relates to a contemporary man who is plagued by misfortune and finds his tragic redemption in Salem, Massachusetts during the witch trials of sixteen ninety-two. The third instalment regards a writer who is visited by a stranger who relates to him a story that is even stranger, a story of his terrifying experience on an Excursion train. The forth story tells of a doctor, who, during the Civil War in Louisville, Kentucky, devises a way to obtain cadavers for medical research, which ends in an experience of terror. The fifth tale recounts a story of a Russian woman whose wealthy father confines her to a monastery on the White Sea, where she remains, but after taking up painting, finds her escape in the portrait of a long dead knight of the Crusades. And finally, the last story relates to an opiate addled poet who is pursued by a dark allegory of death.

Fanatically attracted to antique lamps, Gerard Archer stops at a yard sale when he sees a vintage lamp with a very unique base, which has been crafted from silver and gold. Asking the seller how much he wants for the artifact, the man shockingly replies that a five-pound note will send it up the road. Without hesitation, Gerard purchases the lamp and takes it home where his wife, Sarah, falls in love with it, but after having problems with what he thinks is the lamp's wiring, Gerard begins to see shadows and hear disembodied voices. After the lamp is conspicuously displayed in the library, the cat mysteriously goes missing and during a dinner party the guests are assaulted by unseen hands. As the evening progresses, it becomes obvious that the lamp is not what it appears to be.

One of the most glorious paths through a child's wonderland is down the aisle of a candy store, a dream world of confectionery delights that entice the youthful exuberance with a myriad of colourful wrappings and sugary possibilities. And such was the delightful atmosphere at the Sweet Things Candy Emporium where, on the sunny morning of April first, Becka Sampson opened the doors to not only her childhood dream but to the dark prospects of an unforeseeable nightmare.Suddenly plagued by a series of strange events, and the grisly death of a police officer, Becka discovers that her store is haunted by the ghosts of thirteen children who had died in a fire in 1943. Being an amateur ghost hunter, Becka and two friends decide to prove to the police that the nightly intruders are the mischievous spirits of lost children.