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The Ghost Monk

@theghostmonk.bsky.social

1.2K followers 410 following 1.8K posts

Enthusiast of British (mainly) ghostlore, folklore and vintage ghost and weird fiction. Collector of old magazines. Also keen on prehistoric monuments, old churches and suchlike. Am decidedly Q. All scans/photos my own (unless stated). Runs #PhantomsFriday

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 1h

"Poltergeist II" by H R Giger. Not much else to be said really. Except 'Eek!'
#31DaysOfHalloween #HRGiger #Giger

The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 2h

Cobblers. (Chortle!)

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 4h

Well, I didn't know Harlan Ellison wrote for Marvel. I believe he once said of 'Star Wars' that compared to 'Dr Who' it was 'a load of bat guano', which I appreciated.

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 4h

I really enjoyed the first two years of their mission, and some of the third year. I wonder what happened on the fourth and fifth years?

The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 4h

14!? Surely, judging by the picture, they mean 41!

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 4h

On Jupiter the encounter big but friendly people and on Saturn more monsters.

7 or 8ft tall men dressed in simple robes with sashes greet the Earl and Lilla (who are dressed in #Victorian costume).

Lilla and the Earl are startled by the appearance (on the other side of the window) of two dinosaur-like monsters with sharp teeth and saucer eyes.

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 4h

They also find the debased descendants of the builders of the Moon civilization. (The illustrations are by Stanley Wood).

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 4h

In 'Stories Of Other Worlds' by George Griffith (Pearson's Magazine Jan-June 1900), the Earl of Redgrave takes his new bride Lilla on an inaugural flight round the solar system in his gyroscopic spaceship. On the Moon they find the remnants of an ancient civilization.
#WyrdWednesday #scifi #sci-fi

A man and a woman in outfits like those of deep sea divers examine ape-like skeletons at the foot of a pyramid.

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 6h

Adventurers descend where no-one has descended before, into 'The Maracot Deep', where they encounter monstrous crustaceans, bizarre fish and millions of plastic microbeads (alright, I made that bit up). From the serialisation in The Strand, 1927, of Arthur Conan Doyle's novel.
#WyrdWednesday

A monster lobster attacks a diving bell while a weird-looking fish swims away.

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 19h

I toyed with posting this one but to be honest I had even less idea what was supposed to be happening here than in the other one. Perhaps... ahem!... perhaps I should actually buy a copy of the book.

The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 1d

A frankly terrifying illustration by Jan Parker of a triple-headed god/goddess from 'Witchcraft And Black Magic' by Peter Haining (1982).
#31DaysOfHalloween #witchcraft #blackmagic #sorcery #BookChatWeekly

A gigantic moonlit figure sits cross-legged by a lake and what appears to be a burning tree in front of it. It has three grim faces and huge horns forming a crescent on its head. In the foreground there is a woman, tiny in comparison, holding high her hands in worship. A tiger is creeping in from the left and tropical birds are in the sky.

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 1d

Early 20th century advert for crystal balls. The manufacturers claim that staring into them 'probably provokes to activity some latent clairvoyant function of the mind which may have been extensively used by primeval man'. Or probably not.
#clairvoyance #supernatural #advertising #oldads

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Reposted by The Ghost Monk

Kevin Wilbraham @kpw1453.bsky.social · 1d

The remains of Cairn Holy II - one of two Neolithic chambered cairns which overlook Wigtown Bay in Dumfries & Galloway. The Clyde-type chambered cairn was traditionally thought to be the tomb of Caldus, the mythical Scottish King. 📸 My own. #TombTuesday #Prehistory #CairnHoly

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 1d

"So I tapped her on the cleavage with a pastry fork..."

The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 1d

Never seen Top Gun. Or Frozen. Or the Greatest Showman. Never seen Grease; indeed I hate Grease even without having seen it, because of the ghastly songs we had to endure week after week at the top of the charts when all we wanted to see on Top Of The Pops were New Wave bands.

The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 1d

I agree! I visited the well-know Boscaen-un circle in Cornwall in 1990. It was found down a little track and covered in bracken. It seemed properly cut off from the world and was full of atmosphere. I saw a recent photo of it, however, and it's been completely sanitised since.

The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 1d

An enormous scary tree in an illustration by Nikolai Vorobiev for a 1970s book on Russian folk tales. I'm embarrassed that I know nothing about the story because it looks cool. However, the picture seemed ideal for #ThickTrunkTuesday.
#folklore #legends #folktales #illustration #Russian

A gigantic tree with eyes waves claw-like branches menacingly as a knight on horseback, dwarfed by its size, prepares to fire an arrow. Crows are flying around.

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 1d

Another of the old post cards of Breton antiquities I found recently in a second-hand shop. This one is of Dolmen De Kermario.
#TombTuesday #Brittany

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 1d

That's because they're fictional. Or do you think Shakespeare was writing a documentary?

The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 2d

The Three Witches from 'Macbeth' in a striking portrait by the French 19th century painter Alexandre-Marie Colin.
#31DaysOfHalloween #Shakespeare #witch #witches #witchcraft #artsky #FrenchArt

The faces of the three witches close together and looking wickedly off to the right. One is holding up a wand with a black snake coiled round it.

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 2d

Another favourite of mine as a child was Charles Kinglesy's 'The Heroes or Greek Fairy Tales For My Children'. I enjoyed the stories but can't help thinking that the illustrations by H M Brock may have helped along my nascent gayness somewhat.
#MythologyMonday #legends #gayart #illustration

The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 2d

This very well-loved paperback was my first introduction to #mythology when I was 8 or 9. Straightforwardly told for young readers, the real joy are the headers by William Hunter. Despite being simple line drawings, there are decidedly #psychedelic.
#MythologyMonday #psychedelia #illustration

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 2d

Something silly to start off the week: an odd interpretation of a well-known nursery rhyme by the ever-bizarre (and favourite of mine) Sidney Sime. Scanned from a 1901 edition of Pall Mall Magazine.
#nurseryrhyme #cat #dog #cow #weird #weirdart #illustration #artsky #SidneySime

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 2d

Apologies. In truth, I just looked at a map.

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The Ghost Monk @theghostmonk.bsky.social · 3d

A ghost freaks out a man at Brierley Hill; then a rural backwater, now part of Birmingham's great western spread of suburbs. This spiffing illustration comes from the 'Illustrated Police News' of 1872 (and scanned from a book called "'Orrible Murder' by Leonard De Vries).
#31DaysOfHalloween #ghost

In a moonlit wood, a man has dropped his top hat and, on one knee, is cowering from a shroud-clad apparition, throwing up its arms and looking very scary.

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