Halloween news from the Haunted Palace Blog

Tags

Halloween, Halloween special, Haunted Mirror Volume 2, Haunted Palace Blog Collection, new book, Podcast, Voices from the North East

Out Now: The Haunted Mirror – Volume 2

Here at the Haunted Palace Blog we’ve been busily preparing for our favourite time of year, Halloween!

The second volume of our Haunted Palace Blog Collection, The Haunted Mirror -Volume 2 is out and is available in paperback and Kindle on Amazon, we’ve also dropped the price of Volume 1, just in case you fancy treating yourself to both volumes.

Join us for more dark history and folklore from the Haunted Palace Blog. Discover the tales of rogues and vagabonds, from the romantic to the ruthless, and the downright incompetent. Meet inventors and eccentrics, from the Elizabethan scientist killed by a chicken to the quack doctor who electrified Georgian society with his theories about sex.

Come face to face with vampires, mermaids and pixies and find out what grisly secrets are hidden away in farms and manor houses across England’s green and pleasant land. Rediscover some of history’s forgotten stories, such as the female sheriff of Lincoln who successfully defended a castle against an unrelenting opponent and the mysterious dancing manias that gripped medieval Northern Europe and threw whole communities into turmoil and chaos.

Join us as we explore a past populated by highwaymen, murderers, ghosts and rediscover some of history’s lost souls.

With original art by @igamagination and @chknstyn.

The Haunted Palace Blog Collection available on Amazon now, in paperback and kindle!

A spooky collaboration for Halloween

The Haunted Palace Blog recently had an opportunity to collaborate with the excellent Voices from the North East podcast for one of their two Halloween Specials.

Voices from the North East is a fascinating podcast celebrating and preserving oral social histories from the North East of England. Lenora joined them to chat about the curious tale of the Wallsend Witches and its possible origins and links to the history of witch trials in the North East.

You can find Voices from the North East on anchor.fm or wherever you get your podcasts, and I’ve linked to both episodes pf the Halloween Specials below:

The Wallsend Witches

The mist on Rimside Moor

Happy Halloween from the Haunted Palace Blog!

Available now on Amazon! The Haunted Mirror: History, Folklore and the Supernatural, from the Haunted Palace Blog

Tags

dark history, folklore, Ghosts, Haunted Palace book, haunted palace collection, Macabre, new book, supernatural

Published 16 May 2021, 230 pages

Paperback £8.99

Kindle £3.99

Buy now on Amazon, click here: The Haunted Mirror: History, Folklore and the Supernatural from the Haunted Palace Blog (The Haunted Palace Blog Collection): Amazon.co.uk: ., Lenora, Jessel, Miss: 9798505220504: Books

_@chknstyn

A compendium of dark history, strange folklore and mysterious hauntings culled from the Haunted Palace Blog. Lenora and Miss Jessel have selected and re-worked some of their favourite posts for your enjoyment.

Did you know that a prodigious palace once stood in the London Borough of Wanstead and Woodford but a dissolute Earl threw it all away, leaving his heart-broken wife to haunt its ruins forever? Or that Victorian tourists flocked to the grim spectacle provided by the Paris Morgue – the best free theatre in town? Or that a murderous jester is reputed to have lured people to their deaths at a castle in Cumbria? Join us as we explore a past populated by highwaymen, murderers, eccentrics, and lost souls.

Lavishly illustrated with specially commissioned art, engravings and photographs from the Haunted Palace Collection, and national collections.

@igamagination

A Cabinet of Curiosities from the Haunted Palace Blog

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Baba Jaga Art, book launch, Cabinet of Curiosities, chickenstein, halloween publication date, Iga Pencak, Lenora, macabre art, Miss Jessel, new book, original art, Rohan Hall, The Haunted Palace, young artists

In the dark and cobweb-filled corridors of the Haunted Palace, faint scribblings and mutterings can often be heard eminating from the book-strewn chambers high amongst its ivy-clad towers.  Lenora and Miss Jessel are custodians of an extensive library of peculiar tomes, from which they draw their ideas.  But one thing is missing from the library: a book of their own.  But not for much longer.

Yes, after 7 years and close to half a million views (thanks to you, our wonderful readers), Lenora and Miss Jessel have decided to publish a collection of a few of their favourite posts.

Just to make it extra special, and because copyright is a thing, we have commissioned two talented young artists to produce images for our book.

Naturally, because we at the Haunted Palace love all things creepy, we aim to publish our book for Halloween 2020. There’s a long way to go, but the cogs are turning!

In the meantime, we’d like you to meet the Haunted Palace artists in residence…and maybe give you just a teaser of what to expect in our book…

Iga Pencak aka Baba Jaga art: Freelance artist and costume designer

Iga Pencak studied and Central St Martins and VCA in London, and graduated in Theatre and Screen Costume Design. She is a talented portrait artist, costume designer and milliner. She has worked on large-scale mural projects and led community art workshops with Rohan Hall aka Chickenstein_.

Follow Iga on Instagram: @babajagaart 

And find her at:

etsy.com/shop/Igamagination
facebook.com/PortraitServicebyBabaJaga

Costume Designs, part of final degree project, by Iga Pencak

Tranquility, pen and ink, by Iga Pencak

Hanging Bat, paint on glass, by Iga Pencak

Rohan Hall aka Chickenstein_: Freelance artist and student

Rohan Hall aka Chickenstein_ is a freelance artist and is currently studying for his undergraduate BA degree in Illustration at Newcastle college. He has worked on large scale mural projects and led community art workshops with Iga Pencak.

Rohan accepts commissions.

Follow him on Instagram: @chickenstein_

The Bride of Chickenstein, pencil sketch, by Rohan Hall

Cthulu for climate change, relief print, by Rohan Hall

Memorial for Billy, acrylic on stone by Rohan Hall

And now a flavour of what they are both working on for the Haunted Palace and its Cabinet of Curiosities

Iga is producing the cover-art and full-page images for each section in the book.  She begins the process with a pencil sketch, then inks the images prior to digitalising them for publication.  Here are two of her works in progress.

First, for our ‘History’s lost and found’ section, which will include such dark tales as the dancing mania of the middle ages and the firey fate of the ladies of the ballet blanche, she came up with this darkly dynamic design:

Ballet shoes and skull, pen and ink, by Iga Pencak

Secondly, for this macabre sketch, for our suitably named ‘Macabre’ section, in which you will find such delights as a day out at the Paris Morgue, Iga was inspired by our post about Enon Chapel and its sinister secret.

Dance of Death, preliminary pencil sketch by Iga Pencak

Rohan will be creating smaller images for each individual post. He begins the process by creating a pencil sketch, he then digitalises the image for publishing.

He as already produced two very atmospheric images,  for folktales The King o’ the Cats and Hell-hounds, Hyter Sprites, and God-fearing mermaids (as well as producing our logo – see the about us page)

The King O’ the Cats digital sketch by Rohan Hall

Black Shuck by Rohan Hall

We’ll still be posting our usual brand of in-depth darkness, but expect a few updates on how our book is progressing along the way!

We hope you will enjoy it.

Lenora  & Miss Jessel