Spoilers Book Cover - The Unworthy. Given that this is quite a short novel, in a genre I love, horror, and post-apocalyptic dystopia as well as touching on themes I relate to by personal experience (being ensnared in a religious cult in the early 1980’s), I found it quite an uphill slog. There are good elements to this, especially the creation of the book itself, written by an un-named unreliable narrator in secret, with whatever materials she can get hold of, from crushed in

“There’s one born every minute. (P T Barnum).    Was I just gullible? Possibly, but I like to think the story was more complex than that.    My father died in 1978, dropping dead instantly with coronary thrombosis a month short of his 50 th birthday.  Naturally, the whole family were devastated.  I took it very badly, largely as my grand-parents told me repeatedly that I (then 16) was now ‘the man of the family’. My first task as such was taking my Dad’s place giving my sist

I broke free from Maharaji’s cult in 1985.  It is now 2026, (Ok 41 years but near enough to 40).  The time has gone frightfully quickly.    My graduation photo, taken by my step-father  In many ways directly taking on cults has found itself playing second fiddle to much more in my life The anti-cult movement itself has gone much more low profile. Ian Howarth’s Cult Information Centre and Family Action Information & Rescue (FAIR) have largely become quite inactive. The interne

The origins, history and controversies of a religious cult, the Divine Light Mission (AKA Elan Vital, aka The Prem Rawat Foundation) of Guru Maharaj Ji (AKA, Goomradgie, Satguru, Maharaji, Prem Pal Rawat Sing, etc)  Me, a portrait of Maharaji and a cult warning leaflet. (taken by a reporter). My own story is in truth a minor part of the cult’s overall history. It is unlikely that the Guru, Maharaj Ji before I defected and became a more outspoken critic of the cult, ever knew

1977 and 2013. Chicago Review Press Moe Howard's I Stooged To Conquer book cover Spoilers Uncompleted before his Death, Moe Howard’s wonderful, honest and touching account of his life and the story of The Three Stooges was originally to have been called I Stooged To Conquer, but the 1977 publishers insisted on renaming it simplt Moe Howard & The Three Stooges. The lavishly photo-illustrated 2013 edition fortunately restored the original title, a pun on She Stooped To Conquer.

1987/2011 DC / Vertigo Spoilers Hellblazer Origins graphic novel cover A collection of the earliest John Constantine: Helllblazer stories about a shabby Liverpudlian chain-smoking, hard drinking, womanising gumshoe who takes on Supernatural enemies, including cult leaders, demons and devils. There is a gritty realism to these very dark tales, child trafficking, hard drugs, Constantine taking down racists, and criticisms of Thatcher’s Britain abound. Constantine is often haunt

1982 2000 AD Rebellion Press Spoilers Graphic Novel Cover For Young Death An offbeat origin story for 2000 AD’s greatest supervillain, Judge Death, with Judges Anderson and Dredd relegated to minor appearances. Narcissistic about his achievements, Death shares his story as an exclusive to terrified journalist, Brian Skuter, torn between elation that Death is giving him such a scoop and fear that one wrong move will bring about his end. The unlikely duo are catered for by t

I had an opportunity recently to dress in my Satan claws and mask for the first time since about 2018. The Costume has quite a complicated history. It was created on my behalf by drinking buddy, Tom Clarke, for a Halloween party night at Satan’s Hollow, in Manchester. The costume was inspired by my short story, Blind Date, about a Lovecraftian entity called J Alfred Cthulhu, using a computer dating agency to find himself a romantic date. Me as J Alfred Cthulhu, with flo

We are always torn between individualism and conformity. We want to fit in, but also fiercely protect and develop our independence. Peer group pressure is when family, friends, society as a whole, a cultural movement, a business, religion or political group, try to manipulate, engineer, or force the individual, maverick, non-conforming,different goat to be more like the sheep and join the hive in behaviour and mentality. Pressure can come through many avenues. A child may be

1985 Penguin Books. Translated from the German by John E Woods. Spoiler Alerts. The Perfume book cover. A Beer & Books Book Club Read – Vinyl Tap, Preston Monthly Book Club. 12th February 2026. Few books can claim to be truly unique, but this may be one of the few to qualify. In creative writing classes, a frequent exercise is telling a story using all five senses, sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. Most book writers will make occasional reference to the latter three but c

If you like my writings and you would like to see more, you can help fund my activity with a modest donation or two to my new Buymeacoffee Donations Page. Not expecting to gain much from this but every penny counts with my research taking me all round the UK now. https://buymeacoffee.com/arthurchappell   I would recommend this site to other writers and creatives too. It feels like begging just setting up such a site, but it is becoming an industry standard now. Many internet

That the Bible starts with ‘In the beginning’ is quite apt to this complete Bible study, line by line, verse by verse, book by book, including the Apocrypha study is really my second beginning as I had already written a vast chunk of my attempt to take the Bible apart line by line for pages on the now discontinued web site hosting pages at Bubblews. The Bible Some of my pages survive, but others were never kept, copied or recovered. I thought of filling in the gaps in my find

Beers I enjoyed in December 2025 Ridge Brewing Challenger Pale Ale I actually had more than just these listed ales but others were all beers I have drunk before and this list is for those supped for the first time. X7 Anarchy – Rum & Raisin Porter 4.5% **** Surprisingly rich, decent keg porter, over chilled at the bar where I quaffed it and a little pricy for a session ale strength tipple. Keg Ale – The Adelphi - Ashton, Preston. Farmhouse – Mardy Porter 5% ***** a fine tr

Spoilers * This could have been called ‘Niece of Frankenstein’ as that is essentially who Mary (not Shelley) is. Sadly there is no true monster in the book. Mary, aided and thwarted by her debt saddled husband, and his evil creditor, aims to be a scientist in a World dominated by men. (Many of the leading scientists of the day are involved, notably Richard Owen, the man who first used the word dinosaurs. Charles Darwin briefly appears though only after his voyage on The Beagl

Spoilers    The first book read for the new Vinyl Tap pub’s book club group and an interesting, quite readable if flawed choice.    Book Cover - Matt Haig - The Midnight Library A multiverse series of seemingly infinite second chances for a young woman who has attempted to commit suicide, with influences from It’s A Wonderful Life, Quantum Leap and Groundhog Day.    After a cascade flow of things going wrong, peaking with the death of her cat, Voltaire, Nora Seed commits suic

The highs and lows of 205 for me were many. Overall it was a very good year. I started off January 25 rather unwell, with the tail end of the stoma(ch) upset and vomiting that had wiped out my Xmas and new year activities for 24. My mid-month I felt fine again. My 2025 Diary There were various check-up trips to the doctors and a throat camera scan, to check my guts out which proved things were OK. My friend Elaine had to come with me as I was not supposed to be alone in

Rugby Ground - Wigan, Manchester   I have no interest in physical, athletic sport. I’ve been accused of being ‘gay’ for declaring that I neither support (Manchester) City or United. The value of healthy exercise aside, sport is generally over-concerned with winning, and beating the opposition. That means it automatically relegates oppositional human beings to the status of losers, also-rans, and second raters. Business capitalism works on the same principle. Competition makes

The Sea Spoilers        The preceding two parter jumped the shark -  the finale jumped down its throat and out through it’s bum.  Much unexplained and the remainder made no sense.   We never saw the Big Fish do anything.    Barclay & Salt get very little time together.  Kate wanders round sad, makes empty threats to the conspirators and threatens to shoot a guy for littering. Earlier in the episode she quite coldly blackmails her therapist into prescribing her stronger anti-d

Doctor Who TARDIS - FAB Cafe, Manchester Spoilers After quite a strong thought provoking epic scaled opening pair of episodes, the Doctor Who Spin Off has rapidly gone off the deep end for the third and fourth parts of the five part series. I was already thinking that the bromance between Barclay & Salt was going to get more overtly romantic as they went for a ‘The Sound Of Water/Splash’ relationship of man and amphibious reptile in love twist, though I thought that would c

Inn Sign Society Flyer   Since around 2012, I have been an avid collector of inn sign photos, mostly taken by me. The following FAQ summarises what’s involved, by responding to questions I get asked about my hobby.   1/. What Is a pub sign? An advert that tells people that a property sells ales, wines and/or spirits for consumption on the premises. They serve the same purpose as shop logos, barber’s poles, the MacDonald’s Golden Arches, etc but as many pubs operate independe