I need to keep this in mind when I finally make it to the UK. Also, great logo.


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There's a fairly common setting in fantasy stories - books, games, what have you - where a powerful necromancer raises an army of the dead to take over the town/kingdom/world, and it is the job of the main characters to prevent that from happening (which frequently involves a dangerous infiltration of the dark fortress). Really, it's common enough ( Read more... )

Occasionally, the Google alert on "necromancy" turns up something particularly amusing.An art fair is a supreme expression of repressed necrological urges. Necromancy is the practice of predicting the future through communication with the dead. An over indulgent involvement with the past to be sure, but one means by which some can feel a measure of ( Read more... )

There's a distinct correlation between a GANTT chart and a musical score. Both are identifying the relationships between different entities over time in the creation of one thing. By extension, composers and project managers might be expected to have a lot of overlapping skills ( Read more... )

Oh cold, cold, rigid, dreadful Death, set up thine altar here, and dress it with such terrors as thou hast at thy command: for this is thy dominion. But of the loved, revered, and honoured head, thou canst not turn one hair to thy dread purposes, or make one feature odious. It is not that the hand is heavy and will fall down when released; it is ( Read more... )

Almost finished with World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. It's basically a collection of (very) short stories that tell the story of the war, each from a different person's perspective. The author really does some interesting characterizations, and while some of the stories aren't much more than that, others capture the horror of the ( Read more... )

Assume for the moment the existence of individualized noncorporeal entities - call them spirits, or demons, or stable patterns in the greater mind, or aeons, or what have you. The essence of the idea is they have identity and volition but no physical form, and they're not just a construct of a person's vivid imagination.

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I missed this bit of weird news when it occurred:

Cambodian Troops Quarantine Quan'sul

It seems to be a dark April Fool's prank courtesy of BBC, so I can add "Cambodian Zombies" to my list of urban legends. Besides, I generally prefer undead as symbols anyway.

Then again, I might need my Zombie Survival Guide after all ( Read more... )

If you allow poltergeists, in the sense of restless spirits moving furniture and floating teacups (as opposed to the "telekinetic prepubescent" theory), then there's nothing that really prevents animated skeletons - it's just a poltergeist moving around bones instead of dishes.

Just a thought.

In the midst of everything else relating to Katrina, my thoughts turned to Leilah Wendell and Westgate Necromantic when I remembered that they were based in New Orleans. They've brought forth some fascinating books and beautiful art on necromancy and related subjects, and I hoped that they had gotten out safely. (They have, according to their ( Read more... )