Eliza Turner

Ever since I wrote the original posting on Giaquinto’s Penitent Magdalene, I have had unanswered questions brewing in the back of my head about this intriguing painting. So, when I was in Manhattan last August, I jumped on the first chance to get to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and took that long awaited second look at this masterpiece. If you have not read my earlier post, I recommend that you read it, as I will build upon some of the concepts already mentioned there. You can read it  Here . A Thorny Vine  In a “penitent” painting, it is a little surprising that Giaquinto chose to forgo the cilice as her outer garment and put Mary Magdalene into a flowing white and blue gown. However, he chose to put a sliver of a thorny vine visible only under her right arm. It appears to wrap around her ribcage underneath her robes. Perhaps the artist is making a statement by doing this. The message I hear when looking at it is that, no matter what your outward appearance...

It is my pleasure to present to you the latest installment from the Forlorn Press! Strange Tales of the High Seas is a collection of the strangest maritime tales by the now forgotten early masters of weird fiction. Many of the elements of these early tales have become common fare in today’s horror, and I find it inspiring to read the originals. These are not your typical ghost stories; rather, they walk the line between science, the supernatural, and the bizarre. These stories have everything from invisible sea monsters to rabies-infected crews turning the ship into a blood bath, odd twins, and sea-worshipping Pagan captains. Rifts in time and space and even real life mysteries grace these pages. I have also reproduced the original illustrations of these tales as well as added additional atmospheric pictures. Table of Contents: “The Voice in the Night” by William Hope Hodgson “From the Darkness and the Depths” by Morgan Robertson “The Sea Fit” by Algernon Blackwood “Ma...

I am very pleased to announce the publication of my first book, as well as the foundation of my ebook publishing company, The Forlorn Press. The book is called Tod Robbins: His Life and Work . As the title implies, it is a biography on the largely forgotten American writer of weird fiction, Tod Robbins. Researching it was a real challenge; Robbins actively tried to keep his life as secret as possible. Now, over sixty years after his death, there is not only scant information available about him, but a lot of misinformation as well. Exactly how many wives did he have? Some sources say as many as six, but who were they? He also spent World War II in a German concentration camp, and I believe I have discovered the precise camp. I have also included biographical sketches of each of his verified wives. Some of his wives also led quite interesting lives that proved fascinating to uncover. His first wife, Edith Norman Hyde, was the controversial first Miss America, although you won’t...

Life has a way of keeping us unexpectedly busy.  It also has a penchant for overtaking our free time, hence, my recent absence from blogging. I do, however, have some good photos to share, which will hopefully make up for the lack of words. Last weekend, I had the opportunity to travel to Zion National Park in Utah. Most hikers prefer to take on the trails during the summer months; I, however, love the winter. The snow, fog, and even the rain all offer extraordinarily unique scenes.  The barren trees pierce into the sky like skeletal fingers grasping for something just out of reach, and the fast moving clouds offer ever-changing sights that disappear just as quickly as they come into being. The mountains of Zion offer spectacular views in any season. The peaks are only enhanced by the dark, stormy clouds. The variety of trees and foliage are so diverse that you may see evergreens intermingled with contrasting barren, leafless varieties. Another advantage to the winter v...

Coffinwood is just the type of place you always expect to find in one of these little rural Nevada towns but never do. Well, if you are ever driving through Pahrump, you just might stumble upon it. Coffinwood is not only one of the only places you can still purchase a wooden coffin, made to fit, but also any other item you can conjure up can be made coffin shaped. Out of Coffinwood, Bryan and Dusty Schoening run a coffin making business called Coffin It Up. Many of their clientele are Europeans who want a traditional burial. While coffins have fallen out of fashion here in the U.S. and have been replaced with caskets, across the pond, wooden coffins are still widely used. Considering the variety of different cultures on the continent, it is difficult to find a mass producer that can appeal to all of them. Coffin It Up has the advantage, as every one of their coffins is hand made and customized  to every customer’s tastes and preferences. An example of a traditional Jewish co...

From my personal collection, 2012 “May the warm winds of heaven blow softly on this canyon and may the great spirit bless all who enter here.” -- From the sign over the entrance to Cathedral Canyon A few miles outside of Pahrump and fifty miles from Las Vegas lies the remnants of what was once known as Cathedral Canyon. Twenty years ago, the sight of it would have been awe-inspiring; stained glass windows adorned the natural crevices in the canyon's walls, small statues blended in with mesquite trees, and the whole place was lit by Victorian style streetlamps. Now, after years of vandalism, looting, and neglect, only a few empty stone alcoves and a horribly desecrated, headless Christ are all that remain of it. I first visited this sanctuary in the desert in the early 1990s in its heyday. My parents and a family friend decided to take me there one night on a whim. After driving for what seemed like forever through the pitch black desert, we pulled into a gravel parkin...