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barry_x's review
dark
informative
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
What a superb issue of Hellebore this is!
This time the theme is 'Summoning' of this folk horror / occult zine and some of the pieces are simply brilliant. For those who don't know, 'Hellebore' is a small press zine, the art direction is awesome and evocative and each article is scholarly, yet accessible and fully referenced. Indeed, I am noting that most of the contributors to the zine are from academia but the content is never dry, and always leaves you wanting just a little bit more.
My personal highlights in this issue include;
'Hell is Other Readers' by Christine Ferguson which explores the lure of an evil book in fiction. It's an old trope but that dusty book that contains spells should not be blown and opened! I saw quite a few novels in this article that I had never heard of and I just need to read now! (I actually added, then removed some thinking, 'there is only so far I want to go here').
'Spinster Satanism' by Per Faxneld is an exploration of a Satanic feminist novel called 'Lolley Willowes' by Sylvia Townsend Warner written in the 1920's - another book I simply have to read.
'The House of the Great Beast' by Jon Reppion explores the legacy of Alesiter Crowley's home. It was notorious when Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin bought it and I remember seeing stories about it in the newspapers. What's really interesting is that the house had quite a lot of curious history both before Crowley and after Page.
My favourite piece is by Verity Holloway - she's contributed previously to Hellebore and I love her work and her research. In 'Conjuring the Cunning Man' she tells us about a witch who lived in a remote village at the turn of the 20th century and his reputation for magic. Was he a troublesome beggar? Was he a hedge-wizard? The article shares claims from the 1970's that he was a leader of several covens and a direct link to Gardnerian witchcraft (which have been debunked). It's a superb piece about a unique character.
Love reading these zines!
This time the theme is 'Summoning' of this folk horror / occult zine and some of the pieces are simply brilliant. For those who don't know, 'Hellebore' is a small press zine, the art direction is awesome and evocative and each article is scholarly, yet accessible and fully referenced. Indeed, I am noting that most of the contributors to the zine are from academia but the content is never dry, and always leaves you wanting just a little bit more.
My personal highlights in this issue include;
'Hell is Other Readers' by Christine Ferguson which explores the lure of an evil book in fiction. It's an old trope but that dusty book that contains spells should not be blown and opened! I saw quite a few novels in this article that I had never heard of and I just need to read now! (I actually added, then removed some thinking, 'there is only so far I want to go here').
'Spinster Satanism' by Per Faxneld is an exploration of a Satanic feminist novel called 'Lolley Willowes' by Sylvia Townsend Warner written in the 1920's - another book I simply have to read.
'The House of the Great Beast' by Jon Reppion explores the legacy of Alesiter Crowley's home. It was notorious when Jimmy Page from Led Zeppelin bought it and I remember seeing stories about it in the newspapers. What's really interesting is that the house had quite a lot of curious history both before Crowley and after Page.
My favourite piece is by Verity Holloway - she's contributed previously to Hellebore and I love her work and her research. In 'Conjuring the Cunning Man' she tells us about a witch who lived in a remote village at the turn of the 20th century and his reputation for magic. Was he a troublesome beggar? Was he a hedge-wizard? The article shares claims from the 1970's that he was a leader of several covens and a direct link to Gardnerian witchcraft (which have been debunked). It's a superb piece about a unique character.
Love reading these zines!
nica00's review
4.0
Favourite essays in this issue are Spinster Satanism by Per Faxneld, which examines the feminist impact of Lolly Willowes, and Remember, Remember by Francis Young, which shines a light on the evolving meaning of Bonfire Night.
arthurbdd's review
4.0
By this point, Hellebore have pretty much set out what they are and are continuing to offer their usual blend of folk horror and occulture more or less to the standards set by previous issues. Solid, but as always one could wish they trimmed back some of the terser articles and allowed the deeper articles to sprawl a bit more. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/2023/11/16/mini-review-hellebore-harvest/
bookishwondergoth's review
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
It’s been quite a while since I read an issue of Hellebore, but it is always a delight to return to their pages. Some of these articles are the best I’ve ever read from this little independent magazine. The 2021 Samhain issue concerns summoning rituals, objects used to summon, and of course, historical figures famous for the act of summoning.
‘Hell Is Other Readers’, ‘The Devil’s Prayer Book’, ‘Spinster Satanism’ and ‘The Land Between God and the Devil’ are all excellent and tap into my personal interests of feminism and heresy. Meanwhile, I personally found ‘Dr Dee’s Ottoman Adventure’ quite inaccessible and difficult to follow, being so unfamiliar with its subject, Dr John Dee. It’s always going to be the case that you get along with some articles rather than others, but I greatly enjoyed the majority here that were included.
The final article concerning the inversion of Guy Fawkes from villain to a figurehead of rebellion is particularly wonderful, and hands down my favourite Hellebore article to date.
Onto the next issue… I have a lot to catch up on!
‘Hell Is Other Readers’, ‘The Devil’s Prayer Book’, ‘Spinster Satanism’ and ‘The Land Between God and the Devil’ are all excellent and tap into my personal interests of feminism and heresy. Meanwhile, I personally found ‘Dr Dee’s Ottoman Adventure’ quite inaccessible and difficult to follow, being so unfamiliar with its subject, Dr John Dee. It’s always going to be the case that you get along with some articles rather than others, but I greatly enjoyed the majority here that were included.
The final article concerning the inversion of Guy Fawkes from villain to a figurehead of rebellion is particularly wonderful, and hands down my favourite Hellebore article to date.
Onto the next issue… I have a lot to catch up on!
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