I shall go into a hare, With sorrow and sych and meickle care; And I shall go in the Devil's name, Ay while I come home again. Those that have been reading my newsletters recently will know that I’ve been working on a new folk horror novella called “Mask of the Hare.” It’s currently sitting with my editor, and while I wait for feedback, I wanted to take some time talking about the inspiration behind this story. I remember clearly the moment I realised I had to write a book ab

Personal rituals to honour the goddess of rebirth Ēostre in ink by Alex Darkfell I’m not sure about you, but as I’ve got older, I feel a lot more connected to the changes of the seasons than I used to be. I love seeing the first signs of Spring, especially, like this year, if the winter has felt particularly cold, dark and wet. The first signs for me are when the Hawthorn bushes begin to show their first green leaves (they’re great in salads btw) and the blackthorn blossoms b

Download the Story so Far for E-Reader! Chapter 4 - Rafiel Rafiel trained. That’s what he did. He woke, he ate, he worked, then he trained. Every day. They gave him a name when he was born. He never knew his mother. She died bringing him into the world or, so he was told. He was conceived in violence and in violence he was born but it didn’t matter to him. They were all his mother now. They’d raised him in kindness and in return he was their protector. When the clients came,

A Short Pilgrimage through Neolithic Wiltshire My alarm went off at 4.15am and I crept downstairs, careful not to wake the rest of my family. It was the morning of the Spring Equinox 2026 and I’d made the decision the night before that this would be the year I’d make the trip on foot to nearby Stonehenge for the sunrise. Like for the solstices, the site is opened up for visitors free of charge for the morning, where visitors can get up close to the stones and I’d planned out

Let me just start by saying, I love Christmas. It’s genuinely my favourite time of the year. For us, it starts sometime in late November (yes, November. Don’t panic) when we put up our Christmas tree and our Christmas lights. It’s a whole family affair, we’ll put on Santa hats, Christmas music, drink mulled wine and all have a good time. My kids love it. It’s almost as much fun as Christmas itself. For those of you screaming “BUT IT’S NOVEMBER!” I’d ask you to take a few deep

I'm lucky enough to live in south Wiltshire, a beautiful part of the world with rolling hills and surrounding chalkland, with the medieval city of Salisbury at its heart. If you venture just west of Salisbury, you’ll come to the small village of Wilton. On the outskirts of this village lies the ancient Grovely Wood. You can drive out, about 10 minutes from Salisbury, park in the small car park, and follow the old, beech-lined Roman road through the woods. If you can go during

Hi All OK so I’m going to do something a little different today and send out the first of my folklore inspired essays, this time, on numbers and their powers in superstition. Hope you enjoy! Alex PS. thanks to all who have read my new folk-horror short story collection Epiphany and More. Out now on Amazon as paperback and eBook. Signed copies still available on my website, www.darkfellwrites.com. Enter EPIPHANY10 at checkout for 10% off! Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a h

The greatest teacher, failure is... Yoda, Star Wars The Last Jedi As a writer, setbacks are common. It could be the obvious like a...

I’ve been thinking recently about the things that hold us back when we write. The “Resistance” (with a capital R) as Steven Pressfield...