iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 18h

Today’s #bookpost is this early Victoria Holt with desolate moors, phantom monks, a ruined abbey, gaslighting, brooding men, and this beautifully evocative cover.

Victoria Holt’s Kirkland Revels, cover showing a woman walking towards a ruined abbey

3352

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 30/09/2026

Aside from how freaking good The Prisoner is, it’s so comforting to watch a show with such vibrant colours, instead of the drab greyness that dominates visual media these days.

Scene from The Prisoner where everyone is wearing bright colours

5918

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 28/09/2026

I’ve been invited to speak about one of my favourite films at a Spanish film club, so I’m rewatching BLACK NARCISSUS yet again. Repressed desire and descent into madness in the sublime landscape of the Himalayas. Technicolor perfection by my boys Powell & Pressburger.

3372

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 20/09/2026

Having the best time with Scream! magazine.

A young man is abducted by anthropomorphic fly aliens

A group of hooded cultists performing a ritual

The full power of feline fury unleashed, in...
TERROR
OF THE
CATS

0200

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 18/09/2026

Thank you to @reaktionbooks.bsky.social for sending me a copy of Jeremy Harte’s latest. I loved his Cloven Country and look forward to reading about haunted barrows, spells, demons and more.

Treasures on Earth: buried wealth in Landscape and Legend by Jeremy Harte

2242

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 17/09/2026

In the post today is the latest by @helengrantsays.bsky.social, which I read and blurbed a few months back. A beautifully atmospheric novella that evokes the golden era of dark fantasy. Out now with PS Publishing.

Steal Me by Helen Grant. The cover shows and elderly woman standing on a threshold of a bookshop with strange shapes and shadows behind her

"Transplants the atmosphere of a Grimm fairy tale to a small town in Scotland, simultaneously evoking the antiquarian terrors of
M. R. James and the golden era of dark fantasy."
MARIA J PÉREZ CUERVO
(Founder/Editor of Hellebore)

132

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 15/09/2026

I need to watch Vadim’s Une femme fidele

110

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 15/09/2026

An accidental selfie on this beautiful VVitch-inspired painting by Corey Thomas, at the Goatland exhibition in Bristol.

Dark-haired woman reflected on a painting of Black Phillip and Thomasin

3412

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 13/09/2026

Got my tickets for the cinematic event of the year

3260

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 11/09/2026

Unbelievable charity shop find: 14 issues of Scream! magazine plus a holiday special for £7.

7707

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 06/09/2026

I liked the bathroom! This is going on my inspiration board.

Gargoyle heads as taps to let the water through

020

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 06/09/2026

Perfect day out: the unfinished, extremely haunted Woodchester Mansion and two long barrows nearby: Nympsfield (which had a distinct cold spot) and Uley, aka Hetty Pegler’s Tump.

The way to Woodchester Mansion, a gothic revival mansion

Nympsfield long barrow in the afternoon light

The very narrow entrance to Hetty Pegler’s Tump (you can go in on your hands and knees)

2411

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 04/09/2026

My contributor copy just arrived! Very happy to be in this mighty volume that brings together classic and new tales. Out now in all good bookshops.

Flame Tree Publishing Folk Horror Short Stories with a foreword by Maria J Perez Cuervo

FOLKLORE HORROR SHORT STORIES
ANTHOLOGY OF NEW and CLASSIC TALES
Foreword by Maria J. Pérez Cuervo
FLAME TREE PUBLISHING

0387

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 03/09/2026

Dion Fortune’s grave, Glastonbury.

In memory of Violet Mary Evans (Dion Fortune)

0273

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 24/08/2026

Happy St Bartholomew’s Day to those who appreciate a bit of Gothic Catholicism.

St Bartholomew holding his own skin in heaven (Sixtine Chapel painting)

3258

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 23/08/2026

Loved that the booklet in the Treasured Films release includes some info on the lost TV serial: the American Alan Brooks (Forrest Tucker) was an add-on to appeal to international audiences; the series’ protagonist was Philip Truscott (Lawrence Payne). As it should be!

180

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 23/08/2026

Introduced this gem to my soon-to-be 10-year-old. He loved it! Complimented the soundtrack, the tense atmosphere and the creature design. From now on the creature shall be known as Paul (that’s how my son called him; his pals are Paulette, Pauline and Paulifer.)

4332

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 12/08/2026

So grateful that I got to experience a total eclipse here on the mountains. Perfect, numinous beauty, it made me burst into tears.

114817

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 25/07/2026

Today’s graveyard reading is Philip Matyszak’s new book, my dream travel guide, with places of spiritual significance in the ancient world, from Göbekli Tepe to Stonehenge, Eleusis and the London Mithraeum. Out in October. Thank you @thamesandhudson.bsky.social.

Book cover: Sacred places of the ancient world

0151

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 21/07/2026

Many thanks to @thamesandhudson.bsky.social for sending me a copy of Thomas Waters’ upcoming MAGICK, out in September, an accessible and beautifully illustrated visual guide to magical artefacts, spells and rituals.

Thomas Waters

MAGICK: DECODING THE VISUAL
CULTURE OF SPELLS, ILLUSIONS AND PSYCHIC POWERS

0253

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 19/07/2026

Jolly Jack, the epitome of English Pier Eerie.

3519

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 18/07/2026

The Druid’s Grave at Avonview Cemetery, a memorial for Henry Hodge (d. 1912), the secretary of the Bristol and West district of the Ancient Order of Druids.

Carved grave depicting a Druid under an oak tree

36016

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 15/07/2026

Thank you to @thamesandhudson.bsky.social for sending me one of my most anticipated books of this autumn. A beautiful tome devoted to spaces that evoke the uncanny and reflect the tension between presence and absence. #Bookpost

Sanctum, at home with the uncanny by Mark O’Flaherty

1251

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 14/07/2026

Heavily inspired by the Hellfire Club 😄 There they were, having orgies, worshipping pagan gods and taking “native” drugs (very problematic).

stepped into what appeared to be a cave.
that it could not shut. Then, my heart beating violently, I The floor was stone-flagged and as I advanced I was aware
sickened me a little.
of an odour which I did not recognize. It pervaded the air and I saw that there were candles everywhere - some of them had burned out. I knew that they had been recently lighted and that confirmed my suspicions that it was to this place that those people had come.
The cave opened into a square room. There was a table which looked like an altar and I almost cried out in terror, for on it was a large figure - life-sized, and for one horrified moment I had thought that someone was sitting there.
The figure on the altar seemed to leer at me. It was evil. I saw then that it was meant to represent the Devil - the horns, the cloven feet were evidence of that; the red eyes seemed to be fixed on me.
There were drawings on the walls. I looked at them. At first they were incomprehensible - men and women in coupling groups in strange positions - and then the significance of this was brought home to me.
Now I had one desire and that was to get out of this place as quickly as I could. I ran. I kicked the stone away from the door and shut it behind me. I ran through the wood as though pursued by the Devil - and I really felt that I had come face to face with him.
My thoughts were in a turmoil. What had I stumbled
on?

110

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 13/07/2026

My best friend and I would borrow them from the public library and recommend each other our favourites. Holt and du Maurier are responsible for my Cornwall obsession (and partly also for my moving to the SW). I need to scan this cover and blow it up so I can frame it and put it in my gallery.

THE LEGEND,
OF THE
SEVENTH VIRGIN
A spellbinding novel of suspense by the author of MISTRESS OF MELLYN VICTORIA HOLT
A woman running away from a mansion next to a stone circle

110

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 13/07/2026

Today’s charity shop find was a lucky one! Mistress of Mellyn was my first Victoria Holt and one of my favourite books at age 14.

Mistress of Mellyn by Victoria Holt, paperback edition

2180

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 05/07/2026

Spontaneous present from a friend 🌾

3180

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 29/06/2026

Me doing the school run trying not to mention WERWULF

1140

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 29/06/2026

Still thinking about these two frames, ugh, exquisite.

1171

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 26/06/2026

Saw this yesterday and it was magnificent. Lesley Manville has become my favourite Mme de Merteuil. So fierce, so powerful, so beautiful. Music, costumes and dance were to die for.

National
Theatre
LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES
Lesley Manville and Aidan Turner

190

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 24/06/2026

Extreme heat puts me in the mood for highwaymen, for some reason, so #NowWatching this (so far) delightfully over-the-top period drama.

The
Wicked Lady
The Cannon Group presents
Faye Dunaway Alan Bates John Gielgud
in a Golan-Globus Production of a Michael Winner film
The Wicked Lady
Co-starring
Denholm Elliott • Prunella Scales Oliver Tobias Glynis Barber
Music by Tony Banks Screenplay by Leslie Arliss and Michael Winner From the book by Magdalen King-Hall
Produced by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus- Directed by Michael Winner
Soundtrack available on Atlantic Records

2160

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 21/06/2026

Helping my son for Anglo Saxon Day at school.

Cardboard helmet and mask inspired by the Sutton Hoo one

1742

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 16/06/2026

One never owns enough books featuring haunted mirrors.

1219312

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 09/06/2026

Thank you to @grantabooks.bsky.social for sending me an advance copy of Sarah Clegg’s new book, Perilous Enchantment. I enjoyed The Dead of Winter and this true story of fairies looks equally magnificent.

Perilous Enchantment:
The True History of Faeries by Sarah Clegg.
It's a bitterly cold morning in late December, and I'm walking along on a ridge high in the Yorkshire moors.
The sun is pale white and low on the horizon, and the world leached of colour. In front of me, across a crevasse, is a huge, rectangular heap of stone, over twenty feet high. It's an entirely natural feature, but sits so oddly in the landscape it looks almost manmade, a strange steeple raised in the wilderness. This is the Fairy Church.

0100

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 08/06/2026

I keep thinking about how they’re going to make him talk. With CGI? Telepathically?

000

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 07/06/2026

Reorganising my shelves again. Have placed my astral travel books next to the landscape section.

Artistic depiction of astral projection, a body floating in the starry sky, the head a nebula.

0181

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 07/06/2026

Also found this gorgeous edition of D H Lawrence’s collected short stories ❤️‍🔥

150

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 07/06/2026

Today’s charity shop find (part II) [TW: Spontaneous human combustion]

Phenomena: a book of wonders by John Michell and J M Rickard

“Images that weep and bleed” for the Catholic goths

“Taken away and brought back” for the UFO fans

3110

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 06/06/2026

Nina, I am reading with a pencil at hand, because how is this so beautiful ❤️‍🔥

Underlined paragraph from The Greenwood Faun:

It was May Eve or to pagans, Beltane, when the Horned King is reborn. Although she missed her home, the privacy of the attic quarters suited her purpose. For now, her work was here with the family but on this particular night she craved her companions in the woods uniting in rituals as old as the centuries, the Alicker of flame and flesh and her darling horned one. IO Pan! Fleet of foot and onyx eyed, the poets still rhymed to him, musicians chased his melody, writers kept his lore alive, artists filled their canvasses with him, sculptors fashioned his features and Lovers swooned for him. Those of lacklustre hearts feared him and men of progress denounced him. Unlike mortal children, he had been weaned in a day, attained boyhood in a month and become the God of all there is in a year; faun of the glade, soul of the forest, spirit of freedom, pandemonium and revelries, Pan the divine reborn.

110

Maria J Pérez Cuervo @mjpcuervo.com · 06/06/2026

Thrilled to receive a copy of ‘The Greenwood Faun’ by the wonderful @ninaantonia13.bsky.social, recently reissued by Snuggly Books. Nina’s prose is comforting, mysterious and intoxicating; opium, incense and velvet. Io Pan!

Paperback edition of Nina Antonia’s The Greenwood Faun

Originally issued in 2017 in the United Kingdom in an edition of 420 copies, Nina Atonia's The Greenwood Faun, is here presented for the first time in paperback.
"A strange and curious novel, steeped in the lingering incense and paganism of the fin-de-siècle."
—Phil Baker
"Nina Antonids The Greenwood Faun is a haunted, haunting work.
Summoning up Lucian Taylor, the hallucinated hero of Arthur Ma-chen's The Hill of Dreams, Nina channels the curious, captivating story of what happened to Lucian's literary masterpiece after his death, and how it both saves and destroys those who come across it after it is posthumously published. Shot through with decadence, po-etry, opium, and incense, with the ghost of Lionel Johnson as psycho-pomp and the Great God Pan heavy in the fields, this is a beautifully written proem: witty crepuscular, enchanting, surprising."
-David Tibet
"Decadent in style and, more importantly, in spirit, The Greenwood Faun captures the lush sentiment as well as the mordant irony of the fin-de-siècle, and contrives a delicate balance between them."
- Brian Stableford

0163