Jonathan B. Edvane

Magpies. One for sorrow, two for joy. We all know it. But what was the backstory? I could find nothing that satisfied me, and so I wrote my own. Naturally, I gave it a dark history and a place where the warnings have consequences. The Magpies of Hagley Stile. #Edvane #Folklore LINK IN COMMENTS

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#vss365 “Master, how did our world #start?” “We murdered a god, boy. Built our kingdoms upon its bones, filled its wounds with oceans and drew our magic from its dying flesh.” “Why does the earth tremble?” The old wizard stared into the fire. “We never taught it how to die.” #Edvane #DarkFantasy

edvanestories.comThe Magpies of Hagley Stile - Edvane StoriesSeven dark folk tales from Hagley Stile, where every magpie count brings sorrow, joy, silver, gold, secrets, and a reckoning long remembered.

#vss365 An imp promised Meredith a shortcut through the wood. “Follow my footprints and #travel true,” he said. “Stray once, and you’ll never leave.” Meredith obeyed until he reached a clearing. The imp waited with a shovel. “I lied, mortal. Start digging.” #Edvane #DarkFantasy

#vss365 For two hundred years, the villagers had kept a #taper burning, passing the watch from father to son. While its flame endured, the murderous ghost beneath the bridge could never rise.... #Edvane #DarkFantasy

#vss365 Blunderbore's many heads could spot a traveller from #miles away. No one crossed the western hills unseen, and those who caught sight of the giant fled in terror... #Edvane #DarkFantasy #Folklore

#vss365 At Easter, the pace-egg players came, singing for pennies. Behind them, Little Devil #Doubt, carrying his broom. “If you do not give me money, I'll sweep you all out!” #Edvane #DarkFantasy #Folklore

#vss365 The witch thought her secret safe when a nobleman made his #commitment to marry her. She arrived at the appointed hour in her finest gown, only to be dragged to the scaffold, screaming curses. He had promised they would tie the knot. That day it was around her neck. #Edvane #DarkFantasy

The wizard is one of the most recognisable figures in fantasy, and one of the best understood. He arrives with a staff, a pointy hat, a reputation, and answers. The template has barely changed. My wizards are not that, and here's why. #Edvane #Wizards #TheDarkHearth LINK IN COMMENTS

edvane.worldWhat Is a Wizard? — The Dark Hearth — Jonathan B. EdvaneGandalf, Ged, Prospero and four Marchlands wizards. The case for a wizard who stands at the edge of someone else's story and changes everything.

#vss365 In 1830, threatening letters signed Cpt Swing were #fueling riots across the countryside. Hayricks burned, threshing machines were smashed A reward for his capture was offered, and the farmers laughed at their own contrivance. Then someone claimed it. With his head. #Edvane #DarkFantasy

In Return of the SS Strumble, I wanted to present a tale that looks like a Victorian supernatural maritime yarn. In fairness, that remains the audience. What I wove into it though was foreknowledge. Your foreknowledge. That is the twist. #Edvane #GhostShip LINK IN COMMENTS

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edvanestories.comThe Return of the SS Strumble - Edvane StoriesA Victorian lighthouse keeper faces the impossible return of the SS Strumble, a ghost ship carrying machinery that may alter the future.

#vss365 The king's steward was #nervous as they led the chained girl towards the wyrm’s cave. He asked whether the ropes were secure and ordered the knights to stand well back. The girl smiled. The wyrm had never demanded a sacrifice. She had. #Edvane #DarkFantasy

#vss365 Every morning, the young squire came to me for #training. He gripped my bark and hauled himself upward using only his arms while his master shouted from below... #Edvane #DarkFantasy

#vss365 They met every Sunday for croquet, though lately the lawn seemed terribly neglected. Passers-by never stopped. Even the groundskeeper ignored them. “Perhaps they cannot hear us,” Arthur said. “Hardly surprising,” his partner replied. “We tread lightly in these new #sneakers.” #GhostStory

#vss365 Captain Hitchens bought his #lottery ticket for ten shillings, grinning at the Queen’s promise that its bearer would be forgiven their crimes. He swaggered forward to claim his prize. The constables met him with shackles. “Immunity excludes piracy. Didn’t you know?” #Edvane #DarkFantasy

#vss365 The deaths were #unexpected, but Clara knew. She had seen the cook turn at the cough behind her and, for three careless strokes, stir the pot widdershins before correcting herself. The next day, six were dead, and Clara knew the superstition was true. #Edvane #DarkFantasy

Fiction has about five default ways of writing a witch. The hag. The seductress. The victim. The feminist icon. The eccentric with a cat. In this post, I talk about three stories that each approach witchcraft from a different direction. #Edvane #TheDarkHearth #Witchcraft LINK IN COMMENTS

edvane.worldWriting Witches in Dark Fantasy: Why Comfort Is the Enemy — The Dark Hearth — Jonathan B. EdvaneFiction has five default ways to write a witch, and most flatten her. Why the witches of the Marchlands refuse to let the reader off the hook.

#vss365 The plague pits overflowed until the #dead lay higher than the churchyard wall. Priests stopped counting. Then the corpses began to sink. From the rot rose a tall figure in a black cowl, carrying a scythe. Death had not brought the plague. It had made him. #Edvane #DarkFantasy

#vss365 The maid of Longwitton rubbed the ointment into her eyes and finally saw what guarded the dry well. She followed the demon, struck it with silver and watched it vanish. Water surged from the stones. They praised her #bravery Something below realised the guard was gone. #Edvane #DarkFantasy

#vss365 In the small hours, Rossmore House woke to a woman shrieking and sobbing beneath the windows. “Rossmore! Rossmore!” Servants ran to their master’s room and found him dead in bed. For years they said the #sound had foretold his death. Nobody asked why the banshee came. #Edvane #DarkFantasy

In 1990, with #DoctorWho off the air, I wrote my own adventure. Finding it 30+ years later, I thought it clunky, over-enthusiastic, too pleased with itself and desperate to explain everything. So I hit it hard. Perhaps appropriately, the story regenerated too. LINK IN COMMENTS #Edvane #FanFiction

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edvanestories.comDoctor Who and the Bells of Winvaulx Abbey - Edvane StoriesDoctor Who and the Bells of Winvaulx Abbey is a Doctor Who fan fiction novella by Jonathan B. Edvane. Impossible bells. Vanishing memories.

#vss365 Tandy lured fishermen from the #delta and tortured those who followed. When the sheriff chased her into the swamp, she sank beneath the mud cursing the town. “Twenty years,” she cried. “Then I’ll burn it.” Exactly twenty years later, in 1904, Yazoo burned. The Yazoo Witch kept her promise.

A bit of Mississippi folklore for ya

#vss365 Dr Powell had delivered children for forty years and never once lost a mother. People said it was his #calm hands... #Edvane #DarkFantasy

#vss365 The old crofter began to #quake when the Fachan stepped from the mist. His son whispered, “You’ve seen one before?” “Aye.” The creature stopped, then lowered its monstrous head to him. “Father,” it boomed. #Edvane #DarkFantasy #Folklore

Fantasy has no shortage of monsters. The problem is that most exist only to be fought and defeated. I look at how some of mine work, and why dark fantasy benefits from monsters that refuse to behave like villains. LINK IN COMMENTS #Edvane #TheDarkHearth

edvane.worldWriting Monsters in Dark Fantasy: Why Mine Are Rarely the Villain — The Dark Hearth — Jonathan B. EdvaneMost fantasy monsters exist only to be fought. Mine are lenses. Four Marchlands creatures and the case for monsters that refuse to be villains.

#vss365 The professor’s new #siren was a beautiful construction of brass, gears and perforated discs. As his assistant worked the bellows, its note climbed until the laboratory windows trembled. At precisely 23,000 revolutions, something began screaming inside the wall... #Edvane #DarkFantasy

#vss365 At night, the townsfolk heard the Hellwain grinding along the lane, its iron wheels blazing, chained unfortunates dragging it behind them beneath the demon’s whip. They said only those burdened by #sin need fear it... #Edvane #DarkFantasy

#vss365 Marguerite survived the #island for two years, fighting beasts, hunger and the shrieking demons. When a ship finally found her, the captain asked how she had kept the dark devils away. She stared back at him through wild eyes. “Kept them away?” #Edvane #DarkFantasy

Inspired by the legend of Marguerite de la Roque

King Arthur, Merlin, the Round Table are inventions. Fine. In Merlin and the Unburied King, I used what scholars broadly agree on: Arfderydd, Gwenddolau, and Myrddin, the bard who fled. That was the scaffolding for my version of the story #Edvane #Merlin #KingArthur LINK IN COMMENTS

edvanestories.comMerlin and the Unburied King - Edvane StoriesMerlin and the Unburied King is a dark Arthurian story by Jonathan B. Edvane, set three days after the battle of Arfderydd in 573 AD.

In this tale, my objective was to take one of Britain's most mythologised figures and illustrate, through him, the danger of mythologising edvanestories.com/2026/04/25/m...

#vss365 The ship crossed the harbour without oars, crew or raised #sail. When fishermen boarded her, they found every sailor drowned, though the vessel had never sunk. One corpse opened its eyes. “Please,” it whispered. “Don’t let her reach the sea.” #Edvane #DarkFantasy

edvanestories.comThe Second Commission - Edvane Storiesroyal commission rides west to investigate a seized ship and two missing officials. What waits aboard the Sint Marie defies all record.

Inspired by a Historical Fiction I wrote edvanestories.com/2026/09/25/t...

#vss365 A #hurricane tore roofs from houses and uprooted ancient trees, yet the old chapel stood untouched. Survivors crowded inside to give thanks. The priest locked the doors. Outside, the storm stopped instantly. He smiled. “There. It’s brought me a fresh congregation.” #Edvane #DarkFantasy

#vss365 For three nights, the dead followed a ship through the fog, their drowned faces rising beside the hull whenever the crew slowed. When they finally reached the #harbour, the sodden corpses stopped and would come no further... #Edvane #DarkFantasy

Brandon Sanderson famously argued that an author’s ability to solve problems with magic is proportional to how well the reader understands it. But what if hard and soft magic aren’t really properties of magic at all? This Dark Hearth essay explores the argument. LINK IN COMMENTS #Fantasy #Writing

edvane.worldHard Magic and Soft Magic in Fantasy: A Writer's Case for Blurring the Line — The Dark Hearth — Jonathan B. EdvaneHard magic has rules the reader can see. Soft magic does not. Four stories, Sanderson's law, and the case for blurring the line between them.

#vss365 The will-o’-the-wisp danced across the bog each night, bright enough to #lure travellers from the road. Villagers blamed the marsh for the vanished. One night, a man tracked the light and saw it pause above a patch of black mud. Then the mud opened its mouth. #Edvane #DarkFantasy

#vss365 A librarian found an old map showing a way through the #mountain where no road existed. After closing, he followed the map until he found the path at the place it promised. Eventually, the path disappeared into a cave... #Edvane #DarkFantasy

#vss365 Each month, a black #cloud rolled down and settled over the houses. The next day, another house stood empty. The priest said the mist carried souls to God. When it reached his door, he finally saw what moved inside it. Thousands of tiny hands. Reaching for him. #Edvane #DarkFantasy

With The Smothing of Dunsop Bridge, I wanted to write a piece of folklore that never existed, but might have. Something rooted closely enough in a real place, and old rural warnings that, for a moment at least, you might wonder whether I had made any of it up. LINK IN COMMENTS #Edvane #Folklore

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edvanestories.comThe Smothing of Dunsop Bridge - Edvane StoriesA dark Lancashire folklore tale by Jonathan B. Edvane. The Smothing of Dunsop Bridge has one rule. Never bring an unbaptised child.