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Nocturnal Mirrors
“Something foul is knocking at the door to our world.”
A grand marble staircase prowls the night in search of passengers, Hidden Mothers whisper tales of the Wild Hunt to children carved from wood, a man is gifted candles whose flames do not dispel shadows but lure them . . . and that which lurks beyond. Such are the shapes of Otherness reflected in Nocturnal Mirrors. Across thirteen stories, Richard Gavin conjures liminal realms where the familiar is transformed by spectral and chthonic forces. Drawing upon the literary traditions of the Gothic, fin de siècle Decadence, and Surrealism, Nocturnal Mirrors gives form to the author’s conviction that our world is most vitally experienced when it is viewed through a glass darkly.
Contents
“Banquets of Embertide”
“Flagstone Clothes”
“Molly on the Stairhead”
“The Intercessor”
“Crinoline Eyrie”
“Prowling Through Throated Chambers”
“Honeymoon in Burning Bedlam”
“Stray Gates”
“A Place of Courtship”
“Lady Esmé’s Chandler”
“Upon an Iron Bed, Under the Eyes of Chaos”
“Four Stages of Alchemy”
“Tabula Rasa”
“Afterword: Honouring the Shadowland”
Cover art by Morgan Sorensen.
A grand marble staircase prowls the night in search of passengers, Hidden Mothers whisper tales of the Wild Hunt to children carved from wood, a man is gifted candles whose flames do not dispel shadows but lure them . . . and that which lurks beyond. Such are the shapes of Otherness reflected in Nocturnal Mirrors. Across thirteen stories, Richard Gavin conjures liminal realms where the familiar is transformed by spectral and chthonic forces. Drawing upon the literary traditions of the Gothic, fin de siècle Decadence, and Surrealism, Nocturnal Mirrors gives form to the author’s conviction that our world is most vitally experienced when it is viewed through a glass darkly.
Contents
“Banquets of Embertide”
“Flagstone Clothes”
“Molly on the Stairhead”
“The Intercessor”
“Crinoline Eyrie”
“Prowling Through Throated Chambers”
“Honeymoon in Burning Bedlam”
“Stray Gates”
“A Place of Courtship”
“Lady Esmé’s Chandler”
“Upon an Iron Bed, Under the Eyes of Chaos”
“Four Stages of Alchemy”
“Tabula Rasa”
“Afterword: Honouring the Shadowland”
Cover art by Morgan Sorensen.
224 pages, Hardcover
Published June 5, 2026
About the author
Richard Gavin
87 books182 followersA resident of Ontario, Canada, Richard Gavin is the author of many acclaimed works of horror and the occult, including Charnel Wine, Omens, and Primeval Wood. His non-fiction appears frequently in the pages of Rue Morgue magazine and other journals. Richard’s latest collection, The Darkly Splendid Realm, will be released by Dark Regions Press in autumn 2009.
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
September 30, 2026
Gavin, Richard - Nocturnal Mirrors
From outside the box, these, in an admirable way. I cannot go into the initial story, let alone attempt to explain it. That one is flat out weird.
Not until we reach “Molly On The Stairhead” does the terrain seem vaguely familiar. Even then, Molly and her companions are in the fields past dark, when a singular marble staircase appears. Which Molly ascends, only to disappear. She had always been a strange girl. Teens can rationalize all manner of doubts. Escape can be more challenging.
From a distance, they seemed to be canoes. Why would anyone leave canoes on the small, isolated isle? Five of them, up on the peak. For Leslie and Peter, “Crinoline And Eyrie” was a weekend getaway, a trysting rendezvous. A neutral place to see if they meshed, if there was a spark. They did not, and there was none. Leslie had the greater appetites, sexual as well as curiosity, which included knowing about the river craft, high up, waiting.
Funhouse fans! If you can acquire a ticket, then you will want to be “Prowling Through Throated Chambers”. As for this particular horror haus, it ain’t no kiddee ride. Likewise, once inside there is no turning back no matter how … uncomfortable.
The two men were dabblers in alchemy. Alan was more serious, Dax a casual observer. Until came the certainty that triggered excitement. Knowledge that the “Four Stages Of Alchemy” was at hand. Boon or curse, the experience was not without peril, not without blessings. As with all dark wisdom, knowledge was not to be shared, nor to be disclosed. All of us are amateurs in countless fields, reluctant to rush ahead whereas half educated dabblers might sally blindly.
From outside the box, these, in an admirable way. I cannot go into the initial story, let alone attempt to explain it. That one is flat out weird.
Not until we reach “Molly On The Stairhead” does the terrain seem vaguely familiar. Even then, Molly and her companions are in the fields past dark, when a singular marble staircase appears. Which Molly ascends, only to disappear. She had always been a strange girl. Teens can rationalize all manner of doubts. Escape can be more challenging.
From a distance, they seemed to be canoes. Why would anyone leave canoes on the small, isolated isle? Five of them, up on the peak. For Leslie and Peter, “Crinoline And Eyrie” was a weekend getaway, a trysting rendezvous. A neutral place to see if they meshed, if there was a spark. They did not, and there was none. Leslie had the greater appetites, sexual as well as curiosity, which included knowing about the river craft, high up, waiting.
Funhouse fans! If you can acquire a ticket, then you will want to be “Prowling Through Throated Chambers”. As for this particular horror haus, it ain’t no kiddee ride. Likewise, once inside there is no turning back no matter how … uncomfortable.
The two men were dabblers in alchemy. Alan was more serious, Dax a casual observer. Until came the certainty that triggered excitement. Knowledge that the “Four Stages Of Alchemy” was at hand. Boon or curse, the experience was not without peril, not without blessings. As with all dark wisdom, knowledge was not to be shared, nor to be disclosed. All of us are amateurs in countless fields, reluctant to rush ahead whereas half educated dabblers might sally blindly.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review