Back in 2013 - 10 Years Ago on 19th September, Kev KThomas Oyston and I met in the flesh for the first time to launch "Tales from the Black Meadow" at Reading Library. It was a packed event and one that I look back on with real fondness. I have been enmeshed in the world of Black Meadow since then with 4 books, 4 albums and a host of events that explore this strange place and its phenomena.

To celebrate this I am publishing "Tales from the Black Meadow - The Play" on Tuesday 19th September. Back in 2017 I conducted a daft experiment, taking a coach load of students from Reading to Caedmon College in Whitby to perform the play for the first time in one day. We travelled across the Black Meadow through the mist to get there. It was subsequently performed at South Street Arts Centre, Reading and the Bradfield Greeker. It is like a fever dream now but hopefully this little book captures some of it.

I am really chuffed that Bob Fischer, who also attended the premiere, has kindly written a foreword.

Celebrate with us and get lost in the mist.

Lovely write up of Wyrd Britannia event at Todmorden

Black Meadow and Folklore Tapes joined forces on Saturday January 25th 2014 at Todmorden Library as part of the Wyrd Britannia festival. It was a lovely event. The place was packed (with some people having to stand at the back), whilst author Chris Lambert weaved his strange tales interspersed with facts about Black Meadow, documentary and music. The mood was spooky, Chris lit by a gel covered desk lamp on the floor, the audience sitting in rapt silence and stillness as he drew them into a world of Horsemen, Fog houses and Faustian pacts.

For an audience perspective check out this lovely entry by "A Year in the Country".

National Libraries Day Event - Meet the Author - Chris Lambert - Tales from the Black Meadow

Stonking Review in STARBURST magazine for "Tales from the Black Meadow"

It's a great day for "Tales from the Black Meadow" the book and the CD have received a fantastic write-up in STARBURST Magazine.

The reviewer Andrew Marshall clearly enjoyed the whole experience fully diving in and picking out his favourite stories.

Having read Starburst since we were children this is a wonderful day for us here at Black Meadow.

Check out the full review here.

This is how the front page of Starburst looked today...

Now play this...

Tales from the Black Meadow - Blog Launch

Exiled Publications are proud to announce the launch of Tales from the Black Meadow - The Blog.

This new site promises to explore folklore, music and act as a hub for all things Black Meadow.

Join us.

"One of the best releases we had this year" - Review of "Tales from the Black Meadow" the album. Musicblob.

Lovely article from Musicblob about the alt-folk renaissance features many great artists including...

The Soulless Party

"Even if it’s quite unexpected to find such a project on this list, the use they make of flutes, orchestral arrangements and the minor chord progressions allow this music to be considered as a branch of the recent alt-folk scenario. To be clear, the music The Soulless Party plays could be labeled as rural psychedelia, evoking landscapes full of gnomes, wizards and ghostly creatures. The background sound fields give the sensation of a wide landscape, most likely experienced at the sunset. Based on an omnipresent organ sound and celestial choirs, the recent Tales From The Black Meadow is one of the best releases we had this year, with ten marvellous compositions to state it."

For the full article click here.

Review of "Tales from the Black Meadow" by Crab Man - Mythogeography

Crab Man aka Phil smith (Author of Counter-Tourism The Handbook, Counter-Tourism - The Pocket Book - 50 Odd Things to do in a Heritage Site, A Sardine Street Box of Tricks and Mythogeography: A Guide to Walking Sideways) has written a review of "Tales from the Black Meadow". 

 It is reprinted in all of it's glory below.

Tales from the Black Meadow Chris Lambert Exiled Publishing (Reading, UK) (with double CD ‘Tales from the Black Meadow’). 

 Chris Lambert has made a world. Like those of many a demiurge, his is more flawed than floored. Around the Black Meadow you are always in danger of having the earth, let alone the carpet, pulled from beneath your feet. There, it is far from easy to tell a divine spark from a black sphere.

 ‘Tales from the Black Meadow’ is neatly framed, Machen-like, in their collection by a lay historian, the fictitious Roger Mullins. From the off we are somewhere unmapped between the realunreal and the unrealreal. Among the tales gathered by Mullins are those of bodies of fog and blackberry and rags, floating eyes, a psychic litter bin (a standing stone), boy to foal and vagabond to apple tree transformations, and a stepping stone that does what it says on the tin. Told in prose that sits somewhere between storytelling and antiquarianism, visceral dread slowly rises from its mustiness, catching the reader in complacency. Thinking you stand safely outside the mythology, you come to read: “[M]any of the tales of the Black Meadow try to explain how the world disappears from its borders... to the world it is the village that vanishes but this is of course a simple matter of perspective” and then you grasp that this pseudo-place’s perspective has quickly made a “simple matter” of you. Its floating eyes are in your head now.

‘Tales from the Black Meadow’, with its accompanying double cd (including a fine spoof Radio 4 documentary) sits well with similar recent cultural productions like the music of Belbury Poly, Emily Jones’s ‘The Book of the Lost’ album and the movie ‘The Paranormal Diaries: Clophill’ which is soon to spawn its own book by its writer Kevin Gates. They wed a Hammer-like sensibility for a polluted rurality to a pseudo-local history; wildly flagging their falseness they lure us pleasurably onto an ambiguous ground where the question of ground itself, frozen and vaporous, can be asked. The ‘land’ becomes an agent here; one with a “sacred relationship with those who toil upon it and those why live by it”, one who comes a-calling, who gives birth, who snarls at the door.

 “Will you take our hands in yours?
Wake our fairest land.”
 Crab Man

Amazon Review of "Tales from the Black Meadow" - "A fine piece of British hauntology"

A fine piece of British hauntology 4 Oct 2013 By Gareth This is a beautiful, compelling book of folklore. What's most haunting about this book is that the stories feel like they've been lingering at the back of your mind all your life. The sparse, propulsive prose gives it this sense of timelesness. This is Britain's past reimagined so vividly that it becomes as real as a memory, albeit one shrouded in speculation, rumour and mystery. A fine piece of hauntology but also good storytelling with lots of twists in the tale. It gets grizzly, absurd and murderous in parts, if you like that kind of thing, which I do.

Amazon Review of "Tales from the Black Meadow" - "Little gem of a book"

Tales from the Black Meadow 3 Oct 2013 By Mervyn Williams `Tales from the Black Meadow', by Chris Lambert, is a little gem of a book which exploits and revels in the concept of `gothic' to the very full. The way the book is structured around a collection of ` would be' sinister stories, and extracts from a fanciful array of macabre sources, is a witty pastiche on more established publications. Such is the brevity of each tale, and the clarity of writing, Chris Lambert provides the reader with no refuge from his ceaseless accounts of the grotesque and inexplicable. Lambert's clear skill in `spooky' narration is accentuated by a clear relish for dark humour and the unexpected. The book is illustrated by some equally haunting and evocative images created by Nigel Wilson. Whether in the schoolroom or by the fireside on a dark cold night, `Tales from the Black Meadow' is an essential short read. Mervyn Williams

Amazon Review of "Tales from the Black Meadow" - "An absolute treat of a book."

5.0 out of 5 stars Send a shiver down your spine........ 24 Sep 2013 By Kerensa Faragher I literally could not put this book down. It will make you gasp, laugh, cry and will send a little shiver down your spine. Although a series of poems and short stories that could be dipped in and out of, I read it from cover to cover in an evening. The wonderful illustrations do this book great justice and my personal favourite, Beyond The Moor, made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The Fog House and The Rag and Bone Man were fascinating pieces of macabre literary works. An absolute treat of a book and I, for one, cannot wait to see more from this author.

Amazon Review of "Tales from the Black Meadow" - "I couldn't put it down..."

5.0 out of 5 stars Good old fashioned scary tales... 24 Sep 2013 By Michelle Walsh Although this book of tales can potentially be read in short bursts, I couldn't put it down. At times I went from a shocked gasp to a private giggle in just one paragraph. The unexpected twists and turn of events are delightful and left me thinking about them long after I put the book down. The traditional looking illustrations really set the scene and made me feel that these tales had been recounted and retold over many years and therefore must hold an element of truth, which makes them all the more eerie. I personally shall be watching this author as I can't wait for more.

Black Meadow at the Ryedale Book Festival - Saturday 19th October 2013 - The Mystic Moors

I was very nervous.

We arrived early and set out a stall in the main hall at the fabulous Milton Rooms in Malton.

At about ten to 12 we set up in a black box studio theatre to the side of the hall.

We set the ambiance with the first few tracks of "Tales from the Black Meadow".

I.R. Johnson went first with readings from his fascinating book "The Witcher Keys". He spoke of how he had witnessed the effects of elementals whilst working in this area. I was struck by his vivid descriptions of landscape and atmosphere. I look forward to settling down in the the coming winter months with this book.

Of course by now I was getting even more nervous.

Theresa Tomlinson was next and she read extracts from "A Swarming of Bees" an intriguing and exciting Anglo-Saxon set murder mystery. She and Ian were both charming and excellent in their delivery.

Now it was my turn.

A roomful of strangers and I had dared to write a book set in their home county. 

My mouth was dry and I asked for water. Ana our gracious host and MC obliged.

I thought I'd try smiling which seemed to help.

I spoke of our journey from Whitby to Malton across the misty moor by RAF Fylingdales and how we thought we could see the horsemen dancing and hints of roof and chimney through the mist.

I talked of the tragedies and mysteries of Black Meadow.

I read "Can you tell me Maiden Fair". The audience were silent.

I spoke of the folklore surrounding the disappearance and reappearance of the village.

I performed "The Devil and the Yoked Man", Nigel and Kev providing the voices of The Devil and TheYoked Man from behind the audience.

I finished off with "The Horsemen" which provoked laughter and gasps.

Once it was all over we were asked questions about Black Meadow.

People seemed confused and shocked that they hadn't heard of it before.

Then I sold quite a few books and Kev Oyston sold quite a few CDs too.

A wonderful day.

Malton is a beautiful town and the Ryedale Book Festival a very welcoming and exciting event.

Tales from the Black Meadow - The Launch - Article in Reading Post

Amazon Review of "Tales from the Black Meadow" - "Groundbreaking new concept..."

5.0 out of 5 stars
Ground-breaking new concept.,
7 Sep 2013 By MR N H WILSON

This review is from: Tales from the Black Meadow (Paperback) 

Wonderful stories, richly illustrated, which describe strange happenings in and around a fictitious(?) location in a real part of North Yorkshire. Cleverly written to convince you it is recounting established, but rarely spoken of, folklore. There is even a separately available CD with haunting compositions by Kev Oyston and a "documentary" giving added authenticity to the tales. Can be enjoyed by readers of all ages, depending on their ability to deal with creepy material.

17 Days to Halloween - The Black Meadow Pumpkin

How to make a Black Meadow Pumpkin...

1. Find a pumpkin.
2. Cut off the top.
3. Hollow out the innards.
4. If you don't have an artistic bone in your body (like me) print out a design and stick it to the outside of the pumpkin. Use Gaffer tape (sellotape tends to fall off).

 

5. Using a pumpkin saw from a pumpkin carving kit cut out the largest bits of the design.

6. Remove the paper and gaffer tape.

7. Put a tealight inside. Light it.

8. Display in window on a dark night when the mist is high.

9. Read "The Land Spheres" and then "The Horsemen" to your lit pumpkin. You can find these here.

23 Days to Halloween - Make Black Meadow Jam

The main crop from Black Meadow used to be blackberries. Tales such as "Children of the Black Meadow", "The Blackberry Ghost" and "The Blackberry Swim" all celebrate this busy little industry.

So if you have any blackberries left (I'm sure many of you popped your spares in the freezer) then follow the recipe here and stick this label on your jar.

Alternatively buy a jar, steam off the label and replace it with this one!

24 Days to Halloween - The Black Meadow Wordsearch

Everybody loves a wordsearch.

So treat yourself to a little brain stretching and see how many spooky and strange things you can find.

You can download a lovely pdf of the wordsearch here...

30 Days to Halloween - Tales from the Black Meadow

30 Days to Halloween - Can you think of someone that you could give "Tales from the Black Meadow" to as a perfect spooky gift?

Tales of the Black Meadow - For Dogs

"Papa, if you don't read The Black Dog immediately Caesar will bite off our faces."

If you have a dog we have the following advice...

It is a well known fact that all pets enjoy the Black Meadow Tales. For canine companions I would of course suggest "The Black Dog" to begin with. Many dogs have also expressed a great fondness for "The long walk to Scarry Wood" for obvious reasons.

Tales from the Black Meadow Number 2 - By Popularity - Fantasy Short Stories

Let's try to keep it up there.

Exciting times.