Murphy
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Review of The Ideal Candidate by Damian Murphy
In the small coterie of occult authors working today, Murphy is the ‘ideal candidate’ for your reading list. Whereas other comparable authors remain relatively obscure, most of his books are readily obtainable. This slim volume collects two reprints from extremely rare editions and one new novella and is a worthy…
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Review of The Exaltation of the Minotaur by Damian Murphy
Whatever forms D. M.’s stories assume, whatever mantles of obscurity they adorn, they remain an inspiration. In the Hieromantic Mirror, we are introduced to a sultry protagonist engaged in more investigations of the uncanny and underlying uncertainty of societal constructs. Like most of his characters, she is a seeker after…
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Review of The Academy Outside of Ingolstadt by Damian Murphy
A very readable short novel by one of my favorite living authors. I feel like when you say ‘living author’ you’re talking about someone about to keel over. But Damian Murphy may put out dozens of more books in his time. At the rate he is going we can look…
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Review of The Sleep of the Assassins and Other Stories by Damian Murphy
The stories in this collection are some of his most varied work. Each offering is a succulent delight to read. He is one of the most consistent authors I follow. His work possesses an uncanny depth, always poised between aesthetic acuity and imagistic splendor. While they are subtly or overtly…
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Review of A Conversation With an Errant God: Distorted Reflections on the Kerker-Kreis by Damian Murphy
I have written many other reviews on the majority of Murphy’s work. Each time I finish one of his stories or novellas I am slightly saddened by the fact that I have one fewer pieces of his left to encounter for the first time. This piece takes the form of…
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Review of The Explosion of a Chandelier by by Damian Murphy
In this swiftly paced adventure, D. M. marries a clarity of expression with a depth and ambiguity of subtexts. You feel a current running beneath the surface narrative of dark forces astir. Hector and Vito epitomize the thrill of youth’s longing after dramatic distractions as they encounter with some uncertainty…
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Review of The Exalted and the Abased by Damian Murphy
Several more novellas with occult-aesthetics from the master of neo-decadent novellas. It is a niche genre perhaps, but the sumptuous descriptions and elegant interior design, the descents into esoteric epiphanies, the occluded worlds steeped in reverent awe of dark forces – none of these things get old when the prose…
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Review of The Acephalic Imperial by Damian Murphy
Let there be no doubt that D. M. is the master of occult, shadowy fiction, draped in velvet, drenched in smoky moonlight, whose refulgent landscapes are colonized by sinister, eldritch characters, each enacting esoteric motives in a sibilant daze. He is paramour of ravished beauties, languorous mansions, and impending nightmares.…
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Review of Seduction of the Golden Pheasant by Damian Murphy
I suspect the author has spent some time abroad. Such were my impressions while reading this novella, steeped as it is in the aura of its locales. Seduction of the Golden Pheasant provides us a brief glimpse at Damian Murphy’s implementation of oodles of subtext. Several of his stories function…
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Review of The Narcissus Variations by Damian Murphy
Another unsettling and atmospheric novella from Damian Murphy, who has concocted an aesthetic all his own comprised of dense subtext, dark, elaborate interiors, and esoteric rites, woven into an ongoing meditation on the mortal soul and the responsibility of the artist. This one centers around the Kin and an enigmatic…
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Review of Abyssinia by Damian Murphy
Redolent of mystic awareness. Cryptic and profound. With a highly refined prose style, the author indulges in subtle subterfuge of the reader’s expectations. A quiet and subconscious exploration of inner landscapes, characters bound by association to a storytelling doll, imbued with sententious sentience. Constricted to the confines of a microcosmic…
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Review of Hemming Flames by Patricia Colleen Murphy
A devastating collection of poems dealing with tough topics in a way that leaves a memorable impression, written by a contemporary poet unafraid to openly discuss humanity’s deepest fears. You would be hard-pressed to find a better debut collection published in recent years. The last lines of the book deliver…
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Review of A Spy in the Panopticon by Damian Murphy
I wish I could find the edition pictured on Goodreads. I only had access to the first part: Spy in the Panopticon, which by itself is another stunning work of the imagination from Damian Murphy. In this one especially, the seed of an obscure metaphysics seems to be present. There…
L. S. Popovich 