Bøker av Mark Mclaughlin

DIMENSION OF MONSTERS presents seven tales of Lovecraftian horror, weird creatures, and unspeakable possession. In "Blood On The Enchanted Blade," a being from Lovecraft's Dreamlands discovers how to interact with people in the waking world of Earth, with deadly results. In "Clip-Clop," an investigator of the supernatural teams up with an unearthly entity to solve a horrifying mystery. A tale of the insect-god Ghattambah reveals a bizarre plot to destroy most, but not all, of humanity. Another story serves as a guide to monsters you might meet at the office, to help you to avoid many of the sketchy fiends that may lurk in any workplace. "The Succubus Of The Opera" presents the tale of a bat-winged creature of legend and a strange love affair. "She'll Never Leave The Attic" and "The Vengeance Of The Six Witches" are both modern-day ghost stories, each with its own unique twist. Thank you for visiting the DIMENSION OF MONSTERS. Enjoy your stay....

In this story collection, you will learn about the most obscure and in some cases, reclusive creatures that Creation has to offer. In "Lurkers From The Dreamlands," you will discover how bizarre hybrid creatures, from folklore as well as urban legends, were created when humans began to interact with the denizens of the Dreamlands. "Let Me Tell You About Aliens" reveals how and why life-forms from other planets and even solar systems visit the Earth whenever they please. "Delilah's Siblings" presents the secrets of an unusually large rural family with a disturbing lifestyle. In "Speaking Parts: Frankenstein's Monster Restitched As A Crazy Quilt Of Flash Fictions," you will find out more about the components of history's most notorious assembled monster. None of the parts were donated to the doctor who created the creature. The innovative physician collected the pieces one by one, and each part has a story to share. "Phantasmapedia: An Alphabestiary of Little-Known Demons, Entities, Mutants, and Pseudo-Biological Aberrations" provides an overview of many weird beings that live hidden in strange locations, or unseen in our midst.

In a distant forest near a swamp stood a dead oak tree filled with spiderwebs. Among the tree's branches sat a silver-eyed magic man, who played a major role in the personal evolution of the Wicked Queen. The 18 Spiderweb Tree stories in this collection are twisted retellings of classic fairy tales and folklore, created for adults instead of kids. These stories include "Hansel & Gristle," "The Shoemaker's Unpaid Interns," "The Secret Last Name Of The Psychic Alchemist," "The Musical Rat-Catcher," "Little Big-Nosed Woodenhead," "The Tabby Who Enjoyed Wearing Shoes," and more. This collection includes five more tales - "The Lady With Little Friends In Her Hair And Other Urban Legends." An urban legend is part of a modern brand of folklore, in which tales are circulated as true, and they often reflect the anxieties found in society. The urban legends found here include "The Kid Whose Pet Wasn't Really A Dog," "The Guy Who Never Left The Mall," "The Woman Who Found A Surprise In Her Pop Can," and more.

CRUSHED VELVET: POEMS OF HORROR & BEAUTY features the best of Mark McLaughlin's poetry throughout his career. His fiction, nonfiction, and poetry have appeared in hundreds of magazines, newspapers, websites, and anthologies. His books include the novels, HUMAN DOLL, THE HELL NEXT DOOR, and INJECTABLES. McLaughlin was also one of the authors of THE GOSSAMER EYE, a collection that won the 2002 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Poetry category. Three authors were featured in THE GOSSAMER EYE: Mark McLaughlin, Rain Graves and David Niall Wilson. The three authors represented in this collection wrote in numerous speculative genres, with an emphasis on horror and dark fantasy. McLaughlin is also the author of many other poetry collections, including PROFESSOR LAGUNGO'S EXOTIC ARTIFACTS & ASSORTED MYSTIC COLLECTIBLES, which was a nominee for the 2003 Bram Stoker Poetry Award. "I have always felt that dark verse has to feature more than just gore, gloom, and violence," McLaughlin said. "There has to be some profound human element. That element can be love, humor, irony, a contrasting appreciation of beauty, or any combination of possible options." CRUSHED VELVET features a wide variety of McLaughlin's poems from various anthologies, magazines, and collections of his work. Poems you will find in this collection include "Now Is The Winter Of My Discontent Pterodactyl," "Death Is Coming For You, My Friend," "I Had A Dream And You Were In It," "Mom And Dad Went Insane And All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt," "Older Than Dirt And Twice As Ugly," "The Return Of Lizard-Lips," "Steamroller Concerto (In B-Flat)," "A Dream Of Shrieking Insects," "Consummate Blasphemy Of The Rustmad Technogod," "Caligari, Inc.," "Scandalicious," "The Snickerer In The Snack Machine," "Internet Witches," and "A Flaming Death Is Not For Me."

URBAN MONSTERS presents three stories of monsters out of mythology, including a tale inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. All are set in the present day, showing that creatures of myth aren't relics from the past. They live among us and are still ready to destroy the unwary. In "The Lurker In The Basement," you will learn about a threat from the ancient world that is born to a wealthy modern-day couple. They do their best to conceal their hideous offspring from others, but there is no hiding a creature that hungers for human flesh. "The Protective Care Ward" is set in a clinic for individuals with special problems. Some of the patients are extremely dangerous, including one whose appearance changes on a regular basis. That patient is in contact with the powerful deity Azathoth. Curing the patient might turn out to be tricky, since it could bring about the end of the world. "Mother Most Foul" tells the tale of a creature out of Greek mythology who has decided to settle down in a domestic life as a mortal's wife. But the creature clings to many strange beliefs, and finds it nearly impossible to blend into society. The story is told from the viewpoint of the creature's long-suffering son, who does his best to help Mother to fit into a world that finds her both confusing and frightening....

COGNITIVE DOMINANCE: Enhanced situational awareness that facilitates rapid and accurate decision-making under stressful conditions with limited decision-making time.Brilliant! Paradigm-blasting and profound." - Steven Pressfield, Bestselling author of Gates of Fire and The War of ArtGet a Grip.The first time he cut open a patient's skull, neurosurgeon Mark McLaughlin found himself confronting a powerful force that his fellow brain surgeons agreed was best never spoken of.Fear.But Dr. McLaughlin knew that if he couldn't find a way to cope with this formidable foe, all he had striven for as a physician would be lost. So, with a scientist's analytical precision and a philosopher's worldview, McLaughlin derived and formalized a method by which he could act rationally and confidently under the operating room's lights and in all of the complex relationships in his life, especially under fear's profound influence.With inspiration and guidance from intellectual titans like Rene Descartes, Charles Darwin, William James, Carl Jung, and contemporary thinkers like Nate Zinsser, Jordan Peterson, Iain McGilchrist, and J.K. Rowling, McLaughlin lays out his twenty-year intellectual adventure story. The payoff of his odyssey is as life-changing as it is thrilling.Mark McLaughlin, (www.markmclaughlinmd.com) is the founder of Princeton Brain and Spine Care specializing in trigeminal neuralgia and cervical spine surgery. A former NCAA Division I wrestler, McLaughlin was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2016. His commentary regularly appears in Business Insider and other national media outlets.