Hellebore Magazine

Hellebore Magazine is named after a species of beautiful, perennial plants which happen to be poisonous and with links to occult belief, a baneful herb with an alluring, supposed power to alter or clarify perception and believed to open portals to the Underworld and the subconscious (but really, don't eat any specimen).

The magazine it self is a cleverly assembled collection of writings and essays devoted to British folk horror and the themes that inspire it: folklore, myth, history, archaeology, psychogeography, witches and the occult. It's also beautifully designed and, dare we say it, addictive.

About Hellebore #14, 'The Mirror Issue', from the publisher:

'Reflections, masks, portraits, shadows and photographs. In folklore, they are believed to contain part of our soul, and therefore to be invested with power. But this power they hold has also inspired some of our deepest fears: worlds hidden below the surface, trapped souls, shadowy beings stealing our likeness.

Long before we traced the first lines to represent a human figure, we learnt to recognise ourselves in our reflection on the water. Later, we fashioned mirrors from metal, then glass. The mirror became a powerful symbol associated with the unconscious and the unseen. In this issue, we peer into its depths to reveal portals to other realms; rituals from the past, the present, and the future; folk traditions for the shortest nights; stories of fetches, changelings, doppelgängers and vampires. When the glass dissipates into a bright silvery mist, we will face questions about truth and illusion, identity and transformation, essence and transcendence.'