Frank went to see the exhibition Terror And Wonder : The Gothic Imagination at the British Library. On his way home, he fell into a hypnagogic trance. When he awoke, he found he had scribbled the following story in his pocketbook... One foul and thunderous day, Prince Fulgencio was much pained ... Read More...
Funny
Frank Key's Hooting Yard is brought to the screen, thanks to brilliant animator Sharon Smith... The Dabbler is delighted to present this splendid 10-minute animated film by Sharon Smith. It is an adaptation of a tale by our own Frank Key, is narrated by him, and has been screened at film ... Read More...
Frank embarks on a quest to find Aphinar, the mysterious place mentioned by Arthur Rimbaud on his deathbed... ONE LOT : A SINGLE TUSK ONE LOT : TWO TUSKS ONE LOT : THREE TUSKS ONE LOT : FOUR TUSKS ONE LOT : TWO TUSKS To the Director Dear Sir I have come to enquire if I have anything ... Read More...
Today, horror fiction and groovy ska music combine in a tale about Toots and his missing Maytals... Toots clattered up to the post office counter, sore perplexed. “Hello Toots, what can I do for you today?” said the friendly postmaster. “I am sore perplexed,” said Toots, “I have lost my Maytals.” The postmaster was ... Read More...
This week, Frank takes up an exciting new hobby... Bored by stamps, coins, and foopball paraphernalia, I decided to collect flies in mud. I began my collection last Saturday, and what with one thing and another have not been able to devote as much time to it as I would have ... Read More...
This week, a guide to manners when finding oneself amongst royalty and/or pigs... We all know that good manners cost nothing, and that civility makes the world bearable. Here, then, are some useful extracts from my forthcoming Book Of Etiquette: Correct Form Of Address When Ushered Into The Presence Of Prince Fulgencio. Oh ... Read More...
Exclusively for The Dabbler, here is a glorious extract from Jonathan Meades' new memoir An Encyclopaedia of Myself. Sign up to the free Book Club at the bottom of the piece for a chance to win a copy... Dabbler editor Brit recently described 'An Encyclopaedia of Myself' as having a 'perfect ... Read More...
Steerforth discovers a once-popular but now largely forgotten thriller writer with a unique way with words... The truth is that even the most experienced and well-qualified second-hand booksellers know bugger all about most of the titles that we sell. Much of the time, we are not selling Eliot (George or T. ... Read More...
Like Kim Wilde I was in the nineteen-eighties much attracted to the kids in America. I had a hankering to join them in gang bike rides around their capacious Californian neighbourhoods, and to eat delicious junk food in their diners, and to outwit their Fratellis and other incompetent bandits and ... Read More...
Why is it so hard to turn around on the street without indulging in some meaningless ham acting? Here at last is Brit's complete Beginner's Guide to the phenomenon known as Pavement Panto™... Well, he couldn't keep walking north forever. At the next corner he stopped, looked indecisive, then patted himself all ... Read More...
