Maleficium by Paul Prater

To be honest, at first I was at a bit of a loss as to what to write about this book- Whenever I say that something we are publishing is beautiful, inventive, clever, creative and more it sounds self serving, even when it is true.

With this book, I am tempted to say, "Just scroll down and look at the free preview... I think it says it all" but I know some folks even need to be sold on that.

So let me say a few things, and then share the introduction from the book from Paul. You can go check out the PDF preview after that to see the full table of contents and our usual generous free preview of the front of the book to whet your appetite.

We receive manuscripts in a variety of states of "doneness"- some a shambles, others almost ready to print.

This book is 99% Paul Prater with 1% of our own intervention (Interference) when a font was screwy or we thought something needed to be tweeked.

But Paul is an artist. Through and through. From his photographic work that can be found throughout the book and in the color plate we will be adding to the support pages for owners only- to the meticulously well thought out designs for props. Paul is very detail oriented and we like that.

The stories too are crafted in a precise way as well to lead your audience to the proper emotional state of mind-body. Within the articles found throughout the book Paul also shares his thoughts on bizarre and storytelling magic and attempts to introduce the bizarre aficionados AND the newcomer to storytelling magic with food for though and inspiration.

In Paul's own words from the introduction:

This is a collection of effects that I have created. Some of them were created for specific occasions and a few were created especially for this book. As you will see as you read, virtually nothing from the magic store is needed to present these effects. I enjoy making my own props and most of these effects will require that you make your own props. Furthermore, I always found it frustrating to buy a book on magic and find that to perform many of the effects; it would require you to buy magic props.

That isn't the case with this book. I enjoy writing out the process for an effect and I have to have a script. As I prepare a new piece I have to sit down and type out everything. It forces me to think out the routine in my head. Creating a script gives me much better stories than simply trying to wing it. Having a script is also a lot more entertaining, then saying "ok, now I do this and then I do that." Since, I do this with every effect I create; I figured that I should compile them and get them out there to all who may be interested.

Additionally, I have learned so much in this area of magic just by reading other magician's works and I hoped that I could also share my knowledge as they have done with me.

Finally, I would be lying if I didn't admit there is a little bit of ego involved in publishing your works. I also have included some other things I enjoy. I have my degree in English and while working towards that degree I read a fair amount of poetry. I have also included my own art work and photography. I have my minor in studio art and worked on my masters in this field. I enjoy art, but unfortunately, I don't get to do as much as I would like. I consider magic my art, for the most part.

However, I did want to share some of my work in this book. I hope that the art and poetry add to the magic text and do not detract from it. While I enjoy presenting the type of magic contained in this book, I also enjoy doing cups and balls, card tricks, the square circle and pulling out silks and spring flowers. I enjoy doing coin magic, making a silk appear and disappear, and all of that other fun stuff and I think there is a place for that type of magic as well. It is simply called entertainment.

However, I cannot resist the urge to imbue the magic with some deeper meaning. I hope that this is something that you will strive for as well.

I think it makes the magic richer, the magician more mysterious and leaves the audience more thoroughly entertained.

I hope you enjoy what I have presented.