Saturday

19 July 2025 Vol 025 Issue 07

The Other Side of Things

(Not the side you're thinking of)
Welcome to Curio Obscura
A Letter from the Archivist’s TableFiled under: Orientation, Manifestos, and Mild Warnings “To catalog the strange is to invite it…
How to Write a Book That Doesn’t Exist
A Guide to Creating In-World Texts, Journals, and Lorebooks That Feel Realer Than RealityFiled under: Worldbuilding, Grimoires, Dangerous Footnotes “A…
A Book That Feels Like a Spell:
Witchcraft (Library of Esoterica) – A Review for the Curious and the Consecrated “Some books are to be read. Others…
Everyday Magic with Everyday Spells for Busy Witches
A Practical Deck for Pocket-Sized Sorcery “Real spells don’t need giant rituals—they need gentle intention and a pinch of belief.”—…
Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells
The Ultimate Reference Book for the Magical Arts Exploring Folklore, Myth, and Magic from Every Corner of the Earth and…

What Are Curios?

(we aren't entirely sure, but we've got'em)

The Green Witch

Your Complete Guide to the Natural Magic of Herbs, Flowers, Essential Oils, and More By Arin Murphy-Hiscock👉 Purchase via...

Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells

The Ultimate Reference Book for the Magical Arts Exploring Folklore, Myth, and Magic from Every Corner of the Earth...

Everyday Magic with Everyday Spells for Busy Witches

A Practical Deck for Pocket-Sized Sorcery “Real spells don’t need giant rituals—they need gentle intention and a pinch of...

Appalachian Witchcraft for Beginners

The History, Remedies, and Spells of a Rich Folk Magic Tradition “Of all the mountain secrets, those carried in...

A Book That Feels Like a Spell:

Witchcraft (Library of Esoterica) – A Review for the Curious and the Consecrated “Some books are to be read....

How to Write a Book That Doesn’t Exist

A Guide to Creating In-World Texts, Journals, and Lorebooks That Feel Realer Than RealityFiled under: Worldbuilding, Grimoires, Dangerous Footnotes...

Welcome to Curio Obscura

A Cabinet of the Magical, the Forgotten, and the Unreasonably Specific

Curio Obscura is a curated archive of magical oddities, obscure texts, useful nonsense, and curious contraptions for the magically inclined, the creatively unhinged, and the quietly brilliant. Here you’ll find field notes, spellcraft samplers, book reviews, affiliate findings, and entirely too much information about things no one was meant to catalog. We specialize in everything esoteric, beautiful, folkloric, or just slightly unhinged.

Whether you’re worldbuilding, witchcrafting, lesson-planning, or doomscrolling with style, there’s a drawer here with your name on it.


The Archive Includes:

  • Reviews of strange books worth reading and stranger ones worth collecting
  • Magical tools and decks that fit in your pocket or disrupt your furniture layout
  • Worldbuilding curios for fantasy writers, GMs, and enthusiasts of structured nonsense
  • Interviews, discoveries, and peculiar features from contributors you haven’t heard of yet but probably should

We partner with creators, publishers, and magical thinkers across disciplines to deliver resources and amusements tailored for the obscurely curious.


🕮 From the World of Fable

Where myth walks masked and the Archive writes back.


“Fable is not a story. It is the condition in which stories survive.”
— Whisper-of-Wool, Archivist, Dream-Scribe, Occasional Goat

Step through the veil into the world of Fable, where forgotten magics, masked knights, and fractured myths weave together across archives, battlefields, and banished forests. These portals lead directly into the canon and chaos of our unfolding legendarium:

  • Sable Society & Dust & Dawn Collection – field notes, archive exclusives, and strange ephemera
  • Footnotes from Mr. Faust — irregular dispatches from our resident fox: part gossip, part grimoire
    Each is a portal to deeper study, stranger finds, and occasionally — mischief. You’ve been warned.
  • Curio Obscura Patreon – become a patron of the Archive: gain early relic access, downloadable grimoire pages, and marginalia not meant for mortal eyes
  • Mr. Faust on Gumroad – shop the Society’s printable prompts, artifacts, and lore-enhanced curios
  • The Civic Report – Bureaucratic mysticism, metaphysical memos, and systematic investigations of governance both fictional and suspiciously familiar

🕯️ The Archive Extends Beyond These Walls

Curio Obscura is just one chamber in a larger constellation of curious places. If your appetite for wonder remains unsatisfied, we invite you to visit our sister sites:

  • SkillScout — guides and blueprints for learning, teaching, and crafting from scratch
  • RPG Inquisitor — lore-forged articles for GMs, worldbuilders, and narrative tacticians
  • CleverGadgetry — tools, devices, and marvels for the magically minded tinkerer
  • Beds for Floofs – creature comforts and sleep science for familiars, pets, and floofy beasts
  • Gaming Graduate – deep dives into tactical game design, indie titles, and strategy through systems
  • The Fortnite Society – no-build philosophy, emergent mechanics, and academic chaos
  • Financial Insights – real-world coincraft: passive income, digital ventures, and economic literacy
  • The Gentleman Doctor – grooming, wellness, and philosophical hygiene for the modern mystic

Begin the Descent

There are no clear paths forward here—only shelves, drawers, trapdoors, and the occasional glowing orb. You won’t find everything you want, but you’ll find plenty you didn’t know you needed.

Unlock something strange.