Mark McLaughlin

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.

Welcome to the weird and wild world of DARK CITIES. You won't find it on any map, but you will find it between the covers of this book. DARK CITIES: DARK TALES is the realm of Michael McCarty's three novellas and four short stories. Inside you will find out why zombies stumble across the state of Illinois in the snow; what happens when an aspiring novelist has an affair with a sexy vampire from Florida; who will win -- four teenagers from Texas or giant spiders trying to rule the world in a prequel to Ed Wood's Plan Nine From Outer Space; the truth about alien sludge creatures that live in the New York sewers; why trolls dwell beneath a stone bridge in a small Midwestern town; and why an Iowa truck driver is delivering a demon south. Welcome to DARK CITIES, but be warned ... you'll enjoy it so much, you may never want to leave

This well-established commentary gives private client advisers and accountants an expertly written and highly practical guide to the main planning points, potential pitfalls and possible solutions to consider when dealing with IHT and estate planning solutions. The October 2024 Budget statement introduced some of the most consequential changes to the inheritance tax regime and the new edition of Ray and McLaughlin's Practical Inheritance Tax Planning is updated to take account of this new landscape. The concept of domicile was removed from the UK tax system with effect from 6 April 2025. As such the scope of UK IHT on non-UK situated assets is no longer determined by an individuals domicile status; it is now judged on how long the individual has been resident in the UK. All individuals are affected whether they were domiciled in the UK or non-domiciled under the old rules. The changes to the residence based system also has an impact on the IHT treatment of trusts and excluded property (non-settled property situated outside the UK). A further significant change covered in the updated edition is the change to to the IHT rules relating to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief (with exception of unlisted shares) with effect from 6 April 2026. The commentary also reflects the change which means that inherited unused pensions and death benefits will be within a deceased’s estate for IHT purposes. There are important planning implications relating to all the these changes and the revised commentary will highlight these along with any identified pitfalls. Key points will be highlighted throughout and all examples updated, with new ones being added where necessary.

THE PRISONER OF CARCOSA presents tales of the bizarre, featuring Lovecraftian horrors, alien nightmares, oceanic monstrosities, an account of The King In Yellow, and much more. Many of these adventures have only been available so far on Kindle. This paperback collection is a companion volume to HORRORS & ABOMINATIONS, THE HOUSE OF THE OCELOT, and CITY OF LIVING SHADOWS. In "The Prisoner Of Carcosa," a traveler falls in love with one of the owners of the Golden Moon Bed & Breakfast. He doesn't know that the owner's family guards a copy of the accursed book, The King In Yellow, which brings madness to those who read it. He soon learns that when that evil book is near, a hideous creature known as the Seeker of the Yellow Sign isn't far behind. "Horrors Of The Trash Island" presents a Lovecraftian tale of ecological horror. Millionaire Asher Bellworth and his staff take a cruise on his yacht to check out an area in the South Pacific said to be the location of R'lyeh. R'lyeh is a legendary city on a sunken island where the evil entity Cthulhu is said to be trapped in a temple. They see a massive trash island floating over Cthulhu's realm, and discover that the trash island is inhabited by a bizarre array of deadly mutations, as well as a bizarre human inhabitant. "Yuletide Mementos: A Tale Of Lovecraftian Horror" is a sequel to Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness." The tale is set in the family home of Professor William Dyer, leader of an ill-fated Antarctic expedition conducted by Miskatonic University in 1930. When he returned, he brought back two trunks, which he stored in the attic. A young relative is now curious about those trunks, not realizing that they hold an ancient horror, waiting to be unleashed. In "Diabolical Entities And How To Deal With Them," Professor Artemis LaGungo provides an overview of the demonic denizens of Hell, and tells how to resist their unholy temptations. "You Shall Have This Delicacy" tells of the world's most powerful witch, who gathers her friends for a dinner party with a shocking agenda. Set in the far future, "Tell Your Secrets To The Slime" follows a band of space explorers to a polluted planet populated by a grotesque life-form that feeds on guilt and sorrow. Will they be able to escape the alien horror that threatens to destroy them? Mark McLaughlin is the author of EMPRESS OF THE LIVING DEAD, BEST LITTLE WITCH-HOUSE IN ARKHAM and HIDEOUS FACES, BEAUTIFUL SKULLS, among other horror collections. With McLaughlin, Michael Sheehan, Jr. has co-authored the Lovecraftian paperbacks, HORRORS & ABOMINATIONS, THE HOUSE OF THE OCELOT, and CITY OF LIVING SHADOWS, as well as the Kindle collections, THE ABOMINATIONS OF NEPHREN-KA, THE HORROR IN THE WATER TOWER, THE BLASPHEMY IN THE CANOPIC JAR, SHOGGOTH APOCALYPSE, THE RELIC IN THE EGYPTIAN GALLERY, THE CREATURE IN THE WAXWORKS, THE TESTAMENT OF CTHULHU, STAINLESS STEEL SARCOPHAGUS and more.

Divided by state lines and the Mississippi River, the Quad Cities share a common haunted heritage. If anything, the seam that runs through the region is especially rife with spirits, from the Black Angel of Moline's Riverside Cemetery to the spectral Confederate POWs of Arsenal Island. Of course, the city centers have their own illustrious supernatural residents - the Hanging Ghost occupies Davenport's City Hall, while the Phantom Washwoman wanders Bettendorf's Central Avenue. At Igor's Bistro in Rock Island, every day is Halloween. Michael McCarty and Mark McLaughlin hunt down the haunted lore of this vibrant midwestern community.

Divided by state lines and the Mississippi River, the Quad Cities share a common haunted heritage. If anything, the seam that runs through the region is especially rife with spirits, from the Black Angel of Moline's Riverside Cemetery to the spectral Confederate POWs of Arsenal Island. Of course, the city centers have their own illustrious supernatural residents--the Hanging Ghost occupies Davenport's City Hall, while the Phantom Washwoman wanders Bettendorf's Central Avenue. At Igor's Bistro in Rock Island, every day is Halloween. Michael McCarty and Mark McLaughlin hunt down the haunted lore of this vibrant midwestern community.

CITY OF LIVING SHADOWS presents unearthly fantasy and horror tales of the Cthulhu Mythos, crawling with Lovecraftian creatures. Most of these adventures have only been available so far on Kindle. This paperback collection is a companion volume to HORRORS & ABOMINATIONS: 24 Tales Of The Cthulhu Mythos and THE HOUSE OF THE OCELOT & More Lovecraftian Nightmares. In the title story, "City Of Living Shadows," a glowing flower in a solarium holds the key to a horrific onslaught of night-gaunts from the Dreamlands. Can the reason behind their attack be determined before they destroy even more of the waking world? In the novelette "Pyramid Of The Shoggoths," a Miskatonic University instructor learns the true location of the burial chamber of Queen Nerfertiti. With his assistant, he begins an adventure that takes them to a strange subterranean realm in Africa. There they meet Balyphus, the last Elder Thing remaining on Earth, and his inhuman companion, the British ghoul Williams. They soon learn that Williams isn't the Elder Thing's only friend. Balyphus has created a troop of rampaging shoggoths that can destroy anything in their path - including human weaponry. In "The Black-And-White House," a young writer rents a small secluded house and for the first time in years, he is able to enjoy peace and quiet. But soon, he discovers that he is not alone in the house. An author who had once lived in the house never really left, and he wants the young writer to help him with an impossible task: creating a sequel to the accursed book, The King In Yellow, which drives anyone who reads it insane." The Ambassador From Ulthar" tells of a young man who cannot escape his fate after injuring a four-footed denizen of the Dreamlands. The collection's second novelette, "The Idol In The Hedge Maze," tells of mega-wealthy Neil Prentiss, founder and CEO of a multinational technology company. He lives in a magnificent mansion surrounded by a sprawling hedge maze. He has everything a person could want ... but he is dying of cancer. While examining the journals of the mansion's previous owner, Neil learns how to contact a member of the Great Race of Yith, an ancient race of brilliant, monstrous beings. The Yithian offers what seems to be a high-tech solution to Neil's problems - if the millionaire is willing to accept a bizarre substitution for his human body.

THE HOUSE OF THE OCELOT presents tales of Lovecraftian fantasy and horror, as well as an epic poem regarding the return of Nyarlathotep to the modern world. Most of these adventures have only been available so far on Kindle. Stories in this collection include "The House Of The Ocelot," "Queen Of The Vultures," "The Foul One Lives To Destroy: A Tale Of The Dreamlands," "The Glorious Return Of Herbert West," and "The Last Witch-House." The collection also includes the epic poem, "The Arrival Of Our New Master: A Lovecraftian Armageddon." People believe that Caliban Storm, son of wealthy Bernard Storm, offers the wisdom and guidance that the world has needed for so long. But in truth, there is something very wrong with handsome young Caliban. He is in fact an avatar of Nyarlathotep, a malevolent deity also known as the Crawling Chaos....

In the early years of the English Civil War, a French traveller in England remarked that the Irish 'are better soldiers abroad than at home'. Between 1585 and 1818, over half a million Irish were lured from their homeland by promises of glory, money and honour in a constant emigration romantically styled 'The Flight of the Wild Geese'. Throughout this period, the Irish brigades in France and Spain participated in conflicts ranging from the wars of the Spanish and Austrian Succession to the Napoleonic Wars. Spanning over two centuries of history, this book examines the uniforms and organization of the Wild Geese in France and Spain.