Shop:
I orginally launched this shop as I wanted to start selling books directly to customers. I also used to run a shop called 'Hand of Rock' that sold T-shirts and patches with original heavy metal artwork on them. I had some stock left, so thought this might be a way of clearing some space.
The cost of printing and postage meant selling books to customers was cheaper via Amazon and CreateSpace. And the amount of work involved in promoting the T-shirts and other products, on top of running the blog and publishing books, was too much. So I retired this area of the site in July 2017.
This page and it's sub pages are just here as an archive, mainly for my own reference, in case I change my mind and do anything with it in the future.
Feel free to peruse the archive below. Or return to the homepage.
Quick links on this page:
badges - books - cds - fridge magnets - patches - t-shirts - PayPal - P&P - returns - privacy
metal hand / metal horns - hand of rock
Welcome to my shop. You can buy short story anthologies/books, CDs, badges, T-Shirts emblazoned with the heavy metal sign, and other lovely things like that.
Some of the pages are still being constructed, but more links to product pages will appear over the next few months (this won't happen now, I'm afraid - too much other work to be done.
All items are offered with FREE postage to any location on the planet.
Humorous short story anthologies, funny fairy tales, writing advice books and more. Browse and buy books here.
COMING SOON: Rock CDs, by artists like Ye Gods!
Heavy metal hand and devil sign enamel badges. Browse products and buy badges here.
COMING SOON: Heavy metal hand sign fridge magnets.
Heavy metal hand sign patches in a variety of styles including flaming, Winston Churchill and sculpted out of stone statue hands. View products and buy patches here.
COMING SOON: Heavy metal hand, devil sign T-Shirts in many styles and colours.
All payments are made using PayPal. You don't have to have a PayPal account to make payments - you can use credit and debit cards etc. when you checkout.
You can learn more about PayPal safety and security here.
All postage and packaging is provided free of charge to anyone living in any country in the world.
We aim to post all orders within 2 business days.
Dispatch is confirmed by email.
Please allow 21 days for delivery in the UK and 42 days for delivery everywhere else in the world. You will usually receive your item/s much more quickly than this, but I have to allow for things outside of my control, like postal systems, strike action, weather, acts of god etc.
If the badge is a gift and you need to receive it quickly, email me at:
If for any reason you are not happy with any of the items you purchase from me, simply return them to me at: 2 Grantson Close, Brislington, Bristol, BS4 4NA, UK. Items must be returned in their original condition and packaging within 14 days of receipt. I will then issue a full refund.
If the return is due to my error, then I will also refund the delivery charges.
If items are faulty or damaged, return them to me and I will either issue a refund or send you a replacement items.
For your own protection I recommend that you use a recorded-delivery service when returning items. This returns policy does not affect your statutory rights.
You can see my privacy policy here.
The Corna is a hand gesture associated with heavy metal. It is often used by bands and fans of the music genre in many different countries.
The devil hand sign goes by many different names, which include:
The metal hand is said to have been made popular in heavy metal culture by Ronnie James Dio, while he was singing with the band Black Sabbath. He used the horns frequently during live performances.
In an interview with Metal Rules, he said his decision to use the hand gesture was nothing to do with the devil - he'd based in on the Italian superstition, Malocchio. In Italian folklore, the hand gesture is said to ward off the Evil Eye. Dio thought its magical connotations suited the band.
Over time, the devil horns have become synonymous with rock and metal. Now, fans of the genre seek items with the metal hand emblazoned all over it. Hence, some of the products sold here were born.
You can learn more about the Corna on Wikipedia.
Hand of Rock was an online shop I used to run with Georgie Fielden. We sold goods with heavy metal hands emblazoned all over them.
Running the shop was time consuming and we wanted to concentrate on other projects (me, writing books; Georgie, studying to become an aromatherapist). We closed the website down in 2013.
Now I'm spending more time developing christopherfielden.com to provide a wider range of writing resources, services and products, I've decided to offer all the Hand of Rock products for sale again. Every item is an original design by Mark Bessant, a very talented artist who is Creative Head of Design at Peter Gabriel's Realworld Studios.
I'll add more photos here over time.
This is the orignal introductory wording from www.handofrock.com, telling a tale of how the Metal Horns came to be.
Here follows the truth. Yes, you heard me, the actual real happenings of what actually happened. No lie is told on this page. It’s for real. I know. I was there.
…there was a man called Keith. Keith was the first form of life to crawl from the primeval swamp. Most theories say man is descended from apes. This is untrue. We are all descended from Keith.
…Keith was the only form of life on Earth apart from a beast called the Wide Eyed Bottom Belching Banshee. This voracious predator had only one source of food: Keith. After some time and lots of instances of nearly being eaten by the beast, Keith decided to face his nemesis.
…‘that bastard’ attacked. Instead of dodging its long sticky tongue and running away whilst crying like a small girl, Keith stood and faced his foe. The tongue stuck, entrapping Keith’s left arm, and pulled him towards the banshee’s drooling maw.
As the beast's fetid breath stung Keith's face, he unleashed his frenzied attack with his free hand, trying to poke the banshee in the eyes. But so wide were its eyes that Keith had to lift his index and little finger to strike both gooey orbs at once.
Fortunately, Keith’s aim was true and his two protruding digits plunged into the banshee’s eyes. Unfortunately for Keith, this caused the banshee to explode.
…resulted in an end to all known life on Earth (at that time), the heat of the explosion burned a mark into the Rock of the Earth. A sign that was both horned and ominous which remained unseen for millions of years.
…man evolved from the swamp where Keith's DNA had been festering and discovered this sign, emblazoned in the Rock of Ben Nevis. The man in question was called Ronnie James Dio. He was a singer with large lungs for a body so small.
Hmm, he thought, what a fabulous sign. I think I’ll use it to symbolize the music I love so dearly. And thus he did. The rest is history.
…the horned hand has other meanings. In Italian it is the Corna (meaning horns) or Mano Cornuta, horned hand and fare le corna, to make the horns. Originating in Ancient Greece, the Corna is a naughty gesture in many Mediterranean countries.
If for some reason you find the tale of Keith hard to believe (I can’t think why that would be) or this just isn’t enough information, then check out Wikipedia.
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