#Poll: Your Favorite Marilyn Fitschen Artwork in #FaceInTheFrost

Marilyn Fitschen, artist and illustrator - and one of John Bellairs's oldest friends - created 12 full page illustrations for The Face in the Frost.  In celebration of its 50th anniversary this year, we want to know which one is your favorite.

Perhaps it’s the sight of Prospero’s house, complete with hippopotamus weather vane? Or maybe it’s our old friend, King Gorm (the Wonderworker)?

Or maybe you prefer something darker, more unsettling – there’s something hanging from the boughs of a tree, there’s the eerie entrance to the forbidden forest, and then there's Five Dials. Need we say more?

Pick your favorite from the list below...and use the spell!

Celebrating the 'Year Of #Pompeii'

This opening paragraph in Forbes recently caught our eye:

New excavations have been ongoing at Pompeii for a few years, largely related to conservation work and other attempts to protect the UNESCO world heritage site from both looters and the environment, but 2018 has produced dozens of visually striking artifacts and skeletons that suggest 2018 was the 'Year of Pompeii.'

The ancient town is best remembered for being destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD - some 19-hundred years ago. Some of the archaeological interests that surfaced this year include:

Inside One Of Hollywood's Most Famous Wurlitzer Pipe Organs

LAist writer Tim Greiving writes about the Wurlitzer Pipe Organ that shaped The Sound of Music and The House with a Clock in its Walls:

'House' Has Potential for a Universal Franchise #HouseWithAClock

Comic Book Resources (CBR) reports that with the weekend success of "The House with a Clock in its Walls" that Universal Pictures may have stumbled onto its own low-key answer to some sort of franchise.  After all, they point out, there are a dozen novels in the series - from both Bellairs and Brad Strickland:

'House' Wins Box Office with $26.9M

Congratulations are in order for director Eli Roth, writer Eric Kripk, and the entire cast and crew as USA Today reports "The House with a Clock in its Walls" won the weekend box office:

The Gothic family fantasy film exceeded expectations to debut with an estimated $26.9 million in ticket sales at the weekend box office, while audiences showed considerably less interest in Michael Moore's documentary, "Fahrenheit 11/9."  "House" was easily the biggest draw on a quiet weekend at movie theaters, where the other three new wide releases all disappointed or outright flopped.