Something About Jon Klassen

Mist-y eyed.

Anthony Monday Available as E-books

Open Road Media will publish the three remaining books in the Anthony Monday series as e-books on May 16. The Dark Secret of Weatherend (1984), The Lamp from the Warlock’s Tomb (1988), and The Manion in the Mist (1992) join The Treasure of Alpheus Winterborn (1978), published initially as an e-book back in 2014.

Something About Mount Stuart

It’s a Bute, Clark.

Something About Mount Stewart

Garden variety, but not.

Something About the Temple of the Winds

Anyway, the wind blows.

Something About References to Lewis Carroll

Dream is a life.

Something About Gender Stereotyping

Writing about the women

Something About Scotland Autarchs Cover illustrations

Quips from the Question Box.

Alert: La casa nella bruma

We don’t know much more at this point other than it seems artist Alexander Daniloff is at it again for Happy Planet Books. The Italian publishers released the original Lewis Barnavelt trilogy not too long ago with Daniloff providing artwork for La figura nell'ombra (The Figure in the Shadows).  A number of Bellairs titles have been mentioned on their website since then but it is only now they appear to be considered for released.

'Mansion' Inspired by The Black Cat?

A fan named Matthew shared his thoughts with us on what he thought we some of Bellairs's purported inspiration for The Mansion in the Mist:

Myriad references to THE BLACK CAT (a 1934 horror film from Universal Studios, starring Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi) exist in THE MANSION IN THE MIST.  Wasn't John Bellairs a Karloff fan?  (Karloff is (subtly) alluded to too.)

That tidbit popped into mind when this was posted to CraveOnline recently:

Who's Who: Marius Ambrose

When Anthony and Miss Eells stumble upon an all-too-familiar mansion in New Stockholm, Wisconsin, they discover its former owner, Marius Ambrose, disappeared mysteriously in the mid-1930s [The Mansion in the Mist; 105].

Thou Seest The Twilight

I caught a few episodes recently of The Twilight Zone marathon that was on one of the cable channels. Airing I think twice over the course of the marathon was was the classic "Time Enough at Last" (1959). The program tells the story of a Henry Bemis, a bank teller "who loves books, yet is surrounded by those who would prevent him from reading them." Then something happens and he finds himself with more than enough time to read. And then something else happens and we’re left with one of the most popular and parodied episodes of the original run of Twilight Zone episodes. (I won’t tell you what happens – you’ll have to go out and spoil it for yourself or, better yet, watch the program.)

Listening to The Mansion in the Mist

Fan Jay Cook wrote to suggest as you pick up some Bellairs or Strickland to read this fine autumn season, you might want to consider a soundtrack for your reading experience:

Goreyana: The Mansion in the Mist

Notes from Goreyana about The Mansion in the Mist:

• Edward Gorey created a dust jacket design for this title that has a definite front and back which does not blend seamlessly. Because of this, the art from this title was cut in half and the two sections were sold separately by Gotham Book Mart in the mid 1990's. The rear portion of this art (the mansion) sold on eBay in July 2000 along with two other pieces of original artwork. 

Dumpster Diving For Bellairs

I thought someone might find this of interest. Our library is starting to get rid of our audiobook on cassette collection. It seems our audiobooks on CD are rendering them obsolete. Our children's librarian was helping a 10-year-old child the other day find Harry Potter books on audio, and when she was informed all we had left on the shelves were cassette versions, the girl replied, "What's a cassette?"

Time Capsule: 1992

August, 1992: 14 years ago this August, John's last book was published a year after his untimely death. The Mansion in the Mist, with a working title of The Mansion at the End of the World, is the fourth, and as of this writing, the final book in the Anthony Monday series.

Anthony, Miss Eells and her brother, Emerson, endure a jolting ride in an old wooden chest and find a sinister world whose inhabitants are...planning...heh...we won't spoil it for you. Let's just say it involves a guy named Marius Ambrose and some of his friends.