Goreyana: The Vengeance of the Witch-Finder

Notes from Goreyana about The Vengeance of the Witch-Finder:

• The drawing of the maze appears to be lost, but the dust jacket and frontis original artwork are not.
• Bromer Booksellers sold the dust jacket artwork (two pieces of original art: one large color painting and one hand-lettered title typography) in their now famous 2001 catalog of Edward Gorey artwork, books and ephemera. The dust jacket image does not read particularly well as a single piece of art, but the execution and subject matter are top notch. The skeleton wearing glasses with plants growing up through it on the back cover of the book is particularly delightful.

Impressions on The Dolphin Cross

by Scallop Skulled Sklad (Aug. 8, 2010)

(Originally published at scallopskulledskald.blogspot.com)

Fifty-five Questions About Books (with Someone's Fifty-five Answers)

Kelly Sedinger answered 55 questions about books earlier this month and off the bat, when asked about his favorite childhood book, gives some love to Bellairs - with some film commentary, to boot!

Andrew Auseon: Coming-Of-Age Stories...But With Zombies

Author Bethany Hegedus's "writer friendly; bookshelf approved" LiveJournal blog featured a multi-part interview with author Andrew Auseon as part of the publication of his latest book, Freak Magnet. When asked about writers he returns to he repeatedly, Auseon notes his long-time appreciation for John's work:

Forgetting Any Other Book But This

Those sites that allow readers to recall hazy memories of books are always interesting. If anything it gives us the chance to welcome them to Bellairsia and experience John’s (and Brad’s) work again.

All It Took Was Just One Book

Amy Mascott is the creator of teachmama.com, where she shares tools and resources parents can use to become the best teachers for their children. As part of her All it Took was Just One Book series she asked blogger Amy Kraft to write a post about a great "spooktacular book for October."  Kraft writes about children’s media in her blog, Media Macaroni, and has reviewed Bellairs' books in the past. Here she says her favorite book as a child was The House with a Clock in its Walls:

Review: Mummy "A Good Creepy Story With A Very Gothic Feel"

Book review: The Mummy, the Will, and the Crypt

Review: Mummy "Not Only Funny And Exciting [but] Genuinely Spooky"

Book review: The Mummy, the Will, and the Crypt

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:

Top 10 Horrific Moments

As we prepare for the tenth anniversary of Bellairsia, we’re using our gradually enjoyable Twitter feed to share some memorable moments and commentary in the form of Top Ten lists.

Yet Even More About Widow's Walk Lake

Filmmaker and Bellairs-fan James Strayer got in touch with us again recently about Widow's Walk Lake, a film inspired partly by some of Bellairs’ spooky stories. Strayer gave us an update this week of how the project is progressing:

A Mad Dash (or, N or M?)

Blogger Michael Dennis recently shared some thoughts about The Face in the Frost, both of the book itself and the way it was published.

Goreyana: The Ghost in the Mirror

Notes from Goreyana about The Ghost in the Mirror:

• This piece...is a masterpiece of suspense and terror. If you did not know that it was a piece of dust jacket artwork, you would view it as a wonderfully creepy painting by Mr. Gorey. Barely visible on the printed dust jacket are two faces which appear on the front cover inside the "O" of Ghost and Mirror. They can be seen a bit more clearly floating in the sky on the original art.
• The dust jacket painting was included in the 2001 Bromer Booksellers catalog of Gorey items. The hand-lettered type for the cover/spine was included as a separate piece of art. I am not aware of the frontis drawing being available from Bromer or Gotham Book Mart.

What Robert Bloch owes to H. P. Lovecraft

In a 1983 interview with Randy and Jean-Marc Lofficier, author Robert Bloch described how much as a teenager he enjoyed the magazine Weird Tales and how frustrated he was at not being able to find stories by his favorite writer, H. P. Lovecraft, from past issues. So he wrote to Lovecraft, as told by the Reader's Almanac blog:

Bailey MacDonald and The Secret of the Sealed Room

Bailey is back!  The second book by Bailey MacDonald is published next month.