Discovering Hoosac

by guest contributor, Ben McLeod:

When I was about nine or ten years old, in the very early 1980's, I checked out the Winona Public Library's copy of The Treasure of Alpheus Winterborn. I probably took it back into the stacks, which is where I liked to curl up with creepy finds. But before you write this off as another fan's first-time discovery of Mr. Bellairs work, let me explain. I felt like Bastian in Michael Ende's The Neverending Story because as Anthony Monday wandered around the Hoosac Public Library, I began to think it was strangely familiar. As I read further and the novel's description of Hoosac developed, I came to realize that it was, in fact, Winona, Minnesota under a different name.

Under the Spell of Scary Stuff

It’s nice - even if it is all these years later - to come across something new about John Bellairs. This week we were directed to Marilyn Stasio's article in the June 9, 1991 edition of the New York Times that gives some praise to the then recently-deceased author.

Plus we sort-of like the phrase "chiller-dillers" and welcome it back into polite society PDQ.

Something About Jamesian Inspirations

Knowing Bellairs was fond of the ghost stories of M. R. James has led a few people to send us their recommendations for similar tales.  What's your verdict?

Bibliofile: Peter Smith Publishing

No book collecting topic has been discussed more at Bellairsia and the Compleat Bellairs over the years than the fine art of tracking down the hardcover first edition copies of John and Brad’s books with the wraparound dust-jacket artwork by Edward Gorey and doing so without shelling out fistfuls of money in the process.

Hollywood Hints for Filming Bellairs

Blogger custardpringle has some commentary on any proposed film adaptation, so listen up!

Photographic Memories: Marshall

Photographer Lee Rentz recently visited Marshall, Michigan, and shares some of his thoughts and photographs documenting his tour of Michigan Avenue, including Hemmingsen Rexall Drug Store.

A Look Back: the University of Notre Dame, 1957-58

Enthusiasm rears it head again as we've reviewed the 1957-58 Dome, the University of Notre Dame yearbook. We’ve thumbed through the thing and found a few items of interest, which we’ve highlighted below - plus with added commentary.

Celebrate Edward Gorey's Children's Books

Celebrate Edward Gorey's Children's Books with a visit to the Edward Gorey House and their exhibition of original works by Edward Gorey for his own children's books and illustrations he created for many other authors. The Edward Gorey House is pleased to announce the 2008 opening on Thursday, April 17th and running though December 21, 2008.

Our exhibit will show many of Gorey's original pen and ink, watercolor, and preliminary pencil illustrations for children's books of his own creation, and for other noted children's authors including Peter Neumeyer, Florence Parry Heide, Edward Lear, Hilaire Belloc, T. S. Eliot, and others. Special books such as Gorey's only pop-up book, The Dwindling Party and the three-dimensional accordian book The Tunnel Calamity are highlighted. A unique focus of the exhibit will be early drawings and illustrations by Gorey from his childhood years.

Links: Edward Gorey House EGH Press Release

Review: Pedant "Giggle-Inspiring Words And Images...Yet...Can Intrigue, Provoke, And Possibly Even Mystify"

Book review: The Pedant and the Shuffly

Something About Eternal Flames

Voynich News noted this fact recently, allowing the words "Voynich" and "Susanna Hoffs" to grace the same page.

Book Alert: The Sign of the Sinister Sorcerer

A summary of Brad Strickland's forthcoming book, The Sign of the Sinister Sorcerer:

In Michigan in the mid-1950s, Lewis Barnavelt is convinced that the series of accidents he and his uncle are experiencing are the result of a curse by a mysterious, hooded figure that may be part of his uncle's past.

Remembering the Old Man of the Mountain

We’re a bit behind in marking the fifth anniversary of the demise of the Old Man in the Mountain but our friends at roadsideamerica.com remembered. They also share the story of a New Hampshire artist wanting to replace the stone head with a glass one.

Unfortunate Children Who Find Weird Stuff In Their Walls

We assume you can probably figure out which one of John’s books is discussed from this wonderfully-worded title.  Thus, here's Kate working in a northwest Philadelphia library with her thoughts.

Review: Face "Charming, Amusing, Scary, Surprising, Quirky, Funny And Spooky"

Book review: The Face in the Frost

Something About 'Lost Hearts'

We've noted some of the similarities between the introduction to The House with a Clock in its Walls and M.R. James’s Lost Hearts. Now you can see some screen shots from a 1970s-era adaptation of Lost Hearts (which looks creepier than the 1970s-era adaptation of The House with a Clock in its Walls, for that matter). A warning to the curious (!) but this is not for faint-hearted.