The Army of Godfrey of Bouillon

Thanks to a throwaway line from Professor Childermass, we tend to think of Godfrey de Bouillon as “our soupy old friend.” While this epithet makes me think of a soap opera or a poorly-titled Charles Dickens parody (sorry turtle fans), it does make me realize I don’t know much about Godfrey.

A View Through The Spook-House Mirror

We're going back through the archives and sharing some thoughts about John and his work that have crossed our path over the years.

Bibliofile: The Face in the Frost

We have a double shot for those who love the Southern Kingdom – specifically, two editions of The Face in the Frost from overseas that we came across recently.

What's What: Civil War Spy Codes

Miss Eells apparently knows something about Civil War era spy codes - and what she knows is apparently interesting enough to share with, and impress, Anthony Monday [The Treasure of Alpheus Winterborn; 7].

Goreyana: The Bell, the Book, and the Spellbinder

Notes from Goreyana about The Bell, the Book, and the Spellbinder:

That Took Some Pains In Writing

One story about John that gave us a chuckle was relayed to us years ago by one of his friends from Marshall. As the story goes, high school history teacher, Henry Cunningham, told young John that, "You must learn to type, because no one will ever be able to read your writing."

Someone Who Really Cared For Kids

We're going back through the archives and sharing some thoughts about John and his work that have crossed our path over the years.

Something About Michael and Marc Leighton

Director Michael Shane Leighton and writer Marc Leighton are the brothers responsible for the terrifying found footage horror film Pursuit of a Legend. Gorepress’s Scullion was hugely impressed by their feature debut and wanted to discuss where their ideas came from and how they created such a believable “found footage” film.

Whither travel you?

We were combing through our archives and came across a note dated 2004 from fan James Card discussing some of his Bellairsian travels over the years:

Who's Who: William Cullen Bryant

Johnny Dixon makes the connection between Jarmyn Thanatos and this writer’s 1811 poem, "Thanatopsis" [The Bell, the Book, and the Spellbinder; 53].

Famed Be Thy Tutors

User custardpringle has some rants about the University of Chicago and in the follow-up comments announces this:

Review: Spell "A Secret Ritual? In A Catholic Church? Bring On The Rites, I Say!"

Book review: The Spell of the Sorcerer's Skull

Alert: La lettera la strega e l'anello

Chalk it up to someone changing their minds. Maybe. A few months ago we discussed the Italian editions of the original Lewis Barnavelt trilogy published by Happy Planet Books. We noted for La lettera la strega e l'anello (The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring) that Dhyan Sahido was to be the cover artist and that the cover image was to be a twilight-hued sky with a hovering mask, snake-shaped shadow, and so on.

Beshrew The Witch!

We’ve always admired John’s ability to mention something in passing that may seem unimportant but find out later that it’s something of a joke. Take Roger Bacon’s slightly deaf Brass Head and the instructions for a wall of glass it spews out late one night. It’s a funny story on its own but it’s not until you realize John is having a bit of fun with the brazen head legend that you realize John really knows his historic legends. John did some of this in Saint Fidgeta, too - Dragomira, Sporus, Floradora, and Pope Joan’s true identity come to mind.

Time Capsule: April 1, 1986

April 1, 1986: We wanted to pause our Bellairsian endeavors to note the 25th anniversary of the publication of To Stand Beneath the Sun, the debut novel of author Brad Strickland.