This Isn’t Your Usual Alpheus Winterborn

In fact, we don’t know exactly what this is. Anyone?

Goreyana: The Specter from the Magician's Museum

Notes from Goreyana about The Specter from the Magician's Museum:

BiblioFile: La lettera la strega e l'anello

The original House trilogy, as published in the United States during the mid-1970s, was illustrated by three different and distinct artists: Edward Gorey, Mercer Meyer, and Richard Egielski.

Egielski’s illustrations for The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring (1976) were only his second published bookwork and are a marked departure from the widely-known pen-and-ink work of Gorey that has come to define most of Bellairs’ novels. Such was the difference that one reviewer took to call the gray-washed images “dark Americana" – something that immediately brought to our mind Grant Wood’s classic, American Gothic. Maybe it’s the way the perfectly round frames of Rose Rita’s glasses reminded us of the circular trees in his Wood’s paintings? Anyway, Regionalism as an art form may not have been on the forefront in the 1970s when Letter was published, but the illustrations work to describe a story that originates in the American heartland and takes us into a nightmarish world of witches and magic.

Review: Face "Quirky, Hodge-podgey Style"

Book review: The Face in the Frost

That Unbodied Figure Of His Thought

We’ve joked in years past that The Figure in the Shadows could be titled The Reader in the Shadows due to the way the story unfolds: we’re witness to a lot of things happening but we have no idea what horrific evil is prompting it.

 It’s not until the end when Mrs. Zimmermann finally connects a lot of loose threads together (based on smell, of all things...).  Without giving too much away, a spell is cast over a talisman, a spirit is trapped within this amulet that wants out, and then it is set loose into the world.  Ms. Z tells the story better so - well, Bellairs does, too, so just go read the book and then come back here.

What's What: Phi Beta Kappa Key

Professor Childermass has a Phi Beta Kappa key dangling from his gold watch chain [The Mummy, the Will, and the Crypt; 83]. He occasionally toys with it when thinking or nervous [The Revenge of the Wizard's Ghost; 41,97].

Review: Pedant "An...Oddball Fairy-Tale Type Story"

Book review: The Pedant and the Shuffly

Celebrating the Manic Comedic Energy of John Bellairs

by Corey Mallonee (May 11, 2011)

(originally published at coreymallonee.wordpress.com)

Time Capsule: 1692

June 7, 1692: Today's the day when a 7.5 Magnitude earthquake struck Port Royal, Jamaica, the unofficial capital city and one of the busiest and wealthiest ports in the West Indies. It was known both as the "storehouse and treasury of the West Indies" and "one of the wickedest places on earth". The earthquake caused most of the city to sink below sea level and about 2,000 people died as a result of the earthquake and the following tsunami.

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."