Is There Still Room For Scares...?

We were surprised this morning to read an interesting tribute to John Bellairs and The House with a Clock in its Walls by Erik Adams at the Onion AV Club:

Interview: Sandra Frey

Imagine our surprise when we were approached by someone writing a thesis on John Bellairs. Excellent! Surprise escalated into bewilderment when we discovered it was being proposed by someone living in Germany!  Wie wäre es damit? Sandra Frey lives and works in Heidelberg and last year studied translation for English and Italian with her Bellairsian thesis her final project. She currently works for a translation agency and, in between that and her other hobbies, has graciously answered some questions about her project and provides us in the states with a European perspective on the books.

Presenting Snake Year Press

We stumbled upon a strange celebration of a singular moment from The Face in the Frost in the form a publishing group named for ... ewwww ... snake year cherry.  Author Quentin Dodd has this to say on his new publishing venture:

The Secret of the Enduringly Popular Author

Bellairs fan Daniel McInerny wonders what made Bellairs's books so fun to read:

Where’s There: Rocks Village Bridge

Father Higgins has been relocated from Duston Heights to Rocks Village, described as a tiny cluster or picturesque eighteenth-century houses near a seventy-year-old iron bridge [The Secret of the Underground Room; 8].

10 Reasons Not to Bring Someone Back from the Dead

The subject above should have been written in big, bold, friendly letters on the first page of whatever book Lewis Barnavelt finds in his uncle's study back in 1948.  Write Lauren Davis proposes some of the following examples:

• They Come Back, But Not Quite Alive
• You Bring Them Back Wrong
• They'll Try to Kill You Afterward
• It Makes for Unnecessary Sequels

We did get The Tower at the End of the World, so -- thoughts?

Colin Meloy's Wildwood

Colin Meloy is the lead singer and songwriter for The Decemberists and has completed the second of his books in the planned Wildwood Chronicles trilogy of children’s novels - which are both wonderfully illustrated by his wife, Carson Ellis.

Under Wildwood: The Wildwood Chronicles, Book Two (2012) follows last year's Wildwood: The Wildwood Chronicles, Book 1 (2011) and tells the tale of Prue McKeel and her adventures in the Impassable Wilderness, full of animals, mystics, bandits and more.

Dickens, Schuler & Bellairs V

We’re celebrating the 200th anniversary of celebrated author Charles Dickens’ birth this year. Born February 7, 1812 in Landport, Portsmouth, England, Dickens created a plethora of memorable characters with whimsical names across a dozen major novels and numerous short stories.

Review: Remembering the Best of John Bellairs

Book reviews:

The House with a Clock in its Walls

The Figure in the Shadows

The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring

Review: Lamp "Exciting With Just A Hint Of Danger"

Book review: The Lamp from the Warlock's Tomb

Edward Gorey, Balletomane

Author Mark Dery is writing a biography of Edward Gorey (news) and is seeking stores about Gorey in relation to his interest in the New York City Ballet.

Memoriam: Herbert Lom

Actor Herbert Lom – the last of the lady killers – has died. He was 95.

A native of Prague, his first picture was a very early Czech film, Zena Pod Krizem (1937), that he participated in before migrating to England to continue his career. His roles flourished throughout the next four decades including The Seventh Veil (1945), War and Peace (1956), El Cid (1961), and The Phantom of the Opera (1962).

Where's There: Cemetery Island

Described as "just a dot on the map out in Hurricane Sound, not far from Vinalhaven," this island on the southeastern coast of Maine was home to Warren Windrow in the 1840s [The Spell of the Sorcerer's Skull; 125].

Book Alert: Gorey's Halloween, Ghosts, and Saint Melissa

You read it first at Goreyana earlier this year...new books by Edward Gorey.

2012 Living History Portrayal Walk

Marshall's Oakridge Cemetery was first used in 1839 and is one of the oldest continuously operated cemeteries in the state. For the twelfth year in a row Oakridge will be home to the "If These Stones Could Talk...", a walking tour where local actors and actresses portray significant people from Marshall's past at that person’s grave site. Small groups will be guided by hosts in a predetermined lantern-illuminated pattern through the cemetery and the once-prominent residents will rise up and share their stories.

This year’s event takes place Saturday, October 6 at 7pm come rain or shine. For more information, including ticket costs, please contact the Marshall Chamber of Commerce.