Bellairs-Related Gorey Artwork At Auction

Right off the bat this year we have news of a forthcoming auction that includes some gems created by Edward Gorey.  Goreyana reports the auction on January 22, 2015 at Swann Galleries in New York City features three pieces of original art by Edward Gorey, two of which have ties to the Bellairs corpus of books.

Patton Oswalt: By the Book (NYT)

Finally from us tonight - and for the year - the New York Times has published an interview with actor and comedian Patton Oswalt. Oswalt has praised the work of John Bellairs in the past and does so again in this December 31 article when recalling some of his favorite childhood books:

Cat Rambo: You Should Read This

Fantasy and science fiction author Cat Rambo shared some thoughts recently in one of her You Should Read This posts about John Bellairs, specifically what she feels makes The Face in the Frost so special:

That Thou Shalt Like An Airy Spirit Go

Last year we celebrated forty years of The House with a Clock in its Walls by highlighting some of the people, places, and things that John mentioned in the text, including this about celebrated John Dee:

After moving into his uncle’s house Lewis Barnavelt spends time going through a lot of books, including one whose frontispiece is an engraving of this person raising the spirit of a dead woman [The House with a Clock in its Walls; 67-8].

Interview From Beyond the Grave

Last month John Bellairs joined the likes of A.A. Milne, Frank L. Baum, and J.D. Salinger and other authors as being one of Young Adult Mag's Interviews from Beyond the Grave:

Researching the PMLA Again

Not too long ago we found ourselves with access to JSTOR and we thought, on a whim, we might finally nail down the long-running PMLA question.

Interview: Justin Glanville

We were both surprised and excited to read comments last year from Justin Glanville praising the work of John Bellairs and his ability to create a sense of place. Glanville and fellow world-builder Christine Borne are the founders and creative force behind the series, Welcome to Munchen, Minnesota! And it’s pronounced as if you were munchin’. We corresponded with Justin earlier this year about writing with a sense of place in mind, as well as to expand on his previous comments highlighting Duston Heights, Hoosac, and New Zebedee. As has been said: location, location, location!

Where's There: Winnekenni Castle

(The fourth in a series about places or things John Bellairs didn't write about in towns where he lived.)

For the final installment in this series we're going back to Duston Heights. And Haverhill. And castles.

Where's There: Sugar Loaf

(The third in a series about places or things John Bellairs didn't write about in towns where he lived.)

When it comes to the three cities that John Bellairs created for his books, it’s easy to understand how New Zebedee and Duston Heights came about, what with his close association to his native Michigan and later home in Massachusetts. How Hoosac, Minnesota fits into the equation is often forgotten or perhaps not known. For two years in the early 1960s John taught at the now-defunct College of Saint Teresa in Winona, a city in southeast Minnesota. It may not have been his favorite place (consider he was coming to rural Minnesota after years of living and working in Chicago’s Hyde Park area) but we’re glad he was there if only for it to help foster some Fidgettine inspiration. But more on Saint Fidgeta later.

Staging "Electra"

The fourth in a series of articles about Bellairs performing with the College of Saint Teresa Drama Department.

Obscure Horror Cinema: Once Upon A Midnight Scary

The Obscure Horror Cinema blog features that late-1970s made-for-television adaptation, Once Upon a Midnight Scary:

And Ghosts Did Shriek and Squeal About The Streets

Some numbers this Halloween season --

Keeping Haverhill On The Map

Not that we thought Haverhill, Massachusetts - where John lived between 1970 and his death in 1991 - had fallen off the map, this article from the Haverhill Gazette gives a bit of history on how the town was once home to shoemakers (and/or cordwainers) and how things went downhill. But with the help of people such as Tom Bergeron, Andre Dubus III, and Erin Erler the city is keeping itself in the public eye.

Where's There: Tilton's Tower

(The second in a series about places or things John Bellairs didn't write about in towns where he lived.)

When John Bellairs began a story in the early 1980s that would go on to become 1983’s The Curse of the Blue Figurine he made yet another shift in geographic location. Three books, three different states: his native Michigan in The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring (1976); southeast Minnesota for The Treasure of Alpheus Winterborn (1978); and now New England, specifically northeast Massachusetts. While the location may have changed, there was still something sinister afoot and a kind of magic to be harvested.

Renowned Be Thy Grave

Author/blogger J.W. Ocker wrote The New England Grimpendium (2010) and The New York Grimpendium (2012), each a travelogue of his experiences exploring macabre sites, attractions, and artifacts in those regions. His blog features odd things he's seen and this week he showcased something he found in Haverhill: