By Introverted Wife; see more of her free All Hallows Read posters at the link
Another October, another All Hallows Read! I have a couple of recommendations for you.
First up, a novel about witches set at Hallowe’en: The Memory Garden by Mary Rickert. In June, I wrote a mini review of this book, which I’m just going to reprint here: I’d read some of Rickert’s short stories prior to reading her first novel and her second short-story collection (the first collection, Map of Dreams, I bought after reading The Memory Garden, but I haven’t read it yet), so I was eager to read more of her work. The Memory Garden is a beautiful novel: the story of teenage Bay and her much-older adopted mother Nan reunited with her childhood friends after decades one summer weekend. Rickert’s prose is a joy to read, and I liked the rather contained plot, even if I’d figured out the secret long before the end (and I’m a sucker for witch stories, even if it’s just suggested).
One of my favorite recently read books is Elizabeth Hand‘s novella Wylding Hall, available in both hardcover and Audible (full-cast) editions. Here’s the official description: “After the tragic and mysterious death of one of their founding members, the young musicians in a British acid-folk band hole up at Wylding Hall, an ancient country house with its own dark secrets. There they record the classic album that will make their reputation but at a terrifying cost, when Julian Blake, their lead singer, disappears within the mansion and is never seen again. Now, years later, each of the surviving musicians, their friends and lovers (including a psychic, a photographer, and the band s manager) meets with a young documentary filmmaker to tell his or her own version of what happened during that summer but whose story is the true one? And what really happened to Julian Blake” As is to be expected, Wylding Hall is beautifully written and perfectly creepy.
One last recommendation, a graphic novel written by Marika McCoola and drawn by the incomparable Emily Carroll: Baba Yaga’s Assistant. The skinny: “Most children think twice before braving a haunted wood filled with terrifying beasties to match wits with a witch, but not Masha. Her beloved grandma taught her many things: that stories are useful, that magic is fickle, that nothing is too difficult or too dirty to clean. The fearsome witch of folklore needs an assistant, and Masha needs an adventure. She may be clever enough to enter Baba Yaga’s house-on-chicken-legs, but within its walls, deceit is the rule. To earn her place, Masha must pass a series of tests, outfox a territorial bear, and make dinner for her host. No easy task, with children on the menu!” The story is a delight, but the Carroll art–oh, she is so so so very good.
Also, good news: Emily Carroll has a new comic up on her website called “The Groom.”
This letterpress business-card-as-library-card from Boxcar Press is pretty nifty for writers or librarians (via).
If you follow me on Facebook, you already know I’m obsessed with Matt Bellassai’s Whine About It, “a weekly video series where [Matt] gets drunk at his desk and complains about stuff.” The series is on hiatus until the end of October, but you can catch up on his Tumblr and get new updates on his Facebook page.
Krysten Ritter as Jessica Jones
I’m pretty excited about the upcoming Netflix series Jessica Jones, based on the Alias comics by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos. I was gaga over that comic. It’s likely I won’t see the series until it’s released on DVD, but the teaser-trailers have been looking good (and the first ep seems to be getting good reviews). Here’s the latest trailer I’ve seen:
Mike Colter as Luke Cage in Jessica Jones
Thanks to Sylvia for sharing the link on Facebook for Jeffrey Thomas‘s nightmarish take on Disney princesses, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Click through to BoredPanda to see the gallery to Thomas’s DeviantArt site.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by Jeffrey Thomas
Shirley Jackson’s House Hunters by Mallory Ortberg at The Toast is a thing of beauty.
Check out the new trailer for the Sherlock 2015 Christmas special (via):
John Kenn
A new edition of Juan Santapau’s The Secret Knots is out: “Medical Mysteries of Miranda Montes.”
These IKEA manuals for your favorite horror villains by Ed Harrington are pretty cute. Check out the first link for a brief gallery and the second for Harrington’s blog, which has a lot more (can you go wrong with Buffalo Bill and the Human Centipede by IKEA?). Here’s a sample:
A new trailer for The Magicians TV series came out at NYCC (via):
Samhain Vengeance by Daryl Toh
