Category Archives: Mystery

Modern Tempests

As I prep for Witch Week 2021, for which my co-host (Calmgrove) and I have chosen The Tempest as our Read-Along, I’ve been working my way through some of the modern works that are either inspired by or adaptations of … Continue reading

Posted in Adventure, Mystery, RIP, Shakespeare, Witch Week | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Which Week Witch Week

Not long now until Witch Week 2021 comes to haunt us. An event first begun by Lory Hess at The Emerald City Book Review (she now blogs at Entering the Enchanted Castle), Witch Week is an annual series of guest … Continue reading

Posted in Adventure, Fantasy, Halloween, Mystery, Shakespeare, Witch Week | Tagged , | 4 Comments

#WitchWeek2020 Day 5: Gothic fantasy, with puppets

Puppet shows! Fun times for all, right? Not in this chilling Newbery Honor book. In 2007, Laura Amy Schlitz had won the Newbery Award for Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village. This 2012 gothic fantasy by the … Continue reading

Posted in Adventure, Fantasy, Gothic, Historical fiction, Mystery, Witch Week, YA Lit | Tagged , | 8 Comments

#WitchWeek2020 Day 1: Gothick Dreams

Happy Halloween to all! My first guest blogger is my co-host, Chris, who blogs as Calmgrove on WordPress, where for eight years he’s been exploring the world of ideas through books by way of reviews and discussions. Today Chris has taken … Continue reading

Posted in Castles and towers, Gothic, Mystery, Witch Week | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

#WitchWeek2020: Master Post

Diana Wynne Jones’ Witch Week (1983) is a fantasy set between Halloween and November 5th — Bonfire Night — marking the day in 1604 when Guy Fawkes was caught preparing to blow up Parliament. Six years ago, Lory of Emerald City Book Review used this … Continue reading

Posted in Fantasy, Gothic, Horror, Mystery, Witch Week | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Flotsam and Jetsam

4 books reviewed here, and from them you’ll get a sense of my odd taste in reading these days. No particular reason for it — each one spurred by happenstance, satisfying a yen, or whatever. Lud-in-the-Mist, by Hope Mirrlees (1926, … Continue reading

Posted in Adventure, Am reading, Fantasy, Mystery, YA Lit | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

Ghoulish image

Because there can never be too much Poe available on this spooky day, here’s a little something I spotted at a recent art show (IFPDA Fine Art Print Fair) in NYC:   “Edgar Allen Poe”, Horst Janssen (1929 – 1995), color etching, 1988 … Continue reading

Posted in Art, Gothic, Horror, Macabre, Mystery, Poetry, RIP | Tagged | Leave a comment

Fortean doings

A bonus post for R.I.P. XIV (Readers Imbibing Peril) — what more could anyone ask of this week before Halloween? Today, a YA trilogy drawn from Edison’s and Tesla’s rivalry that raises important questions about morality, mixed in with some … Continue reading

Posted in Am reading, Historical fiction, Humorous, Macabre, Mystery, RIP, Science fiction | Tagged , | Leave a comment

R.I.P. XIV, part 2

As promised, a second post for R(eaders) I(mbibing) P(eril) XIV, a celebration of any genre that raises the hairs on the back of your neck. Four books, 2 of which also fit into my celebration of Herman Melville’s 200th birthday … Continue reading

Posted in Adventure, Am reading, Biography, Fantasy, Gothic, Mystery, RIP, Seafaring | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

R.(eaders) I.(mbibing) P.(eril) XIV

Thanks to a new follower (that’s you, Juliana), I’ve discovered this perfect September-October reading project that makes a good run-up to WitchWeek2019: Readers Imbibing Peril XIV, aka RIP14, 2 months devoted to reading scary tales. Mystery, horror, dark fantasy, Gothic, … Continue reading

Posted in Am reading, Fantasy, Mystery, RIP, Witch Week | 4 Comments