Monthly Archives: October 2022

Sandwich of Horror

Posted on October 31, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

NB: If the H.P. Lovecraft video fails to launch please click here .  

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It’s Decorative Gourd Season

Posted on October 30, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

Here in North America folks tend to go a bit overboard with seasonal decorations. An important mainstay is the carved pumpkin. In the video below, professional pumpkin carver, James Hall, runs through 13 different levels of pumpkin carving, from the … Continue reading →

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Halloween Horror

Posted on October 29, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

 

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It’s Edgar Allan Poe Season

Posted on October 28, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

There are many excellent illustrated volumes of Edgar Allan Poe stories, but this  1944 edition with illustrations by German-American artist Fritz Eichenberg is special. Eichenberg was a German artist who emigrated to America in the 1930s; his speciality was wood … Continue reading →

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Americas’ Oldest Surviving Book

Posted on October 27, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

For the first time in more than 50 years Los Angeles’s J. Paul Getty Museum is displaying ten of the remaining pages from Códice Maya de México, the oldest surviving book of the Americas. Dating to circa 1100 CE, the Mayan Codex … Continue reading →

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nostalgie de la bibliothèque

Posted on October 26, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

While checking out book blogs I stumbled on a reference to “Spooks and Spirits and Shadowy Shapes” , featuring wonderfully atmospheric, period illustrations by Robert L. Doremus. Certainly not the most interesting Halloween reading, but personally significant as I remember … Continue reading →

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to keep my own heart free of hatred and despair

Posted on October 25, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

It began to seem that one would have to hold in the mind forever two ideas which seemed to be in opposition. The first idea was acceptance, the acceptance, totally without rancor, of life as it is, and men as … Continue reading →

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Down and Out in Paris and London

Posted on October 24, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

Regular visitors to this humble blog are aware of my deep appreciation for George Orwell’s writing. I was chuffed to discover a new Orwell project set to launch this week. The Orwell Daily is a newletter which will offer tranches … Continue reading →

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The Haunted Castle

Posted on October 23, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

In honor of the Halloween season, here’s the first horror film, Georges Méliès’ The Haunted Castle. Originally released in 1896, the year before Dracula was published, it had been thought to be lost until 1988, when a copy was discovered in the … Continue reading →

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Ghost Stories of an Antiquary

Posted on October 22, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

Each year the Halloween season seems to engender new found interest in both popular and lesser known spooky stories. Those of us raised on classic ghost tales likely are familiar with the work of M.R. James, but younger generations may … Continue reading →

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