Saturday, March 24, 2012
Cover for The Best Vampire Stories 1880-1849
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Charlotte Sometimes by The Cure vs Charlotte Sometimes the Book by Penelope Farmer
"Charlotte Sometimes", the YA book by Penelope Farmer, is well known in England more than the US. It has time travel and ghosts and scary seances. What's not to like? I’ve recently read “Charlotte Sometimes” if for no other reason than to compare The Cure lyrics of their classic song Charlotte Sometimes to parts of the children’s fantasy. This is what I learned and it’s very interesting. ***Spoiler Alter***
All the faces, All the voices blur
Change to one face, Change to one voice
First sentence: By bedtime all the faces, the voices, had blurred for Charlotte to one face, one voice.
Prepare yourself for bed
Second sentence: She prepared herself for bed . . . .
The light seems bright, And glares on white walls
Book 2nd paragraph, 6th sentence: The light seemed to bright for them, glaring on white walls . . . .
All the sounds of
Book 4th paragraph, 4th sentence: All the sounds about her . . . .
Charlotte sometimes
Into the night with
Charlotte sometimes
Book 5th paragraph, 1st sentence: She must have slept at last . . . .
Night after night she lay alone in bed
Her eyes so open to the dark
Part II, chapter 4, 1st sentence: Night after night, Charlotte lay in bed with her eyes open to the dark . . . .
The streets all looked so strange
They seemed so far away
But Charlotte did not cry
Part II, chapter 4, paragraph 15, 1st sentence: The streets looked strange . . . .
The people seemed so close
Playing expressionless games
Part II, chapter 2, paragraph 24, 3rd sentence: Charlotte, on the other hand, became absorbed, concentrating wholly on her fingers’ easing . . . .
The people seemed so close
So many other names
Part II, chapter 2, paragraph 37: “Good night, Mr. Chisel Brown,” she said with almost a curtsy. “Good night, Mrs. Chisel Brown. Good night, Miss Agnes Chisel Brown. Good night, cat. Good night, dog . . ..”
When all the other people dance - Reference to school dance
Expressionless the trance - Reference to séance
So many different names - Reference to names of Brown family
The sounds all stay the same - Reference to airplane sounds overhead
On a different world - Past where Charlotte travels
On that bleak track
(See the sun is gone again)
The tears were pouring down her face
She was crying and crying for a girl
Who died so many years before
Part III, chapter 2, paragraph 53, 1st sentence: On that bleak track, the sun almost gone again, tears were pouring down her face. She was crying and crying for a girl for a girl who had died more than 40 years before.
Charlotte sometimes crying for herself
Part III, chapter 7, paragraph 13, last sentence: She began crying bitterly, could not stop . . . .
Charlotte sometimes dreams a wall around herself
Part III, chapter 7, paragraph 10, 1st sentence: She dreamed she stood below the picture, The Mark of the Beast, and there were soldiers all around her in red uniforms, stiff as toys but tall as men. There were dolls, too, like Miss Agnes’s doll, as tall as the soldiers . . .
Glass sealed and pretty
Part III, chapter 7, paragraph 15, 4th sentence: And when she looked at the wall at the picture glass, it looked quite empty, as if a mirror hung there, not a picture at all.
I'll compare two other songs by The Cure at my cure blog if anyone wants to go a little deeper!
Friday, February 10, 2012
Midwest Book Review of The Best Ghost Stories 1800-1849
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Scary Ghost References in Lyrics by The Cure
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Blog About The Cure Band Started by Author Andrew Barger
For those of you who don't know, The Cure is one of my favorite bands. They are Goth. They make beautiful music unlike any other band and Robert Smith's lyrics brand him as one of our greatest modern day poets. The Cure is also one of the most literary bands to ever play. There are many references to fantastic books, old and new. So I've started a cure blog at www.DisintegrationNation-CureBlog.blogspot.com. From time-to-time I'll be posting my thoughts on this great band. What does this have to do with horror and scary stories? You'll see!
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Azra'eil & Fudgie Ebook Launched for $.99 on Amazon
"Azra'eil & Fudgie" is my new short story about a group of marines in Afghanistan who encounter a precocious little girl who is much more than she first appears. It is a war story that combines the supernatural and the fears of a young marine who is on his first mission to hunt for skulls (IED buried explosives). You can download the supernatural war story on Kindle for only $.99. "Azra'eil & Fudgie" is one of the stories included in my first short story collection: Mailboxes - Mansions - Memphistophels. I hope you enjoy it.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Friday, November 18, 2011
Author Countries for the Top 10 Ghost Stories
In the last post I laid out the Top 10 ghost stories for the 1st half of the 19th century. Just like I did for The Best Horror Short Stories 1800-1849, I thought it would be fun to list the author countries. Here it goes:
10. The Ghostly Visiter; or, The Mysterious Invalid (1833)
Anonymous author, likely from England as it was published in a "Penny Dreadful" in London.
9. The Tapestried Chamber (1827)
Sir Walter Scott was Scottish.
8. Adventure of the German Student (1831)
Washington Irving was American.
7. The Old Maid in the Winding Sheet (1837)
Nathaniel Hawthorne was American.
6. The Spectral Ship (1828)
Wilhelm Hauff was German.
5. A Night in a Haunted House (1848)
This anonymous ghost story appeared in a Dublin magazine so the author was likely Irish.
4. The Mask of the Red Death (1842)
Edgar Allan Poe was American.
3. A Chapter in the History of a Tyrone Family (1839)
Joseph Sheridan le Fanu was Irish.
2. The Deaf and Dumb Girl (1839)
This anonymous story was translated from the French.
1. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1819)
Washington Irving was American.
That means four of the Top 10 scary ghost stories for this period came from Americans, two from Ireland, one from Scotland, one from Germany, one from France and one from England.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Top 10 Ghost Stories for the First Half of the 19th Century
Top 10 Ghost Stories for the First Half of the 19th Century.
10. The Ghostly Visiter; or, The Mysterious Invalid (1833)
This anonymous ghost story was published in a "penny dreadful" magazine in 1833. It is one of the most chilling ghost stories in relation to an incapacitated person for this fifty year period in review.
9. The Tapestried Chamber (1827)
Sir Walter Scott was a leading proponent of supernatural tales in Europe. The Tapestried Chamber is the second oldest scary story on this countdown and contains moments of sheer terror.
8. Adventure of the German Student (1831)
Washington Irving is best known for "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," but the "Adventure of the German Student" is as compact a fright as one will find in a little ghost story.
7. The Old Maid in the Winding Sheet (1837)
Nathaniel Hawthorne makes his only appearance in the Top 10 with a horror tale that is superbly written. It was also an Edgar Allan Poe favorite.
6. The Spectral Ship (1828)
Wilhelm Hauff died in his mid-twenties, yet still showed early promise that he could have been one of the all time great supernatural writers. "The Spectral Ship" leaves an indelible tang of horror.
5. A Night in a Haunted House (1848)
This anonymous ghost story is the longest of the Top 10 and will make a person think twice when they hear a thump coming up the stairs.
4. The Mask of the Red Death (1842)
"The Mask of the Red Death" is perhaps Edgar Allan Poe's finest ghost story. The writing and symbolism are unparalleled for this period in question.
3. A Chapter in the History of a Tyrone Family (1839)
Joseph Sheridan le Fanu was the early king of the short ghost story. He would later go on to publish "Green Tea" and other ghostly classics.
2. The Deaf and Dumb Girl (1839)
This is the third anonymous story in the Top 10 and the very best of the lot. It will make you think twice when you see a quiet girl with ashen skin sit next to you on a train.
1. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1819)
Washington Irving's most popular ghost story--and perhaps the most popular ghost short story of all time (assuming Dickens's "A Christmas Carole" is a novella)--is "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Although typically disfavored in a scary ghost story, it is one of the first to do it without losing the element of terror and it is the oldest in the Top 10, which gives the story high marks for originality and creativity.
The Best Ghost Stories 1800-1849: A Classic Ghost Anthology includes story introductions, author photos, annotations and a list of ghost stories read. Buy it tonight!
The Best Ghost Stories at Google Books
The Best Ghost Stories at Amazon
The Best Ghost Stories at Barnes & Noble
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Post of Book Trailer for "The Best Horror Short Stories 1800-1849: A Classic Horror Anthology
The nice folks over at Bookish Ardour have posted the book trailer for my scary horror anthology. You can check it out here: http://bookishardour.com/2011/10/29/book-trailers-best-horror-short-stories-1800-1849/
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