So! Here are some film trailers. And a book trailer.
The final Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt2 trailer is out! (We have the first part at the library, in case you can’t remember it? There was a lot of marching about in a forest?) Go Mrs Weasley!
Attack the Block. We love this trailer. Hope you like it too.
Katie Alender’s book, Bad Girls Don’t Die, has a sequel coming out soon. It is titled From Bad to Cursed, and here is its spooky trailer.
The Muppets official trailer!
Delirium, Lauren Oliver (441 pages) – It’s another Lauren book! says Lauren. What’s more dystopian than a world without love? Lena lives in a world where love is a disease (delirium), and without love life is predictable, orderly and safe. On your eighteenth birthday you get treatment to ensure you don’t become deliriously in love. But in the lead up to Lena’s eighteenth something happens…
First sentence: It has been sixty-four years since the president and the Consortium identified love as a disease, and forty-three since the scientists perfected a cure.
The Monstrumologist, Rick Yancey (454 pages) – “Monsters are real” says the back cover, and Will Henry is apprentice to a monstrumologist. When the body of a girl and a supposedly extinct headless monster show up, Will and the monstrumologist must race to get to the bottom of this mystery, and stop further deaths.
First sentence: The director of facilities was a small man with ruddy cheeks and dark, deep-set eyes, his prominent forehead framed by an explosion of cottony white hair, thinning as it marched toward the back of his head, cowlicks rising from the mass like waves moving toward the slightly pink island of his bald spot.
Prom and Prejudice, Elizabeth Eulberg (231 pages) – The inspiring Jane Austen! This one’s a reworking of Pride and Prejudice (as the title suggests), set in “the very prestigious Longbourn Academy”. Lizzie is a scholarship kid, her friend Jane is not. Jane is in love with Charles Bingley, which Lizzie is happy about. She’s less happy about Will Darcy, Charles’ snobbish friend… For Pride and Prejudice fans, but not purists who might get upset about revisionings.
First sentence: It s a truth universally acknowledged that a single girl of high standing at Longbourn Academy must be in want of a prom date.
Romeo & Juliet & Vampires, Claudia Gabel (via William Shakespeare, 231 pages) – includes an excerpt from the upcoming Little Vampire Women, another in the mashups genre. This time the Montagues want to suck the Capulets’ blurd. New meaning to “blood feud” and all that. Romeo and Juliet fall in love, worryingly, and you kind of know how it’s going to end. Differently from Twilight, that is.
First sentence of Chapter One (the prologue seemed to be all about Vlad the Impaler): Juliet sat on her bed and stared at her reflection in an ornate gilded mirror, which she held close to her face.
Far From You, Lisa Schroeder (355 pages) – another novel in verse form from the author of I Heart You, You Haunt Me. After the death of her mother, Ali reluctantly goes on a road trip with her new stepmother and her baby. Trapped by a snowstorm, Ali must confront her sense of loss, as well as look to the heavens for rescue.
First verse: We’re alone / with only / the cold / and dark / to keep up / company.
Blessed, Cynthia Leitich Smith (454 pages) – continuing from Tantalize and Eternal, with characters from both, Blessed follows Quincie as she comes to terms with her vampireness, and restaurateur-ness, and also tries to get Kieren (werewolf) off murder charges while stopping Bradley Sanguini (also a vampire) in his evil tracks. In order to help with this overload of work she hires Zachary (angel) as a waiter, which is probably a good move: can he help save Quincie’s soul?
First sentence: Have you damned me? I wondered, staring over my shoulder at the lanky devil in dark formal-wear.
Firelight, Sophie Jordan (323 pages) – Dragons! Jacinda is a draki, a dragon shapeshifter, Will is a hunter of draki, star-crossed lovers of the most dangerous kind. “Mythical powers and breathtaking romance ignite in this story of a girl who defies all expectations and whose love crosses an ancient divide,” says the book cover, nicely put.
First sentence: Gazing out at the quiet lake, I know the risk is worth it.
Vesper, Jeff Sampson (288 pages) – Emily is discovering that she and her classmates are genetically engineered and have powers that come into effect at night. They’re also being hunted by a murderer.
First sentence: I was halfway out my bedroom window when my cell rang.
A Love Story: Starring My Dead Best Friend, Emily Horner (259 pages) – Cass goes on the road trip she planned with her best friend Julia just before Julia was killed in a car crash, with a bicycle, and Julia’s ashes in a tupperware container. The adjectives on the back are good: poignant, life-affirming, tender, vibrant, plus there’s a “kookiest”.
First sentence: I spent the summer with the smells of rain and grass and sky, and the horizon stretching out for ten miles in front of me.
There’s another competition that anyone in the world can enter. Are you a Twilight Superfan? Can you prove your superfandom somehow? Because if you can you and ten others could get to meet and spend time with Stephenie Meyer. Where and for how long I do not know! Presumably it will be somewhere cool (a castle! a cruise ship!) and for just long enough (but not so long that conversation dries up).
Good luck, Superfans!
Fans of the film Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus (the library’s copies have become popular so therefore it has fans I guess) will be thrilled to learn that a sequel is imminent! It is called Mega Shark Vs. Crocosaurus, and the trailer is below. Something to look forward to.
It is true! This only makes sense if you’re a Vampire Diaries fan, actually.
Yup, it’s that time.
We can’t sit your exams (and you probably wouldn’t want my French mark) but we would like to help, so:
We have old exam papers, if you would like to use them in your study. Just ask one of the librarians at the desk. (In Central ask at the children’s desk or on the second floor.)
We’ve collected some tips and sites that might help you here
When you need a break, you might like our facebook page which has some fine ways to use your time.
And lastly if any old people are being too noisy and disturbing you, please ask a librarian to shush them. It’s only fair.
Good Luck!
Hi! Here are some new books.
Bait, by Alex Sanchez (239 pages) – Sixteen-year-old Diego is in trouble with the law, and has a deeply troubled past. His probabation officer, Mr. Vidas, is able to bust through Diego’s shell and help him out and ‘navigate his rocky passage to maturity.’
First line: ‘“This is Mr. Vodas,” explained Diego’s court-appointed attorney as they headed into juvenile court.‘
Wolf Squadron : Special Operations, by Craig Simpson (318 pages) – Secret agents Finn, Loki, and Freya must head into enemy territory to rescue downed aircrew, Wolf Squadron, and a British double agent. Finn & Co. have escaped from Nazi-occupied Norway and now work for Special Operations, a secret agency led by old Winston Churchill himself.
First line: ‘“Stop it! Leave hinm be, you two. Can’t you see you’re frightening him?” Freya reached out and grasped my arm.‘
Wayfarer, by R. J. Anderson (296 pages) – Linden is a teenaged faerie whose people – the Faeries of the Oak – are endangered. She has the last of her people’s magic, and with human Timothy, must save the humans and the faeries from a potent and ancient eeeeevil.
First lines: ‘The Queen is dying. The knowledge sat in Linden’s belly like a cold stone as she hunched over the tub of greasy water, scrubbing her thirty-ninth plate.‘
Other, by Karen Kincy (326 pages) – Gwen is an ‘Other’, in that she belongs to the barely-tolerated group of vampires, centaurs, and other mythical creatures. In her small town, however, Others are not tolerated at all, and when they start turning up dead she – and a sexy guy/Japanese fox spirit – must find the killer.
First lines: ‘I can’t last much longer. It’s been on week, three days, and I forget how many hours.‘
Leftovers, by Heather Waldorf (198 pages) – When Sarah’s abusive father choked to death on a piece of steak, it was the best day of her life. Shortly afterwards, after a brush with the law, she ends up doing community service at a camp for shelter dogs. There she meets Judy (a dog) and Sullivan (a human).
First lines: ‘Ah, summer. Lazy mornings in bed, flipping through back issues of People and munching on chocolate chip waffles.‘
Marrying Ameera, by Rosanne Hawke (292 pages) – Seventeen-year-old Ameera Hassan is falling for her best friend’s brother, Tariq. Her traditionalist father learns of this and send her to Pakistan, to get married to some guy she’s not met. Desperate to leave, she makes a bid for freedom.
First line: ‘“Ameera!” I head my name and then the single toot; Riaz was in his car already.‘
Graffiti Moon, by Cath Crowley (264 pages) – Lucy is desperate to find the graffiti artist, Shadow, whose secretive nature means no one know who he is (a la Banksy). Some guy named Ed, who Lucy doesn’t want to see, says that he knows where to find him, and he takes her on ‘an all-night search to places where Shadow’s thoughts about heartbreak and escape echo around the city walls.‘
First lines: ‘I pedal fast. Down Rose Drive where houses swim in pools of orange streetlight.‘
Split, by Stefan Petrucha (257 pages) – After his mother’s death, Wade can not decide whether to become a musician or a scholar. So he splits his mind into two and becomes both. But soon these two worlds begin to collide, and Wade will need to ‘save himself’.
First line: ‘I’m staring at Mom’s face, a face I’ve seen at least as often as the sun or the moon, only something’s gone from it now.‘
Witch Breed, by Alan Gibbons (311 pages) – Book four in the aptly titled Hell’s Underground series, about the demonic entity under London. In this volume, Paul travels to the 1700s when it was an especially rough time for women accused of witchcraft.
First lines: ‘‘Tell me you will never forget me.’ The quill pen falters on the page.‘
Moment of Truth : The Laws of Magic Book 5, by Michael Pryor (442 pages) – I will quote a comment from Gill when we wrote about the fourth book in this series: ‘Laws of Magic is a wild steampunk fantasy adventure with nice touches of humour and even romance. It’s a world like ours just before WW1 but with magic. Lots of spying and plots and assassinations and misunderstandings. The main characters, Aubrey Fitzwilliam, is the son of the prime minister and he’s also sort of dead thanks to a magical experiment gone wrong. He’s involved with his friends in adventures. Great books!’
First lines: ‘Aubrey Fitzwilliam was on a mission. Determined, unwavering, purposeful, he would not be diverted from his goal, especially since spring was in the air.‘
Operation Ocean Emerald : A Luke Baron Adventure, by Ilkka Remes (307 pages) – Fourteen-year-old Luke Baron sneaks aboard the luxurious cruise ship, The Ocean Emerald, and encounters a criminal gang who have captured the ship. Only he can escape and save everyone. The cover (ominously!) features an exploding cruise liner!
First line: ‘Luke was looking at the computer games and didn’t notice a thing when Toni slipped the DVD into his shoulder bag.‘
And this week’s magazines:
Transworld Skateboarding October 2010 – Skateboarding | skateboarding | skateboarding! | skateboarding? | shoes
Dolly October 2010 – What to do when your friends ditch you | Bonus! Quiz book inside | Denim again, but with polka dots?!
Entertainment Weekly #1122 – Modern Family | Reviews, and more
Another large load from the new book factory.
Meridian, Amber Kizer (305 pages) – “dark, lovely and lushly romantic” says the cover. Meridian is half human, half angel and she’s packed off to her great aunt’s to come to terms with this fact. Here she must learn how to be who she is, work out how to use her gifts, and deal with the ever-present dark danger of the Aternocti. If you like books like Hush, Hush you might be interested?
First sentence: The first creatures to see me were the insects; my parents cleaned the bassinet free of dead ants the morning after they brought me home from the hospital.
The Mark, Jen Nadol (228 pages) – Cassandra can tell when people are about to die (there’s a glow like candlelight that only she can see). After coming to terms with this fact she sets about working out what this means, and whether she can influence fate.
First sentence: There is nothing like the gut-hollowing experience of watching someone die, especially when you know it’s coming.
The Orange Houses, Paul Griffin (147 pages) – Three outsiders – Mik, who is hearing impared; Jimmi, a street poet; and Fatima, a refugee – form a tight friendship and “set off an explosive chain of events that will alter the course of each of their lives.”
First sentence: Everybody’s eyes were like, Say what?
The Lonely Hearts Club, Elizabeth Fulberg (285 pages) – Penny swears off boys and forms The Lonely Hearts Club which becomes super popular, which is only bad when the founding member of said club finds a boy she kind of likes…
First sentence: I, Penny Lane Bloom, do solemnly swear to never date another boy for as long as I shall live.
Boys, Girls & Other Hazardous Materials, Rosalind Wiseman (279 pages) – Charlie is trying to lay low in high school, since middle school ended up getting a bit ugly, but then her old best friend, Will, arrives back in town and he’s super popular on account of being hot, and Charlie ends up in the thick of things again, which turns “near deadly”. A story of friendship and what happens when you try too hard to fit in.
First sentence: Here’s the deal.
Hold Still, Nina LaCour (229 pages) – Caitlin’s friend Ingrid committed suicide, leaving behind her journal of writings and illustrations, which Caitlin reads and processes in the subsequent year.
First sentence: I watch drops of water fall from the ends of my hair.
The Vinyl Princess, Yvonne Prinz (313 pages) – Allie’s into vinyl and works at a record shop – bliss if you’re really into music. In this environment she works on her Vinyl Princess persona, publishing her first zine, blogging, and finding the true music geeks she knows must be out there. A story riding the Zeitgeist.
First sentence: I sense him in my midst.
The Life of Glass, Jillian Cantor (340 pages) – Melissa is coming to terms with the loss of her much-loved father, and with what it means to be beautiful, on the inside and the outside.
First sentence: The last thing my father ever told me was that it takes glass a million years to decay.
Last Night I Sang to the Monster, Benjamin Alire Saenz (239 pages) – Zach is eighteen and in rehab, suffering from amnesia induced by alcohol and depression. With help he can (we hope!) work through it all toward a better life.
First sentence: I want to gather up all the words in the world and write them down on little pieces of paper – then throw them in the air.
Lockdown, Walter Dean Myers (247 pages) – Reese is in juvy and wants to get out as soon as possible, but his friend Toon is getting a hard time and it’s hard being squeaky clean when people want to push you around.
First sentence: “I hope you mess this up!”
Undead Much?, Stacey Jay (306 pages) – zombies running amok again at school, with Megan Berry having to sort out the undead mess, which is hard when one of the undead might be even hotter than your hot boyfriend (and psychic too – how can you be psychic though if you don’t have a brain?).
First sentence: Okay, this was it.
A Voice of Her Own, Barbara Dana (343 pages) – subtitled “Becoming Emily Dickinson”. Emily Dickinson is one of America’s pre-eminent 19th Century poets, an unusual character known for her poems about death (‘Because I would not stop for death he kindly stopped for me’ etc), and who wore only white and refused to conform to society’s expectations. A Voice of Her Own brings to life her childhood and her unique voice.
First sentence: It was too dreary, the last of our family’s possessions piled by the side of the road as if Gypsies had relinquished squatter’s rights and were moving on to points unknown.
A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts, Ying Chang Compestine (176 pages) – the cover says “A collection of deliciously frightening tales”. Chinese ghosts, apparently, are a bit of a nightmare unless you offer them some tempting food. Lucky, then, that this collection of short stories also contains recipes.
First sentence (from ‘Steamed Dumplings’): Long ago, in 200 B.C.E., there was a small village called Bright Stars situated in the northern mountains of China, along the midsection of the Great Wall.
Nothing, Janne Teller (227 pages) – translated from the Danish and described as ‘A Lord of the Flies for the twenty-first century’. Pierre Anthon climbs a plum tree and doesn’t come down because life is worth nothing. His friends are, unsurprisingly, concerned for him, so set about proving there is meaning in life by creating a “pile of meaning” in a sawmill, an exercise which sounds pretty cool on face value, but becomes sinister as the friends push each other beyond the limit.
First sentence: Nothing matters.
The Billionaire’s Curse, Richard Newsome (355 pages) – Gerald is a billionaire at thirteen, which sounds pretty cool, but his new status as a billionaire means he must solve a murder, with the help of his friends, because his life is in imminent danger.
First sentence: The clock on the wall chimed twice.
Drama Girl, Carmen Reid (Secrets at St Jude’s, 287 pages) – Gina, Niffy and Amy discover that mixing their home friends and their school friends can be problematic. Drama ensues.
First sentence: ‘Mom!’ Gina Peterson exclaimed, holding her arms wide for a hug.
We (well, me) and at least two readers have wondered when The Vampire Diaries is going to be screened on TV in NZ. Finally it has been confirmed! First, by Becs in this here comment, and again in an article in the Otago Daily Times, which says that it will screen on TV One, rather than TV2. I wouldn’t have put money on that! So long as it’s not on at the same time as Glee, is all.
The Vampire Diaries begin in early 2010.
… not the books, but the new television programme (previously mentioned here). Read the review here, (via The New York Times). The reviewer liked what she saw, and compares it to Twilight. In fact, it might even be a little better. There. I said it.
There’s no information that I can find as to when and which channel The Vampire Diaries will screen in NZ. Here’s the official website, anyway! Yaar.
Did you know that Darren Shan’s Cirque du Freak books are being made into movies? I didn’t, although I may have known and since forgotten. In any case, it is, although it seems to be the first three books – Cirque du Freak, The Vampire’s Assistant, and Tunnels of Blood – that provide the film’s plot. There’s an interesting article about it here, along with a bunch of photos and an interview with the actor playing Larten Crepsley.
Neil Gaiman thinks that vampires might be on the way out. He put it like this in an EW interview: “if they could go back in their coffins 25 years and come out the next time as something really different, that would be cool.”
Among other things NG acknowledges the important role that The Count (as in Sesame Street) has played in establishing vampires as loveable rogues, which is a triumph for preschool popular culture.
So what might the “something really different” be? Discover it and you could be the next big thing.
In the mean time, if you’re a bit sick of studying classic literature (or you’re dreading having to) then here’s a pretty cool thing:
Trivia: The Last Post is the bugle call you hear on ANZAC Day.
Buffy vs Edward (Twilight Remixed) is an incredibly well-done and amusing mashup of Twilight and Buffy : The Vampire Slayer to form an ‘example of transformative storytelling serving as a pro-feminist visual critique of Edward’s character and generally creepy behavior’. Which is another way to say, “Edward’s a bit stalkerish, isn’t he?”
Remember This, by S. T. Underdahl (282 pages) – Lucy’s looking foward to summer. But she embarrasses herself when trying out for the cheerleading team, ends up dating a boy she previously disliked, and has to watch her grandmother suffer from the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
First sentences: ‘Remember this: I love you. It was the special saying my Nana Lucy and I had for each other, ever since I was tiny.‘
Sword : A Novel, by Da Chen (232 pages) – Martial arts expert Miu Miu turns fifteen and is told by her mother about her father’s violent death. Miu Miu is asked to avenge her father, and to find her fated true love, all in the faraway city of Chang’an. The Emperor has ‘other plans’.
First sentence: ‘On the morning of Miu Miu’s fifteenth birthday, her mother did not arrange a visit by a matchmaker, as all the mothers of Goose Village did when their daughters reached marriageable age.‘
The Bloodstone Bird, by Inbali Iserles (326 pages) – Sash finds a riddle in his father’s study, which leads him – and his enemy, Verity – on the search for a magical bird. Their search takes them to a dazzling new world.
First sentence: ‘“In the beginning, Aqarti was a lush paradise surrounded by endless sea.”‘
Sharp Shot, by Jack Higgins and Justin Richards (297 pages) – Twins Jade and Rich are kidnapped and find themselves at the centre of a deadly plot, involving the first Gulf War and explosives. This is the third book in a series.
First sentence: ‘John Chance raised his powerful binoculars and focused on the low building on the other side of the sand dune.‘
The Other Side of the Island : A Novel, by Allegra Goodman (280 pages) – Honor and her family move to Island 365, where the weather is always nice, there’s no unhappiness or violence, and everyone prays to Earth Mother and her Corporation. Honor and her family don’t fit in, however, and she meets Helix; together they uncover a terrible secret about the island.
First sentence: ‘All this happened many years ago, before the streets were air-conditioned.‘
Crushed : A Year in Girl Hell, by Meredith Costain (137 pages) – It’s Lexi’s first year of high school and life is changing fast. Her friends split up and Lexi has to choose between her old friends and her new, cooler friends. And she develops a crush on Jack, one of the cool kids. For younger teens.
First sentence: ‘“Lexi, can you hurry up please?”‘
Undiscovered Country : A Novel, by Lin Enger (308 pages) – Seventeen-year-old Jesse is out hunting with his father in Minnesota on a cold, wintery day. His father is shot; and it looks like he had killed himself. His father’s ghost begins to haunt Jesse, and he soon uncovers family secrets and his own, new responsibility. This book is a ‘bold reinvention’ of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
First sentence: ‘As I write this, I am sitting in the kitchen of the small house where we’ve lived now for a decade.‘
Fouth Comings : A Novel, by Megan McCafferty (310 pages) – This is the fourth Jessica Darling book and it will be very difficult to summarise in my usual two or three sentences. But if you’ve read the others you will be hanging out for this (I know Grimm will probably be first to read it).
First sentence: ‘”Waiting sucks.” The voice was male and came from behind my right shoulder.”
Bliss, by Lauren Myracle (444 pages) – Bliss has grown up in a Californian commune, and is sent to live with her strict grandmother and to study at Crestview, an exclusive school for the rich with an old, dark history. There she is targetted by Sandy, a girl obsessed with the occult. A ‘contagiously creepy tale of high school horror.’
First sentence: ‘Grandmother won’t tolerate occultism, even of the nose-twitching sort made so adorable by Samantha Stevens, so I’m not allowed to watch Bewitched.’
In brief:
The Beginner’s Guide to Living, by Lia Hills (248 pages)
A Small Free Kiss in the Dark, by Glenda Millard (225 pages)
Dead is a State of Mind, by Marlene Perez (175 pages)
Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote, retold by Martin Jenkins and illustrated by Chris Riddell (347 pages)
Saving Sam, by Susan Brocker (192 pages)
New DVDs:
Skykids (Rated M) – Two friends sneak aboard a plane for a look and it takes off. They discover a bomb and then – to compound the dire situation further – realise that they’re the only ones left on board.
Grange Hill Series 1 & 2 (Rated PG) – Grange Hill was a British drama series about a group of kids at a high school. It lasted from 1978 until late last year. This DVD collects the first two series. Very retro. Maybe.
The skeleton of a ‘vampire’ has been exhumed in Venice. It’s not a pretty sight though – she’s no Edward Cullen – so be warned!
At the time the woman died, many people believed that the plague was spread by “vampires” which, rather than drinking people’s blood, spread disease by chewing on their shrouds after dying. Grave-diggers put bricks in the mouths of suspected vampires to stop them doing this …
Other titles we considered for this post:
Let them eat brick
Eating humble brick
Don’t talk with your mouth full
A brick a day keeps the vampire away
Brick wouldn’t melt in her mouth
Don’t cry over spilt brick
Er … any other ideas?
The film Coraline is due out next month in April (for NZ), and if you’ve read the book or the graphic novel you will probably love the movie. (You will love the movie if you haven’t read the book, and you may very well love the book as well.)
Coraline author Neil Gaiman’s latest award-winning book, The Graveyard Book, is also going to be made into a film. Watch an interview about it!
Here’s the trailer for Coraline – check for buttons.
Some interesting facts about Chris Ryan, author of the Alpha Force series:
8 The number of days Chris Ryan spent in the Iraqi desert with no food and little water after the Bravo Two Zero mission went wrong during the first Gulf War in 1991
800,000 The number of copies sold of his book The One That Got Away, his account of the mission and his escape from enemy forces
5 million The total number of books he has sold in several genres
16 The age at which he unsuccessfully tried to join the Army
10 The number of years he spent in the SAS, completing both covert and overt missions
15 The number of spiders that crawled out of a wound he sustained during jungle training in Brunei
(If only a single spider crawled out of a wound I sustained I probably wouldn’t be here today – but then I’m not in the SAS.) Read the rest of the article about Chris Ryan.
Remember: all YA CDs are free to issue on a YA card and you can have them for an week. This week’s list includes some audio books, which are issued for four weeks. Perfect for long car trips, or flights, or even ocean cruises.
» Now That’s What I Call Music Vol. 27 – Various. This has 18 ‘massive hits’, including The Ting Tings, Rihanna, and Duffy. This is the second Now That’s What I Call Music released this year; the first one came out in 1997, and had hits from Chumbawumba, Hanson, and the Spice Girls. Interestingly, the UK has just released Now That’s What I Call Music Vol. 70.
» Voice of the Young People – Lil Mama. This came out a few months ago now, but here it is. Lil Mama is an 18-year-old pop rapper.
» Jordin Sparks – Jordin Sparks. Jordin won the 2007 American Idol, for what it’s worth. Unlike other Idol winners, she’s had two top-ten singles from her first album. She is also a plus-size model and is touring in NZ in December (with Alicia Keys).
» The Moonlit Road and Other Stories. This double-CD has five ghost stories, all from the nineteenth-century.
» Classic Ghost Stories. This is another double-CD collection of five Victorian ghost tales, including Charles Dickens’ The Signal-Man and Rats, by M. R. James, both of which creeped me out when I was a kid.
» And finally, Classic Ghost Stories. This is a double-CD collection as well, but not the same as the previously mentioned CD (although it does share a few of the same stories). This has seven stories on it.
Boo!
Two new audio-books are in: The Dark Worlds of H. P. Lovecraft volume 1, and The Dark Worlds of H. P. Lovecraft volume 2. H. P. Lovecraft was an early 20th-century American writer, whose stories are notoriously chilling. When read aloud in a voice that sounds like it’s coming from inside a tomb (as these stories are), you will won’t want to listen to them at night with all the lights off.
Wikipedia is an amazing resource, and although anyone can edit it, many of the entries are fairly reliable (though probably shouldn’t be used as the final word on a topic). I enjoy reading articles on Wikipedia that introduce new and interesting things to me; peoples, places, and events that I hadn’t heard of before.
Everyone like a good mystery, and here are some of the weirder & spookier articles/lists:
