Category archives: Books
Owp! (or “The Mother Who Came to A Crisis Point”)
have read Judith Kerr’s The Tiger Who Came to Tea aloud many times. I have had read it aloud, perhaps, 6322 times. That’s no exaggeration. Or if it is, it’s only slight. I’ve read it in day-lit rooms. I’ve read… continue reading »
Will Coyotes Still Get in?
About 6 months ago, on a night (dear readers) very much like this,1 I found myself sitting, sweatily, at a giant mahogany table in my parents’ “Good Room”.2 Phone in hand. Preparing to talk to an 85-year-old Richard Matheson. Look,… continue reading »
Dreadful Thoughts Story Club 16: Pigeons from Hell
Right. It has been pointed out to me, by morbid sorts, that the last two authors this club has fixed its gorgon-like gaze on both exited our weary world by means of suicide. Charlotte Perkins Gilman deciding on an overdose… continue reading »
Dreadful Thoughts: A Dim Yellow Blur That Might Have Been a Face
After flirting (coquettishly) with psychological/feminist/political creepiness during our last club outing, Dreadful Thoughts 16 steels itself to feast on a bloody chunk of visceral, traditional horror.1 To serve up the gore-drenched goods, we turn to the sword-wielding titan that was… continue reading »
Now I’m in Trouble, you Troublesome Trucks!
It’s probably fairly uncontroversial to observe that the punchlines in much children’s literature – from Heinrich Hoffman to Roald Dahl – involve heaps of just desserts, lashes of moral comeuppance, and (un)healthy doses of let-that-be-a-lesson-to-you-itis (served up with a big… continue reading »
Dreadful Thoughts Story Club 15: The Yellow Wallpaper
Right. Littlest one curled up in bed with much-loved teddy and Minnie Mouse blanket? Check. Tasty mid-range Merlot decanting on the worktop? Check. Curry bubbling away satisfactorily? Check. Tube of Pringles on standby (in case of vino-induced munchies)? Check. The… continue reading »
Dreadful Thoughts: The Pattern is Torturing
Now that we’re knee-deep in winter – that “direful monster” who withers all in silence, freezes up frail life and snot-encrusts the populace – it might be uplifting to turn our thoughts to warm & fuzzy things. Like death, horror,… continue reading »
