magic and mystery in the garden of abdul gasazi

i have a confession: i wasn’t always a chris van allsburg fan. “polar express” was my introduction to him and it left me as cold as the frozen snow on the cover. i found his art dull, heavy, too still.  and then i came across, “the garden of abdul gasazi.” the story was wonderfully weird…

mercer mayer’s "favorite tales from grimm" part 1.

as i’ve posted before, mercer mayer is one of my earliest and most lasting influences. with the beginning of autumn, now seems a fitting time to post his illustrations from “favorite tales from grimm.” this was his third and last book before his artistic decline began to set in. the pictures are highly detailed, exquisitely…

shirley jackson’s "the lottery: or the adventures of james harris."

the short stories comprising “the lottery” concern evil. not grandiose evil or glamorous evil, but mundane, petty evil- a distinctly human evil despite the ivy trails of the supernatural twisting through her writing. taking the ballad, “the daemon lover” for her inspiration, she explores marriage, fidelity, domesticity, hypocrisy, and the nuances of small town living and…

welcome autumn!

autumn, like spring, is a changing season. already the long hot days of august are fading and there is a new crispness in the air. the light falls golden instead of the white, blinding light of summer. witches and fairies roam the countryside. wolves and changelings lurk behind every tree. transformation is in the air… “trois femmes…