All Consuming : Spoonbridge

Consumed "Blueberry Boat"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spoonbridge) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:05:12 GMT

Blueberry Boat

by The Fiery Furnaces

WORTH IT!

Consumed "Songs for Christmas"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spoonbridge) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:10:59 GMT

Songs for Christmas

WORTH IT!

Consumed "A Christmas Carol"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spoonbridge) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 20:09:56 GMT

A Christmas Carol

by Charles Dickens

WORTH IT!

Consumed "One Cello X 16: Natoma"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spoonbridge) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:11:38 GMT

One Cello X 16: Natoma

WORTH IT!

Consuming "Heretic Pride"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spoonbridge) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:08:41 GMT

Heretic Pride

by The Mountain Goats

Consumed "Smoke Signals"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spoonbridge) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 18:34:10 GMT

Smoke Signals

by Chris Eyre

WORTH IT!

Consumed "Pulp Fiction (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spoonbridge) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:39:04 GMT

Pulp Fiction (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

Consumed "Titanic"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spoonbridge) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:37:41 GMT

Titanic

Consumed "12 Angry Men"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spoonbridge) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:35:56 GMT

12 Angry Men

WORTH IT!

Consumed "The Wild Bunch - The Original Director's Cut"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spoonbridge) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:35:11 GMT

The Wild Bunch - The Original Director's Cut

by Sam Peckinpah

Consumed "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spoonbridge) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:54:47 GMT

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

by George Roy Hill

WORTH IT!

Consumed "Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spoonbridge) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:53:05 GMT

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

by Joss Whedon

WORTH IT!

Consuming "The Complete Stories"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spoonbridge) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:49:14 GMT

The Complete Stories

by Franz Kafka

Consumed "House of Spirits and Whispers: The True Story of a Haunted House"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spoonbridge) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:46:35 GMT

House of Spirits and Whispers: The True Story of a Haunted House

by Annie Wilder

Consumed "A Lifetime Of Secrets: A PostSecret Book"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spoonbridge) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:46:18 GMT

A Lifetime Of Secrets: A PostSecret Book

by Frank Warren

WORTH IT!

Consumed "Night Flying Woman: An Ojibway Narrative (Publications of the Minnesota Historical Society)"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spoonbridge) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:04:34 GMT

Night Flying Woman: An Ojibway Narrative (Publications of the Minnesota Historical Society)

by Ignatia Broker

WORTH IT!

Consumed "Lucky"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spoonbridge) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:03:50 GMT

Lucky

by Gabrielle Bell

WORTH IT!

Consumed "The Halloween Tree"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spoonbridge) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:01:59 GMT

The Halloween Tree

by Ray Bradbury

A story about "THE SCARY STORIES TREASURY"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spoonbridge) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:40:35 GMT

THE SCARY STORIES TREASURY

Ah, the memories. I recently picked up this omnibus of spooky favorites from childhood, including the three “Scary Stories” books by Alvin Schwartz “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,” “More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark,” and “Scary Stories 3: More Tales to Chill Your Bones” and read them for the first time in my adulthood. I really don’t know what about these dark, macabre, downright creepy tales fascinated me so much as a child; normally, I was terrified of anything remotely scary, having to leave the room if a movie showed even the slightest tinge of blood and shying away from even the most innocuous rubber zombie mask. Perhaps because of this, I found these tingly stories all the more attractive. Perhaps, in spite of my fear, I enjoyed a feeling of dark, ghostly unease, and reading about the supernatural allowed me to experience it on my own terms. From then on, I was hooked on reading of ghostly, eerie places and phenomena (both “real” and fantasy) and the spooky atmosphere of these and similar stories filled me with a delicious dread. Even if I still could not bear to walk into the horror section of the video store, I relished “Scary Stories.” Especially around late October, as Halloween (always a favorite holiday) approached and the wind blew the leaves from the trees over the plowed fields and pumpkin patches, I returned to such stories again and again.

After so many years have passed, I am still greatly impressed by each of Schwartz’s “Scary Stories” entries gathered in this one volume. Despite being short, none more than three pages these stories are still extremely effective, still bringing chills to my sister and I (one particular story my sister could still not sit through). The majority a drawn whole cloth by Schwartz from the deep lake of American and Canadian folklore, which in turn takes aspects from ancient stories from a multitude of cultures. These stories touch the very essence of human fears, desires, and delights. Each remains deceptively simple in its telling, rarely going into detail about the ghostly events they describe but leaving just enough to get across the plot, and they are all the more spooky for it. Interestingly, many don’t really have a point or “moral,” which lends to them an aura of “truth” as if they were an actual recalled experience. Also, it must be said that Stephen Gammell’s art that goes along with many of the stories really gives them that extra edge of dread. These drawings have a drippy, macabre, unsettling ambiance that turns even the most mundane object (a chair, a stairway) into a horrifying, unnerving apparition. They are without a doubt the most frightening aspect of the book, and Gammell was an excellent choice to illustrate these scenes. Not all is scary, though. Each book also includes of a collection of joke stories that bring humor as a counterpoint to the horror of the unknown. Best of all, in my mind are the copious references, citations, notes and bibliography that Schwartz includes to trace the provenance and background of each of the tales, and invites the reader to continue their exploration of spooky folklore from North America and elsewhere. For me folklore has a timeless quality that lends itself to telling around a fire in the dark, delighting in imagining all the spooky details.

In conclusion, the Scary Stories theory is ideal in my mind for spine tingly story telling for both adults and children at any time of the year, but particularly around Halloween. I was happy to see that this book remains as memorable now as it had when I was just an easily frightened kid!

Consumed "THE SCARY STORIES TREASURY"

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spoonbridge) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 17:40:35 GMT

THE SCARY STORIES TREASURY

WORTH IT!

Good stuff

nobody@allconsuming.net (Spoonbridge) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:39:43 GMT

Syncopated: An Anthology of Nonfiction Picto-Essays

I didn’t really know what to expect when I began reading “Syncopated” but it turned out to be a very interesting collection of comic pieces, or “picto-essays” with themes ranging from the humorous to the sobering, the strange to the mundane. Each comic is extremely evocative in telling its story, even more impressive that each is nonfictional encomp history, memoir, and journalism. With as wide a variety of art styles as topics each piece was as interesting the read as the last. In particularly, I really enjoyed Rina Piccolo’s discussion of “postal cards,” being a postcard collector and fan of found items myself. “Syncopated” should provide an afternoon or two of insight for anyone interested in comic art.