Peony in Love was, well, more the story of how a girlish obsession could turn into a one-note bit of character development. Sadly, Peony is a boring young lady, rich and well-bred, and betrothed to a rather mushy-headed young man. They meet once, never once trading identities (it’s once a night for three nights, actually, but they do so little they could have done it all in one night) and based on that, Peony is In Love. Her mild obsession with the Chinese opera “The […]
In Search of an Unsolved Mystery involving a Monkey’s Paw
From Wikipedia: “Tom Wallace lived an ordinary life, until a chance event awakened psychic abilities he never knew he possessed. Now he’s hearing the private thoughts of the people around him and learning shocking secrets he never wanted to know. But as Tom’s existence becomes a waking nightmare, even greater jolts are in store as he becomes the unwilling recipient of a message from beyond the grave.” I’m almost certain I saw this movie at some point, but remember almost nothing about it. It’s somehow […]
The sun comes up, just your bones remain
Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day is a standalone novella by Seanan McGuire who is one of my favorite writers. I love her work and I recommend it every chance I get. But even with all that, this novella hit me in a very different way than most of her novels do. I can’t be objective about this novella, I just can’t. It completely and utterly wrecked me and left me a sobbing mess on my couch last night. Yesterday morning I got an email […]
Spooky story for a cold, winter night.
Mrs. Drablow has died so her estate must be settled. To that end, junior solicitor Arthur Kipps is dispatched from London to the far northern hamlet of Crythin Gifford to go through the deceased woman’s paper work. Mrs. Drablow resided at Eel Marsh House, a melancholy manor located in fog drenched seclusion inside a marsh that is only reachable during low tide. Shortly after arriving Arthur begins seeing a young woman dressed in black and he, rightly, soon ascertains she is a ghost. Numerous scary […]