Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu was born on August 28th, 1814, at 45 Lower Dominick Street, Dublin, into a literary family with Huguenot, Irish and English roots. The children were tutored but, according to his brother William, the tutor taught them little if anything. Le Fanu was eager to learn and used his father\'s library to educate himself about the world. He was a creative child and by fifteen had taken to writing poetry. Accepted into Trinity College, Dublin to study law he also benefited from the system used in Ireland that he did not have to live in Dublin to attend lectures, but could study at home and take examinations at the university as and when necessary. This enabled him to also write and by 1838 Le Fanu\'s first story The Ghost and the Bonesetter was published in the Dublin University Magazine. Many of the short stories he wrote at the time were to form the basis for his future novels. Indeed, throughout his career Le Fanu would constantly revise, cannabilise, embellish and re-publish his earlier works to use in his later efforts. Between 1838 and 1840 Le Fanu had written and published twelve stories which purported to be the literary remains of an 18th-century Catholic priest called Father Purcell. Set mostly in Ireland they include classic stories of gothic horror, with grim, shadowed castles, as well as supernatural visitations from beyond the grave, together with madness and suicide. One of the themes running through them is a sad nostalgia for the dispossessed Catholic aristocracy of Ireland, whose ruined castles stand in mute salute and testament to this history. On 18 December 1844 Le Fanu married Susanna Bennett, the daughter of a leading Dublin barrister. The union would produce four children. Le Fanu was now stretching his talents across the length of a novel and his first was The Cock and Anchor published in 1845. A succession of works followed and his reputation grew as well as his income. Unfortunately, a decade after his marriage it became an increasing source of difficultly. Susanna was prone to suffer from a range of neurotic symptoms including great anxiety after the deaths of several close relatives, including her father two years before. In April 1858 she suffered an "hysterical attack" and died in circumstances that are still unclear. The anguish, profound guilt as well as overwhelming loss were channeled into Le Fanu’s work. Working only by the light of two candles he would write through the night and burnish his reputation as a major figure of 19th Century supernaturalism. His work challenged the focus on the external source of horror and instead he wrote about it from the perspective of the inward psychological potential to strike fear in the hearts of men. A series of books now came forth: Wylder\'s Hand (1864), Guy Deverell (1865), The Tenants of Malory (1867), The Green Tea (1869), The Haunted Baronet (1870), Mr. Justice Harbottle (1872), The Room in the Dragon Volant (1872) and In a Glass Darkly. (1872). But his life was drawing to a close. Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu died in Merrion Square in his native Dublin on February 7th, 1873, at the age of 58. Views: 221
Toby's getting married! Now in hardcover, the fifteenth novel of the Hugo-nominated, New York Times-bestselling October Daye urban fantasy series.It's hard to be a hero. There's always something needing October "Toby" Daye's attention, and her own desires tend to fall by the wayside in favor of solving the Kingdom's problems. That includes the desire to marry her long-time suitor and current fiancé, Tybalt, San Francisco's King of Cats. She doesn't mean to keep delaying the wedding, it just sort of...happens. And that's why her closest friends have taken the choice out of her hands, ambushing her with a court wedding at the High Court in Toronto. Once the High King gets involved, there's not much even Toby can do to delay things......except for getting involved in stopping a plot to overthrow the High Throne itself, destabilizing the Westlands entirely, and keeping her from getting married through nothing more than the sheer volume of chaos it would... Views: 221
Legends come and legends go and sometimes, they return. When The Fat Man and his Dog return to the world, they are met with joy and confusion as well as worry over what their arrival foretells.When Rod and Marge Applewhite decide to expand their horizons by joining the Mahjong Club at the community centre, nothing can prepare them, or their new acquaintances, for the avalanche of social disgraces which follow!This fourth short story from Brian Parker looks at what can happen when a young woman with healthy cleavage and a low cut dress sits opposite a man who can't keep his focus on the job at hand! Views: 221
On March 21st, 2013, I received a phone call from Holly Newstein telling me that her husband, Rick Hautala, had suffered a massive heart attack. That piece of information shocked me into a surreal sort of panic, so much so that at first I could not make the leap to the next thing she said...that he had died. It seemed impossible. Rick had been such a good friend, such a consistent and stable force in my life, that the idea of him being so suddenly removed from this world...I just couldn't make sense of it. I have no doubt that readers will treasure this two-volume set. It is my hope that as you read, you will ruminate a little bit about the man for whom we all have come together within these pages. And I hope you'll urge others to pick up their own copies of MISTER OCTOBER as well. Views: 221
Stansbury, Vermont is known for the Lakebridge, a covered bridge with a dark history few remember. The bridge makes people do things – bad things. Some have tried to destroy the bridge, and failed. But as long as the bridge is fed with the lives of the innocents, it will go on – loving the people of Stansbury.Vermont, picturesque and lovely, attracts visitors from across the country in search for the perfect picture, the perfect fall foliage or perhaps a taste of maple syrup. Stansbury is best known for the odd covered bridge that spans Stansbury Lake and goes nowhere, connecting no roads and serving no known purpose. The locals call it the Lakebridge. Very few know of its mysterious origins and fewer care to know more. Those visiting the town perhaps take a few snapshots and leave, their curiosity quelled by an uneasy feeling that they shouldn’t think on it anymore. The tourists will eventually leave Stansbury, but its residents strangely linger, seemingly held captive by a force they barely recognize. They also do not think about the town’s mysterious artifact much except in passing, all but Gil, his father, Ben, and a few others. They know of the bridge’s dark history and understand that it is responsible for every horror that ever befell the people of Stansbury: the people who fear the bridge but will not speak of it. The bridge makes people do things – bad things – so that it can continue to love and care for them all. Some have tried to destroy the bridge, but as long as the bridge is fed with the lives of the innocents of Stansbury it will go on – loving the people of Stansbury. Lakebridge: Spring is the first of a four book cycle revolving around Stansbury and the Lakebridge. Views: 220
Book 2 of The Nisirtu. The Fifth Kingdom’s plans to rebuild civilization are in ruins as Ben Mitchell, the Ardoon king, is buried alive in a distant temple. Fiela, assassin queen, leads a force of elite Peth against the "Bashmu" terrors of the Nothingness. Lord Disparthian unearths the secrets of Denver International. Lilian, alone, struggles against a coup staged by a mysterious stranger.In this sequel to The Apocalypse Script, the Seven Kingdoms of the Nisirtu have destroyed the modern world. There are no more nations or cities. The era of automobiles, telephones, computers, electricity and running water is now a thing of fond memory. The few humans who survived the Nisirtu’s wrath are in a constant battle against famine, plague, and anarchy. But the kings and queens of the Seven Kingdoms did not know that a force of even greater power had ensnared them in their own trap. Now six of those kingdoms have fallen, too. Only the Fifth Kingdom remains, but even that once mighty power has been reduced to a single fortress, Steepleguard, hidden in the mountains above the ruins of Denver. The Fifth Kingdom’s plans to rebuild civilization are barely underway when Ben Mitchell, the Ardoon king, is trapped in a distant land, and Steepleguard faces a coup staged by a plotting duke from the east. Lilian faces imprisonment and her champion, Lord Disparthian, finds himself trapped in Denver. Lilian's sister, the assassin-queen, Fiela, has her own problems, having led a dwindling army to the wastelands to combat a seemingly indestructible enemy sent from another reality. And yet it is the unseen enemy that is the kingdom’s greatest threat… Views: 220
The second instalment of Joseph Delaney’s exhilarating new ARENA 13 series.
Sixteen-year-old Leif continues on his quest to find out the truth about his legendary father. Will his father’s people hold the key to Leif’s future? And will what he learns bring him closer to attaining his goal of becoming the best fighter the city has ever seen? Or will the monster that has stalked his life, wreak his promised revenge? Views: 220
A new short story from Mira Grant, the author of Feed. Every week five friends get together to play a game-- a game they call the Apocalypse Game. It's a fun time with chips and beer and plotting the end of the world. Except this time, one of them is missing and the stakes are higher than ever before.
Word count: ~3,900 Views: 220
"The pieces collected here...examine questions of power. Some fit into the ‘food systems and hunger’ category , others are more concerned with how we think about food systems and hunger. Control over the world food system implies control over technology and ideology, scholarship and culture as well. Such areas are not peripheral to the horrors of hunger.""The pieces collected here...examine questions of power. Some fit into the ‘food systems and hunger’ category , others are more concerned with how we think about food systems and hunger. All deal with the means by which some groups gain authority and ascendancy over others. Control over the world food system implies control over technology and ideology, scholarship and culture as well. Such areas are not peripheral to the horrors of hunger." Views: 220
JOHNSTONE. WHERE IT'S NEVER QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT. In this rollicking new series, the Johnstones cordially invite you to the biggest, baddest event of the season—one that gives a whole new meaning to "shotgun wedding" . . . Here come the brides. And the bullets . . . Bo Creel and Scratch Morton are lifelong drifters who keep one eye on the horizon, one finger on the trigger, and one foot out the door. Roaming the West is what keeps them young, or so Scratch tells Bo. But when they save the life of Cyrus Keegan—the owner of a matrimonial agency—they receive an unexpected proposal that's hard to resist. Keegan needs to deliver five mail order brides to a mining town in New Mexico Territory. All Scratch and Bo have to do is get these gals to the church on time—and alive, if possible . . . The job seems easy enough—and the brides-to-be are even easier on the eyes. Cecilia, Beth, Luella, Rose, and Jean all... Views: 220
