Banging noises and disembodied voices coming from nowhere and everywhere at once. Furniture chasing people through the house. Pots and pans and knives and knick-knacks flying through the air. These are the hallmarks of the poltergeist phenomenon.In this classic book on destructive hauntings, Colin Wilson, renowned authority on the paranormal, examines the evidence and develops a definitive theory of the poltergeist phenomenon. Countless true-life cases of poltergeist infestations have been recorded since the days of ancient Greece. But what are poltergeists? Where do they come from? And why do they appear in our world? From the case of a huge, black-robed monk that terrorized a family for years, to the investigation of a talking mongoose, to true stories of gnomes, dracu, and demons, this guide explores a fascinating gallery of nasty, noisy entities known as poltergeists. Views: 149
From one of our most pre eminent writers, a tale that captures the shifting meanings of the past, and how our experience colors those meanings.Lloyd Wilkinson Petrie, one of the seven surviving trustees of the now defunct (for 34 years) Temple Academy for Boys, is preparing a memoir of his days at the school, intertwined with a description of present events. As he navigates, with faltering recall, between the subtle anti-semitism that pervaded the school's ethos and his fascination with his own family history—in particular, his illustrious cousin, the renowned archaeologist Sir Flinders Petrie (check out his Wikipedia entry!), the source of his interest in antiquity—he reconstructs the story of his encounter from his school days with a younger student named Ben-Zion Elefantin, who seems to belong to a lost ancient Jewish sect. From this seed emerges one of Ozick's most wondrous tales, one that displays her delight in Jamesian irony and the mythical flavor of... Views: 149
This is the gritty truth, the life of a hustler in south side Chicago where the only characters are those who con and those who get conned.Trick Baby tells the story of "White Folks," a blue-eyed, light-haired, con-artist whose pale skin allows him to pass in the streets as a white man. Folks is tormented early in life, rejected by other children and branded a "Trick Baby," the child conceived between a hooker and her trick. Refusing to abandon his life in the ghetto and a chance at revenge, Folks is taken under the wing of an older mentor, Blue. What happens next is not to be believed. Only Slim could bring us the story of a hustler, forced to learn the game and rise to the top. It's Slim's story and he tells it in the only way he knows how, in the language of the streets. Views: 148
After Grandma Mary dies, sixteen-year-old JP's safe, secure world quickly unravels. He finds himself living in complete chaos when his mother wins a farmhouse in an essay contest and insists on sharing her good fortune with other neighborhood outcasts. Suddenly there are no rules, and the house is filled with poets, musicians, a reformed drug addict, an abused teen, and too many others who seem to have replaced JP and his father in his mother's life.JP longs for his family to be restored to what it once was. But then somehow, amid the madness, his idea of family is redefined in ways he never expected. Views: 148
In this second hilarious Cinders and Sparks adventure, our chaotic comedy duo head for Fairyland to find Cinders's mother – and get more than they bargained for . . . Perfect for readers of 7-9 and fans of Shrek and Frozen. Cinders and her talking dog Sparks are on the run, in the Deep Dark Forest, after Cinders performed magic at the castle and made everyone think she was a witch. The hapless Hansel is on the run with them, but only because he ate some of an actual witch's gingerbread house and she got cross. If they can reach Fairyland, maybe they'll all be safe. In the forest they will find three bears, a multitude of ridiculous adventures and one woman called Rapunzel in a tower. But Rapunzel may not be what she seems... Will Hansel eat the three bears' porridge? Will Sparks offer useless advice at every turn? Will Brian the fairy godmother appear and actually help for once? The answers are: yes, yes and no. Views: 148
His name was Sanford Hantee, but you will hear that only occasionally, for the boys of the back streets called him Skag, which "got" him somewhere at once. That was in Chicago. He was eleven years old, when he wandered quite alone to Lincoln Park Zoo, and the madness took him. Views: 148
The Town House is the first in a trilogy of novels by Norah Lofts about the inhabitants of a country house in Suffolk from the late fourteenth century to the middle of the twentieth. It begins with the story of Martin Reed, a serf existing under the control of a universally accepted and supported hierarchy. His rebellion, in defence of the woman he loves, casts both of them into the unknown. Freed from his acceptance of circumstance, Reed forges a new path, a path which culminates in the building of the House, and the foundations of a dynasty. Views: 148
