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blackswaneuroparedux · 5 years ago

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Anonymous asked: I’m taking a gap year before I go up to Cambridge to study History and I am a big fan of your blog. I am in awe of your posts and your intellectual musings that really makes me wonder if I’m smart enough to succeed in Cambridge. I want to know what book shops did you spend time in when you were a student. Do you still find time to go to the English book shops in Paris now that you are busy in the real world of having a demanding career? Can you recommend some?

Congratulations on getting into Cambridge to read History. That’s an achievement in itself. I understand the History department has consistently rated as one of the best in the world in the global university rankings so it’s an achievement. Perhaps in time you can become the next Tom Holland or William Dalrymple?!

I spent many spare hours browsing through second hand book shops as a student (gosh! It feels like a life time ago now!). When I wasn’t drowning in books in my college library trying to stave off an essay crisis I was seeking sanctuary in mostly second hand book shops dotted around the city.

I obviously wouldn’t count the Cambridge University Press bookstore a second hand book store but I did go in often because it had frequent second hand book sales and it was always exciting what new specialist books were coming off the press written by our professors (buy their tomes for brownie points obviously and use it as a coffee coaster). It’s claimed that the CUP book shop is the oldest in Britain but I’m confused. I know Cambridge University Press is the oldest publishing house in the world but where the bookshop stands it used to be called Bowes & Bowes which claimed to be the oldest book shop since 1581. They got bought out at some stage and somehow CUP took over the shop. So make what you will of it.

Heffers - opposite Trinity College - was another book shop I would go to a lot. Again, not a second hand book shop but they carried the most wide ranging of books of all interests and served as an alternative to Waterstones, the big high street book store. I thought I was supporting a local book shop (however big it was in Cambridge) when I found out years later that it was actually owned by Blackwell’s (the same giant bookseller Blackwell’s in Oxford). Hmmm.

In my time, the Cambridge Market Place on certain days had second hand book stalls set up alongside all the colourful fruit and vegetable stalls. A browse through those stalls was never a wasted exercise. I even met one of my boyfriends whilst browsing there - we both fought over the same book we spied from afar (he put his fingers on it first but I was quicker to snatch it away before he put his palm down). I felt bad for him so I let him buy me tea at the Copper Kettle, opposite King’s College.

During my time in Cambridge I know some friends would go to the Sarah Keys the Haunted Bookshop in St. Edward’s Passage (so named because of the two ghosts which are rumoured to reside on its premises.) It was mostly filled with vintage children stories and had a tiny couple of tables for coffee. I found it claustrophobic and the coffee was ghastly. I avoided it because it really didn’t have any good books at all. Students went because it’s the closest it got them to some Brideshead Revisited fantasy of musty smelling books.

My most frequent haunt was actually also in St. Edward’s Passage was G. David. This independent bookshop sells antique, secondhand, remaindered books, maps and prints dating back to the late 1800s. For over three centuries the G. David bookshop has been run by the founder's family. I spent much of my student money in there. To this day whenever I go back to Cambridge to see friends (some are now teaching Dons in the university or work in the so-called high-tech ‘Silicon Fen’ community) I always make a point to go there for a quick browse. I always buy something there, usually a gift for someone but always some gem for my growing book collection. The shop is small but the service is intimate and homely. It’s a paradise for Shakespeare, Classics, and History lovers.

Later when I went over to study at Oxford, I would inevitably end up going into the legendary Blackwell’s on Broad Street. You needed to wear a comfy pair of sneakers if you ever venture into the Norris Room as it’s the largest single room selling books according to the world in the Guinness Book of Records. With about 10,000 square feet and three miles of shelving to browse through, don’t ever say they don’t have the book you’re looking for.

Another bookshop I would go to a lot was Last Bookshop which was tucked away in the Jericho area of Oxford. They always had these ‘two books for 5 pound’ deals which was great if your budget was tight (as it always is for impoverished students). The coffee area was cute and the coffee was bearable.

Then there was St. Philip’s Books on St. Aldates, opposite Christ Church Gardens. They specialised in rare and secondhand books in the the broad humanities from theology, history, literature, philosophy, art, classics and antiquarian books. If you were into C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkein or any kind of Christian theology and patristics then this was the place to go to.

In London where I used to live I tried to be as local as possible given how big London is and also a preference for independent ones (be they second hand or antiquarian). There are a mecca of bookshops and second hand book stores scattered around London and so I’m always pleasantly thrilled when I stumble upon a new discovery by accident or word of mouth.

My absolute favourite that I used to frequent a lot - and I still do when I go back to London - is John Sandoe Books in Chelsea. It’s tucked away in a quiet side street around the corner of Sloane Square. Going inside feels like rummaging through some fusty old Professor’s home with low ceilings. It’s actually made of up three small 18th Century Regency houses somehow tacked on together so the creaky floor boards seem uneven as you wander around. Although it’s a general independent bookshop, the vast majority of its books range from history, classics, poetry, and biographies. It has an enviable Everyman collection to die for and you can also get lucky buying first editions. My grandfather used to know John Sandoe, who started the business 60 years ago after he left a career in the City to try his hand at bookselling much to the disapproval of his father. Sandoe sold the business to two ex-colleagues and a loyal customer in 1989 and he died in 2007 after enjoying a well earned retirement in Dorset apparently.

My grandfather was especially fearful of Sandoe’s colleague the formidable Felicité Gwynn who worked there for over 25 years (she died in 1984). Not only was she an expert on all things equestrian but she had a a passion for literature that would put an Oxford Don to shame. However she had little patience for tiresome customers and it was said she sometimes threw books at them. To me it’s the perfect afternoon escape especially on a rainy day. Hands down I think of it as the best bookshop in the world since I’ve known it from my earliest childhood. I cherish the memory of coming home to England for brief sojourns from living overseas and I was super excited to take a trip to Sandoe. Time there fed my love for reading and learning. If you ever go there you will find that the staff are friendly and knowledgable. They will never patronise the customer…or throw books at you.

Hurlingham Books, an independent bookshop on the Fulham High Street is another favourite of mine whenever I am seeing friends, cousins, or siblings. It’s a short walk on the Fulham road from Putney Bridge tube station. The shop is carpeted with books from the floor to the ceiling. It’s like a narrow maze of bookshelves everywhere. There is always something to buy there on any topic under the sun. It’s not the most beautiful bookshop aesthetically speaking but it’s an unpretentious pleasure to browse through its many wall to wall books.

In central London my most frequent haunt is Hatchards off Picadilly Circus. It was founded in 1797 and still retains a very English identity. Sadly it’s been bought out by the high street giant, Waterstones, but they wisely left it intact. It stocks all the latest releases and has many author driven events. For me it’s been a post-lunch ritual to go there as it is just around the corner from the gentlemen’s clubs I am a member of (nearly all now elect women as members). I sometimes invite friends for lunch or frankly to impress a foreign business client at the club. I then wander off around the corner to browse at Hatchard’s to work off the lunch. But mostly this ritual of lunch at the club and then a browse at Hatchards I associate with my father and my siblings, even to this day. We all lead busy lives and yet we come together over lunch and then jaunt over for a bit of book browsing. What’s perfect is that Fortnum & Mason is almost next door and so it’s a perfect place to pop in to buy special blended Fortnum’s tea and jams to take back to Paris and give out as gifts to friends.

I would make a special mention to Maggs Bros bookshop which primarily deals in first editions, antiquarian, and rare books and is one of the oldest in the world. This old bookshop has now two shops, one in Bedford Square and their original shop in Curzon street in Mayfair. They have a fine collection of over 20,000 books going back to the 15th Century in many specialised fields. The buy and sell rare books and also let their customers know about first editions. So in the past they’ve had such precious gems as first 1922 editions of James Joyce’s Ulysses as well as copies of Shakespeare’s four 17th Century folios and even pocket diaries of Virginia Woolf. My parents are avid book collectors and they both frequent this shop to pick up first editions on anything from literature and architecture to military history and travel exploration. I must admit it’s a delightful place to browse for a special gift as one can never go wrong with giving a book as a gift.

When I was working in the City of London I couldn’t wait to get away from the pressures of work. During my lunch break or after work I would wander over to Hanbury street in Shoreditch to visit a very cool and atmospheric bookshop called Libreria. The mirrored ceiling and intensely yellow bookshelves and comfy seats are meant to disconnect you to the world outside. No phones are allowed. The books are arranged by theme so it’s a magical mystery tour of sorts browsing books and coming across books you might never have considered in the first place.

I do go out of my way to drop in on the Bloomsbury area for a browse is the London Review bookshop. The bookshop is on Bury street. Bloomsbury is known for its literary connections to Virginia Woolf, E M Forster and others literary icons. The shop itself is owned by the purveyor of long-form critical writing that is the London Review of Books. There’s also an adjoining tea and cake shop to put your feet up after a good browse through its extensive literature and humanities collection. There are other quaint bookshops in Bloomsbury area and they are well worth exploring too such as Jarndyce Antiquarian Booksellers outside the British Museum. They specialise in 18th and 19th century English literature and history and you can be sure to find some amazing editions of Dickens’ work here alongside Hazlitt’s writings.

Recently I discovered another gem of a secondhand bookshop near to St. Pancras station called Judd Books. St. Pancras is where I come back and forth on the Eurostar between Paris and London. I hate crowds and I hate waiting. So if I have time to kill I take my small carry on luggage and wheel myself across Euston road down a side street called Marchmont street. It’s nothing fancy but a very functional bookshop selling tons of secondhand books that are almost brand new, mostly general fiction. Books line the walls from floor to ceiling so you may even need a ladder to reach the very top shelves.

In Paris where I now live I do go out of my way to support local bookshops even if the cost of an English language book is more expensive than if you bought it from the UK - this is because of added French taxes on imports. Still, it’s a small price to pay. Everyone will say the premier English bookshop in Paris is Shakespeare and Company. It is undoubtedly the most famous English bookstore in Paris. Perhaps even one of the most famous bookstores in Paris period. When it re-opened in 1951, it became a sort of hub for ex-pats living in France. It was inspired by the original Shakespeare and Company store by Sylvia Beach in the 1920s and 1930s where writers such as Joyce, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Eliot and Pound would gather. George Whitman took over and he paid homage to her amazing example.

The shop today continues to attract numerous anglophone readers, writers and tourists every day. And that’s why I try and avoid it if I can. It’s a wonderful bookshop and tons of books to get your teeth into. But it’s simply over-crowded by tourists who are just taking selfies. Moreover the shop is manned by sincere but earnest young American literature graduates who want to have some of that Hemingway or Fitzgerald magic dust sprinkled upon them by association whilst writing their own Great American Novel Written in Paris. I find it grating that some of them feel they have to give you a full blown semiotic laden book review on a book you’ve asked if they have in stock or not. But the bookshop does put on great open events where many famous authors drop in and I know it does support aspiring amateur writers.

There are other English language bookshops worth visiting in the Latin Quarter, the student area and where the Sorbonne is. The Abbey Bookshop, Berkley Books, and San Francisco Book Company are similar in that they are decent places to spend a lazy afternoon browsing English books of all kinds. Of the three the Abbey is better. It’s mostly dog eared second hand books What I love is the presentation of books. Books seem to cover every single inch of this tiny store. You have to be contortionist to get around the tiny shop. There are books piled high in every nook and cranny of the place and one misstep could bring tonnes of books down upon you. I admire the shop for trying to cram so many titles into one tiny space. I generally avoid the Latin Quarter because it is saturated with tourists and it’s just over crowded. But because it’s full of university students there are many French language second hand book stores and antiquarian and rare bookshops which are definitely worth a browse.

The Red Wheelbarrow, a tiny bookshop in the Marais part of Paris is well worth a visit.

The bookshop I go to for English language books is Librairie Galignani on rue de Rivoli - opposite the iconic Tuileries Garden. The bookshop at this site has been run by the Galignani family since the beginning of the 19th century and it’s certainly the most grand of the English language bookshops in Paris. Indeed, the Galginani family has been in business since 1520 as publishers but they also boldly claim to be the first English bookshop established on the continent. On their website Galignani does boast an impressive history: “The Galignanis were among the first to use the recently invented printing press in order to distribute their books to a larger audience. Beginning in 1520, Simone Galignani published in Venice a Latin grammar (the oldest “Galignani” known). However, their greatest success was the Geografia by PTOLEMAUS published in 1597, an incredible bestseller in both the 16th and 17th centuries. Not surprising, the shop has moved locations several times in four centuries, and only as recently as 1856 has been on the present shop on the rue de Rivoli. It is still run by direct descendants of the original family.

It is an international bookstore, so there are of course massive amounts of titles in French, as well as other languages, mainly English. It has a wonderful fine arts section. It stocks all the latest releases in fiction and non-fiction for both English and French titles and the prices are the same as elsewhere. Be warned though, if you want to soak up the atmosphere of an ancient bookshop then you will be disappointed. It’s luxuriously pristine and smells of pine. The shop is large and deep, with floor-to-ceiling dark wooden shelves and upper levels that can be reached by a swish staircase. It oozes sophistication. It’s a good place to bump into handsome young sophisticated French men who are worldly and charming without being intellectually tortured or pretentious as the ones you might come across in the Latin Quarter. It’s how I met one of my French boyfriends at the time.

Down the rue de Rivoli I should mention WH Smith, the well known British high street retail book shop. It’s the largest English-language bookstore in France. The books on sale are the same as you would find in the UK. But what makes it worth a visit is the rows of magazines you might want from design magazines all the way to Harvard Business Review and the Economist. The real jewel is upstairs where they have a great English children’s book section for all ages. You’ll find French parents picking with their sprogs picking up books They also stock hard to find British (and even American) foods from Heinz baked beans to candy bars. But one of the main reasons I go there is for the scones (served with clotted cream and jam) and decent tea served in the cafe that’s tucked away upstairs. It’s a nice place to take Anglophile French friends.

Congratulations again on getting into Cambridge to read History. You got in on merit and hard work so you’re fully deserving of your place. Make the most of it. It’s good that you’re taking a year out before you go up to study. I think many universities will only just be picking up the pieces from the awful mess the pandemic will have left them with.

Thanks for your question.

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christophershaw-bookbinder-blog · 7 years ago

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Country Scenes by Hellmuth Weissenborn Whittington Press Bound in green Harmatan goatskin, design tooled in 23 carat goldleaf. In Maggs Bros bookshop Curzon Street

#bookbinding #maggs bros #gold tooling

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maggs-bros · 8 years ago

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Books going on shelves in our Early department for the first time.

#rare books #bookshop #old books #shelfie #maggs bros #maggs move

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adorableamyslifestory · 2 years ago

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When I feel like I don’t wanna do something

I start writing my blog. It helps me refreshing and that helps me a lot sometimes.

Or sometimes when I feel I don’t want to write, Copying a well written article is another great choice. When I copy a well written article, it makes me to dream that I can be a great writer like she,or he does.

Being a great writer is like being a great baker. Every piece of article brings me hundreds and thousands of flavours and motivation. Sometimes it makes the reader to swim in the ecstasy.

Today, I am going to copy an article from The Newyorker by Max Norman.

- Memoir=전기.실록.

- alter = 바꾸다, 개조하다

- humdrum =단조로운, 평범한

- venerable =존경할 만한

- idiosyncratic= 특유한

(This is a short aritcle by me using the key words that I think are emphasized in the original article)

I am a person with my own idiosyncratic view, which people thinks that I am little bit odd. Depends on how a person is living- how successful they are, people call one with all the different names. “sir”, “witch”,or maybe guy who is little bit “insane”. I want to be a venerable person who writes a memoir. However, to be a person with a glory in whatever way it is, that person should endure a very humdrum life, which can be extremely monotony at the same time.

What We Gain From a Good Bookstore.

It’s a place whose real boundaries and character are much more than its physical dimensions.

“Will the day come where there are no more secondhand bookshops?” the poet, essayist, and bookseller Marius Kociejowski asks in his new memoir, “A Factotum in the Book Trade.” He suspects that such a day will not arrive, but, troublingly, he is unsure. In London, his adopted home town and a great hub of the antiquarian book trade, many of Kociejowski’s haunts- including his former employer, the famed Bertram Rota shop, a pioneer in the trade of first editions of modern books and “one of the last of the old establishments, dynastic and oxygenless, with a hierarchy that could be more or less described a s Victorian”-have already fallen prey to rising rents and shifting winds. Kociejowski dislikes the fancy, well-appointed bookstores that have sometimes taken their places. “I want chaos; I want, above all, mystery,”he writes. The best bookstores, precisely because of the dustiness of their back shelves and even the crankiness of their guardians, promise that “somewhere, in one of their nooks and crannies, there awaits a book that will ever so subtly alter one’s existence.” With every shop that closes, a bit of that life-altering power is lost and the world leaches out “ more of the serendipity which feeds the human spirit.”

Kociejowski writes from the “ticklish underbelly” of the book trade a s a “factotum” rather than a book dealer. His memoir is a representative slice, a core sample, of the rich and partly vanished world of bookselling in England from the late nineteen-seventies to the present. As Larry McMurtry puts it, in his own excellent (and informative) memoir of life as a bookseller, “Books,” “the antiquarian book trade is an anecdotal culture,” rich with lore of the great and eccentric seller and collectors who animate the trade. Kociejowski writes how “the multifariousness of human nature is more on show” in a bookstore than in any other place, adding, “I think it’s because of books, what they are, what they release inn ourselves. and what they becaome when we make them magnets to our desires.”

The bookseller’s memoir is, in part, a record of accomplishments, of deals done, rarities uncovered-or, in the case of the long-suffering Shaun Bythell, the owner of the largest secondhand bookstore in Scotland, the humdrum frustration and occasional pleasures of running a big bookshop, While Kociejowski recounts some of the high points of his bookselling career (such as cataloguing James Joyce’s personal library of briefly working at the fusty but venerable Magg Bros., the anitiquarian booksellers to the Queen), he above all remembers the character he came to know. “I frimly believe the fact of being surrounded by books has a great deal to do with flushing to the surface the inner lives of people,” he writes.

Some of them are famous, like Philip Larkin, who, as the Hull University librarian, turned down a pricey copy of his own first book, “The North Ship,” as too expensive for “That piece of rubbish.” Kociejowski tells us how he offended Graham Greene by not recognizing him on sight, and once helped his friend Bruce Chatwin (”fibber thought he was”) with a choice line of poetry for “On the Black Hill”’ how he bonded over Robert Louis Stevenson with Tatti Smith, and sold a second edition of “Finnegans Wake” to Johnny Depp, of all people, who was “trying incredibly hard not to be recognised and with predictably comic results.” But more precious are the memories of the anonymous eccentrics, cranks, biliomanes, and mere people who simply, and idiosyncratically love books. “Where is the American collector who wore a miner’s lamp on his forehead so as to enable him to penetrate the darker in asking not for books but the old bus and tram tickets often found inside them? Where is the man who collected virtually every edition of The Natural History of Selborne by Reverend Gilbert Whitie? Where is everybody?” Kociejowski’s tone, though mostly wry, cerges on lament. “I cannot help but feel something has gone out of the life of the trade,” he writes.

And there are more paragraphs down below that but I have decided not to write. I new see how The Economics is more accessable to all variety of people compare to The Newyorker, Next time, I am going to more prefer to cite from The Economics. Well,, It does not means I learns nothing by copying the articles from The Newyorker but I guess I will be able to learn more if it’s The Economics instead.

#cite #copy #thenewyorker #maxnorman #culturalcomment #what we gain from a good bookstore

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maggstar · 2 years ago

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best song on the album.

period

#magg thots vol. ii #already ordered the album but gotta wait until june :)#so I'll just binge listen #masterpiece #hee's vocals in this one bro

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mariacallous · 3 years ago

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“Will the day come where there are no more secondhand bookshops?” the poet, essayist, and bookseller Marius Kociejowski asks in his new memoir, “A Factotum in the Book Trade.” He suspects that such a day will not arrive, but, troublingly, he is unsure. In London, his adopted home town and a great hub of the antiquarian book trade, many of Kociejowski’s haunts—including his former employer, the famed Bertram Rota shop, a pioneer in the trade of first editions of modern books and “one of the last of the old establishments, dynastic and oxygenless, with a hierarchy that could be more or less described as Victorian”—have already fallen prey to rising rents and shifting winds. Kociejowski dislikes the fancy, well-appointed bookstores that have sometimes taken their place. “I want chaos; I want, above all, mystery,” he writes. The best bookstores, precisely because of the dustiness of their back shelves and even the crankiness of their guardians, promise that “somewhere, in one of their nooks and crannies, there awaits a book that will ever so subtly alter one’s existence.” With every shop that closes, a bit of that life-altering power is lost and the world leaches out “more of the serendipity which feeds the human spirit.”

Kociejowski writes from the “ticklish underbelly” of the book trade as a “factotum” rather than a book dealer, since he was always too busy with writing to ever run a store. His memoir is a representative slice, a core sample, of the rich and partly vanished world of bookselling in England from the late nineteen-seventies to the present. As Larry McMurtry puts it, in his own excellent (and informative) memoir of life as a bookseller, “Books,” “the antiquarian book trade is an anecdotal culture,” rich with lore of the great and eccentric sellers and collectors who animate the trade. Kociejowski writes how “the multifariousness of human nature is more on show” in a bookstore than in any other place, adding, “I think it’s because of books, what they are, what they release in ourselves, and what they become when we make them magnets to our desires.”

The bookseller’s memoir is, in part, a record of accomplishments, of deals done, rarities uncovered—or, in the case of the long-suffering Shaun Bythell, the owner of the largest secondhand bookstore in Scotland, the humdrum frustrations and occasional pleasures of running a big bookshop. While Kociejowski recounts some of the high points of his bookselling career (such as cataloguing James Joyce’s personal library or briefly working at the fusty but venerable Maggs Bros., the antiquarian booksellers to the Queen), he above all remembers the characters he came to know. “I firmly believe the fact of being surrounded by books has a great deal to do with flushing to the surface the inner lives of people,” he writes.

Some of them are famous, like Philip Larkin, who, as the Hull University librarian, turned down a pricey copy of his own first book, “The North Ship,” as too expensive for “that piece of rubbish.” Kociejowski tells us how he offended Graham Greene by not recognizing him on sight, and once helped his friend Bruce Chatwin (“fibber though he was”) with a choice line of poetry for “On the Black Hill”; how he bonded over Robert Louis Stevenson with Patti Smith, and sold a second edition of “Finnegans Wake” to Johnny Depp, of all people, who was “trying incredibly hard not to be recognised and with predictably comic results.” But more precious are the memories of the anonymous eccentrics, cranks, bibliomanes, and mere people who simply, and idiosyncratically, love books. “Where is the American collector who wore a miner’s lamp on his forehead so as to enable him to penetrate the darker cavities of the bookshops he visited? Where is the man who came in asking not for books but the old bus and tram tickets often found inside them? Where is the man who collected virtually every edition of The Natural History of Selborne by Reverend Gilbert White? Where is everybody?” Kociejowski’s tone, though mostly wry, verges on lament. “I cannot help but feel something has gone out of the life of the trade,” he writes.

Like many memoirs, “A Factotum in the Book Trade” is a nostalgic book, wistful for the disappearance of bookselling—antiquarian books in particular, but also new titles—as a dependable, albeit never very remunerative, profession. The Internet dealt a major blow by creating a massive single market for used books, undercutting the bread-and-butter lower end of the secondhand market. Amazon, in turn, depressed the prices of new books. And then there are rising rents, which have devastated small businesses of all kinds. What dies with each bookstore isn’t just a valuable haven for books and book people but also “a book’s worth of stories” like Kociejowski’s, a book full of characters, of the major passions that heat up our minor lives. The fact that bookstores have been allowed to close, Kociejowski writes, represents “an overall failure of imagination, an inability to see consequences.”

While Kociejowski mourns bookselling’s past, Jeff Deutsch, the head of the legendary Seminary Co-op Bookstores, in Chicago, thinks through its future in his new book, “In Praise of Good Bookstores.” “This book is no eulogy,” Deutsch writes. “We can’t allow that.” Free from Kociejowski’s charming, twilight-years saltiness, Deutsch’s tone is an earnest, even idealistic consideration of what we gain from a good bookstore, and what we risk losing if we don’t overcome the failure of imagination—and of economics—that has allowed so many bookstores to close.

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londonspirit · 4 years ago

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Morpheus is returning to your earbuds.

Audible has greenlit two more seasons of “The Sandman,” based on Neil Gaiman’s popular graphic-novel series of the same name published by DC. According to Audible, the first installment — released in July 2020 — was the Amazon-owned company’s best-selling original to date.

“The Sandman: Act II” and “The Sandman: Act III” audio dramas will premiere exclusively on Audible, but the company didn’t provide expected release dates. The next two seasons will again be adapted and directed by Dirk Maggs and narrated by Gaiman, who also returns as creative director and co-executive producer.

Separately, a TV series adaptation of “Sandman” is in the works for Netflix at Warner Bros. Television.

The initial 20-episode installment of Audible’s “Sandman” adapted volumes 1-3 of the graphic novel series (“Preludes & Nocturnes,” “The Doll’s House” and “Dream Country”). Part two will cover the “Season of Mists,” “Distant Mirrors,” “A Game of You” and “Convergence” volumes of “The Sandman” series, and the third installment will adapt “Brief Lives” and “Worlds Ends.”

For now, there’s no confirmation of the cast for the second and third seasons of “Sandman” on Audible. The first series, in addition to Gaiman as the Narrator, featured James McAvoy as Morpheus, Kat Dennings as Death, Taron Egerton as John Constantine, Michael Sheen as Lucifer, Riz Ahmed as the Corinthian, Andy Serkis as Matthew the Raven, Samantha Morton as Urania Blackwell, Bebe Neuwirth as the Siamese Cat, and Justin Vivian Bond as Desire. The project, whose runtime clocks in at nearly 11 hours of audio, also features an original score by British composer and musician James Hannigan.

Gaiman said in a statement, “It was thrilling to be a part of the fastest-selling Audible fiction title and to watch it break records. I’m excited to discover what other surprises the genius Dirk Maggs has up his sleeve in the next volumes of Audible’s ‘The Sandman.'”

He added, “It’s like making movies for the ear that go straight to the brain. And soon it will be time to meet the whole family, then to go back to Hell once more, as Morpheus confronts Lucifer in ‘Season of Mists.'”

Maggs, in addition to Audible’s “The Sandman,” has worked with Gaiman to adapt and direct BBC versions of “Neverwhere” and “Stardust” as well as Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s “Good Omens” for BBC Radio. Maggs also adapted and produced “The X-Files,” starring Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny, for Audible.

“We have a big vision for the next two seasons and the stories in this next installment are among the best Neil has ever told,” Maggs commented.

Season 1 of “The Sandman” audio series currently is available on Audible Premium Plus, which costs $14.95/month and includes one credit per month for any premium selection title as well as access to thousands of other titles.

Gaiman’s “The Sandman” fantasy franchise, which DC Comics debuted in 1989, follows Morpheus, Lord of the Dreaming — a vast, hallucinatory realm housing all the dreams of everyone who’s ever existed, including gods, demons, muses, mythical creatures and humans.

“Audible is proud to be a home for creative visionaries who are bringing extraordinarily immersive stories, like ‘The Sandman,’ to life,” said Rachel Ghiazza, EVP, head of U.S. content at Audible. “We cannot wait for listeners to enter the Dreaming again and wanted to give fans even more to look forward to by greenlighting not just one season but the next two highly anticipated installments.”

#neil gaiman #dirk maggs #the sandman #sandman audio #audible #*SCREECHES*#sooo soo happy to hear this

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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DC FanDome: Schedule, Date, Time, and How to Watch

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Fans hoping for major DC news in lieu of an actual San Diego Comic-Con are definitely going to get just that at DC FanDome, a digital event designed to be watched at home like a real con.

Originally set up as one epic night of panels and reveals, DC announced that it will be splitting FanDome into two separate and distinct events: Hall of Heroes, which will be held in late August, and WatchVerse in mid-September.

The August date still holds most of the big-ticket items. It’s billed by DC as “an epic world designed personally by Jim Lee featuring special programming, panels and exclusive reveals from a wide variety of films, TV series, games, comics and more.” Functionally, it’s the Hall H of FanDome.

This DC FanDome trailer gives fans a good glimpse at what they can expect from the event:

Here’s everything else you need to know about DC FanDome:

DC FanDome Date and Time

The first DC FanDome event, Hall of Heroes, kicks off on Saturday, Aug. 22 at 1 pm ET. Sign up to watch here!

DC FanDome Schedule

Here’s a rundown of all the panels happening during DC FanDome: Hall of Heroes. The panel descriptions below are courtesy of DC. All times are ET:

1:00 PM – Wonder Woman 1984 Panel

“Wonder Woman 1984 stars Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig and Pedro Pascal, and director/co-writer/producer Patty Jenkins join forces with Brazilian hosts Érico Borgo and Aline Diniz to celebrate the fans in a big way. They will answer questions from fans from all over the world, talk fan art and cosplay, and reveal an all-new sneak peek at the upcoming film — plus a few more surprises!”

1:25 PM – WB Games Montreal Announcement

“Gamers! You won’t want to miss this first look at an exciting new game, and Q&A with its developers.”

1:45 PM – The Sandman Universe: Enter the Dreaming Panel

“Neil Gaiman, Dirk Maggs, G. Willow Wilson and Michael Sheen discuss the legacy of The Sandman comic book series and how it has been expanded with new stories, adapted into new mediums, and enthralled audiences around the world.”

2:15 PM – Multiverse 101 Panel

“Get schooled in this engaging refresher course on the creation of the Multiverse with DC Chief Creative Officer/Publisher Jim Lee, Warner Bros. Pictures President of DC-Based Film Production Walter Hamada, and Berlanti Productions founder/DCTV mega-producer Greg Berlanti.”

2:40 PM – Flash Movie Panel

“This 101-style conversation with The Flash filmmakers Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti, star Ezra Miller and screenwriter Christina Hodson will give fans a speedy rundown on the first-ever Flash feature film.”

2:50 PM – Beyond Batman Short

“The Batman of Swinging Sixties culture clashes with the Batman of the far-flung future when Batman Beyond and his mentor, Old Bruce Wayne, intercept a broadcast of the 1966 Batman TV show!”

2:55 PM – The Suicide Squad Panel

“What else would you expect from The Suicide Squad but the ultimate elimination game? First up, writer/director James Gunn takes on fan questions, then brings out Task Force X for a fast-paced, no-holds-barred Squad Showdown that tests every team member’s Squad knowledge — and survival skills!”

3:40 PM – BAWSE Females of Color within the DCU Panel

“What’s a BAWSE? Find out here as some of the hottest actresses across DC television and film sit down with celebrity DJ D-Nice and Grammy-winning singer/actress Estelle to discuss how they use their confidence and vulnerability to navigate their careers in Hollywood. Panelists include Meagan Good (SHAZAM!), Javicia Leslie (Batwoman), Candice Patton (The Flash), Tala Ashe (DC’s Legends of Tomorrow), Nafessa Williams and Chantal Thuy (Black Lightning), and Anna Diop and Damaris Lewis (Titans). Catch the entire full-length conversation at McDuffie’s Dakota in the DC WatchVerse.”

4:00 PM – Legacy of the Bat Panel

“Calling all Batman fans! Don’t miss this discussion on the wide scope of the Batman universe, including the Batman Family of characters. Key talent from comics, TV, and games will provide insight into the world of Caped Crusader.”

4:30 PM – Joker: Put on a Happy Face

“Featuring interviews with filmmakers and industry legends, discover the origins and evolution of The Joker, and learn why the Clown Prince of Crime is universally hailed as the greatest comic book Super-Villain of all time.”

4:45 PM – Surprise DC Comics Panel

TBA

5:10 PM – I’m Batman: The Voices Behind the Cowl Panel

“Everyone has their favorite Batman. But for audiences around the world, their favorite Batman has a local sound. It’s time to meet the voices behind the cowl. Hear what it’s like to be one of the many global vocal actors portraying the Dark Knight when the Super Dubbers, who lend their talents to the Caped Crusader on screens big and small all over the world, come together for the first time ever.”

5:30 PM – The Snyder Cut of Justice League Panel

“Zack Snyder fields questions from fans and a few surprise guests as he discusses his eagerly awaited upcoming cut of the 2017 feature film and the movement that made it happen.”

5:54 PM – The Flash TV Panel

“Executive producer Eric Wallace joins cast members Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker, Carlos Valdes, Danielle Nicolet, Kayla Compton, and Brandon McKnight to discuss all things Flash with Entertainment Weekly’s Chancellor Agard. Team Flash will break down both parts of season six and look ahead at what is to come with an exclusive trailer for season seven. Fans will also get a look at the exclusive black-and-white noir episode ‘Kiss Kiss Breach Breach,’ which will be available on The Flash season six Blu-ray and DVD on August 25.”

6:10 PM – Black Adam Panel

“Star of the first-ever Black Adam feature film Dwayne Johnson sets the stage for the story and tone of the new movie with a fans-first Q&A…and a few surprises.”

6:30 PM – CNN Heroes: Real Life Heroes in the Age of the Coronavirus

“While DC features iconic fictional Super Heroes recognized around the world, CNN Heroes shines a light on real-life, everyday people making a difference in their communities. Now, as the global Covid-19 pandemic has turned all of our worlds upside down, CNN’s Anderson Cooper introduces you to the frontline workers, advocates, neighbors, and friendly strangers who are coming together to help us through this crisis.”

6:50 PM – Titans TV Panel

“’Titans are back, b*tches!’ That phrase kicked off an explosive second season of Titans that culminated with the long-awaited emergence of Nightwing as their leader and the tragic death of one of their own. And as a new mysterious threat looms, season three promises to be the biggest yet! Join executive producer Greg Walker and series stars Brenton Thwaites, Anna Diop, Teagan Croft, Ryan Potter, Conor Leslie, Curran Walters, Joshua Orpin, Damaris Lewis, with Alan Ritchson and Minka Kelly for a preview of the new season as well as a discussion on the ‘Fan Favorite Moments’ of the first two seasons.”

7:05 PM – Aquaman Panel

“Aquaman director James Wan and King Orm himself, Patrick Wilson, take a deep dive into the world of Atlantis that Wan created, revealing their favorite behind-the-scenes moments from the largest DC movie ever!”

7:15 PM – “Ask Harley Quinn”

“She has gone toe-to-toe with Batman and the Justice League, and taken down The Joker and the toughest villains of Gotham City, but at DC FanDome, Harley Quinn faces her toughest challenge yet — answering burning questions from DC’s biggest fans in her own tell it as it is, no-BS style. If you love the Harley Quinn animated series, this is one you cannot f—king miss!”

7:20 PM – Wonder Woman 80th Anniversary Celebration Panel

“As an Amazon and a god, Wonder Woman is truly timeless. So, it’s hard to believe she’s turning 80! Join Wonder Woman 1984 director Patty Jenkins and star Gal Gadot, along with a very special guest, as they reflect on the character’s influence on them personally, and look forward to the 2021 celebrations!”

7:25 – Tomorrow’s Superheroes with Jim Lee

“DC Chief Creative Officer/Publisher Jim Lee joins Bing Chen, founder of the global non-profit collective Gold House, to discuss the important contributions of Asian artists and writers in comics and comic book–inspired entertainment.”

7:40 PM – SHAZAM! Panel

“Zac Levi and the cast can’t tell you s#&t! Sworn to secrecy on the new script for their upcoming movie, Zac and a few of his SHAZAM! castmates talk with the Philippines’ #1 DC fan, Gino Quillamor, about what the next movie might be about, while commenting on everything from panels to the other Zack’s cut — and even have a few surprise guests drop in!”

8:10 PM – Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Panel

“Will Arnett hosts the highly anticipated video game reveal from Rocksteady Studios, creators of the Batman: Arkham franchise.”

8:30 PM – The Batman Panel

“The Batman filmmaker Matt Reeves joins host and self-professed fangirl Aisha Tyler for a discussion of the upcoming film…with a surprise (or two) for the fans!”

You can check out the full DC FanDome schedule here.

DC FanDome Live Stream

While DC FanDome is free for all to enjoy, you will need to create an account on DCFanDome.com in order to watch the event. You’ll then be able to access each panel via the DC FanDome program scheduler.

Following the conclusion of The Batman panel at the end of Hall of Heroes, the Fandome schedule will then cycle back through two more times, giving you three shots to watch in a 24-hour period.

DC FanDome: WatchVerse Date and Time

DC will host a second, on-demand FanDome event called WatchVerse on Saturday, Sept. 12 at 1 pm ET. While viewers will be able to access all content in any order they please, the event will only be available for 24 hours.

This event will include the previously announced panel on the expansion of “DC’s Watchmen Universe” discussion with Damon Lindelof and Tom King talking Rorschach, a Joker War panel with Batman writer James Tynion IV and Batgirl scribe Cecil Castellucci, a Three Jokers panel with Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok, a panel on John Ridley’s exciting upcoming The Other History of the DC Universe, and more.

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hamletandthegang · 5 years ago

Text

France- Part 6

Again, this fic is a little on the heavy side! If things like hospitals and panic attacks are triggering to you, please consider skipping this one! Stay safe kiddos <3

The blaring white light bounced off the glistening stone path. Maggie held her phone up as she walked quietly down the edge of the sewer. She turned sharply when she heard a loud creaking noise behind her, but it echoed around the dim cavern and disappeared quickly. Maggs turned back to the path ahead of her, and shone her phone flashlight back on the path.

The sewers are not a pleasant place. Maggs had pulled her pair of old galoshes from her bag, and descended back into the place where she had spent a good amount of her time in the past many years: the sewer systems of Europe- highly convenient for one wishing not to be found.

Maggie held her phone up, and squinted as she tried to make out the passage further down the tunnel. She was looking for her landmark, because no matter how well you knew the entricit tunnel system, it was almost impossible to navigate.

She stopped and brushed her hand on the wall. It was in this general area, she just had to find it. Her hand hit the brick sticking out of the wall, flashed a crooked grin, and pushed down with her fist on the oddly placed brick. After a loud ka-CHUNK, the brick tumbled out of the wall, and she was able to reach the latch inside. She turned it, with some struggle, and the wall fell away to reveal the small passage behind it. Maggie crept inside, turned the latch on the inside, and the wall returned to its original state. Maggie then turned and crawled down into the space, and set off. She would soon be underneath the palace itself.

~~~

Ophelia sat across from Hamlet. They had been sitting right outside the room where Horatio was for over half an hour, waiting for the others to get back from shopping for essentials at the mall across the street. They didn’t know when it would be safe to go back to the castle, or if it would be at all.

Hamlet was hunched over with his head in his hands. He hadn’t moved much from that spot ever since the doctors had booted him out of the room. Ophelia was trying to find a good way to start a conversation, but words seemed to stick in her throat.

Hamlet sighed and rubbed his eyes, the first time Ophelia had seen him breathe in a while. She wanted to kiss him and slap him at the same time, so she decided it would be best to do neither.

She cleared her throat quietly, then spoke, “So,” Her mind immediately went blank. “Um, that- that was a crazy couple of days, huh?” Hamlet made a soft grunting noise. “Do you wanna talk about it?” Ophelia added softly.

After a long pause, Hamlet said, “I guess,”

“Okay,” Ophelia said, and they sat in silence.

It seemed like silence was the most therapeutic thing possible at this point. One of their friends was dead, two were in the hospital, one of whom was a wanted criminal. Hopefully, they could talk to the king and have him repeal the order, but home seemed so far away.

“I found him lying in the bathtub at this hotel,” Hamlet said, almost whispering. “He was- he was so broken. I- I didn’t know what to do, so I just let him cry on me, and we just kinda sat there for a few hours.” Ophelia looked at him with wide eyes. He hadn’t moved from his hunched over position. “Then I met Maggie,” Hamlet hesitated. Ophelia frowned. He’d met another girl? “And she said she’d help us get home, because I don’t really know Paris very well, so we said ‘okay’ and followed her to the train, and there was the explosion, and then he had a breakdown on the floor of the train, and then we got on the bullet train, and-” Hamlet stopped abruptly. “And I couldn’t protect him.”

Ophelia stood and sat down on the chair next to him. Hamlet peeked through his hands at her, and she put a gentle hand on his shoulder. Hamlet slowly sat up, and looked at Ophelia. He settled his head on her shoulder, and she hugged him. Hamlet sniffed, and Ophelia started rubbing his back. A quiet tear trailed down his face.

“Baby, there was nothing you could’ve-”

“No,” Hamlet said firmly. “I could’ve gotten him home by myself, I shouldn’t have taken her help! I could’ve lost her at the train station, I could’ve- I could’ve run faster! I could have taken the bullet, and then he wouldn’t have to be half dead right now! Ophelia, this is my fault!”

“No, it’s not!” She shouted. She looked at Hamlet’s desperate face, and her voice dropped. “Look, you couldn’t have predicted what that girl would do. You couldn’t predict Horatio going missing, or Notre Dame burning down, or any of it! You simply acted in the manner that the situation called for at the time. And that’s all you can really do.”

Her words seemed to calm him down a bit, and he leaned back again. “If he dies-”

Ophelia cut him off, “He won’t die.” She shut her eyes, and took a deep breath. Hamlet was staring at her. He seemed to wake up from whatever state of shock he was in, and gently wrapped his arms around her. She reciprocated, and they sat together for a few minutes. There was an odd silence in the hall of the white walled hospital. While one could hear a pin drop, there was also the constant humming and beeping that echoed around the hall.

Hamlet breathed into Ophelia’s shirt, the one that Anna had lent her. “You know what I wanna do?” He asked, and Ophelia glanced at his face.

“Hmm?”

“I wanna go back to college. I want to get everyone out of the hospital, and go to college. Fuck whatever my uncle wants me to do.”

“That sounds so great,” Ophelia mused. “I could finally have a moment of peace away from my dad,” She added, chuckling. “We should wait until Anna’s court hearing is over and done so she could come too.”

“Oh yeah, definitely.”

“Do you think we could all get a dorm together?”

“If anything I’ll get my mom to rent an apartment or two.”

Ophelia sighed, thinking fondly back to her many months studying and reading. The college was fairly small and private, and Hamlet had gotten them all in on an almost completely free ride. He loved to mooch off his uncle.

Ophelia opened her mouth to say something, but at that moment, a nurse slid open the door to Horatio’s room, and told them that they could see him if they wanted. They both stood up immediately and walked in the room, and the nurse shut the door as she left.

Hamlet shivered as a chill raced down his spine. The atmosphere in the room was cold at best. Horatio was extremely pale, and was lying unconscious on the white bed sheets. Hamlet dropped to his knees next to the bed, and took Horatio’s hand. Ophelia sucked in a breath when she walked in. She quickly walked over to where Hamlet was kneeling, and put a hand on his shoulder.

The anesthetic they had put him on was set to wear off soon, but there was no knowing when he would wake up. Hamlet and Ophelia stayed there for a few minutes, and then he glanced up at her. They stood up and sat down on the bench near the bed, and leaned up against the cold wall.

“How did this happen?” Hamlet said softly. “Like, a year ago my dad was still alive and we were in England hanging out at that little park.”

“I miss the park,” Ophelia whispered. “It’s so run down, but I love it there,” She laughed. Hamlet and her had gone on one of their first dates there. Polonius hadn’t let them go out together while they were still in Denmark. He still didn’t approve, but they found ways to sneak out together.

“We’ll go back once all this dies down a bit,” Hamlet said, looking her in the eyes. She nodded, and it became quiet again.

“I miss Ben.”

“Me too,” Hamlet said. “I’m going to kill whoever actually started that fire.”

“They’re saying that he did,” Ophelia glanced over at Horatio.

“Yeah, he does too.”

Ophelia looked back at Hamlet, “What?”

“Yeah, whatever happened in France messed him up a little bit up there,” Hamlet pointed to his head. “I know he didn’t. He would never do that.”

“Fuck,” Ophelia breathed, and leaned back on the wall, putting her hand on her face. She hadn’t thought about the mental repercussions this whole thing would have on Hamlet and Horatio. She didn’t even realize the repercussions it would have on her own mind.

“Yeah.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes longer, listening to the beep of the heart monitor near them.

Ophelia looked up at Horatio, only to realize that his eyes were open. He was staring up at the ceiling. She brushed Hamlet’s arm, and stood up slowly.

“Horatio?” she asked softly.

His head turned, and his once clear blue eyes met hers. They were more dull and gray than she had remembered.

Hamlet stood up quickly, and took Horatio’s hand.

“How do you feel?” he asked hurriedly.

“Stiff,” was Horatio’s reply. “I’m not- I’m not dead?” He looked at them with a slightly confused look on his face.

“No,” Ophelia said, her voice laced with concern. “Why would you be dead?”

“Oh,” Horatio said, and then absentmindedly stared out the small window in the door.

Ophelia looked at Hamlet, and he quickly said in her ear, “He’s still under a lot of pain meds, don’t freak out.” Ophelia nodded.

Hamlet sat down on the edge of the bed, and the motion drew Horatio’s eyes back to him. A strange look crossed his face, and he said, “I’m hungry.”

Hamlet said quietly, “Sorry bro, they said you can’t have any food or water for a bit. We’ll get you food soon though, okay?”

Horatio stared at him, then went back to his absentminded look out the window of the door. “Do you see it? Do you see it too?” He said, barely audible.

Ophelia and Hamlet both turned to look at where he was staring, but it was nothing but the door.

“See what?” Ophelia asked. “Horatio, what do you see?”

“The fire,” he answered.

Hamlet looked at Ophelia, who looked like she was about to break down again. He wrapped an arm around her in a tight hug, then suggested that she take a breath outside. She nodded shakily, and shut the door behind her.

~~~

Ophelia had walked all the way outside the cold hospital, and was sitting on one of the iron benches next to a tree. She was trying to stop herself from shaking, but she wanted to break down and cry. She was trying so hard to be there for Hamlet and Horatio and everyone else, but she was exhausted.

What Horatio had said had scared her. She knew that the meds hadn’t worn off, but still. He was still seeing the fire. He thought he had died. That wasn’t normal, was it?

She opened her phone, and swiped to Annalise’s contact. She tapped on it, and waited for her to pick up.

“Hey, what’s up?” She said.

“Hey, just wanted to let you guys know, Horatio woke up.”

“Really? Should we come back?”

“Uh, well right now Hamlet’s talking to him, and honestly, it might be best to just give them some space for a bit. He’s not in a great place right now.”

“Is he okay?” Anna asked.

“Yeah, he’s fine. It’s just that the drugs they put him on are making him a little… strange.”

“Oh, okay. Do you maybe wanna join us at the mall? It’s actually pretty nice, and you’ve been at the hospital for a while now.”

Ophelia hesitated. “Yeah, that sounds great, actually. Lemme check with Hamlet and make sure he doesn’t need me, but yeah.”

“Okay! I can come pick you up. The boys are getting us those cinnamon pretzels, want some?”

“Yeah, I love those,” Ophelia answered. “I haven’t had those in forever.”

“Okay! See ya in a bit!” And she hung up.

Ophelia texted Hamlet, and he said that it was fine, he’d stay with Horatio for a while.

~~~

“Did I scare her?” Horatio said, after Ophelia had left the room.

“No, you’re fine, she’s just been really stressed about all this.” Hamlet smiled at him reassuringly.

“Okay,”

Hamlet sat back down on the bed. “So, uh, how’re you feeling?”

“Fuzzy,” He mumbled.

“Yeah, that’ll wear off soon,”

Horatio shifted, and tried to sit up in the bed. A pained expression crossed his face, and he looked down confusedly at the bandages around his stomach.

“Is that..?”

“Yeah.”

“They’re itchy,” He noted.

“I know. Don’t mess with them, okay?”

“Okay,” Horatio said with a small voice.

“Do you still see the fire out there?” Hamlet said after a brief hesitation.

“No, it went away.”

“That’s good. It’s not here anymore. You’re safe.”

Horatio looked at Hamlet, and the edge of his mouth pulled up a little bit. “Yeah, it’s gone.”

Hamlet smiled back, but even he knew that it wasn’t genuine. He took in a deep breath. “What happened in the cathedral?” He didn’t want to upset Horatio, but he wanted to know.

Horatio looked at Hamlet with an unsettling blank expression, and after a few moments, started talking. “Laertes said to stay there and look for the spies. I sat there and looked around, and then the people started screaming, and the fire made things start falling from the ceiling. I tried to get out, but I got trapped in the center of the church. Then I found Marc. I tried to get him to leave with me, but he wouldn’t until he found Ben. I would have been crushed if I had stayed any longer, and Marc ran off into the fire.” Emotion dripped into his voice the longer he spoke. “I ran outside, and a big part of the church collapsed. Laertes said…” Horatio trailed off, and a troubled expression crossed his face. He couldn’t remember. “...something. He said something and I got scared and ran away from the cathedral. A group of people saw me on the news and started following me, so I hid under the steps of the underground walkway, and waited for them to leave. Then I found Maggie.” He stiffened when he said her name. He stopped talking, but something dawned on him.

“Hamlet, where are Ben and Marc?”

~~~

Annalise stopped in front of where Ophelia was sitting and honked the horn. She smiled and got in.

“Thanks, I need to get out of here for a little while,” She said as she buckled her seatbelt.

“Yeah, no problem. So, Horatio woke up?” Annalise asked. Her dark hair was bundled up in two buns on the top of her head.

Ophelia nodded. “He was saying stuff about how he thought he had died, and then said he could still see the fire. I got kinda freaked out, and Hamlet suggested I take a few minutes outside while he talked to him.”

“Okay,” Annalise thought for a moment. “Well, I left the guys at the pretzel stand so we’ll meet up with them and hang out for a while. It’s really nice to just kinda pretend that everything’s fine and just be a group of teenagers at the mall.” Annalise laughed.

“Yeah,” Ophelia giggled. “Marc was still sleeping when I left,” she noted. Marc had been sleeping a lot, so they couldn’t talk to him much. Even when he was awake, he didn’t want to talk to anyone. He wasn’t doing well with the news about Ben. None of them were. They were all pretending that it hadn’t happened. Until the funeral could be held, there wasn’t anything they could do. Nothing about it seemed real, and reality hadn’t sunk in yet.

They arrived and parked the van. Anna linked arms with Ophelia and steered her towards the pretzel stand, and they saw Rosencrantz and Guildenstern sitting on a bench, with Rosencrantz draping his legs over Guildenstern’s. Guildenstern was tapping on his phone, and looked up when Annalise said hello and started playing with his hair.

Ophelia sat down next to Rosencrantz, and he gave her a small paper cup full of small round pretzels covered with cinnamon.

“Wow, I haven’t had these since I was a little kid. My mom took me to the mall and we would get these for lunch.” Ophelia said as she stuffed one in her mouth.

“I got a red slushie,” Rosencrantz said gleefully, holding up the cup he was drinking from.

“So Horatio woke up?” Guildenstern asked Ophelia.

“Yeah, he’s really out of it because of the pain meds, so Hamlet’s talking to him and trying to get him back to his senses.”

“Do you think he knows about Ben yet?” Rosencrantz asked softly, then seemed surprised when Ophelia answered, as though he thought he hadn’t said it out loud.

“I don’t think so. Hamlet said that he thinks that the whole thing is his fault, so it might be best if he doesn’t know.”

“Why would it be his fault?” Guildenstern asked. “He’d never hurt anybody.”

“I know, but-” Ophelia hesitated, trying to gather her thoughts. “Something happened to him while he was over there.”

“Other than-”

“Yes, other than him being shot,” Ophelia cut Rosencrantz off. “Like, mentally. I think he’s got a lot of trauma from whatever happened in the cathedral. And, yeah he’s not in a good place right now.”

“Oh,” Guildenstern said. He stared blankly at the crowd of people milling around. After a few moments of quiet, he said. “I’m going to dye my hair.”

Ophelia looked at him and smiled, “Okay? What color? Why?”

“That’s just how I deal with things. This is the first time in a while that I’ve actually had normal colored hair. I’m gonna dye my hair.”

“It’s true,” Rosencrantz laughed. “A couple years ago he dyed it almost every month.”

“Yeah, well, I was going through hell,” Guildenstern laughed. “We’re going through hell again, and I’m gonna dye it.”

“Alright, do you wanna go get some colors?” Anna said excitedly. She loved helping people with hair. She was the one who’d given Guildenstern his first short haircut after he’d gotten away from his family. “I think there’s a shop down that way with hair stuff,” She said, gesturing further off around the corner.

“Absolutely, Anna you’re the best,” he said, pushing Rosencrantz’ legs off of him and standing up. He picked up his cup of pretzels and started to walk off with Anna.

“I thought you were the impulsive one,” Ophelia said to Rosencrantz, laughing.

“You’d be surprised,” he answered, and they stood up and followed them.

~~~

Ophelia and Annalise rushed in the door, with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern behind them.

“What’s wrong?!” Ophelia shouted, and stopped to catch her breath.

“It’s Horatio, I- I had to tell him!” Hamlet stuttered, looking bewildered at her.

“Tell him what?!” She yelled, and rushed to Horatio’s side. He was openly sobbing, and curled up on the side of his bed. Ophelia kneeled down, put a hand on his shoulder, and started trying to calm him down.

“About Ben!” Hamlet said. All four of them looked at him, and he shrank back into the bench.

“I think he’s having an extreme panic attack or something,” Ophelia said, ignoring Hamlet, and slowly stroking Horatio’s messy hair. He refused to look up, and stayed crumpled in on himself. He was hyperventilating and covered in sweat.

Hamlet had called her a few minutes after they had finished in the salon, and they had driven over as fast as they could.

Annalise walked over to the bed, and sat on it. She put her knees to her chest, and scooted back to be next to him on the bed. She tapped him on the shoulder, and whispered if she could touch him. He slowly nodded after a moment, and she curled up next to him with her arms around him. He continued shaking and sobbing, but after a moment, looked over at her.

“Hey, it’s me. Annalise. I’m here. You’re not there anymore, you’re at the hospital. You are safe.” Anna spoke calmly and softly. “Take a deep breath, please?”

“I can’t,” he answered groggily.

“Okay, that’s fine. Here, breathe with me,” She said, and started breathing deeply and holding Horatio’s hands. He turned, and began to copy her pattern of breath. After a few moments, he started to calm back down.

“Do you want to talk about it yet?” she asked. Horatio shook his head slightly. “Okay, we’ll just stay like this.”

Annalise motioned to Ophelia to get the guys to leave, and she took Hamlet’s hand and moved him to the chairs outside. Rosencrantz followed him, but Guildenstern stayed behind.

“Hey, can I try something?” he asked Anna, and she nodded. He sat down on the center of the bed in front of them, and put his hand on Horatio’s knee.

“Breathe in for four seconds,” He said softly. Horatio complied. “Hold it for seven seconds, and now release for eight seconds.” Horatio looked at him as he let out the breath, and Guildenstern smiled. “In for four, hold it for seven, out for eight,” He continued the pattern, and soon Horatio had completely de-escalated.

Ophelia was watching from the bench by the bed. Annalise was still holding his hand, and, after he seemed to be more stable, asked, “Horatio, are you okay now?”

Horatio looked at her, “Yeah, thanks.”

“It’s okay, don’t be embarrassed,” Guildenstern said. “I have a lot of experience with panic attacks and stuff, that’s one of the things I picked up over the years. I don’t remember who taught that to me, but it always seems to work.”

Horatio nodded. After a few moments, he said, “I’m a murderer.”

“You’re not,” Annalise said. “You could never have predicted what happened-”

“But it’s my fault!” He shouted.

Guildenstern shifted. “Hey, look at me,” Horatio looked at him, “How did you get to France?”

Horatio frowned, “I don’t know.”

“How did you start the fire?”

“I- I can’t remember.”

“Did you realize that the fire was there before everyone started freaking out?”

“No.”

“Well then, how is it your fault?” Guildenstern looked him right in the eyes.

“I should’ve told them to get out! I saw them, but I didn’t say anything until it was too late!” Horatio said.

“You didn’t know what was going to happen. And you didn’t start the fire. Someone else did. If you had said something, you might have put yourself in danger, because of Laertes, right?”

“Yeah...”

“Then it’s not your fault.”

Horatio looked down. “I still feel guilty.”

“Yeah, that’s okay. We’re all going to have to get through this together, and try to move on as best as we can. That’s really all you can ask of yourself.” Guildenstern smiled sadly. “But you need to forgive yourself, and it’s okay if it doesn’t happen today. Or anytime soon. But you need to. Right now though, you need to give yourself time to rest. Taking a bullet to the stomach doesn’t heal overnight. The doc said you have to stay about a week and a half. They said Marc could be released after a few days. We’ll take you both home soon and hang at the castle a while. We also have to sort out that whole thing with the police. They want you back in Denmark, and I’m sure we’ll get to see a wonderful screaming match between Hamlet and his uncle.” Guildenstern laughed, as did Ophelia. Horatio smiled. They had seen too many of those.

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myhauntedsalem · 5 years ago

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The Horror of 50 Berkeley Square

Number 50 Berkeley Square is also known as ‘the most haunted house in London’.

It is the home of the ‘Nameless Horror’, a brown, shapeless yet tendrilled mass, said to be capable of frightening those who see it to madness and even death.

Berkeley Square was laid out in the mid 18th Century by architect William Kent. Located in the West End of London, the buildings and sculptures that can be found about the square were designed by such prominent figures as Alexander Munro and Robert Adam.

The square has been home to a number of famous people, including Sir Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and Robert Clive who secured India and its wealth for the British Crown.

It was also the home of George Canning, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in 1827. Canning lived in 50 Berkeley Square, and this is the building we will be focusing on, a building said to be the oldest, unaltered building in London.

The four story brick town house, built in the late 18th century, has a rather chequered history, a number of deaths have taken place within its walls, but it is not the numbers of the deaths that is important, but rather in the manner in which they happened. Quite a few people are said to have perished due to the terror instilled within them by a nameless horror that claims the building as its home.

The earliest ghost sightings come in the form of a young woman, seen to be hanging from the windowsill on the uppermost floor. She can be seen screaming, before letting go and disappearing as she falls.

Legend, and that’s what most of the stories relating to number 50 are, has it that a young girl named Adeline threw herself out of the same window in order to get away from her abusive uncle. The type of abuse varies, but in all respects it was quite cruel. Her ghost was reported as early as 1789, and old newspapers report that “since then more than 50 respectable people have reported seeing Adeline clinging to the windowsill, about to drop to her doom.”

Adeline’s ghost is not just limited to having the last moments of her life, played out again and again, but also by moving furniture and making knocks and rapping in the uppermost rooms.

In 1872, aristocrat and politician Lord George Lyttelton stayed a night in the house for a bet. He set up a bed in the attic where he was to sleep the night, to test his resolve against the horror said to reside there. He did not really believe in the nonsense stories, but took a shotgun still for good measure.

During the night, an apparition in the form of a brown tendrilled misty mass appeared, and Lyttelton fired his gun at it. In the morning light, he looked for what he had fired at, but there were no remains or proof that he had hit anything at all. Lyttelton would later say that the upper rooms were “supernaturally fatal to body and mind.”

In 1879 a new family had moved into the house, and one of the daughters was due to have her fiance visit. The maid was sent upstairs to set up the attic room as a guest room. Soon she was heard screaming, and when the family ran up to see to the commotion, they found her on the floor, backed into the corner, repeating over and over again “Do not let it touch me”.

She died the following day in an asylum.

Upon hearing this, a ‘nobleman’ stayed in the attic to get to the bottom of what had happened. He was a rather skeptical chap, but still the family told him to ring a bell they placed for him, if there was any trouble.

His is the first death officially reported in the house, the cause of death was ‘from fright’. In the middle of the night the bell was heard to ring, frantically followed by a gunshot. He was found dead on the floor, his face a mask of terror.

When Prime Minister George Canning lived in number 50, he experienced and reported strange noises coming from the uppermost floors, but never ran into the brown horror, but then again the uppermost floors were rooms he hardly ventured into.

The property was then leased by an old woman who passed away within its walls at age 90, no doubt a natural death.

In 1885 the property was bought by the Viscount Bearsted, who rented out the house to a man known simply as Mr Myers. Mr Myers was to be married and had the house furnished n the expectation of a family soon to follow. Unfortunately, just before the wedding, his wife to be ran off.

After the break up, Myers sank into a deep depression, in which he would spend the days locked in the attic room, where he slowly lost his mind. He would only leave the room at night, but in the end he was to be no more.

By this time, much due to the deaths and ghost stories, but also to the dilapidated condition the house was falling into, number 50 became known as the Haunted House in Berkeley Square.

By 1887 the house was once again empty, and due to the state and reputation, no one was too keen to move in. Luckily for the house two more victims arrived, this time in the form of two sailors – Edward Blunden and Robert Martin.

On Christmas Eve the sailors had arrived in London, but had no money for lodgings, so wandered the streets until they could find an empty building to make camp for the night. They eventually found their way to Berkeley Square, and seeing that number 50 was obviously vacant, decided to spend the night there.

They settled for a second floor bedroom, and soon Martin was asleep, but Blunden was restless and frightened. He could hear footsteps in the corridor, and soon the door opened. As Blunden watched, a dark and shapeless form entered the room. Blunden reached for a makeshift weapon, a fire poker from the fireplace.

The noise had awoken Martin, who saw the massive tendril strangling Blunden. Fearing for his own safety, Martin took the opportunity to run out the bedroom door, down the stairs, and out the building, where he soon ran into a police constable. Martin relayed the story and the two men went back to number fifty.

What they found was Blunden, dead on the pavement, he had either jumped or been thrown out of the second floor window, his body crushed by the fall. (other reports say he tripped and died of fright as he ran from the building or for a more gory version that Blunden was found dismembered in the basement or impaled on the spiked fence out the front of the property.)

The stories continued from those brave or foolhardy enough to venture into number 50 after dark, but soon eventually the building was occupied again, this time by Maggs Bros – Antiquarian Book Dealers. They have been located in the building since 1937 and have never reported any major disturbances, the staff have heard strange noises from the upstairs rooms, but none have dared to venture.

Not because of the fear from the stories, but rather because they are not allowed to, as the police have placed a sign, a warning saying that the upper most rooms are not to be used for anything, not even storage.

#The Horror of 50 Berkeley Square #haunted locations #paranormal #ghost and hauntings #ghost and spirits

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