#ethan m aldridge

[upongoblinhill]

“Nev turned back toward the sprawling emptiness of the house, and at the far end of the hall, they saw a ghost.”

Fanart of Deephaven by Ethan M. Aldridge 🍂

[4ce-of-2pades]

Sketches of Whick (from Estranged by @ethanmaldridge) (they’re basically a living candle, for those not in the know)

…half of these are just me coming up with different ways to injure them. Sorry, pal. This is how fandoms are sometimes.

The image near the bottom where their face is covered in writing is an AU where Hawthorne won and/or took Whick captive, and rewrote their code to obey her. (And gave them a new outfit that matches her evil aesthetic.)

[haveyoureadthisqueerbook]

[libraryleopard]

Middle grade horror novel

When Nev, a young nonbinary inventor, is invited to the mysterious Deephaven Academy, an exclusive boarding school, they soon learn of a mysterious monster that stalks its halls and becomes unravelling the mysteries of the school, risking their fresh start to explore the hidden mysteries of Deephaven

Contains illustrations by the author

[starwarspurgefan]

So I decided to show you guys my fanchild of My favorite characters from arcadekitten and other underrated media.

Emily Oakvale olive:daughter of ryo and embry

Fun fact:she a scarecrow like her father.she is made of hay and lock of Ryo and embry hair by her grandfather.Her hair look like vanne.but she a scarecrow.she was a baby after she was made by her grandfather and then later age like normal human been.

Hair color:black

Clothes:a scarecrow clothes like his father.

Age:12

Edward Oakvale olive:son of Ryo and embry.

Fun fact:he is a older brothers of Emily.he is overprotective to his sister.his hair is like his mother embry.

Hair color:purple

Clothes:his mom old clothes from inmimb.

Age:15

Tyler:son of necrotary and sunny

Fun fact:he and Emily had a crush on each other.his hair is like his mother.

Hair color:cyan and white.

Clothes:a mix of both of his mother.

Age:13

Jason Oakvale:son of Ingram and Pam

Fan fact:he is the older kid he like to help his family.his friends and his siblings.

Hair color:black and orange

Clothes:mix of her mother and father clothes.

Age:16

Lily Oakvale:daughter of Ingram and Pam

fact:she is sometimes shy she like to have fun with her family and her siblings and her friends.

Hair color:orange and black

Clothes:a mix of her mother and father clothes.

Age:14

Peppermint:daughter of pepper and Arachne

Fun fact:she is the oldest sister of tarantula.she is shy sometimes.she has a crush on Edward.she like to hang out with her friends.she like to baking cupcakes with her mother.she like to play video game with her dad.she like to hang out with her uncle rascal and her aunt Pollypick .

Hair color:black and red

Clothes:long sleeve like her father.

Age:15

Tarantula:son of pepper and Arachne Fun fact:he is the young.he like to fight.hanging out with his best friends Emily.and his parents. (Note he didn't has a crush on her.he have zero interest to be in a relationship for now)

Hair color:magenta

Clothes:his mom old clothes but as a boy version from spider's web

Age:11

Ralph.star blast:son and daughter of dj and gina

Fun fact:Ralph is the oldest.he like to kick ass.like to hang out with his friends.he do whatever he want.

Fun fact:Star blast also like to hang out with her friends.she like to training with her mother and her uncle hilo.

Ralph:15

Clothes;gray jacket and blue jeans

Star blast:13

Clothes:purple t shirts.lime jackets.and pink pants.

Sally lewin:daughter of sunny and Ryan

Fun fact:she like to hang out with her friends.help her family.she love creepy stuff.she has a creepy doll name Ann.she get embarrassed when Jessica's call her adorable and cute.

Hair color:yellow sunshine

Clothes:her mom old clothes.

Age:14

Jessica:daughter of tyler fett and deb

Fun fact:she has a crush on sally.she always like to embarrass sally because she thinks her blushed is cute.she and sally would later ending up together.

Hair color:brown.

Clothes:her mom old clothes.

Age:13

Katerin:son of kat and rat

Fun fact:he is the oldest brother.he like to hang out with his friends.he like to race with his sister and his friends.he is a master of combat.

Age:18

Hair:brown

Clothes:his clothes look like the boy version of his mother.

Korea:daughter of kat and rat

Fun fact:she love to race like her mother.she like to hang out with her friends and her family.she like to play with her friends and her brother.she is sometimes shy.

Age:14

Hair:black

Clothes:her father dao old clothes.

flower Reginald anta:daughter of mary anta and reginald tetra

Fun fact:she is brave and smart.she is sometimes shy.she like to hang out of the cemetery and flowers garden,she love reading books about creatures and ghosts.like her father she is sometimes crazy but her friends still like her.she also has autism.

Age:13

Hair color:yellow and red.

Clothes:blight orange shirt.light red hooded.and shorts jeans.

ray Reginald anta:son of mary anta and reginald tetra

Fun fact:he is the oldest.like his sister he is brave and a fighter.he is also good at science because his father taught him well.he also loves to kick someone ass if he or she bullies him or his sister.he is also a fan of music.he also had glasses.

Hair color:red and yellow:

Clothes:white coat and black jacket.

Age:15

Credit to toaddoestheinternet.

Cody corvuson deerlington:son of crowven corvuson and vasilis deerlington

Fun fact:he is a edgy rock and roll fan like his father.but he also like other music that isn't rock and roll like vocaloid.electric.and other.he also love to do epic dangerous things like fighting against bullies.defense himself.he is also a goth's.also he is the oldest.

Hair color:dark blue.

Clothes:black jacket.dark t shirts.and gray jeans.

Age:16

Vanessa corvuson deerlington:daughter of crowven corvuson and vasilis deerlington

Fun fact:she is sometimes shy.she love edgy rock and rolls and anime like her brother does.she is trying to get her brother to above getting in trouble.she has a crush on jack after he kick the bully ass for broken her project that she spent all of her hard work on it.

Hair color:dark light black

Clothes:blue jacket.light t shirts.and black pants.

Age:13

Jack sophio:son of Twyla sophio and nova

Fun fact:like his mother.he is always bossy and a brave boy.he does care for his friends and parents but doesn't care for dumbass.he is also very serious.one time he got bully but then after his mother twyla telling him to be brave and don't let those jerk being mean to him.he decided to listen his mother advised and kick his bully ass so hard that he didn't want to bully everyone again.despite the fact that he got in trouble for that but he didn't care.he also had a crush on Vanessa but doesn't want to admit it.except for Vanessa.he can get annoyed when someone is bothering him.he also has anger issues when someone is annoying him or embarrassing him.his mother is sometimes being hard on him but she still care and love her son and want him to be brave and ready to fight against everyone who hurt him.

Clothes:white gym shirt.blown jacket and gray pants.

Hair color:purple and orange.

Age:14

[secondjulia]

1589 Dream in fae form.

SO... 1589 Dream looks like the grown up version of the boys in Estranged, and I couldn't get it out of my head, AND it is 100% cannon that Dream has a form for pretty much every dreaming species (see the multitude of Dreams in Sandman Overture) so here's my attempt at faery Dream 🙂

Perhaps this is the one that hooked up with Titania? You can see how Shakespeare would be a step up, and perhaps Hob — sorry, Sir Robert Gadlen — a painful reminder of the vain, mercurial court life the Dream King had only just escaped...

[good-books-to-read]

Looks so good!

Happy Pride! The main characters of my new graphic novel are a little . . . you know.

The Pale Queen in on shelves this month! Support by reserving your copy now, wherever you get books!

[the-final-sentence]

Top Final Sentences of 2023

He knew that on the day of his death he would see her face and he could hope to carry that beauty into the darkness with him, the last pagan on earth, singing softly upon his pallet in an unknown tongue. Cormac McCarthy, from The Passenger

And there are so many silences to be broken. Audre Lorde, from “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action”

For Guinevere Tallow, it felt like coming home. Ethan M. Aldridge, from Deephaven

And we laughed and held each other and filled our hearts with the faith that we could always do that, always blow away the clouds that threatened our stars. Andrew Neiderman as V.C. Andrews, from Honey

But as anyone who loves reading and writing quickly learns, both activities allow you to commune with the living and the dead, to listen to the thoughts of those who have come before you and argue, cajole, and sing praise for them in response. Kaitlyn Greenidge, from “Books for a Black Girl’s Soul”

The greatest shame would be to reach the end of our lives and have the epitaph read, ‘They worked really hard.’ Roxane Gay, from “Yes, Your Job Is Important. But It’s Not All Important.”

The sky is gory with stars, like the insides of a gutted night. Julia Armfield, from “Salt Slow”

Sometimes, even in towns built on curses, at least once in a blue moon, things turn out okay. Ryan Douglass, from “Knickknack”

Eventually, if we speak the truth to each other, it will become unavoidable to ourselves. Audre Lorde, from “Eye to Eye: Black Women, Hatred, and Anger”

In the distance, the darkness has started to lift like a veil, the first light of dawn spilling over the Beijing skyline, a promise of all the beautiful and terrible and sun-soaked days to come. Ann Liang, from If You Could See the Sun

[freckles-and-books]

Middle grade reads I want to read this spooky season 👻

[lgbtqreads]

Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Middle Grade Fiction: July-December 2024

Benji Zeb is a Ravenous Werewolf by Deke Moulton (July 2nd) Benji Zeb has a lot going on. He has a lot of studying to do, not only for school but also for his upcoming bar mitzvah. He’s nervous about Mr. Rutherford, the aggressive local rancher who hates Benji’s family’s kibbutz and wolf sanctuary. And he hasn’t figured out what to do about Caleb, Mr. Rutherford’s stepson, who has been bullying…

[transbookoftheday]

Deephaven by Ethan M. Aldridge

From Ethan M. Aldridge, bestselling creator of Estranged, comes a gothic middle grade prose novel that follows a nonbinary student who is drawn to their boarding school’s forbidden east wing, where something stalks the shadowy corridors. Perfect for fans of J.A. White and Mary Downing Hahn!

When Guinevere "Nev" Tallow receives an acceptance letter to the exclusive Deephaven Academy, they know it’s the fresh start that they’ve been looking for.

But things are strange from the moment they arrive—the house itself seems to breathe, students whisper secrets in dark corridors, and the entire east wing of the academy is locked away for reasons no one wants to explain. And Nev knows something ragged stalks the shadowy corridors, something that sobs quietly and scratches at the walls, waiting to be released.

With the help of another first-year student, Nev takes it upon themselves to unravel the mysteries hidden in Deephaven's halls. But will they risk their fresh start to bring the academy’s secret to light?

[aroaessidhe]

grand viscount hyacinth appreciation post!!

from The Pale Queen by Ethan M. Aldridge

[4ce-of-2pades]

Wella Ink cosplaying some of my current favorite characters:

I invite anyone who feels so inclined to do the same with their self-insert or OC, because it’s really fun!

[haveyoureadthismgyabook]

[mollyhats]

Historical Fiction meets Fantasy (Middle-Grade and YA)

Here's a list of books that take real world history and give it a supernatural spin. Sometimes it's a full alternate universe (1860s NYC--WITH DINOSAURS) and sometimes it's more subtle.

Middle-Grade (about 8-12)

Dactyl Hill Squad by Daniel José Older

When?: 1863

Fantasy element?: There's dinosaurs around that people can ride and it's AWESOME

Elevator pitch: During the Draft Riots of 1863, a group of Black and Latine children escape the destruction of their orphanage and must outwit a gang of kidnappers--by riding pterodactyls!

The Night Gardener by Jonathan Auxier

When?: the Victorian era

Fantasy element?: a tree that grants wishes...for a horrible price

Elevator pitch: An Irish girl and her disabled little brother manage to get a job at an English estate after their parents are lost. But they soon learn their new refuge is haunted by a strange spectre guarding a mysterious tree. An excellent spooky story.

The Inquisitor's Apprentice by Chris Moriarty

When?: the turn of the 20th century

Fantasy element?: magic, in many specific cultural forms, is real, and there's a lot of politics and regulation around its use

Elevator pitch: Picture your standard turn of the century immigrant New York coming of age story: All Of A Kind Family or An American Tail. Now imagine that in this world, magic is real, and much like any valuable tool, there's a whole lot of laws and discrimination governing who can use it and how. Sacha can see magic, and is immediately pressed into service helping an investigator. He's thrust into a deadly world of politics, labor rights, organized crime, and strange new magic technologies that threaten everything Sacha holds dear.

The Inquisitor's Tale by Adam Gidwitz

When?: 1242

Fantasy element?: 3 magical children and their holy dog

Elevator pitch: The Middle Ages were weirder than even comedy has led us to believe, and this book taps into the stories and history of the era. Many people in an inn take turns telling tales of three children with superpowers (one super strong, one gifted with visions, and one healing) and their dog (who's a saint). Somehow these unexpected friends made an enemy of King Louis IX, and the road to get there (and how it resolves) is unpredictable, playful, yet grounded in a solid context of medieval history and literature.

Deephaven by Ethan M. Aldridge

When?: the Great Depression

Fantasy elements?: A boarding school full of occult secrets.

Elevator pitch: Nev Tallow receives an invitation to a boarding school in the middle of nowhere that no one has ever heard of, but it's the Great Depression and options are limited. Mysteries soon abound--the prefects aren't quite right, the classes include occult languages, and nobody's supposed to talk about the collapse that killed a student last year...despite the wing where they supposedly died still standing. They're going to get to the bottom of this with help from their friends, even if they have to take on a monster with nothing but a fencing foil and some barely-understood spells. The first in a series!

Ophie's Ghosts by Justina Ireland

When?: the 1920s (particularly the Great Migration)

Fantasy elements?: ghosts

Elevator pitch: Ophelia first starts seeing ghosts after her father is murdered in an act of racial violence. Now she works with her mother in an old manor in Pittsburgh, dealing with the racist lady of the house. And the ghosts. Ophie becomes determined to help one of them, but the price--and the secrets buried with her--may destroy the fragile life her mother has made.

Young Adult (13+)

Lovely War by Julie Berry

When?: World War I

Fantasy element?: A peanut gallery made up of half the Greek pantheon

Elevator pitch: Hephaestus catches Ares and Aphrodite cheating in his net, so to teach them all about love, Aphrodite launches into the stories of four young adults caught in WWI, torn between their ambitions, their pasts, and love. Other gods drop in and out to put in their two cents, and on occasion they influence the story in mortal guise.

The Shadow War by Lindsay Smith

When?: World War II

Fantasy element?: Mysterious shadow magic that grants visions and can tear people apart.

Elevator pitch: Picture Inglorious Basterds but some of the ultraviolence is from extremely horrifying shadow magic. It's a roaring rampage of gay, Jewish, Black, and Algerian teens and young adults avenging themselves on Nazis and keeping them from acquiring the power of Eldritch horrors beyond our world. It's a tough balance to get right tonally, but imo they made it cathartic instead of trivializing.

If you have any questions about any of these, message me, shoot me an ask, or comment!

[mathstrangelove]

Mail day: The first of my spooky season pre-orders arrived today!