#magic is never really mentioned in the 23rd century so I get to make up a new guy

[usertransducks]

I’ve managed to write more today than any other day this month so far because I’ve realized a) there aren’t many comics where Gladstone gets kidnapped for his luck and b) Donald’s family never really get targeted with any time crimes and I’ve decided I need both to happen

also people are constantly coming to the conclusion that Gladstone is Paperinik in the other comics so he’s such an easy target if you’re able to nullify his luck for a bit

[banquishedtotheglasshill]

Beltane Films

It’s a bit shit we can’t go frolic with the fae in the fields this Beltane and your one allocated government walk a day isn’t exactly the same as sitting, saturated by the sun all day on the Heath getting melted and eating strawberries. So I’ve made a list of my favourite films to help magically transform our inside lives into one that suitably reflects the mood of a fertility and love festival. Freya forbid it rains on friday but if it does dampen our witchy festivities at least we can get cosy and escape into nature through our imagination. 

1. Practical Magic (1998); 90s dreamy scene scape, botanical witches, cute vintage dresses, midnight margaritas, chocolate cake for breakfast and a true love story, is there anything more worth watching on the Witches valentines? It ends on Samhain it’s a perfect witchy Beltane extravaganza- I mean that greenhouse tho

https://ww2.123movie.cc/movies/practical-magic/

2. The Love Witch (2016)

Beltane is about LOVE and WITCHES duh. There’s a Beltane ritual, the visuals are everything I want and need, it’s a smart, aesthetically appealing deep dive into the subversion of the male gaze. Anna Biller made all the costumes (!!) herself, she wrote, directed, produced it and personally I believe it to be one of the best horror flicks to have emerged in the past decade. Reminisce on all those terrible, tragic and non-consentual love spells I know you cast long long ago and indulge in some glamourous murder. 

https://ww7.123moviesfree.sc/mov/the-love-witch-2016/

3. Tuck Everlasting (2002)

��  A film about a family that lives forever after drinking some magical spring water in the woods? Very Beltane. It has that 00s dreamy sheen, edwardian costume, a love story, a coming of age story and it’s all set in New England right at the end of the turn of the last century. In the original story our protagonist Winnie Foster was 10 years old and it was originally written as a children’s book which honestly is a bit creepy. Nevertheless, it’s a beautiful story about finding yourself, acknowledging the wheel of time and appreciating life death life cycles. Also whatshername from Gilmore Girls is in it. Cute. Perfect for a spring festival. There’s also a musical that flopped massively but some of the songs are worth a lil listen. 

https://www.putlockers.cr/movie/tuck-everlasting-4736.html

3. FairyTale: A True Story (1997)

It’s Beltane we must have fairies! I was obsessed with this film as a child, particularly with the teeny tiny furniture they make for the fairy dolls house. I also spent a lot of time trying to untie myself from ropes like Houdini.This is the fictional retelling of the true story of the Cottingley girls who were caught up in the popular mysticism craze in the early 1900s and accidentally became celebrities after photographing the ‘fairies’ at the bottom of the garden. The story was a national sensation but after further investigation it was discovered that the photos had in fact been faked. No shit. The truly shocking thing is that the Cottingley girls seem to have escaped unharmed by the fae. It’s a great heartwarming film and features an interesting depiction of the British obsession with fairies and mysticism following rapid industrialisation. It also celebrates the beauty of Yorkshire and the British countryside in a very understated manner and honestly it might have been this film that launched my deep desire to run away into some woods and never look back. 

https://ww2.123movie.cc/movies/fairytale-a-true-story

4. The Last Leprechaun (1998) 

Ok this one is a bit mad. Another childhood favourite of mine, this film was given to me on a tape by my Scorpio Sun Gemini Moon Scottish grandad and within that context this film makes a lot of sense to me. It’s set in Ireland, this American family move into this huge house and discover the land is populated by the fae, quel surprise. There are banshees, there are fairies in a mine, there’s leprechauns looking for gold, it’s batshit and nowhere near as visually appealing as the films listed above but it’s a really fun watch. A good reminder at this time of year- don’t mess with the little people. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFd63gzYamw

5. Globe Theatre productions/ Online Theatre

This time of year would normally herald the start of outdoor concerts, festivals, garden parties and theatre out in the open air. Nothing compares to the magic of experiencing theatre outdoors, combining my two favourite lasting loves, theatre and nature in one. Naturally I’m devastated to be missing an entire season of outdoor theatre but thankfully the Globe has made loads of productions available online for FREE. Unfortunately, one of my favourite plays to watch at this time of year, As You Like It, is not part of the Globe’s free offerings https://globeplayer.tv/videos/as-you-like-it but if you’re looking for love and romance set in a forest with a good smattering of witty repartee and cross dressing look no further. Shakespeare’s birth and death day just passed us by (23rd) and if you haven’t yet celebrated this Taurean by indulging in a bit o cultchah I’m gently suggesting that you’d enjoy it. Equally, I’d recommend Emma Rice’s production of Midsummer Night’s Dream from the Globe, it’s literally the best production I’ve ever seen and at this point I’ve likely seen over 20 different productions of Dream so take me up on it. The cabaret artist Meow Meow plays Titania and I can’t think of anyone playing the Fairy Queen better.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p08b015k/culture-in-quarantine-shakespeare-a-midsummer-nights-dream

FREE ON BBC IPLAYER!!!

The customs in the play are somewhat a mixture of Beltane and Litha practices so tbh it’s good sabbat to sabbat. I guess you could also watch the Tempest if you really wanted but I kind of hate it ngl. 

Angela Carter’s ‘Wise Children’, dir. Emma Rice

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p0892kf6/wise-children

Free on BBC iPlayer, I was lucky enough to see this show in person while it was at the Old Vic and yes, I’m a massive Emma Rice fan and if you watch it you’ll understand why. The show has nothing to do with the fae or Beltane but it is from modern myth maker Angela Carter (who wrote the Bloody Chamber) so there’s lots of folklore and mythical elements woven in. It’s just a bloody good time, it’s colourful, queer and musical whilst unconventionally exploring family trauma. 

A Winter’s Tale, Royal Ballet

The Royal Opera House/Royal Ballet is screening their production of A Winter’s Tale on Friday at 7pm, it’s very magical, it’ll be available for a week, wahey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-byR-6p-qA

6. Anne with an E: Season 3, Episode 5, Netflix

https://www.netflix.com/watch/81025449?trackId=13752289&tctx=0%2C4%2Cf5cee1ae-463c-468c-90ac-6ccae34b01ad-31458487%2C%2C

 I wasn’t too keen on Anne of Green Gables before Netflix made it dark and hashtag real. I particularly love this episode which features a Beltane ritual at the end, I know I wish I could meet you all round a bonfire waving ribbon wands in my nightgown. The last season in particular really solidifies Anne as symbolic of wild woman in tune with nature and the rhythms of her own soul and I could probably deep dive into this ad infinitum. 

Skip to 40:14 minutes if you wish to only see the ritual. 

7. Honorable mentions:

Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) because fairies 

https://www4.123movies.gr/movie/pans-labyrinth-2006/

Midsommar (2019) because although I know this film is really more for Litha, they have a Maypole so I think we can make it work

Far from the Madding Crowd ( 2015) Carey mulligan and countryside and terrible life decisions, the soundtrack is also very soothing on its own. You can watch it free (legally, shocker) on the BBC website. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfilms/film/far_from_the_madding_crowd

Tess of the D’urbervilles (2008) the TV series!! with Gemma Arteton (?) as Tess; pastoral life, nature pagan goddess allusions and a finale at Stonehenge very Beltane. Once you get past all the religion stuff Hardy’s aight. 

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2739yo

Happy Beltane Witches!!! 

[subostartrek]

STAR TREK DISCOVERY - Season 2 Recap/Thoughts

“Any, um, words of wisdom?”

“Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness-”

“-Thereby, you can be the director of your opponents’ fate. I’m surprised a Kelpien, of all beings, has studied Sun Tzu.”

“I’m surprised a Terran is surprised by anything.”

Well... it’s impossible to talk about this finale episode without discussing the ending, but I’ll try to refrain. For now.

Let’s back up a bit. I don’t know about you, but for me, the Red Angel reveal was phenomenal. The concept of this woman, engineering fate with nothing but her time-jumping suit and the crushing weight of all her failures; it’s the kind of thing I wish was made into a game, and exactly why last season’s “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad” was such an exceptional episode.

About predictions, this episode doesn’t really throw any curveballs. Red Angel is Discovery’s avatar to fight Control? Check. Discovery is in a causality loop? Check. Signals were meant to guide Discovery towards its fate of defeating Control? Check. Yet, in the context of the episode, it all works magnificently. It really comes down to the execution: the conviction of the actors and the characters, the structuring of the season (part of the reason why we made those predictions was because they came from character and plot developments, and to abandon them in an attempt to flip the script really wouldn’t work), and the haunting beauty of the jump scene, simultaneously serving as recap, climax, and conclusion.

So yes; as an episode alone, “Such Sweet Sorrow” is fantastic.

Now let’s talk about the ending, and the show’s role in all this.

Again, this ending was... kind of inevitable. All the way back to “Context Is for Kings”, I suspected that Discovery and the Prototaxes stellaviatori was destined to become classified information, the only question being “at the end of which season”. The thing is, I didn’t want it to be the case, because A: continuing the first season, I found no real canon contradictions, and B: It felt like such a plot development would be conceding defeat to the fandom purists, who sang their “STD IS NOT CANON” chorus ever since the show was announced in 2016.

And today, the purists just won an Austerlitz-sized decisive victory.

My problem isn’t that the ending happened, it’s that they went so overboard with it. Discovery, sent into the far future, all records of it erased, with any mention of the ship punishable by treason; the ship might as well have never existed in the first place. That’s exactly what the naysayers wanted, and more.

I really don’t want to say that I’m disappointed, because we got such a great episode and a wonderful finale to the season, but these developments are... discouraging, to say the least.

I assessed this episode at a 5/5 and enjoyed it at a 4/5, returning a final rating of 4.5/5.

I assessed this season at a 4/5 and enjoyed it at a 5/5, returning a final rating of 4.5/5.

RANDOM THOUGHTS:

1: So what is Season 3 going to be about? If “Calypso” is any indication and it’s about the V’draysh, then there’s a lot of implications about both the series and Trek canon as a whole. The Enterprise-J, in the 26th century, is already going intergalactic. Where would a 32nd century humanity be at? Or, is it like a Warhammer 40k situation, where humanity has been stagnating?

2: Continuing off that point: Bryan Singer once pitched “Star Trek Federation”, about a decaying Federation in the 30th century and a new Enterprise’s efforts to revitalize the nation.

3: Theory time: Craft is actually from Terralysium, known as Alcor IV in his time. Also, “V’draysh” refers not to the original Federation, but to the neo-Federation founded by the population of New Eden after developing warp.

What if the V’draysh is at a similar technology level to the 23rd century Federation?

4: What character dynamics have been abandoned in favor of this twist? No more Georgiou/Burnham, no chance of finding Prime Lorca, no possibility of Mirror Discovery.

God damnit.

May might still be alive, though.

5: Was that stuff between Hugh and Paul real, or was it just delusions brought on by his impending death?

6: Rebecca Romijn is simply perfect. With her conspicuous hiring and the ending of the episode, maybe they really are doing a Pike show.

“Listen to me, little brother. There is a whole galaxy out there, full of people who will reach for you. You have to let them. Find the person who seems farthest from you... and reach for them. Let them guide you...”

“...I will. I only wish I could be certain of your safety.”

“You will. I’ll send the last signal. I’ll send it through the wormhole when I get to the other side.”

“I will watch the stars for it.”

[sussex-nature-lover]

Wednesday 23rd December 2020

Our Garden etc. Birds. Part 2 The Comings and Goings

♦ bold type indicates a link to an outside site not affiliated to this blog

Let’s start with our traditional ‘Christmas’ bird. The Robin is a member of the Thrush family and is related to both Blackbird and Nightingale who are all also well known for their singing.

Most Robins live a sedentary lifestyle, staunchly defending their own patch of territory from rivals. In fact, they have apparently been known to fight their own reflection or spar with an adversary to the death.

Many Robins won’t move more than 5km (3.11m) whatever the season. Some leave the UK for warmer climates before Winter arrives. Most of these birds are female, crossing the Channel to as far away as Spain or Portugal. They return to the UK with the warmer weather. No passports or Visas required for their wings  -  bit of a topical joke there: wildlife only obeys borders when it wants to.

We have numerous resident Robins here because we have such a large extent of suitable habitat surrounding the house and they know a good source of food and water for certain. It’s all very harmonic at the moment, but of course that’s subject to change when there’s more at stake.

Robin Facts:

Only for a short period in late summer while they are moulting and inconspicuous do robins stop singing. Both sexes sing.

As with the Nightingale, the song is usually delivered from a concealed perch within a bush or a tree, exposed perches are infrequent. Autumn and Spring songs are distinctly different. The Autumn song starts after the moult, from late Summer onwards. It is more subdued and melancholy in its tone, while the spring song is powerful, confident and upbeat.

The Spring song can start as early as mid-December, reaching full force in Spring. Its purpose is two-fold: to defend a territory and to attract a mate. Therefore, Spring song is far more powerful in males.

Robins are adapted to life in poor light and are often active in half-light when few other birds are about. They tend to be among the earliest birds to start the dawn chorus and one of the last to stop in the evening.

Street lights and floodlights can trigger singing in the middle of the night, and if roosting Robins are disturbed, they can burst into song even in complete darkness.

RSPB

In mild winters robins can start breeding as early as January although their usual breeding season starts in March.

Every continent has its own species of robins, but only the Japanese and Ryukyu Robins are closely related to the European Robin. 

Birdspot

Remember last week’s controversy about the colour of their eggs? If you missed it, THIS is the Blog entry you want. Don’t let the headline title put you off, it’s all in there, scroll down.

One of the most interesting facts about migrating Robins is how faithful they are to their territories. Many maintain both their summer and winter patches despite them being hundreds of kilometres apart. 

Of course the same is true in reverse. Resident birds are often joined by migrants from Scandinavia, Europe and Russia who avoid the most severe weather in their own countries. Along with other members of the Thrush family like Redwings, Fieldfares and Blackbirds, they arrive on British shores - usually along the East coast - once their own food supply has been covered by snow and ice.

When other garden birds migrate and return

At least 4,000 species of bird are regular migrants. That's about 40 per cent of the world's total. But some parts of the world have a higher proportion of migrants than others.

RSPB

Between September and March, 10-20 million Chaffinches fly here from Scandinavia and Western Europe. They can be differentiated from our resident Chaffinches by their foraging behaviour: searching for food in large flocks on open farmland. UK Chaffinches favour gardens, woodlands and hedgerows.

The UK also sees an influx of Starlings during Winter. Fleeing the severe cold in Eastern Europe, they seek solace in our abundant food sources and comparatively balmy temperatures. Numbers will trickle in throughout September, but the influx really kicks off during October. According to experts, one UK Starling roost numbered close to one million over-wintering birds!

In our own garden the most unusual bird we’ve seen visiting is a Turtle Dove, just the one and only on two occasions in subsequent years. Red listed as endangered and even on the verge of extinction it was a real thrill to see it and report the sighting to Operation Turtle Dove.

Turtle Doves have very distinctive plumage and beautiful voice quite different from other Pigeons.

The 12 Days of Christmas is a song that promises a great deal, but there’s a line that carollers may have to omit in future. Before a whole house of leaping lords and dancing ladies, the second day is supposed to bring two turtle doves. But dramatic declines in populations across Europe may mean that day two disappoints true loves in Christmases to come.

Only slightly larger than a blackbird, the European turtle dove is the UK’s smallest species of pigeon, as well as its only migrant species. You would be hard pushed to find turtle doves in the UK during December, as they spend the winter in sub-Saharan Africa, returning to Europe to breed in late April. With their return comes their gentle purring song, a long-standing sign of spring.

The Conversation 

Turtle Dove in our East Sussex garden - yes they are a real thing (for now)

Formerly a widespread breeding species in Britain, the Turtle Dove population in Britain has declined by over 90% since 1994.* The declines are likely linked to changes in agriculture on their breeding grounds in Europe, as well as hunting pressure in the Mediterranean region and possibly environmental changes in their wintering grounds.

BTO

UK decline 94% since 1995 - source Operation Turtle Dove.

Dangers include the fact that it likes to mainly feed from the seeds of weeds and the tidier our land becomes, the more their diet reduces...no one can say that we don’t do our bit Chez Nature Watch! and very sadly, recreational hunting in some parts of Continental Europe.

European Turtle Dove will no longer legally be killed in France this autumn, after the Conseil d'Etat banned hunting of the Vulnerable-listed species. On Friday [11 September 2020], the highest administrative court in France outlawed the practice for the 2020-21 season.14 Sept 2020 Birdguides.com

I really hope the ban continues and spreads far and wide.

You can read more about bird migration here from the RSPB. It offers loads of information and right at the bottom of that page you can also read more about Turtle Doves.

Of course, nothing for me tops the year we had Swallows take over the open fronted nest box in our porch. Getting photos was tricky as we didn’t want to disturb them - to the extent of taking a circular route to go up and down stairs and using our back door when we could.

I often wonder what happened to our brood. Just look at the BTO Migration Map. It’s an incredibly long and arduous journey, fraught with dangers. Apparently this year numbers here were down due to catastrophic storms off Greece in April or May. There did seem to be a healthy population in our neck of the woods though and I always look forward to seeing the migrants back again.

There was an interesting blog about this Summer’s situation Here from a bird food supplier in Hampshire.

Picture credit the BTO as above link

There were actually five in our brood and they all fledged successfully. The photos are fuzzy but given the low light, stealth and using only a little camera, at least I got a record of their Summer with us. I’ve always been so disappointed they didn’t return.

Most songbirds use a nest for just a single clutch or season, then build a new one – if they survive to breed again. But one study showed that most swallows returned to the same colony, with 44 per cent of pairs reoccupying the same nest. ... A good nest may be reused for 10–15 years by a series of different pairs.

Finally today I can’t finish without a big shout out for the BTO Cuckoo Tracking Project where you can get lots of information and also follow the whereabouts and progress of Cuckoos making their journeys backwards and forwards. Currently there’s information on Carlton II, PJ and Valentine.

Cuckoo Article from Countryfile. It’s brilliant.

I hope the last couple of Blogs have been informative as well as interesting. There’s certainly enough reading material to cover quiet moments over the Christmas break if you want something entirely different. I never pretend to be an expert in anything but do go to reputable sources for the links and enjoy increasing my knowledge as I research what to include.

Notes from the Kitchen: 

Last night we had a really delicious fish pie. We used Haddock and Salmon, leeks, peas and carrots, parsley and a savoury white sauce. I had thought about grating cheese on top of the potato and adding some thin slices of tomato, but didn’t get around to it...lazy!

Decoration from the Standen Courtyard Christmas Trees

A Pointsettia flower.

Personal details removed from label, the lady who crafted this is hoping to become a volunteer at the property in the New Year.

December 23rd Advent Door. Not expensive, just  Little Deer

The Nature Watch Nativity

MANY CHRISTMAS CAROLS make mention of the three kings, who follow a star and come to pay homage to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem. In the Bible, they are not called kings, and their number is not specified—instead they are “wise men from the East.” At many courts in the east, including ancient Babylon and Persia, learned astrologers often served as priestly advisers, practiced in the art of magic. In the centuries since, the three magi have been interpreted as kings.

Taken from This Page where you can see an absolutely incredibly beautiful and ancient mosaic.

Carol of Choice from King’s College Choir, Cambridge 

‘We Three Kings’

[aion-rsa]

Autumnal Book Guide: 15 Best Fall 2019 Reads

https://ift.tt/2mxEYh3

Our book section contributors list up the books we're most looking forward to this fall season — from the spooky to the cozy.

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There's never a bad season of the year for reading. Whether it's winter, summer, spring, or fall, there's a reading habit that goes oh-so-well with the season. But there's something about fall—when the leaves are changing (at least in some parts of the world) and the nights are getting longer—that makes me want to curl up with the coziest of books or the most deliciously creepy short story we can find (for the latter, might we recommend "Cavity" by Theresa DeLucci?). 

Join the Den of Geek Book Club!

Den of Geek's book contributors are no different! I've reached out to all of them to find out which most autumnal of books they're looking forward to reading this fall season. Here are all of our selections...

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

July 23rd, Del Rey

What happens when you release the god of the underworld? Since Casiopea Tun didn't know that's what would happen when she opened her domineering grandfather's mysterious Mayan chest, she's not prepared for a skeleton to put itself back together, become a man, and demand that she accompany him to retrieve the parts of his body stolen by his no-good brother. But Casiopea is used to dealing with bossy, entitled men, which means that Hun-Kame, ruler of Xibalba, may not realize what he's gotten himself into.

read more: How Red, White, and Royal Blue Hopes For a Kinder America

I've been waiting for a chance to get this one off my TBR pile since it came out this summer, and with Halloween (and Dia de los Muertos) on the horizon, stories about finding chests full of bones and navigating the land of the dead are the perfect type of creepy to get the season off to a good start. Even better, it's set in Jazz-Age Mexico before it descends into the Mayan underworld, and I'm enjoying every minute of delving into this unfamiliar and darkly magical world from a well-known #OwnVoices SFF writer. I think you might, too...

- Alana Joli Abbott

Echoes: The Saga Anthology of Ghost Stories

August 20th, Saga Press

I mentioned short fiction in the opening—short stories can be the perfect, low-commitment way to wind down the day or spruce up any seasonal party. (Reading aloud isn't just for kids in English class.) This anthology of 30 moder ghost stories from Saga Press was just published in August, and it includes contributions from some of the most interesting writers in speculative fiction right now, including Seanan McGuire and Paul Tremblay. Paired with more traditionally literary authors like Joyce Carol Oates and Alice Hoffman, there is something in this anthology for everyone who loves a spooky story.

The collection was edited by the always-great Ellen Datlow, who is known for her work in the genres of supernatural suspense and fantasy. It's the broad genre reach of this anthology that most intrigued me, as horror has rarely been my go-to genre. However, in addition to contributors like Tremblay, who gets the collection going with "Ice Cold Lemonade 25ȼ Haunted House Tour: 1 Per Person," The Saga Anthology of Ghost Stories features authors who are better known for their fantasy work, such as Garth Nix (who contributes "Mee-Ow," to the collection). The result means that no two stories are alike, and that there is something in here for everyone. Don't sleep on this anthology—it's perfect for the fall season.

- Kayti Burt

Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell & Faith Erin Hicks

August 27th, First Second

#FallReads can be creepy, but they can be cozy, too. (Extra autumnal credit, authors, if you manage to achieve both at once!) It's definitely the cozy category that this graphic novel, from beloved YA novelist Rainbow Rowell and artist Faith Erin Hicks falls into.

Pumpkinheads is the coming-of-age story of best friends Deja and Josie, high school seniors who are finishing up their last ever night working at DeKnock's World Famous Pumpkin Patch and Autumn Jamboree, aka the best pumpkin patch in the world.

"I wanted this book to feel like one of those classic Disney live-action movies – like The Parent Trap or Freaky Friday," Rowell told us about writing Pumpkinheads. "Emotional and earnest, but also a rollicking good time." Um, mission accomplished.

read more: Check, Please! — The Queer Hockey Bros Comic You Should Be Reading

This is one of the most stereotypically fall book you could read this autumn. Set in a Nebraskan pumpkin patch, more specific settings in this fall adventure include The Succotash Hut, The Pie Palace, The Pumpkin Bomb Stand, and The S'mores Pit—and that's without mentioning the corn maze.

"Nebraska has a very Classic Fall Vibe – changing leaves, cool weather, bonfires," said Rowell. "And we really leaned into that in the book. Sarah Stern, our colorist, did such a good job bringing that to life."

"The look that Rainbow wanted for Pumpkinheads was very specific," added Hicks, "and it was based on a pumpkin patch in the state where she lives in. I visited her before I started drawing the book and took lots of reference pictures, and ate lots of snacks. That visit helped a lot when I sat down to draw Pumpkinheads; being at that particular pumpkin patch and getting to experience its whimsy was important, especially as it’s something very different from fall festivals where I live in Vancouver, Canada."

You too can experience the Classic Fall Vibe of Pumpkinheads by picking up this coziest of graphic novels at your local book or comic book store. 

- Kayti Burt

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

September 10th, Tor Books

“Lesbian necromancers explore a haunted gothic palace in space!” is probably the year’s best elevator pitch in fiction, or at the very least in sci-fi/fantasy. And maybe you have been hearing about it all year (I got the chance to read this book back in icy February), but of course it could not be released in any season other than fall.

The turning point of the year is the perfect time to meet Gideon Nav, indentured-servant-turned-swordswoman of the Emperor’s Ninth House, and her sworn enemy/reluctant charge, aforementioned necromancer and heri Harrowhark Nonagesimus. When these unlikely representatives of the Ninth journey to the dessicated First House to prove their mettle for immortality against seven other houses’ necromancers and cavaliers, they engage in skeleton battles and spooky riddles and some fascinating scientific experiments that make for bloody good fun.

read more: Best New Fantasy Books in September 2019

A book this delightfully gothy shouldn’t appeal to all audiences, yet is such an utter mood that it does: publishing-industry and not, SFF and not, goths and very much not. When I first heard of its existence, I was ready to write it off as simply not for me—someone who loves fall more for the hygge than the heebie-jeebies, who could not come up with another necromancer story for the life of me.

But I was drawn in by Gideon and her dirty magazines and her desperation to escape the grasp of the Ninth; then her bloody contract with Harrow; then the Clue/And Then There Were None vibe of picking off their sundry competitors. This book is a haunted castle story for people who would rather watch slideshows of people being scared at haunted houses than set foot inside themselves… but it’s also got enough heart and guts to join the canon for those discerning necromancer afficionados.

- Natalie Zutter

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

September 10th, Nan A. Talese

Margaret Atwood’s highly anticipated sequel to dystopian speculative fiction novel The Handmaid’s Tale is finally here! The original, written in 1984’s West Berlin, has always had a spooky fall feel to me, from the New England setting (Cambridge and environs) and the modern tendency to mine the book for Halloween costumes, to the dedication to Mary Webster, Atwood’s ancestor, AKA “Half-Hanged Mary,” an actual 17th century woman who was hanged for witchcraft and lived to tell the tale. 

read more: Best New Science Fiction Books

The sequel, set more than 15 years later, follows the lives of three women. One of the strengths of The Handmaid’s Tale is Offred’s claustrophobic narration – the terror of Gilead hangs over her every thought, and we feel it far more acutely as fear than the existential dread or stomach-churning disgust that Hulu’s series creates. For The Testaments, Atwood has expanded to three perspectives, the identities of which should excite book readers and show fans alike. One is a woman in power, and two are younger women who come of age in the time of Gilead. 

I can’t think of many things more terrifying than Margaret Atwood’s writing at her best. Let’s just say if you’re hoping to learn more about the origins of Gilead and what happened after that mysterious ending while finding your next Halloween costume, this is the book for you.

- Delia Harrington

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell

September 24th, Wednesday Books

Road-trip stories, at least to American readers, feel quintessentially summery: setting out on the open road during the most unstructured time of the year, determined to find yourself in time for whatever life change awaits in the fall. But for Simon Snow, crossing the pond to the States, it feels more like a gap year.

Having dropped out from the Watford School of Magicks and found the loophole in what should have been a fatal Chosen One destiny, Simon is at a loss for what to do now. So of course his best friends drag him off the couch and throw him into a car to go adventuring through the American West. The Supernatural vibes are strong, and that’s before I’ve even gotten into the vampires and shotgun-toting skunk-like creatures that will make for some very amusing detours.

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Instead of attending magic college or following in Harry Potter’s footsteps and jumping into wizardly gainful employment, Simon is taking a breather. What makes Wayward Son feel especially fall-like is that we have no idea for how long, or who Simon will be at the end of this break—just that he’s making a change, not just turning over a new leaf but witnessing how the leaves themselves change and how the wind picks up across America.

- Natalie Zutter

The Tenth Girl by Sara Faring

September 24th, Tor Teen

It's the 1970s, and Mavi is an Argentine teen who flees Buenos Aires and the military regime that took her mother for a remote girls boarding school located on a remote cliff in Patagonia. The catch in an already complicated existence? The school is haunted. Told from the dual perspectives of Mavi and Angel, one of the "Others" who lives in the house, The Tenth Girl is a novel that will constantly keep you guessing until the very end.

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This book reminded me of both Jane Eyre and The Haunting of Hill House while also feeling entirely original. It's a debut from Faring, who drew on her own Argentine heritage and her family history in the country when writing the story, and I am eager to see what else this author comes up with. At 464 pages, this is a long one, and a narrative that sometimes prioritizes prose over plot, which could be frustrating for some readers, but the descriptions of this haunted house were luscious enough to keep me interested throughout.

"I just love building Gothic atmosphere," Faring told Den of Geek in an interview. "It's one of my favorite things in anything I write: the gloomy, the spooky, the grand, the forgotten, the abandoned. I love that. So that was always sort of simmering in my brain and my imagination for years." If you like your fall reads with an extra heaping of Gothic atmosphere, then this is the book for you.

- Kayti Burt

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

September 24th, Harper

Ann Patchett (author of the highly decorated Bel Canto, among other beloved books) is the kind of writer whose words curl underneath your skin and make a home there. The plot rarely goes where you expect, but not in a gimmicky way. Even when the action is bombastic, the prose feels quiet, powerful, and mysterious. So when I read that her next book, The Dutch House, is going to be “a dark fairy tale” taking place over five decades, I added it to my mental “to read” list. 

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Starting in the late 1940s in Philadelphia when Cyril Conroy buys the mansion for his family, Cyril’s son Danny narrates the book through comings and goings. While it sounds like the book has much of the fairytale trappings we’re used to – a missing parent, children fending for themselves, and of course, an evil stepmother – Patchett is a subtle writer who relishes character, so I’m sure it will feel more magical and strange than Disney-ified and pat. 

I’m not a huge fan of typical slasher-horror style books; I like my chills to be more deep-seated and existential than jumpy or gore-y. Grounded in the quotidian familiarity of family and the ways we hurt one another, I’m looking forward to Ann Patchett guiding me on the next journey into the unknown with The Dutch House. 

- Delia Harrington

The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher

October 1st, Saga Press

T. Kingfisher—real name Ursula Vernon—has written cute books for children and even won a Hugo Award for her graphic novel Diggers. Because she writes such a variety of fiction for vastly different audiences, it became all too necessary for the author to wield the pen name T. Kingfisher when she delved into more mature works for older readers.

In The Twisted Ones, Kingfisher teases the kind of Southern-based horror that threatens to drag you down with it. When the main character Mouse has to clean out her deceased grandmother’s house, she finds her grandfather’s journal that appears to be full of nonsense... until she meets one of the horrible he described. One of the things her grandfather’s journal warned against was a secret colony in the woods. She’s also going to be adventuring in those woods, discovering and confronting these mysterious beings alongside her trusty dog.

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Add on top of the supernatural scares the ordinary horrors of uncleanliness—grandma was a hoarder, and I know the book’s description doesn’t mention that because she was a little bad at picking up after herself. Anyone who’s seen an episode or two of Hoarders should know that there’s a lot of terror involved with accumulated stuff: the germs, the forgotten memories, the unwillingness to let go of possessions, the potential hazards of piles of things toppling on unwary passersby.

Coupling the supernatural with a mean-spirited hoarder shaking off her mortal coil to leave her family dealing with her mistakes fascinates the Hell out of me, and I can’t wait to dive in (maybe with a gas mask?). The Twisted Ones holds the kind of intrigue and folksy-dread that promises to enrapture the reader. It’s a “girl and her dog” adventure hinting at a forward-thinking protagonist and I’m all about that.

- Bridget LaMonica

Frankissstein by Jeanette Winterson

October 1st, Grove Press

Mary Shelley first dreamed up Frankenstein on an especially dreary middle-of-the-night in June 1816, during the Year Without a Summer thanks to oppressive levels of volcanic ash in the atmosphere following an eruption. To wit: despite it technically being summer when she, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and other vacationing houseguests stayed inside during their Lake Geneva trip, the vibe was eerie enough that it made perfect sense to compete for who could tell the spookiest story. Which is why Frankenstein will always feel like an autumnal tale.

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What makes Winterson’s contemporary take feel especially spooky is how it transplants so many of Shelley’s ideas from 200 years ago—the miracle of reanimation, the devastation of rejection, questions of when a creation stops owing its existence to its creator and instead owns its destiny—in modern contexts that make them as relevant as ever.

I don’t know which lens I’m more excited about: the ethics of artificial intelligence superseding puny human brains; the cryogenics facility filled with dozens of bodies almost guaranteed to be reanimated for some nefarious use; the subplot about a humble sex-doll operation that posits new questions about autonomy and consent; or the fact that our modern protagonist is trans. Actually, what I think I’m most excited for will be the portions of the book that retell Shelley’s story—because judging from the angles at which Winterson reexamines this classic, she’ll know just how to get into Shelley’s head on that fateful night.

- Natalie Zutter

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo 

October 8th, Flatiron Books

Dropout Alex Stern doesn’t consider herself Yale University material, which is why it’s extra strange when she’’s offered an easy in to the elite college. Of course, there’s a catch: she’s tasked with monitoring the spooky goings-on of the school’s secret societies. It’s a fantasy novel that dovetails with the real world, digging in to what might be happening when the rich and well-connected of Yale summon up something occult.

Leigh Bardugo’s name has been on my radar because of her very popular Young Adult fiction. Her first adult offering was also her first work to really catch my eye. The appeal of every supernatural school story is to see the uncanny in a very familiar situation, and while I can’t say I’d get into Yale either, the idea of returning to college to hunt down a cult sounds like it sits right in that wheelhouse.

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So why is this a good book for this fall? This seems to land on the darker side of dark fantasy: Alex survived an attempted, unsolved homicide before the investigation of the occult even starts. Yale’s secret societies meet in eight windowless buildings called “tombs,” and the ninth house in the title may be a supernatural ninth tomb. Readers looking for fantastical horror around Halloween may very well find it here. It’s a back-to-school story too, so while the audience is primarily adults, the autumn is the perfect season to start walking in Alex’s shoes.

A content note: the author has stated that this book may be difficult for some people, and readers disinclined to encounter sexual trauma in their fiction may want to avoid it.)

I said this at Bookcon, but I'm going to say this here too: I take care with the way I write trauma and I am not interested in misery tourism. Alex's experiences in Ninth House draw directly from my own and this book was in many ways a work of catharsis. HOWEVER.

— Leigh Bardugo (@LBardugo) June 3, 2019

- Megan Crouse

A Lush and Seething Hell by John Horner Jacobs

October 29th, Harper Voyager

After having recently, finally read The Call of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft my appetite for that quiet, brooding horror has only been stoked. When I stumbled upon this soon-to-be-published piece, I figured I hit jackpot. John Hornor Jacobs is an award-winning author who collects two novellas in this volume: “The Sea Dreams It Is the Sky” and “My Heart Struck Sorrow.” This new release is promising a mix of supernatural and psychological terror, a pairing that does well to get inside one’s mind this time of the year.

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“My Heart Struck Sorrow” follows a librarian who has discovered a music recording from the Deep South that might be from the Devil himself (anyone getting any “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” vibes?). Jacobs has written Southern horror that echoed that famous song’s premise before, notably his book Southern Gods, in which a blues man’s music makes some people go insane while also raising the dead.

“The Sea Drams It Is The Sky” has a little less straightforward description, though no less intriguing: This story features an exiled poet trying to decipher a difficult text, a South American dictatorship and “a young woman trying to come to grips with a country that nearly devoured itself.” Points go to the one who can guess if that devouring is literal or figurative, seeing as this author’s work could go either way.

- Bridget LaMonica

I'm a Gay Wizard by V.S. Santoni

October 29th, Wattpad Books

If I Know What You Did Last Summer decided to hang out with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Lev Grossman's The Magicians, but added to the mix LGBTQ coming of age and romance, it might turn out something like Santoni's debut YA novel, I'm a Gay Wizard.

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Originally released as a Wattpad serial, the novel hits shelves October 29, 2019. Main characters Johnny and Alison spend their summer playing at magical spells—Alison is obsessed with magic, and Johnny goes along for the ride. But when a vengeance spell against bullies tormenting them causes an earthquake, the pair are whisked away to the Marduke Institute, a clandestine school for wizards, and told they must leave their old lives behind... forever.

The Institute is more prison than school, but it's also where Johnny and Alison meet cute boys Hunter and Blake, who know a lot more about the world than the two newcomer wizards. While this isn't a creepy, Halloween-y story, it's a perfect back-to-school tale featuring underrepresented main characters (Johnny is Latinx and gay, Alison is trans) from an #OwnVoices author.

- Alana Joli Abbott

The Witches are Coming by Lindy West

November 5th, Hachette

Back in October of 2017, writer Lindy West wrote a column in The New York Times about bad men’s bad faith responses to the #MeToo movement. It was called “Yes, This Is a Witch Hunt. I’m a Witch and I’m Hunting You.” Please read it immediately if you haven’t already, and then you’ll know why I’m so excited for this book, which promises to be an expansion of the themes in her original Times piece.

Witches have been having something of a moment right now, and Lindy West’s choice to invoke imagery used to scare women into silence long before it was used to scare children while reclaiming the “witch hunt” phrase shows a glimpse of her power as a writer and thinker. I picture a powerful witch stalking steadily toward perpetrators and their defenders like the woman in "The Yellow Wallpaper" circles the room at the end of the story: purposeful, terrifying, and a bit mad.  

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You might know Lindy West from her time writing classics at Jezebel like her takedown of Love, Actually or from the Hulu show Shrill, which is based on her memoir/scathing cultural critique of the same name. Or perhaps you saw or participated in #ShoutYourAbortion, where folks shared their stories in an effort to destigmatize healthcare, or even from her debate with a comedian about rape jokes on W. Kamau Bell’s television show. The point is, West has been leading and shaping the cultural conversation with wit and intelligence for a long time, especially when it comes to gender, violence, and discrimination. 

While it may feel like all we do is talk about gender and violence these days, we still haven’t stepped back and parsed what this means for us in the longer term, beyond each individual case, and on the list of writers I’m eager to hear from on the topic, West is damn near the top.  

- Delia Harrington

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

November 5th, Graywolf Press

"Y’all, this book almost killed me dead, but I did it," Machado tweeted last November when announcing her forthcoming memoir. And if that isn’t gothic AF, then I don’t know what is. After tapping into deep-seated terrors—cruel Girl Scouts and awkward writing residencies, a gut-punch retelling of “The Green Ribbon”—in 2017’s collection Her Body and Other Parties, Machado turns that same excavating eye on her own traumas in In the Dream House. With an eerie cover that evokes a V.C. Andrews novel, Machado traces her own escape from an abusive relationship with a charismatic woman in a genre-bending account that clearly took its toll on her (another hallmark of old-school literary horror).

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What’s more, the story is told in disparate pieces, with each chapter built around a narrative trope: the haunted house, the bildungsroman, erotica. It’s a keen way to compartmentalize and analyze what have to be harrowing memories, and thematically links back to Her Body and Other Parties. Yet there are moments of levity, too, as Machado’s memoir explores hidden passageways of Star Trek, Disney, and fairy tales. The most effective horror (Get Out, Signs, Hereditary) contrasts jarring moments of absurd or even laugh-out-loud comedy alongside the disturbing; I can’t wait to see how Machado holds space for both the light and the dark.

- Natalie Zutter

Kayti Burt is a staff editor covering books, TV, movies, and fan culture at Den of Geek. Read more of her work here or follow her on Twitter @kaytiburt.

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The Lists Kayti Burt Alana Joli Abbott Megan Crouse Delia Harrington Bridget LaMonica Natalie Zutter

Sep 23, 2019

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