Un dragon noir à la Tour de Londres

Photo prise dans la boutique de souvenirs de la Tour de Londres. C'est le deuxième dragon que j'ai pris en photo cette journée-là. Ce dragon-ci était un dragon toutou énorme et il était là pour faire beau, il n'était hélas pas à vendre. Pas que j'aurais pû le transporter, mais petit loup aurait beaucoup aimé le rajouter à sa ménagerie.

"Beastly Tales"

The treasures one can find among a pile of old books. A few weeks ago, Wolfie's school were giving away free books. We could do donations, but they were free. We picked up a couple of them, him and me, including this one. When I was his age, I was fascinated by cryptids. I don't believe they exist anymore, but I kept a sort of interest about the myths surrounding them. So we eagerly read this book together. And I read it another time by myself, just for fun. I told him to be very sceptical about the accounts told in Beastly Tales. Even if one doesn't believe in them, they are still entertaining. If you have any suggestion for such books about cryptozoology, please let me know in the comments.

George and the Dragon

Happy Saint George's Day everyone! Saint George is of course patron saint of England, even though he was not English and never set foot here. He is also and especially famous for slaying a dragon, which makes it all the more interesting for those, like me, who love old legends and monsters. Anyway, him being patron saint of England means that a lot of pubs here are named George and Dragon. It gave them a nice name, if nothing else. I took this picture in one, the George and Dragon in Marlow. I could make it a yearly tradition: put a picture of a pub called George and Dragon every 23rd of April. Preferably a different pub every time. This is a nice image, the dragon looks bat-like and demomic, interestingly enough.

Un dragon dans la Tour

 J'ai pris cette photo à la Tour de Londres. Un dragon fait de métal, sur des barils de poudre. Je n'ai pas eu le temps de m'attarder, étant occupé à suivre un jeune garçon hyper dont l'attention passait d'une chose à une autre. Je crois que le dragon est plus ou moins lié à Guy Fawkes, mais je n'en suis pas certain. Dans tous les cas, toute représentation d'un dragon m'intéresse et mérite une photo. J'ai donc pris celle-ci. Et ce n'est pas le seul dragon que j'ai vu dans la Tour de Londres, mais c'est le plus original et de loin le plus imposant.

Vision d'épouvante

Mon frère PJ m'a envoyé des photos de la bédé Les Nuits de l'Épouvante. Le bouquin devrait faire partie de toute liste de lecture de l'Halloween. Mais enfin bref, j'ai choisi de partager aujourd'hui une image qui donne une idée de l'esthétique de l'album, avec quelque chose de terrifiant et d'onirique à la fois. Ils faisaient dans la vision de cauchemar un brin freudienne, le démon qui attaque Sir Leo étant aussi son Dopplegänger. 

True scary stories in the library

I took this picture in October last year (I think) in the Marlow Library. The town of Marlow is a lovely place to go to any time of year, but especially round Halloween, when it is really atmospheric and eerie at places. I haven't been there in month, so I don't know if they are already in a spooky mood in its library, but I am and I have started my Halloween reads, which consists of a lot of ghost and horror stories. I don't imit myelf to fiction, but also to alleged real life hauntings and alleged true stories of the supernatural. Not that I believe in them, I am a skeptical person, but they give you a chill nevertheless and can be a great source of inspiration when you try to write horror stories yourself. And there is just something about reading ghost stories in an old library such as the Marlow one.

The Monster Game

I blogged before about All About Monsters, the very popular Usborne book about, well, monsters, mythical as well as cryptids. A lot of emphasis was put on the cryptid ones, actually. When Usborne republished the book, I quickly bought it. But I discovered that one thing in the French translaiton was missing in the original English: the Monster Game. Truly a board game that was made of the last page of the book, especially created, I think, for the French edition. I'm not sure why. The objective of the game was finding evidence for the existence of a lake monster, the Monster of Ellness Lake, basically a thinly disguised Loch Ness. We never played it. The rules were shoddy at best, for one. My brothers and I used the Monster Game, however for a few make belief games set around a lake and involving a cryptid like this one. Our characters explored the lake in a bathyscape, we questioned the locals, etc. It was quite fun. Anyway, I asked my father to send me pictures of the "Great Monster Game", beacause I wanted to share this memory on the blog. And because it might come in handy.

The Birthday of Mary Shelley

Today is a  big day for any fan of classic horror stories and Halloween lovers: it is the birthday of Mary Shelley. She is of course the author of Frankenstein. I pay homage to her every year on this blog and I always make her birthday one of the benchmarks of my countdown to Halloween. Her most famous novel is one of the happy discoveries of my early teenage and I go back to it from time to time. I have been trying to find the cover of the first version I read, no luck yet. So to accompany this post, here is a portrait of her. Happy birthday Mary!

What was the Beast of Gévaudan? | Monstrum

Monstrum recently made a video about the Beast of Gévaudan and I wanted to share it here. You cannot beat a real, historical horror story, that has been fascinating me since I watched a TV program about it, some thirty years ago. For your early countdown to Halloween, I hope you enjoy.

"New" Frankenstein from Marlow

We went to Marlow a few days ago and, like last time, we stopped at the Marlow Museum, which is tiny, but always a pleasure to go to. And, like last time, I bought another copy of Frankenstein.Well, not the original, but another adaptation for children. At £7.99, it is borderline a bargain. Almost. I<m sure I could have found a cheaper price, but it makes it special that I bought it in the town where Mary Shelley lived and finished writing her famous novel. And as May has been rather dark and gloomy these days, so I am already getting into a Halloween mood.

Aquila on Greek Mythology

 Every month, Wolfie receives Aquila Magazine. That's one of the reasons why why I say he recceives the best mail.And this was no exception this month: the theme for the May issue is Greek myths. With a very cool (if a bit cartoony) picture of the Minotaur on its front cover. I love Greek mythology, I always have, I gathered or was gifted many books about it over the years. Now I hope to enjoy it with my son and make him discover it.

Saint George's Day

I almost forgot: it is Saint George's Day today. So happy Saint George's Day everyone. Nobody notices it or cares about it in England, ironically enough, not even my son, who is a proud Englishman. I used to celebrate it a bit more, at least on this blog. But I have come to neglect it too. Which is sad: we talk about a patron saint who is associated with a fight and a victory against a dragon. It always appealed to me, because I love folklore, myths and legends and, well, dragons. I should really make something about it on Vraie Fiction, a real blogging event.

A portrait of Frankenstein's Monster

Here's a bit of literary horror news: the first ever image of Frankenstein's Monster in print is going to auction. You can see the image in the article and, well, it's not the one you are used to and, to be honest, is not very impressive, as in not very scary. Let's be honest: it's not the unnatural abomination that the creature was meant to be. Only the long black hair is truly faithful to the source material (although I don't think they were meant to be curly). In fact, I thought the monster looks more pathetic, even a tad comical than anything else. But people at the time might have had different standards, and it is easier to describe terror than give it a face for all to see. Anyway, that was the piece of Gothic horror news I wanted to share and there's only seven months until Halloween... Yes, I'm already thinking about it.

Frankenstein, the Classic Illustrated

We went to Marlow fairly recently, as a family outing. Marlow is known for a number of things, among them it is where Mary Shelley briefly lived and this is where she finished writing Frankenstein. We briefly stopped at the Marlow Museum as it was about to close down and saw that there were some book adaptations of the original novel. Among them, this Classics Illustrated comic book edition. At only £7.99, I thought it was a bargain and I had to buy it, even though I already have the original novel. Of course, I already read it and, while it's not perfect, I really enjoyed it. Mainly for the gory images, which give a nice visual accompaniement to the original story. Which is surprisingly faithfully rendered here, minus a weaker text. I think I will read it again in the weeks leading to Halloween. Because yes, I am already thinking about it.

Monstrum on The Hat Man

Well, Monstrum has done it again today: they shared a fascinating video about the Hat Man. A critter I personally encountered at least twice in my life, although thankfully not in real life, I mean not when I was fully awake and conscious. I did not know this figure had a name and a history, or that other people had "seen" him too. I even blogged about one of these encounters in 2011. I have been wanting to write a horror story on the Hat Man ever since, maybe for Halloween. Well, I have time to think about it.

 

Kallikantzaros (Christmas Monster)

I learn something new every day. Concretely, Monstrum has released a video about Kallikantzaros, a monster from Greece, associated with Christmas. Because Christmas can be spooky. And what a cool critter it is. Anyway, Kallikantzaros may be a mouthful(it took me a few tries to spell it and pronounce it), but this is our word of the day.

Les Nuits de l'Épouvante et Lovecraft

 Lors de mon retour au Québec, j'ai eu le plaisir de me retaper Les Nuits de l'Épouvante pour la première fois depuis au moins trente ans. Mon frère PJ me l'avait laissé à l'appart. J'ai été heureusement surpris de découvrir des éléments lovecraftiens explicites. Ici, Sir Leo, le héros (britannique, bien entendu) de certaines des histoires consulte le Necronomicon. Ah oui, et jolie ambiance, avec le bras reptilien que l'on voit à droite, juste parce que. Je regrette ne pas avoir pris plus de photos pour le blogue. Durant l'Halloween, c'est la bédé parfaite.

This Is Halloween

 For today's (and this year's first) countdown to Halloween reading suggestion: This Is Halloween, by James A. Moore. "Ten Tales of Terror" as the cover says. Not all of them are explicitly set round Halloween, but many of them are. And many of them feature the sinister Bedlam Woods, where a ghostly witch and her monstrous offsprings dwell. Relatable characters are mercilessly sent to and through hell, and neither critters nor ordinary humans are devoid of moral ambiguity. Moore is great at turning familiar places and traditions into unsettling backdrops. I also loved how original his monsters often are: you have undead made of bones, shadowy female spirit that haunts and attacks its preys like lightning, a blobby shape-shifting fiend who puts on a human skin and walks among them as a... but I don't want to give too much away. This is the perfect seasonal read. Preparing this post, I learned that Moore sadly passed away in March this year. I am sad to discover a new horror writer as of late, but this will not be the last book of him that I will read. This post is a posthumous homage.

About Mary Shelley and her offspring

Well, with all the excitement of being home in Montreal for the holidays, I forgot that the 30th of August was the birthday of Mary Shelley. She is of course the author of Frankenstein. I was reminded of this by by Mary Does Marlow.I went to one of her special activities in Marlow,where the original Mary Shelley finished writing her famous novel. I got this sticker. I know it is a bit late, however I find it important to commemorate her birthday, as it marks my countdown to Halloween, which pretty much started now.

Medusa in a Zoom meeting

You may know that I love all things regarding Greek mythology and that Medusais by far my favourite Greek monster. So when I saw this meme, it really made me laugh. I thought I could share it today to brighten up your Monday. Although, I must say, from a pure geeky point of you, I don't think this is accurate at all: Medusa's reflection is harmless, in fact this is how Perseus kills her, using the back of his shield as a mirror to find her and chop her head off. But anyway, what do you think about it? Worth the risk?