Tarn House :: You'll Like My Mother :: Daughter of Despair [and lookalikes]

For all you sons-in-law out there: The 2nd one! :-p I think the model on the cover of "Daughter of Despair" looks a lot like Neve Campbell ala late '90s. I've also seen a cover wherein the model looks very much like Nicole Kidman, Claudia Schiffer, etc. -- celebs who were tots when the cover art was created, if even yet born.

Girl On the Run :: Portrait of a Dead Lady :: The Ice Forest

As in the last post, small but sharp and crisp images. These are obtained via "The Bookshelf":

Crow Hollow: Cover Scan

This is an unusually pretty cover, despite the lack of excessive detail and neutral colors. It's the hint of pale wintry blueness (despite her filmy sleeveless plunge neckline gown!), the murder of crows sitting on a black gnarled tree branch, the STARK RED LETTERING above...it works for me. Simplicity in beauty I guess. I don't own this cover and found its scan at Fantasticfiction.uk.

Two Novel Covers [small]

Break out your magnifying glass. ;-) Sorry, I couldn't find a larger online image. Both found via Gothic Bookshelf (seller). The images are crisp and sharp however. I'd particularly like to have the 1st:

Vampire Hunter D: The Novels [2]

Yesterday I posted 3 titles and their cover art. This is the 4th of these novels which I purchased yesterday. I've begun reading it, and the story reads like the original Anime film "plays." Very interesting and enjoyable. There are other novels as well, and of course their cover art can be found via Google Images.

Vampire Hunter D: The Novels

This past Friday, while browsing in Hasting's, I noticed one of these novels for sale. Hadn't known VHD had been novelized, though it didn't surprise me. I also noticed it's a serial collection and was curious to see what selection Barnes & Noble might have. Turns out B & N has nearly every title, and I bought 4 of them (will try to find a photo of the 4th tomorrow). I *love* Vampire Hunter D, immediately liked the original 1985 Anime film back then.

These books are NOT graphic novels. They are labeled as Manga, despite reading right to left and only containing 9 or 10 illustrations. The style is prose. The creator of VHD wrote these novels in the mid-1980s, and around 2006 they were finally translated into English. :-)

The cover art are gorgeous. I got these from Google Images and none of the scans really do the art justice.

Dracula, by Bram Stoker [1897] *Review 1*

After reading extensively about this classic novel in the book which accompanies "The Vampire Tarot" by Robert M. Place (that Tarot deck is based upon Stoker's novel), I decided to read the novel itself (my copy's cover is that shown).

Far be it from me to review "Dracula," much less approve of it, but wow -- it truly IS a masterpiece. On a scale of 1 to 5 stars it would rate 500. I'm halfway through the novel and will jot down my impressions of it so far.

First off, I'm amazed an Englishman of his day could write female characters (Mina and Lucy) so well. The ladies' diaries and letters sound so authentic, as if actually written by women of the time. All characters are likeable (except for the Count of course), and I've fallen in love with Jonathan Harker. ;-) A genuine Gothic atmosphere pervades the book, including fantasy-type imagery I wouldn't have thought possible for an author of the late 19th century.

At first I was skeptical the "diary/journal entries, letters, telegrams" style of the novel would work. Sometimes it is a bit difficult to imagine Mina or Dr. Seward not getting horrific writing cramps, but the style DOES work. The entire novel is written from a "collection" of each main character's 1st-person accounts and observations.

And it is precisely that which keeps this novel MOVING. It must have been considered a very fast-paced and exhilirating read in 1897 because it keeps this 21st century gal turning the pages. You know how old novels tend to be: It takes the author 10 pages to move characters from exiting the door to being down at lane's end picking daisies. :-P Yeah, I know life was slower then...but Stoker's novel is NOT like that. It keeps clipping right along.

Stoker was bold and daring. It paid off.

Will write 2nd and final review when I've completed this treasure.