A Brief History On September 18, 2018, apropos to nothing in particular, we take the opportunity to once again discuss the disgusting English language! Previously, we started the discussion on our article dated September 29, 1975, “What is Up With The English Language?” and today we add to the discussion by addressing some troubling particular uses and misuses of words and phrases. As always, please tell us what you disagree with in this article or better yet, your own pet peeves about the use and alleged misuse of English! (BTW, we are well aware of the liberties this author sometimes…
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A Brief History On July 31, 1965, Joanne Rowling, aka J.K. Rowling and Robert Galbraith, was born in Yale, Gloucestershire, England in the United Kingdom. Joanne would become a writer of fiction and pen the most successful book series of all time, the Harry Potter stories. In fact, Rowling has sold as many as 500 million of her books, an astounding number, but NOT the most ever sold by a female author! Digging Deeper The answer to the question asked in the title of the article is Agatha Christie, born Agatha Mary Clarissa Miller on September 15, 1890, in Torquay,…
A Brief History What follows is (as far as we are aware) a continuation of a work of fiction written several years ago by a young lady interested in the supernatural in the style of the stories found in Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (1981) or a more modern creepypasta. For Chapter 1, please click here. Digging Deeper: Full text of Chapter 4 of The Nightmare of the Baby Head There once was a 6-year-old boy named Jason, who loved playing with his Sonic the Hedgehog toys and dressing up as Sonic for Halloween. What he would not love is…
A Brief History On November 15, 2010, Manchester University Press published a hardcover edition of Andrew Smith’s The ghost story, 1840-1920. In this book, Smith shares his wealth of knowledge with his readers as he attempted to critique the history of the ghost story over a substantial period of time. This effort did not please critic Matt Foley, who considered the course of eighty years, starting from 1840 to be “wide in its scope,”[1] which it certainly is. Smith, however, seems to be quite knowledgeable on the topic of gothic literature, having produced numerous works in that department and gained…
A Brief History On May 14, 1816, romantically linked English authors Mary Godwin and Percy Shelley arrived at Geneva, Switzerland. The poet Lord Byron (pictured on the right in the image above with Godwin in the middle and Shelley on the left) joined the young lovers on May 25th, with his young physician, John William Polidori. Eventually, the friends decided to have a competition to see who could write the best horror story. After thinking for days, Godwin, who would later that year marry Shelley, dreamt about a scientist who created life and was horrified by what he had made; her dream…