More Reading Recommendations

As I did last week, I wanted to take some time out to plug one of my latest reads, Dracula by Bram Stoker. Probably all of you have heard of this book, many have seen Francis Ford Coppola's film adaptation, if not the original one starring Bela Legosi, but how many of you have read this thing?

Honestly, I always hesitated over this one, fearing that it would be rather boring--as some of these older stories can often be. This was mainly due to the fact that the book is a rather large one by today's standards--and considering even some of the more recent novels have gotten a few yawns out of me...

I finally broke down the other day and started this thing, and I'm not disappointed in the least. In fact, it is much better than I ever thought it would be. Stoker's sense of atmosphere--especially in the first few chapters--is simply amazing. And the book clips along at a brisk pace, too. As with any book, it drags in places, but overall, I've been thoroughly entertained, and much of this fact is due to Stoker's writing. He really is a gifted author, building his world and suspense, and doing so by having narrator's with different voices--something Ms. Shelly should've learned before writing her Frankenstein.

While I doubt this book is for everyone, if any of you others have been on the fence about reading this, go ahead, take the plunge. It's more than worth your time.

(The above illustration comes from Ben Templesmith.)

Melted My Own Face

My friends and I are working on putting together an online lit mag that will be starting up shortly, and with all websites, we needed artwork. So I got to work on the above. I can honestly say that I've never had anything turn out so well. Usually the image in my head to what comes out on the page ends up being entirely different, but this time it all worked out.

Since our site will be on the slightly darker side of things, I wanted to keep the tone a bit darker, though with a light-hearted hint. I figured what better person to look to for inspiration than Ben Templesmith. So, Ben, this is my tribute to you.

Really, I couldn't be happier with the final product.

Also, we'll probably be taking submissions for our site VERY soon, so be thinking about that and I'll probably give out all the details on Monday.

Have a great weekend.