May 23, 2013 · 2:24 pm

Weekly Eldritch: Dolls are Talking to Me!

Bwa ha ha!

For newcomers to this site, every Thursday I post a Weekly Eldritch, or something I find creepy.

(eldritch = unearthly, alien, supernatural, weird, spooky, eerie)

Last week I mentioned an art installation I saw many years ago and Jan came to the rescue and identified the artist so I could look him up. The artist in question is Tony Oursler and this is what I saw that made my skin crawl…

chair_1995_banner

Basically you walk into a darkened, quiet gallery room and there’s this limp doll lying on a chair with a face projected on it… and the face is talking, or rather whispering to you. Something about having a secret, I don’t remember exactly, but it was spooky!

Here is Tony Oursler’s home site, with tons of photos of his work, much of which is decidedly eldritch.

Honolulu_banner

Comments Off on Weekly Eldritch: Dolls are Talking to Me!

Filed under Eldritch

Tagged as , ,

May 22, 2013 · 1:03 am

School Talks Today. Fun was had.

Phew! A lotta talking at Saltspring Elementary this afternoon. First I talked to the Kindergarten-Gr 2’s about being an author and making up stories. Then I spoke to the Gr. 3-5’s about writing for television and how cartoons are made. (Now that’s a huge topic – I could have gone on for hours.)

It all went well (thanks Powerpoint), I had a great time, and the students seemed pretty pumped too when it was all over. One Gr. 1 (S.) told me she was going to go home tonight and write a book!

I’m pretty revved up too, and (as I promised them) I am going to get some animation links up on this blog soon, and write more about storytelling, and writing how-to, and so forth…

Thanks Saltspring Elementary for being such a great audience!

 

Comments Off on School Talks Today. Fun was had.

Filed under the Writing Life

Tagged as

May 16, 2013 · 10:58 pm

Weekly Eldritch: Masks

IMGP1304 - Version 2This first photo is an old one I took at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York years ago and unfortunately I don’t have any more info about this creepy devil dog, or devil horned sheep maybe? Actually, I think a devil sheep would be far scarier than your boring everyday demon hound.

There’s really something unsettling about someone covering their face with a mask, concealing their identity and pretending to be someone or something else. It’s just too bad that masks have gone out of vogue at Hallowe’en, for the younger kids anyway, because of fears that their vision will be hampered when crossing the street. Say what you will, face paint doesn’t allow you to disappear into your character quite as effectively as a mask does.

The following photos were taken in the First Nations exhibit at the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria.

DSC08848

DSC08851

DSC08857 - Version 2

DSC08850

Saving the best for last, this one is called “Man Burned by Fire”. Yikes!

How about you? Are you creeped out by people wearing masks?

Comments Off on Weekly Eldritch: Masks

Filed under Eldritch

Tagged as , , ,

· 10:23 pm

Still pretty chuffed

I wish I could be more blasé about this, but I was in Vancouver last night, and as I headed toward the bus stop I chanced upon a Chapters open late and I decided to check the shelves for…

IMG_0792Two copies of Eldritch there, on the shelf just a few humbling, heart-fluttering inches away from the tomes of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Yeah, I’m not too proud to go into Chapters and take photos of my book! And the funny part of it is that an hour later I saw that a good friend of mine out east had just posted on facebook her own photo of Eldritch on another store shelf out there!

It’s still shocking for me to come across it like that!

Comments Off on Still pretty chuffed

Filed under the Writing Life

May 10, 2013 · 7:34 am

Weekly Eldritch: Dolls and Doll Parts!

DSC08841

Here’s a spooky doll I had as a child, though when I was a kid I didn’t think she was spooky. What makes her so creepish? The bulbous forehead? The tiny body? The Stepford Wives dress? The big eyes? The eye colour??

There’s something about old toys, and especially dolls, that can be particularly eerie. The most serious case of chills I ever got in an art gallery was over a rag doll lying on a chair with a real person’s moving face projected onto its blank head… and you could hear it whispering. Made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, that’s for sure. I will try to find out who the artist was on that one – I know I wrote it down in a notebook somewhere…

Finally, here’s a link to some seriously creepy sculptures made entirely of doll parts. Yoiks.

p.s. Here’s what happens when you pull the string on my doll…

DSC08837 DSC08840 - Version 2 DSC08839 DSC08838

 

2 Comments

Filed under Eldritch

Tagged as

May 6, 2013 · 10:37 am

Latest Eldritch Reading, with Cookies

On Thursday I spoke to a group that was a bit of a change from my school readings… the local Saltspring UCW (United Church Women)!

DSC08730

(Plus a few male guests…)

It was nice to see that reading an excerpt from Eldritch intrigued them as much as the intended YA audience. But then of course YA fantasy novels are so commonly read by adults these days that they should really rename the whole genre.

I would highly recommend reading to “church ladies” for 3 reasons –

1. They are kind: if they find your talk not so interesting they are far more polite and discreet about it than kids are.

2. The coffee is always on.

3. They bake: whenever ladies like this gather, baked goodies are always in evidence, and they are always Excellent!

Thanks, ladies!

Comments Off on Latest Eldritch Reading, with Cookies

Filed under the Writing Life

Tagged as

May 2, 2013 · 11:06 am

Weekly Eldritch: Fish!

Maybe it’s because I’m a prairie girl, but to my mind there’s something about the ocean that just breeds creepiness. I’m not talking about fish that look like fish, or those cute and clever dolphins or anything like that. I’m talking about those sea creatures that you see on nature shows and say “What IS that??” There are true grotesqueries that inhabit the deepest black ocean depths, but there are also weirdos in the shallows. And in the tank at your local Rainforest Café! Witness the Unicorn Fish:

unicorn fish

When I spotted this odd fellow he gave me shivers. Something about a fish with a human face and long nose that just does not seem right.

Wikipedia tells me: “The unicorn fishes are tropical, herbivorous marine surgeonfishes in the genus Naso. They are so named because of a spike that protrudes from the forehead. Some species have a bulbous protrusion rather than a pronounced spike…”  Okay, so if there’s anything that could make this guy creepier, it would have to be the thought of him being a surgeon…

Here’s another one that boggles my mind – the big flat Sunfish. A cafeteria tray with fins.

800px-Mola_mola_ocean_sunfish_Monterey_Bay_Aquarium_2

Is there anything in the ocean that geeks you out?

Comments Off on Weekly Eldritch: Fish!

Filed under Eldritch

Tagged as

April 25, 2013 · 12:40 pm

Return of the Weekly Eldritch…

Okay, so I let this slide for a while, but it’s back! Here once more is a weekly offering of creepiness for your viewing pleasure.

This is one that I’ve had up on my office wall for years and years, a classic of the macabre.

The Gashlycrumb Tinies

by Edward Gorey

gashlycrumbtinies

During my school talk last week C. from the Saltspring Centre School shared this as an eldritch spot that really creeps him out: “under my brother’s bed!”

If anyone out there has something eldritch to share, please leave a comment below or email me! (see CONTACT above)

Comments Off on Return of the Weekly Eldritch…

Filed under Eldritch

Tagged as ,

April 22, 2013 · 11:21 am

My First School Group!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Last Monday I had the great pleasure of reading from my book and chatting with a small but well-read group of students from the Centre School on Saltspring Island. I was a little nervous, but they were kind and had some great questions and comments. We discussed weird words, different kinds of fantasy fiction and mythology, which plays a big part in Eldritch Manor. They were extremely interested in Greek mythology because right now they’re reading Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief in class and are REALLY enjoying it.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

One challenge involved in talking to students is pitching your comments to their age level. Whenever kids ask questions and contribute to the discussion it’s a huge help in discovering their interests and making the talk more interesting for them.

Thanks Centre School students! That was fun! And it was nice to meet in the gorgeous new library too.

(photos courtesy of Sheila Spence)

1 Comment

Filed under the Writing Life

Tagged as ,

April 15, 2013 · 10:04 am

Springtime Happenings

And with the spring – this year at least – come the school talks! This afternoon I’m heading to the Saltspring Public Library to read from my book and chat with grade 3-5’s from the Centre School. I have a knee-shaking terror of speaking to an adult audience, but talking to young readers is actually fun for me. Thank goodness!

I hope they don’t ask me anything too hard.

In other news, I’m hoping to do more with this blog… talk about writing, recommend books, maybe even invite young guest reviewers to write about their favourite fantasy books? Contests, maybe?

Comments Off on Springtime Happenings

Filed under the Writing Life

Tagged as ,