"All this he saw, for one moment breathless and intense, vivid on the morning sky; and still, as he looked, he lived; and still, as he lived, he wondered."

Weekends with a good book feel extra special in the middle of a busy work period. Typing away till late at night in order to avoid projects bleeding past Friday turns into a nice cup of cocoa, cookies, and no god damn infernal renovation noises 20 minutes before the alarm. *chef's kiss*

Willows is truly made for moments like that. It's so cozy yet full of wisdom about adventure, coming home, letting go, friendship, support, the amazing power and mysticism of nature etc. It feels like two different books with the lyrical passages and vignettes interspersed with Toad's reckless escapades, but somehow it all works together.

Young kids will probably enjoy the abridged versions more, but in its full glory Willows shouldn't make anyone doubt whether adults can read children's books. I would even go so far as to say that it has one of the best writing I've ever read, adult fiction included.

"You think to baffle me, you with your pale faces all in a row, like sheep in a butcher's. You shall be sorry yet, each one of you! - - - My revenge is just begun! I spread it over centuries, and time is on my side."

Small town library. Me when I'm between 10 and 12. I'm bored, but I've already devoured all the children's books that interested me. I shuffle down to the mysterious adult fiction shelves, and almost immediately I'm enthralled by the scary cover of Dracula. I take it to the desk and the slightly intimidating librarian lady asks me: "Are you sure you want this?" I say yes, but in my mind I'm going through all the times I've read the infamous Noidan käsikirja (Usborne Guide to the Supernatural World) cover to cover. How bad can it be?

Re-reading Dracula after all this time made me love it even more (a lot of it was probably too boring for a young kid). The realistic epistolary format further enhances the creeping dread (especially when we're given information that not all the characters know), and many eerie scenes are still effective today: the Carpathian mountains at night, Jonathan's experiences at the castle, the ship Demeter and its mysteriously disappearing crew, Dracula's nightly visits, the sightings of a "bloofer lady" in Hampstead Heath etc.

It's always scary to revisit literary memories, but luckily I found all the familiar things I loved the first time around and discovered many new things. For instance, it's easy to dismiss Mina as just a damsel in distress, but not only does she and Jonathan have mutual respect for each other and a healthy unusually non-19th century relationship, she's caring, intelligent, skilled, and has an active role in defeating the count. With the words of Van Helsing: "She has a man’s brain – a brain that a man should have were he much gifted – and a woman’s heart".

Dracula is so seeped into the popular culture that it probably feels both strangely familiar and unfamiliar when you read it the first time, but it's not a novel you want to skip. It deserves its status as a classic, and I would argue that Stoker's writing (beautiful descriptions, atmosphere building etc.) deserves even more credit.

And, you know, it's just fun to see the hang-ups of Victorians be blown to smithereens by a lurking vampire who enjoys slurping the blood of pretty maidens (or a pretty maiden licking his chest).

"There is no life here but the slow death of days, and so when evil falls on the town, its coming seems almost preordained, sweet and morphic. It is almost as though the town knows the evil was coming and the shape it would take."

Let's face it: 'Salem's Lot doesn't add anything groundbreaking to the vampire lore. That's completely okay, though, because it's a fantastic example of how a small town should be written. The characters make you invested in the place, making it feel real instead of just a pod of vampire food, so when evil slowly and quietly bleeds into the people's lives it's so much more scarier (the memorable window scene in particular gives me the creeps whenever I think about it).

It's the quietness. When things go wrong, it's not an explosion of monsters dancing down the street. The town is just slowly disappearing into the night. Above all looms the Marsten house, full of evil energy (and considering how King shares a Shirley Jackson quote at the beginning, it's obvious what he was inspired by).

The TV adaptations are watchable, but ultimately pretty forgettable despite utilizing legendary actors. It'll be interesting to see what the new version does with the story, but since the director is going to be Gary Dauberman, it's best if I don't keep my hopes up.

- - -

The prequel and sequel short stories aren't necessary, but they add a bit of extra to the experience. Both can be found in Night Shift (1978) or the 2005 edition of 'Salem's Lot.

"Jerusalem's Lot" is a great emulation of a 19th century ghost story. Works great as a prequel and is a nice way to start inching your way towards the novel, but doesn't require any knowledge of it beforehand, so probably works as a standalone, too.

"One for the Road" is also pretty simple with a genuinely scary scene towards the end. You get to find out how the events affected the neighbouring towns, and it's a nice bookend to the story, leaving a lingering feeling that it's never going to be over in Jerusalem's Lot.

The Dark Tower Project
"Night Surf" from Night Shift (1978)
The Stand: Complete and Uncut Edition (1990)
The Eyes of the Dragon (1987)
The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger (2003 Revised Edition)
The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three (1987)
The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands (1991)
The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass (1997)
"Little Sisters of Eluria" from Everything's Eventual (2002)
"Jerusalem's Lot" from Night Shift (1978)
Salem's Lot (1975)
"One for the Road" from Night Shift (1978)
The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole (2012)
The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla (2003)
The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah (2004)
Insomnia (1994)
Black House (2001) (sequel to The Talisman)
"Low Men in Yellow Coats" from Hearts in Atlantis (1999)
"Everything's Eventual" from Everything's Eventual (2002)
The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower (2004)

"A dreamer, I walked enchanted, and nothing held me back."

From the very first moment, Rebecca the novel wraps you around its finger just like Rebecca the woman did with both humans and animals. First, a dream sequence in Manderley. Then, in Monte Carlo of the past, the nameless narrator makes the hasty decision to marry Maxim de Winter, the owner of Manderley. In the vast estate, her insecurities and sense of powerlessness are only worsened by the manipulation and coldness of the skeletal cryptk... housekeeper Mrs. Danvers, but also by Maxim who becomes more distant and aloof upon returning to his home.

The power play, misunderstandings, the revelation at the end of chapter 19 (which still gives me the shivers), the subsequent events, and the amazing writing actually made a bigger impression on me upon re-reading. Everything is affected by time and memories in some way: although Rebecca is gone, her spirit is still lingering. She's a ghost without actually being an apparition, and she's the air they breathe.

The strong juxtapositions of innocence/corruption, experience/inexperience etc. don't come through in the new movie version, however. Lily James's narrator just floats around, and Armie Hammer... Ugh. I read a review where someone said he's like a golden retriever. I mean, yeah, absolutely. He's the soft boring vanilla version of Maxim. Nowhere near Laurence Olivier and even further from how he's portrayed in the book.

Finally, let's not forget the musical. Not only does it capture the spirit and the darkness of the story perfectly, but Pia Douwes will always be my Mrs. Danvers.

In essence, Rebecca (to me at least) isn't a straightforward romance novel but more like a dark story about imperfect people in a Gothic setting. Something is always slithering under the surface. In that sense, the ending is very fitting. The future is already known, but leaving the reader into that moment... Wow.

"[T]he place still continues under the sway of some witching power, that holds a spell over the minds of the good people, causing them to walk in a continual reverie."

Sleepy Hollow won't satisfy if you're looking for good scares, and Ichabod is an unpleasant little dweeb, but the atmospheric descriptions of the drowsy glen are perfect for a slow weekend morning: apple piles ready to be made into cider, corn fields, sunny hills, golden horizons, yellow pumpkins "turning up their fair round bellies to the sun", buttered slap jacks, peach pies... When the witching hour comes, the ghost stories told in Sleepy Hollow come to life, but is everything what it seems?

Tim Burton adapted the story into the darker side of the same coin, but the expansion and all the changes work really well. I don't know how many years it's been since I watched the movie last, but I still loved the muted color palette and the perfect moody atmosphere. A nice way to end All Hallows' Eve.

Non-fiction about Spiritualism in Finland. Review in Finnish, because there's no English translation.

Mielenkiintoinen aihe (varsinkin siksi, että spiritismi on mulle tuttu Suomen näkökulmasta vain Minna Canthin Spiritistinen istunto -näytelmän kautta). Tyylillisesti Kaartisen teksti ei kuitenkaan oikein vetänyt. Tuntui jotenkin muistiinpanomaiselta, ja joissain kohdissa narratiivi hyppäsi asiasta toiseen tai toisteli samoja asioita.

Sinänsä kiva oppia uutta ja tutustua uusiin henkilöihin (täyte Goodreadsin "witchcraft-occult-satan" -hyllyyn on aina tervetullutta), mutta odotin yleisempää otetta kahden henkilön elämäkerran sijasta. Kokonaisuutena jäi vähän hajanainen kuva. Esim. Suruton kaupunki pääsee heittämällä parhaimpien suomalaisten tietokirjojen joukkoon, mutta tästä jäi aika vaisu jälkimaku.

"Thoughts are dangerous, he told himself, and thoughts against all science, all sanity, all civilized intelligence, are the most dangerous of all. He felt their presence here and there in his brain, like pockets of poison, harmless as long as you left them encysted and did not prick them."

When I had my vintage horror shopping spree a couple of months ago, the cover made me believe this would be Gothic horror set in the 19th or early 20th century (did I even bother reading the blurb?). I was a bit surprised to find that it's set in the 40s in a small college town.

Luckily, that didn't turn out to be an issue, because I absolutely loved Leiber's writing. I did kind of zone out a little whenever the philosophical/psychological lectures came up, but mostly Conjure Wife is a real page-turner with a dash of literary fiction thrown in the mix. I particularly enjoyed the twists towards the end.

As witchcraft is suggested as being an open secret among women, you can tell something is about to brew, when Norman finds out in the early chapters that his wife, Tansy, is a witch and he destroys all her witchy things. None of what happens feels implausible, because Leiber weaves modern world and witchcraft so skillfully together.

There are a couple of movie adaptations as well, but I finally joined Letterboxd, so I'm probably going to share the full reviews in my bookstagram stories at some point. Witchy movies during the holidays actually sounds pretty fun!

In preparation for my re-read of Frankenstein sometime in the near future, I thought Harkup's overview of Shelley's life and her inspirations would be a good lead-up to the story itself. The first few pages are mainly focused on her upbringing and how it may have influenced her, and the rest of the chapters go into more detail about the developments in science and medicine.

I appreciate how Harkup manages to explain even the most difficult concepts in a way that a layman can understand them. I was a bit worried I'd have to skim some parts, but the journey through alchemy, Enlightenment, body snatching (my favorite topic, ha), scientific experiments, specimen preservation, surgical history etc. went without a hitch. There's a huge amount of meat around the conceptual bones mentioned in the novel, and Making the Monster gives a strong historical and scientifical context to Victor's efforts.

American South, Great Depression. Ben Harper steals 10 000 dollars, and before the police come to take him away, he tells a secret to his son, John, and makes him vow to never tell anyone. When Harry 'Preacher' Powell, who is based on the real-life serial killer Harry Powers, comes to town, he captivates everyone with his charming personality and convinces them he's a man of God.

The first time he appears at John's house, he's a shadow on the wall. Like a boogeyman from a child's tale. He slithers his way into John's family, winning his mother Willa and sister Pearl on his side. For something that is so dark, like from the darkest depths of fairy tale forests, Night of the Hunter's gorgeous writing is almost otherworldly. It moves between Powell's corrupted mind and child's innocence equally convincingly.

That same ethereal mood continues in Charles Laughton's 1955 adaptation, his only film as a director, as expressionistic images, play between shadow and light, and unusual camera angles. Robert Mitchum's (who my parents know from westerns and I know from noir) performance is pretty much eerily perfect in capturing the monster chasing his prey.

This is why I love Southern Gothic. There's so much beauty, but it lets the cracks show through. I rarely give five stars to books, but when I do, you'd better believe I'm serious.

There are some passages I will not forget, one of them being the description of wine flooding in the streets of Paris which would soon become blood. People are devouring wine even from pieces of wood like they will devour blood during the time of La Guilloutine. Sydney Carton is undoubtedly a charismatic character and the ending made me blink my eyes in disbelief. Dickens does a lot of subtle foreshadowing but I still couldn't believe it for some reason.