En "Hamlet, 7, 8 y 9": ¿Dinamarca una cárcel? Para Hamlet sí, porque «nada hay bueno ni malo, sino en fuerza de nuestra fantasía».

Entre la locura y verdades que escuecen... 🎭💀
https://fictograma.com/d/3207-hamlet-acto-2-escenas-7-8-y-9

#books #literature #writing

En "El indio": Tres familias en pugna, un joven lisiado por el destino y un compromiso sagrado en juego. En la penumbra, los sabios huehues deben...
https://fictograma.com/d/3206-el-indio-segunda-parte-el-consejo-de-ancianos-gregorio-lopez-y-fuentes

#books #literature #writing

Un Golem de escombros nostálgicos vs. un pirocinético con permiso legal para quemar cosas. Spoilers: Rafu voló por los aires, el monstruo explotó en fuego verde y la tarde terminó...💥📷 https://fictograma.com/d/3209-eventos-anomalos-saco-de-fuego #books #literature #writing

Born this day: 06/13/1963
Audrey Niffenegger is an American writer, artist, and academic. Her bestselling "The Time Traveler's Wife" (2005) was nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke and Campbell Memorial Awards

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audrey_Niffenegger

#Literature #SciFi #ScienceFiction #books #bookstodon #coverart #bookart #bookcovers
#AudreyNiffenegger @books @scifi @Scifiart @sciencefiction

https://astralcomputing.com

Cover design by Linda Lockowitz

Alt...

The cover of Audrey Niffenegger's "The Time Traveler's Wife," featuring cover design by Linda Lockowitz, presents a close-up, medium shot of a young child captured from the waist down. Positioned on the left and facing right, the child wears a dark, heavily textured short-sleeved dress, bright white knee-high socks, and polished black Mary Jane shoes. To the right of the child’s feet, a pair of dark brown or black adult leather loafers rests on a plain white cloth spread over vibrant green grass, which is scattered with fallen red and orange autumn leaves. Standing beside the child is a tall, dark, cylindrical object, like a thermos, topped with a stark white lid. The background is a soft-focus, atmospheric blend of muted greens, deep blues, and teal, suggesting a park or forest under the dim, diffused light of an overcast day or twilight. A gentle light gradient sweeps across the scene, softening the edges of the figures. At the top, white capitalized text reads, "THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER." Below this, a quote in smaller white capital letters states, "HERE'S THE NEXT THE LOVELY BONES...A RARE BOOK" (EVENING STANDARD). The book title, "The Time Traveler's Wife," is rendered in a large, flowing, white cursive script across the center and right. The author's name, "AUDREY NIFFENEGGER," appears at the bottom in a large, white, capitalized sans-serif font. A small white box at the bottom center contains the black capitalized text "LARGE PRINT EDITION."

Book of da Month #2: Yours Cruelly, Elvira by Cassandra Peterson 💄

This fantastic autobiography is by Cassandra Peterson. She’s best known as portraying horror queen icon Elvira, who here in the UK wasn’t really a thing, but in America has continued cult status.

After hearing a You’re Wrong About podcast episode last year, Peterson’s story piqued our interest. We bought Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of Darkness (2021) for further insights into her life. It’s an often remarkable time of it, with many highs and low, all told with brilliant humour and wit.

Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of Darkness

“Okay. Let me just get this out of the way. I’m seventy years old. There’s no hiding it from Wikipedia. My age is always announced in the first sentence of any interview I do. I’m going to do my absolute best to remember as much of my life as humanly possible even though nowadays I can barely remember what I did last night. I’ll try to recall every gory detail and be as factual as possible because I sure as hell don’t want to end up like that James Frey who got reamed by Oprah after she found out his autobiography was bogus. The bottom line is, this story is the truth. My truth.”

Cassandra Peterson is 74 now, born in September of 1951 over in Manhattan, Kansas. She begins her autobiography with a terrifying story of how, at 18 months of age, an accident at home left her with severe burns over 35% of her body.

This happened when boiling water from a kettle fell over her. Peterson believes she must have accidentally pulled it onto herself when her parents were in a different room. The toddler was rushed to hospital and spent years receiving skin grafts.

Experimental penicillin treatment saved her life and, by chance, most of her significant scars can be covered up by clothing and the positioning of her hair. But the scars left a big impact on her childhood and teenage years, leaving her battling self-esteem problems, and she became a shy loner. Not helped by her family setting of a loving but eccentric father with a penchant for engaging in manly fisticuffs.

“Every other word out of his mouth was ‘damn’, ‘goddamn’, ‘son of a bitch’, ‘bastard’, or ‘hell’. And that wasn’t when he was angry; it was just his normal, everyday speech.”

Worse are Peterson’s recollections of her mother, who she acknowledges had undiagnosed narcissistic personality disorder, which led to frequent verbal and physical abuse.

“My childhood might have seemed idyllic to the outside observer, but at home with my mother, it was anything but. She was a tough one, man. She didn’t take crap from anyone, least of all her kids. Mother came from the do-it-because-I-say-so-or-I’ll-give-you-something-to-really-cry-about school of parenting. She wasn’t the kind of person who should have had kids to begin with. She was a nervous, anxious woman of the ’50s who did what you were supposed to do in those days: get married and start a family.”

To deal with this unstable home life, Peterson immersed herself in pop culture and fell in love with cinema. Most notably, she took a big fancy to horror and her favourite actor was Vincent Price.

But she was also obsessed with music. After an Elvis infatuation, she went ballistic for The Beatles once Beatlemania stormed the US.

“I ate, slept, and breathed The Beatles. The downside was that this spelled the end of my long friendship with Nyliram, because she hated them and said they looked like girls. That was it. I was forced to drop her like a hot potato and search out other like-minded Beatlemaniacs. I found them in the form of my new BFFs, Molly, Kathy, and Eileen. We talked in British accents like The Beatles, dressed in Beatle boots and hats, and screamed our heads off whenever one of their songs came on the radio. We went to the Chief Theater to see A Hard Day’s Night at least a half dozen times and shrieked and sobbed our way through it until we lost our voices. When one of The Beatles’ birthdays rolled around, we held a party, complete with candles and a Jiffy cake we whipped up ourselves. We put a lot of energy into hating the guts out of Cynthia Lennon, John’s wife, and Jane Asher, Paul’s girlfriend, because we were so jealous.”

From there she worshipped any bands who visited Kansas and became a groupie, the young women famous for trying to hang out with bands (often getting exploited in the process).

This is one of the darker sides of this autobiography, Peterson’s depictions of sexual assault at the hands of often much older men.

Apologies for the male gaze here, but Peterson is a very attractive women and, as she admits in the book, puberty led to a surge of interest in her. Although still affected by burn scars, she uses (to this day) her long red hair to cover up the scarring on her neck. And often pokes fun at the size of her breasts and how these make men behave like idiots in front of her.

“Suddenly one day I sprouted boobs. Not just boobs. Enormous boobs. When puberty finally struck, I developed faster than a Polaroid. In my mind at least, I remember going to bed flat as a board one night and waking up with ginormous breasts the next morning. It was like, whoa, dude—this is better than the tooth fairy!”

A timely confidence boost for her, but as she soon found out her appearance also brought with it a lot of negative geezer attention.

As a groupie she was meeting famous rock stars already feeling pretty entitled and important, some of whom really do not come across very well at all in this book. Some are straight up sex pests (she dishes the dirt in the book without holding back).

Then you’ve got the ones clearly battling chronic addiction problems. Jimi Hendrix gave Peterson his number (at the Denver Pop Festival, June 1969), but when she rang him later that night he was too drunk/stoned to make any sense (unfortunately, he died just over 12 months later). Then The Who turned up on their first US tour and baffled her by destroying their equipment onstage in a frenzy.

Who does come out of it really well is the lovely sounding Frank Zappa, who gave Peterson fatherly advice about staying safe (i.e. by not being a groupie).

The chaos of these disorderly teenage years are told with charm and great humour. It’s a very funny, if also melancholic, retelling of a difficult childhood turning into a rock ‘n’ roll coming-of-age. In a demonstration of leering behaviour from men that Peterson would have to deal with for decades ahead.

Throughout those formative years, she was intent on making it as an actor. But as she acknowledges, that kind of thing doesn’t work out for 99% of people. She put off trying to get a “normal” career in her efforts to make it. But by the age of 30, her efforts hadn’t gone anywhere and was told by everyone (including her agent) she was now “too old” for Hollywood. She was close to packing in her dreams.

But then an unexpected bit of a luck came her way in 1981, which has become her defining act.

The Elvira Years: 1981 to Present

Right, the first time we ever heard about Elvira was in August 2025 with the You’re Wrong About podcast. We don’t know where we went wrong there, but presume it’s mainly a US thing, as we don’t recall ever seeing her on anything in the UK.

How did the character come to be? Well, in the 1970s there was an LA-based TV show called Fright Night that ran as a celebration of dodgy B movie horror films. Producers were looking for a new host, wanted it to be an attractive woman, and went about with auditions.

Peterson didn’t want the role at first and turned down audition offers.

“Finding a woman who was both sexy and funny was a tall order in those days. Women were allowed to be sexy or funny, but not both. If you were the least bit attractive it was impossible to have a sense of humour. If you were funny, you needed to look like Phyllis Diller, Totie Fields, or Joan Rivers (with their original faces). I loved old horror movies and I’d been working in LA’s top comedy improvisational group, the Groundlings, for a little more than four years, so had the timing been better, horror host actually seemed like a bill I could have filled. Damn.”

Eventually, she agreed to an audition and nailed the role in one. The producers then left it up to her to create the Elvira character, so she went for a goth/vampire look similar to The Addams Family type vibes.

What was crucial here is Peterson seized on the role and took it seriously, but not so seriously she couldn’t have an enormous amount of fun with it. Wearing a dress heavily exaggerating her breasts, with a giant and almost absurd beehive black wig, plus the pallid makeup, and the result was a very arresting look.

As a character, she’s confident, open with her sexuality, sassy, and a kickass type feminist. An outsider anti-heroine, but someone oozing in confidence, the creation of that alter-ego seems to be in stark contrast to Peterson’s confidence struggles when she was younger.

Plus, an outsider who doesn’t give a toss about that and is happy in leading her life as she pleases.

Couple that image with the one liners (“I’m the hostess with the mostess!”, “Unpleasant dreams!”, “Bad dreams, darlings!” etc.) and you’ve got an instant camp LGBTQ+ icon.

The character is so popular it led to two films. There was Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988) and then Elvira’s Haunted House (2001). In those, she frequently deals with approaches from randy men, who she thwarts through one liners and/or the likes of stamping on their feet with her high heels. She doesn’t let them get away with it.

The hostess with the mostess feels even more relevant to modern life and progressive attitudes than in the 1980s. This led to the TV concept returning in 2010 for public domain films, before returning to the horror hostess in 2014 with Nights of Elvira (a Hulu exclusive).

Of course, there’s the also official website: Elvira, Mistress of Darkness.

Her story story is rumbling on in fine style. For 2021, alongside this autobiography launching, there was a 40th anniversary special celebrating the character on Shudder (a horror-based streaming service). And there doesn’t seem any end to the character. She’s active on social media and still attends comic cons and the like to meet fans.

View this post on Instagram

Anyway, we’re all sold on this. We feel stupid for having missed out on Peterson’s excellence, but pleased to belatedly get there. Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of Darkness is an excellent book and was a New York Times bestseller after its launch.

It perfectly balances her great sense of humour (she is naturally very funny) alongside her intelligence, but also recalling the psychological battering she faced due to the sexist nature of the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s.

There’s a positive and endearing spirit in her every sentence and we can highly recommend the autobiography. Charming, uplifting, and an insight into an impressive mind.

Which Way Out of the Men’s Room?: Options for the Male Homosexual by Gordon Johnston #books #literature #dedication

Alt...

For my mother, father and sister, who remaind faithfully with me in encouragement and understanding. For Stanley, at last, who lifed me from earth into air.

Weird Tales vol 10 number 04 (October 1927) - featured story: The Dark Lore by Nictzin Dyalhis.

#Literature #SciFi #ScienceFiction #books #bookstodon #coverart #bookart #bookcovers
#NictzinDyalhis
@books @scifi @Scifiart @sciencefiction

https://astralcomputing.com

Cover art by C.C. SENF

Alt...

Weird Tales vol 10 number 04 (October 1927) - featured story: The Dark Lore by Nictzin Dyalhis. Cover art by C.C. SENF. The tagline reads The Unique Magazine. Seabury Quinn, H. P. Lovecraft, E. Hoffmann Price, Edmond Hamilton, and Otis A. Kline are listed in white text. The price is 25 cents. C.C. SENF is signed in white in the lower right corner. The illustration depicts three figures in an indoor setting with stone elements. On the left, a man with short dark hair stands facing right. He wears a dark blue cloak over a light-colored tunic with dark patterned borders and tan sandals with straps wrapped around his calves. His right arm is bent at the elbow, and his left hand points toward the right. In the center, a woman with long light brown hair sits on a raised grey stone surface wearing a light purple garment. Behind her and to the right, a large, dark, carved vertical pillar stands. In front of this pillar, a small black brazier holds a flame with orange and yellow light. On the right, a second woman with long dark hair is positioned lower than the others near the bottom of the frame. She wears a light-colored, off-white garment and looks toward the man. The background includes dark brown and grey tones forming rectangular stone walls and shadows. The floor consists of reddish-brown steps and platforms. The color palette is composed of red, dark blue, tan, light purple, white, and black.

"I simply don't think it is reasonable to use IQ tests to produce results of questionable value, which may then serve to justify racists in their own minds and to help bring about the kinds of tragedies we have already witnessed earlier in this century."

#literature

#BookChatWeekly #BookSky #Literature #QueerLiterature #GayLiterature #LesbianLiterature #LiteratureSky #Comics #ComicsSky #GraphicNovel #GraphicNovelSky #Memoir #MemoirSky #Queer #QueerSky #Gay #GaySky #Lesbian #LesbianSky #LGBTQ #AlisonBechdel

"In this pause, I suddenly saw something very clearly. Whatever it was I wanted from my mother was simply not there to be had. It was not her fault. And it was therefore not my fault that I was unable to elicit it."
- Alison Bechdel, "Are You My Mother?"

#BookWormSat #PrideMonth #Literature #Comics #GraphicNovel #Memoir #Queer #Lesbian #LGBTQ #AlisonBechdel

Alt...

Alison Bechdel wrestles with her feelings about her mother in her graphic novel memoir "Are You My Mother?"

Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie #books #literature #dedication

Alt...

For Hannah, with love, and for all the outcasts, here's to tomorrow

James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879) was born #OTD, 13 June. As a physicist, he ranks alongside Newton & Einstein (“He achieved greatness unequalled”—Max Planck)

He also wrote poetry: “Rigid Body Sings” is based on “Comin’ Through the Rye” by Robert Burns.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45774/in-memory-of-edward-wilson-who-repented-of-what-was-in-his-mind-to-write-after-section

#Scottish #literature #poem #poetry #19thcentury #Victorian #Scots #Scotslanguage #physics #science #sciencepoetry

Alt...

In Memory of Edward Wilson, Who Repented of what was in his Mind to Write after Section BY JAMES CLERK MAXWELL Rigid Body (sings). Gin a body meet a body Flyin’ through the air, Gin a body hit a body, Will it fly? and where? Ilka impact has its measure, Ne’er a ane hae I, Yet a’ the lads they measure me, Or, at least, they try. Gin a body meet a body Altogether free, How they travel afterwards We do not always see. Ilka problem has its method By analytics high; For me, I ken na ane o’ them, But what the waur am I?

ROUND ROBIN. A mode of signing remonstrances practised by sailors on board the king's ships, wherein their names are written in a circle, so that it cannot be discovered who first signed it, or was, in other words, the ringleader.

A selection from Francis Grose’s “Dictionary Of The Vulgar Tongue” (1785)

--
#books #literature #dictionaries #history #society #language #slang @histodons

Alt...

Image imitating a page from an old document, text (as in main toot): ROUND ROBIN. A mode of signing remonstrances practised by sailors on board the king's ships, wherein their names are written in a circle, so that it cannot be discovered who first signed it, or was, in other words, the ringleader. A selection from Francis Grose’s “Dictionary Of The Vulgar Tongue” (1785)

#OTD in 1752 Frances Burney was born. She "was a novelist, diarist and playwright. In all, she wrote four novels, eight plays, one biography and twenty-five volumes of journals and letters. She has gained critical respect in her own right, but she foreshadowed such novelists of manners with a satirical bent as Jane Austen and William Makepeace Thackeray."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Burney

Burney at PG:

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/2010

#books #literature

Alt...

Painting of Frances Burney by her cousin Edward Francis Burney. She is shown from the waist up. She has light brown hair which is covered by a huge puffy tan hat. It has a big bow and ruffled lace on top. Her dress is white with a pink bow at her chest. A dark black shawl covers her shoulders and arms, and she wear dark gloves.

Best, First, and Last by Amy T. Matthews #books #literature #dedication

Alt...

For Su, my mother, and for Beryl, my grandmother, and for my kids, who will climb mountains because of them. And for Jonny. This one doesn't count, and I know it.

‘The Infinite’ by Giacomo Leopardi

https://www.deadpoetsdaily.com/p/giacomo-leopardi-poem-the-infinite

#poem #poetry #italian #literature

"It is change, continuing change, inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in society today. No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be ... This, in turn, means that our statesmen, our businessmen, our everyman must take on a science fictional way of thinking."

#literature

After the Concept of Peaceful Disobedience Was Established in America, It Traveled Around the World Before Taking Hold

“Force may subdue, but love gains”: The Quaker practice of conscientious objection evolved through Thoreau, Tolstoy and Gandhi before becoming the hallmark of the Civil Rights movement

by Jeff MacGregor

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/concept-peaceful-disobedience-established-america-traveled-world-taking-hold-180988847/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&lctg=93133550&user_id=19f2988141aeef1ce3da2871b25613801e24297faaf654001575521d8c39910f

Books by William Penn and Henry David Thoreau. at PG:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/8625
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/54

#Books #Literature #History

Alt...

William Penn. A formal engraved oval portrait of William Penn — Quaker leader and founder of Pennsylvania, depicted in his characteristic broad-brimmed Quaker hat, curled wig, and plain dark coat. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Penn#/media/File:William_Penn.png

Give Me a Sign by Anna Sortino #books #literature #dedication

Alt...

For my twin, six years younger

Historias. Parte 2. Cuento gótico de Rolando Enrique Rosales Murga. Sus poemas en su voz. #bookstagram #bookstagrammer
#literature #poetry #explorepage

Medium. Poem by Rolando Enrique Rosales Murga. His poems in his own voice. #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagramespañol #reseñaliteraria #Libros #gothic #Kindle #kindle #explorepage #amazonkdp #amazonkindle #gothicstyle #poetry #poemas #verso #lirica #gothicfashion #literature #poetry #viral #viralvideo #viralvideos #ViralPost

Médium. Poema de Rolando Enrique Rosales Murga. Sus poemas en su voz. #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagramespañol #reseñaliteraria #Libros #gothic #Kindle #kindle #explorepage #amazonkdp #amazonkindle #gothicstyle #poetry #poemas #verso #lirica #gothicfashion #literature #poetry #viral #viralvideo #viralvideos #ViralPost

The Mistake. Story by Rolando Enrique Rosales Murga. His poems in his own voice. #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagramespañol #reseñaliteraria #Libros #gothic #Kindle #kindle #explorepage #amazonkdp #amazonkindle #gothicstyle #poetry #poemas #verso #lirica #gothicfashion #literature #poetry #viral #viralvideo #viralvideos #ViralPost

El error. Relato de Rolando Enrique Rosales Murga. Sus poemas en su voz. #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagramespañol #reseñaliteraria #Libros #gothic #Kindle #kindle #explorepage #amazonkdp #amazonkindle #gothicstyle #poetry #poemas #verso #lirica #gothicfashion #literature #poetry #viral #viralvideo #viralvideos #ViralPost

Stories. Part 2. 2. Gothic Tale By Rolando Enrique Rosales Murga. His poems in his own voice. #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagramespañol #reseñaliteraria #Libros #gothic #Kindle #kindle #explorepage #amazonkdp #amazonkindle #gothicstyle #poetry #poemas #verso #lirica #gothicfashion #literature #poetry #viral #viralvideo #viralvideos #ViralPost

Stories. Part 2. 1. Gothic Tale By Rolando Enrique Rosales Murga. His poems in his own voice. #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagramespañol #reseñaliteraria #Libros #gothic #Kindle #kindle #explorepage #amazonkdp #amazonkindle #gothicstyle #poetry #poemas #verso #lirica #gothicfashion #literature #poetry #viral #viralvideo #viralvideos #ViralPost

"Individual science fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinder critics and philosophers of today — but the core of science fiction, its essence, the concept around which it revolves, has become crucial to our salvation if we are to be saved at all."

#literature

“Try to understand men. If you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and almost always leads to love.” ― John Steinbeck

#books #literature #art #reading #culture #media #news #life #usa #europe #uk

Alt...

“Try to understand men. If you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a man well never leads to hate and almost always leads to love.” ― John Steinbeck

The Fox Hunt: A Refugee's Memoir of Coming to America by Mohammed Al Samawi #books #literature #dedication

Alt...

To my country. To everyone who's different. To all the people who said "yes."

Cuando perdemos lo que amamos, el corazón sufre una amputación invisible: sigue enviando amor a un vacío que quema.

En el #CódigoÁmbar no buscamos olvidar, sino sanar la herida...
https://fictograma.com/d/3185-codigo-ambar-la-memoria-del-vacio

#books #literature #writing