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Review: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

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WoO

Welcome to the beginning of Project Fairy Tale! If you want to learn more about this fun event head over to my intro post!

I am sure that many of you are at least slightly familiar with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. However, many of you probably don’t know that The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is only book one in the original series of 14! Those of you who follow my blog know that I am a collector of Oz books, specifically of any editions from the original series, though I have read a few from the continuations.

The Wizard of Oz series was created by L. Frank Baum in 1900, the last book by Baum, Glinda of Oz was published posthumously in 1920. The series titles are as follows:

  • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
  • The Marvelous Land of Oz
  • Ozma of Oz
  • Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz
  • The Road to Oz
  • The Emerald City of Oz
  • The Patchwork Girl of Oz
  • Tik-Tok of Oz
  • The Scarecrow of Oz
  • Rinkitink In Oz
  • The Lost Princess of Oz
  • The Tin-Woodman of Oz
  • The Magic of Oz
  • Glinda of Oz

Those of you who are only familiar with the film version of The Wizard of Oz are missing out on some things from the book so in lieu of a traditional and in depth review I am going to provide you with a longer summary than I usually do and then give you some insight to my feelings.

As many of you know Dorothy is a young girl who lives in Kansas on a farm with her little dog Toto, her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em. Life on the farm is not too thrilling for Dorothy until the day the cyclone appears and whisks both Dorothy and Toto away to the Land of Oz. They are planted right in the middle of the Munchkin Country and soon find that their house has landed on (and vanquished) The Wicked Witch of the West. The Good Witch of the North (Not Glinda) comes to Dorothy and provides her with the silver shoes (not red) from the now dead Wicked Witch. She then tells Dorothy that if she wishes to return home to Kansas she must follow The Yellow Brick Road to The Emerald City and ask The Wizard of Oz to help her.

The journey that follows enables her to cross paths and assist The Scarecrow, The Tin Woodman and The Cowardly Lion. These three decide to accompany Dorothy on her journey to see The Wizard, The Scarecrow is in search of a brain, The Tin Woodman desires a heart, and The Cowardly Lion would like some courage. Over their journey they overcome many obstacles, such as one of my favorite Ozian predators: kalidahs, creatures that have bodies like bears, heads like tigers, and claws long and sharp enough to tear a lion in two. The gang survives their meeting with these characters and their trip through a field of poppies and finally arrive at The Emerald City.

At The Emerald City the group finally obtains a meeting with The Wizard, but each meets him alone, and each sees him as something completely different and unique to their wants or fears. For example, Dorothy sees The Wizard as a giant head, The Scarecrow sees a giant ball of fire, The Tin Woodman sees a beautiful woman and The Cowardly Lion observes a beast. After their meeting, The Wizard says that he will help them obtain what they wish if one of them kills The Wicked Witch of the West. The travelers set off to The Winkie Country in search of The Wicked Witch of the West.

The Wicked Witch of the West is very cunning and evil, and she tries her best to kill the group traveling toward her. First, The Wicked Witch sends her wolves to try and kill Dorothy and her friends, the Tin Woodman uses his ax and kills them all. After this fails, The Wicked Witch sends her crows to try and peck the travelers eyes out but The Scarecrow saves them by grabbing them and breaking their necks. The Wicked Witch then sends a swarm of bees after them to sting them to death, the travelers use The Scarecrow’s straw to hide under and the bees die attempting to attack the Tin Woodman. The Winkie soldiers then attempt to attack the crew and The Cowardly Lion succeeds in scaring them off and finally, The Wicked Witch uses the Golden Cap to summon the Winged Monkeys to capture Dorothy.

After The Wicked Witch of the West has Dorothy in her clutches she is able to trick Dorothy into handing over one of her silver shoes. This angers Dorothy and she promptly picks up the closest thing to her, a bucket of water, and throws it over The Witch, which to her surprise, melts and vanquishes her. Dorothy then uses The Golden Cap to summon the Winged Monkeys and carry her and her companions back to the Emerald City.

At the Emerald City Toto reveals The Wizard to be a regular man who has traveled to Oz in his hot air balloon. He provides The Scarecrow, The Tin Woodman and The Cowardly Lion with focuses for their heart’s desires. He decides that he will return Dorothy to Kansas by using his hot air balloon and places The Scarecrow in charge of Oz. Unfortunately the hot air balloon leaves without Dorothy and they are forced on another journey, this time to Glinda’s Palace in the Quadling Country. They must again journey through treacherous lands past Hammer-Heads and Fighting Trees.

Once they finally get to Glinda’s Palace, she tells Dorothy that The Silver Shoes have the ability to bring her wherever she wishes to go. Through their travels, The Scarecrow, The Tin Woodman and The Cowardly Lion fought their own battles and won their own rights to rule different kingdoms once Dorothy leaves. She says her farewells, clicks her heels together three times and is returned home to Kansas. The end!

“Hearts will never be practical until they can be made unbreakable.”

So, there’s no place like home, right? As a kid, that was not the case for me. Before Harry Potter made its way into my life, these books were my escape and obsession. I used to sit in my tiny bedroom and wish as hard as I could that I would be taken away via silver shoes or magic belt. I own every book in the original series and to be honest this book is actually my least favorite. The series continues in a beautiful way and the lands become broader and the characters deeper and significantly more fun and unique. If you have some time and are looking for some quick reads to remind you why you fell in love with reading in the first place, I suggest picking up some books in this series. Later on in the week I will be reviewing the movie for you (another obsession of mine) and we can talk about the significant differences between print and film then. For now, tell me, have you read any of the Oz books? Do you have a favorite memory or character?

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Project Fairy Tale: Welcome!

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Hello! Some of you may remember how I signed up for Project Fairy Tale a few months back and decided that I would be reading, watching, and reviewing all things Wizard of Oz for the month of February, and some of you may have no idea what I am talking about but nonetheless..IT IS TIME. Tomorrow starts the month of February and with that we will be kicking off my month of Wizard of Oz LOVE!

Project Fairy Tale

Here is what I have planned:

Friday February 1: Review of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Monday February 4: Review of Wicked By Gregory Maguire

Friday February 8: Movie Review The Wizard of Oz

Monday February 11: Review of Son of  a Witch by Gregory Maguire

Friday February 15: Movie Review Return to Oz

Monday February 18: Review of A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire

Friday February 22: TV show review Tin Man

Monday February 25: Review of Out of Oz by Gregory Maguire

Doesn’t that sound exciting? I will have some “regular scheduled” things going on around the blog as well but this is my schedule dedicated to The WoO! YAY!

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The Big Reveal! Bringing YA To You!

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Have you ever wished that a big YA book tour would make a stop in your hometown? Well, here’s your chance for that wish to come true! YA2U is a program that features five award-winning and best-selling authors who are holding a contest to see what city they should visit in an exclusive tour stop!

The authors are collecting votes from January 1 to February 15, and any city in the continental US or any Canadian city that has an international airport can win an exclusive visit from all five authors, including an author panel and book signing! Entering is super easy–and if you help spread the word about the contest, you can also enter win a signed copy of all of their books (TEN signed books in total!)–and the book contest is open internationally!

The authors in the program are:

And they want to have an event in your home town! To participate, just got to the YA2U website and let them know what city you want them to come to. And while you’re there, help spread the word about the contest and you can be entered to win all of their books–TEN signed books in total! 

Here’s why the YA2U Team should come to MY hometown!

Why should the YA2U crew come to Avon, Connecticut? Let me count the ways…
  • Connecticut is home to the infamous Leatherman, and that’s just plain awesome.
  • Connecticut is also home to the oldest public library in the United States.
  • Noah Webster was born in West Hartford, Connecticut in 1758.
  • In Hartford, the state’s Capitol, it is illegal to cross the street while walking on your hands.
  • Mark Twain died in Redding, Connecticut and his home in Hartford Connecticut has been restored and turned into a pretty awesome museum.

These are all reasons why the YA2U crew should come to Connecticut in general so really, my final reason is in support of the town of Avon, Connecticut:

  • We have a newly expanded, renovated, and absolutely gorgeous library in Avon, and we are lucky enough to have a pretty phenomenal room dedicated specifically to our teen readers!
Why not join in the fun today and share with others about this program and your hometown. The more votes your town gets, the closer you are to having your very own personal tour stop! Vote for YOUR town here!
Even more exciting is that if you help spread the word, you can also participate in the book giveaway. Tell them that you learned about YA2U from me and we both get extra entries in the contest! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Project: Fairy Tale

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I have been hearing about Project: Fairy Tale all over Twitter and I finally took a breather and decided to see what the fuss was all about and let me tell you, I am so excited that I did! I immediately wanted in because I am a LOVER of fairytales and their retellings!!! On one hand I wish I had looked earlier because there were a few I would have loved to focus on but it would have been super hard to choose and let’s be serious, my choice is perfect for me..

So here it is, my choice for Project: Fairy Tale is:

The Wizard of Oz!

Are we shocked? Thrilled? Rolling our eyes at the obvious “Alyssa” choice? Me too, to all of those things but mostly I am just wanting it to be the new year so we can start!

I was actually pretty surprised to see how many retellings have been written of The Wizard of Oz. I obviously knew that there is a plethora (p.s. favorite word) of books in the “series” as it has been continued on by a few people but I didn’t know that there were actual retellings out there! Here is my plan…

Read and review the original novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

Read and review 1-3 others in that series that are not part of the original 14.

Read and review Dorothy: the Darker Side of Oz by Scott Stanford.

Read and review Wicked by Gregory Maguire and hopefully read the rest of the series, finally.

Watch the movie a million times.

Watch a few adaptations, including Tin Man from the Sci-Fi channel and The Muppet’s Wizard of Oz (side note: I will not be watching The Wiz because it makes me want to throw up in my mouth) and of course, some of the more obscure remakes such as Return to Oz, which traumatized me as a child.

Finally, showing off my AMAZING collection of Oz books. Be super jealous.

So, there we are. Be prepared for in a few months we will be WoO-ing all over this blog! 

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Fortnight of Fright: Halloween Facts

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Welcome friends! Thanks for joining me for A Fortnight of Fright over here on Books Take You Places! Fortnight of Fright is an event hosted over two weeks, by myself and Brittany from The Book Addicts Guide, we will be featuring some fabulous posts on all things Halloween!

Today I am going to share some “true” facts about Halloween!

After taking a peek around here, make sure you head over to Brittany’s blog to enjoy some more Halloween fun!!

*Before we get started I wanted to share that today is the LAST day to download Neil Gaiman’s FREE audiobook, Click Clack the Rattlebag over on audible.com. For every download, audible will donate $1 up to $100,000 to charity. It’s part of All Hallow’s Read and take it from me, the story is awesome. It was scary and intriguing and just…Gaiman. So I highly suggest that you go HERE to download the audiobook TODAY before it goes away and if you want to read more about Neil’s story or All Hallow’s read I provided some info at the bottom of this post! Happy listening!*

Halloween has always fascinated me, it is my mother’s favorite holiday and therefore we always went all out on decorating and celebrating the holiday. Additionally, many of my family members on my father’s side loathe the holiday. They believe it to be a “day of evil” and being the precocious gal that I am I spent ample time educating myself on the origin of the holiday so that I could argue with them at every chance! I’m not going to bore you with lectures or paragraphs but I thought it would be fun to share some quick info on what Halloween really represents, past the candy and costumes.

Halloween is believed to have originated from the Celtic festival of Samhain, the last day of harvest before the “dark days,” more commonly known as “winter.” It was believed that on Samhain (and Beltane) the door to the Otherworld was open and therefore spirits were able to roam the Earth. 

It was believed that some were fearful of the spirits so they carved faces into things such as turnips and placed them in their windows to ward off evil spirits. This is of course, why we carve Jack o’ lanterns today. This is also why some wore costumes, the people believed that this would trick the walking spirits so that they would not possess the living.

There is much contemplation on the origin of trick or treating. It is believed that it comes from the celebration of All Souls Day in England. On this day, the poor would go door to door asking for food and once received would pray for the souls of the givers dead relatives. This was called going “a-souling” and replaced the practice of leaving wine and cakes out for the spirits of their dead.  Additionally, the term “Trick or Treat” can be translated to “give me a treat or I will cause some mischief,” there was a time that those requesting treats would perform some “trick” also known as a song and dance as “payment” for their treat.

Other traditions, such as certain foods that were eaten, bonfires and bobbing for apples goes along with the Samhain tradition of (the end of) harvest. These things are all symbolic to the culture and it was believed that peeling apples assisted in telling the future or answering questions asked while peeling.

That’s it for me for today, do you have any traditions for Halloween? Anything I may have missed?

Thanks for reading, friends. I really hoped you all enjoyed A Fortnight of Fright over here on Books Take You Places!

While you’re all here, have you heard of All Hallow’s Read? Basically, Neil Gaiman is behind it and the gist is that during the week of Halloween, or on the night itself, you give someone a scary book. Skip the candy and GIVE OUT BOOKS, PEOPLE!! Want more info (you shouldn’t because, did you see about NEIL GAIMAN?!) go to the website and READ ALL ABOUT IT!

Happy Halloween!
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Fortnight of Fright: Haunted Places

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Welcome friends! Thanks for joining me for A Fortnight of Fright over here on Books Take You Places! Fortnight of Fright is an event hosted over two weeks, by myself and Brittany from The Book Addicts Guide, we will be featuring some fabulous posts on all things Halloween!

Today I am going to share some creepy places around New England and we have a guest post from a fellow blogger!

After taking a peek around here, make sure you head over to Brittany’s blog to enjoy some more Halloween fun!!

I am going to stick to New England haunts since that is where I live so first let’s take a look at some of the most haunted places in Connecticut:

Dudleytown: I don’t know anyone who hasn’t heard of Dudleytown, Ed and Lorraine Warren have dubbed this one of the most haunted places in Connecticut and growing up around here it seems that everyone has a story of what goes on in this forest. The story starts off as many do, settlers came to the area and slowly, things started to happen. Things such as suicides and murders!

Norwich State Hospital in Preston, CT: I am slightly obsessed with abandoned asylums and hospitals. They are beyond creepy and it isn’t hard to imagine all of the ways they are haunted. Lucky for me, Connecticut has quite a few of them Unfortunately, patients at Norwich State Hospital were severely mistreated and at times, even tortured. Therefore, it is no question that this is a hotbed for paranormal activity. I have a few friends who snuck in here while we were in college and WOW did they have some stories to tell. These places are of course patrolled by A LOT of police but every time we head toward the casino I make sure to drive by slower than usual speed. You can really feel a difference in atmosphere even from the road.

Salem, MA: How can I not mention Salem? The terrible witch trials took place hundreds of years ago and it’s no wonder why people believe spirits haunt this town. I was lucky enough to take a trip to Salem with Heidi from Bunbury in the Stacks yesterday and I’ll be recapping it for you all tomorrow!

This really is a small percentage of the amazing “haunted” places all over New England. Any place with history is bound to contain some memories, and sometimes these moments lead to paranormal experiences.

If you’re interested in this kind of thing, you should check out The Top Haunted Places in Connecticut.

Let’s hear what Vyki from On the Shelf has to say!

Spooky Local Lore

Every county has some kind of spooky local lore. One of the places in my county is an old cemetery behind one of our local colleges called “Hell’s Gates,” and it has been called this for so long that I can’t even remember what its actual name is. This is one of the creepiest cemeteries I have ever been in!

One a trip to Hell’s Gates one night on a rather cold November night, me and a friend of mine decided to take the camera out and see what we could catch on film (that’s right, film). As soon as we entered into the cemetery, the car heated up and we had to roll the windows down to let the cold air in to cool us off, and it definitely wasn’t the car’s heating system since it didn’t work. When we got the film developed, every picture was full of orbs. For those of you who don’t follow ghostie things, orbs are a way that ghosts show up in pictures. Are they really ghosts? Maybe, maybe not, all I know is that the pictures were FULL of them!

The most known story about Hell’s Gates is the myth about going in and out the same way when you visit the cemetery. It is said that you need to make sure you come in and leave from the exact same entrance; otherwise, one of the cemetery’s ghosts will follow you home. About a year after my sister and her husband moved in to their new house, she decided she was going to go with some friend to Hell’s Gates. When leaving, she went through a different gateway than she came in, not paying any mind to Hell’s Gates’ lore. The whole way home she felt as if someone was following her. Went she walked into the house, she still felt as if there was a presence, and she tried to ignore it. What she couldn’t ignore was the footstep sounds coming from the back room and hallway. She checked around the house and never found anything. Her husband also double checked, but still found nothing at all. From the night she visited the cemetery until they moved out a few years later, there were constant thumps and bumps, footsteps and sometimes even door opening and closing sounds that came from that back bedroom and hallway. Apparently, the ghost became a new house resident and claimed that bedroom!

I want to go back out some night to take some pictures with my digital camera and see what I can catch, but I will definitely be making sure I come out the same way I went in.

Sounds pretty creepy to me! What do you guys think? Do you have any local lore or ghostly stories to share?

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Fortnight of Fright: Halloween Treats

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Welcome to A Fortnight of Fright over here on Books Take You Places! Fortnight of Fright is an event hosted over two weeks, by myself and Brittany from The Book Addicts Guide, we will be featuring some fabulous posts on all things Halloween!

Another delicious autumn related treat over here on the blog today! I have heard these called a few different things but I like the name Hocus Pocus Rolls the best because first, Hocus Pocus is awesome and second, once you bake these delicious treats the marshmallows disappear..LIKE MAGIC!

After taking a peek around here, make sure you head over to Brittany’s blog to enjoy some other Halloween related fun! 

For this recipe you will need:
  • One can of crescent roll dough
  • Enough large marshmallows to go inside every crescent roll
  • Melted butter
  • Cinnamon and sugar

Unfortunately I only have pictures of the finished product – I didn’t anticipate featuring this one on the blog at the time! Nonetheless they are still extremely easy and delicious, so go make them!

Not the best picture but you get the idea!

1. Preheat your over to the temperature specified on the back of the crescent roll container.

2. Unroll the crescent rolls and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

3. Roll the marshmallows in the melted butter.

4. Roll the marshmallows in the cinnamon sugar – I tend to use LOTS

5. Wrap the marshmallow in the open crescent rolls; do your best to close the sides around the marshmallows.

6. Put the rolls in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes.

7. Remove the crescent rolls from the oven and allow them to cool enough to handle. When they aren’t hot enough to burn off your fingers, break them open and enjoy the MAGIC!

YUM!

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Fortnight of Fright: Halloween Shows

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Welcome friends! Thanks for joining me for A Fortnight of Fright over here on Books Take You Places! Fortnight of Fright is an event hosted over two weeks, by myself and Brittany from The Book Addicts Guide, we will be featuring some fabulous posts on all things Halloween!

Today I am going to share my favorite  creepy shows to get into the Halloween spirit!

After taking a peek around here, make sure you head over to Brittany’s blog to read about her favorite creepy shows!!

American Horror Story – As I said before, it takes a lot to scare me and this show has definitely succeeded. I was obsessed with this show last season and though I am a little behind, I can’t wait to catch up on season 2. American Horror story didn’t just cross lines in horror (and cable television) it left them in the dust. Jessica Lange is amazing, she haunts me. Also, I was a tiny but in love with Tate. Some may call him evil but I just like to think of him as complicated. Want to check it out? It’s on FX on Wednesdays at 10pm!

The Simpsons – Treehouse of Horror: I don’t know about you guys, but I am a 90’s kid and therefore am a lover of The Simpsons. My love for The Simpsons only grew as the years went on and I was lucky enough in college to room with a gal who is in LOVE with the show so much that we spent quite a few nights falling asleep to Homer’s crazy antics. The Treehouse of Horror episodes are my FAVORITE! I have to admit, I haven’t had the pleasure of seeing them all but I do have a favorite…

 

 

 

Treehouse of Horror V: The three segments on this episode are “The Shinning,” “Time and Punishment,” and “Nightmare Cafeteria.”

“The Shinning” is of course a parody of the movie “The Shining” based on the book by Stephen King. Basically no beer and no tv make Homer go CRAZY.

In “Nightmare Cafeteria,” the teachers all go crazy and start eating the children.

In my FAVORITE Simpsons episode EVER “Time and Punishment,” Homer attempts to fix a toaster and accidentally turns it into a time machine. When he travels to the prehistoric time he realizes the hazards of changing ANYTHING because every time he alters any part of the past, the future is changed dramatically. This episode also contains one of my favorite Simpsons quotes ever, in attempting to avoid ruining ANYTHING in the past, Homer accidentally sits down on a fish on land. He then sighs and states, “Oh I wish, I wish, I didn’t sit on that fish.” HA! Not sure why this one stuck with me so much but that was in 1994 and to this day I still laugh out loud.

 

 

Side note: I just watched Treehouse of Horror TWENTY-THREE (wow I feel old) and it was just as hilarious as the ones in 1994!

What are your favorite creepy shows or Halloween episodes? Boy Meets World? Home Improvement? You’re not alone! Head on over to Brittany’s blog and see what she has to say about those creepy shows!

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Fortnight of Fright: Top Ten Tuesday Books to Get Into the Halloween Spirit

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Welcome friends! Thanks for joining me for A Fortnight of Fright over here on Books Take You Places! Fortnight of Fright is an event hosted over two weeks, by myself and Brittany from The Book Addicts Guide, we will be featuring some fabulous posts on all things Halloween!

Today I am going to share my top ten favorite books to get into the Halloween spirit!

After taking a peek around here, make sure you head over to Brittany’s blog to read about her top ten favorite Halloween books!!

Top Ten Books to Get Into the Halloween Spirit

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created over at The Broke and the Bookish which I adore and therefore chose to adopt into my weekly blog posts!

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz – Who remembers this book?! I remember reading it to my brother and freaking myself out! To this day we still talk about how this book traumatized us as children! I need to find these at the library VERY SOON.

Amber House by Kelly Moore – I reviewed this a few weeks back and it was the perfect book for this time of year. It kept me up at night and had me peering around corners before taking them.

Goosebumps series by R.L. Stein – Who didn’t read this series as a kid? Welcome to Dead House? Night of the Living Dummy? STILL SCARED OF THEM.

Carrie by Stephen King – We are reading this now for Book Club at the high school and it is FREAKING ME OUT. I can’t deal with those thrillers that get into your head ::shiver::

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs – I loved this book. It read like a seriously creepy, haunted tale that really gets inside your head. Read my review, here.

Dracula by Bram Stoker – If you don’t already know that I have love for Dracula then you should read my post on my favorite villains.

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion – I never loved zombies until I met R.

Anna Dressed in Blood and Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake – Both super scary and super awesome.

Grimm’s Grimmest by Maria Tatar – Haven’t you always wanted to read the real story behind Cinderella or Snow White? This book reminds you that Grimm’s Fairy Tales started off as tales fit for adults and not children.

The Witches by Roald Dahl – Ahh possibly my favorite Roald Dahl book. Not too scary but a fun way to get into Halloween nonetheless.

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Fortnight of Fright: Favorite Villains

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Welcome to A Fortnight of Fright over here on Books Take You Places! Fortnight of Fright is an event hosted over two weeks, by myself and Brittany from The Book Addicts Guide, we will be featuring some fabulous posts on all things Halloween!

Today I am going to share my favorite villains from literature and film…villains are sort of my favorite thing so this might just be me fangirling all over the place..

After taking a peek around here, make sure you head over to Brittany’s blog to read about her favorite villains!

Dracula: Oh, Prince of Darkness how I love thee. Count Dracula is one of the most recognized characters in horror literature and film and frankly, I love him. Let’s take a look at my favorite portrayals of him and film and literature…

Bela Lugosi – Arguably the most famous actor to ever portray Dracula, Lugosi set the standard for the Dracula character we know and love today.

Pick me! Pick me!

Since we are working hard during The Fortnight of Fright to cater to the scary and comical side of Halloween we can’t forget Leslie Nielson’s portrayal of Dracula in Dracula: Dead and Loving it. Like Young Frankenstein, I watch this film too often – I enjoy me some Mel Brooks, what can I say?

Renfield: Yes, I’m schh-eduled to meet Count Dracula.
Villager #1: Dracula!
Villager #2: Dracula!
Villager #3: Dracula!
Villager #4: …Schh-eduled?

There have been so many retellings of the novel Dracula and I have read my share. My favorites by far are The Historian by Elizabeth Kostava and Dracula in Love by Karen Essex.

“TO YOU, PERCEPTIVE READER, I BEQUEATH MY HISTORY…”

Captain Hook: Yet another villain I have a crush on. I thought it was because of Dustin Hoffman, how AMAZING is that movie?! But let’s be serious, have any of you seen the new teasers for season 2 of Once Upon a Time (Admittedly I could have added Rumplestiltskin to this list because I LOVE him but that’s for another time..):

Oh, HAI Cap’n! ❤

Anywho…if you’re looking for Hook in literature besides Peter Pan, give The Child Thief by Brom or Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson a shot. They’re both pretty amazing, I promise.

The Evil Queen: True, when I think of The Evil Queen I think of her portrayal in Snow White, but I believe The Evil Stepmother, Malificent, The Queen of Hearts and Mother Gothel can fall under this title as well. This character is terrifying because she is the epitome of evil wrapped in a mother’s garb. The Evil Queen has been rewritten again and again and each time I am impressed at her beauty, grace and utter corruption.

You go girl!

How about those actors you love to hate?

Alan Rickman: You’re all like “Girllll you know you mean Severus Snape” and yes, I do but also? I mean the Sheriff of Nottingham because I am a TEENY bit obsessed with Robin Hood. SO, Severus Snape FOR LYFE  due to the duality in his nature and all of that good stuff but also THE SHERIFF because he is an evil dude and Alan Rickman is AMAZING.

Always ❤

and,

Tim Curry: Let’s be serious, the dude EXCELS at playing the bad guy. To name a few: Cardinal Richelieu from the Three Musketeers, Dr. Frank-N-Furter from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Pennywise the Clown from It (throw up in my mouth), and Long John Silver from Muppet Treasure Island are some of my FAVORITE villains of all time (except IT, but we’ve covered that enough, I think) so it is no question that he be included on this fangirl list.

You rock that hat, Long John!

Notable mentions include: Bellatrix Lestrange (obviously), The Wicked Witch of the West, Nurse Ratched and…honestly..I could go on and on over here, villains are kind of my favorite. Instead, I will remind you to go visit Britt’s blog so that you can enjoy her favorite villains as well. Before you go though, let me know if you love any of these guys as much as you do and remind me of some favorites I missed!