Fortnight of Fright: Guest Post by Vyki from On the Shelf

October 25, 2013 by Alyssa

Happy Friday, all! What an excellent week we have had for Fortnight of Fright! I’ve had so much time reading everyone’s posts and to end the week we have Vyki from On the Shelf to tell us all about a haunted jail. As you guys know I LOVE “real” horror stories, and this one is no exception! Take it away, Vyki!

The Haunted Jail

There are lots of creepy haunted places that come to mind when we think of Halloween, cemeteries, run down factories, old mental hospitals, scary looking old houses, but one of the creepiest I know of in my county is the old jail. Opened in 1958 right before the original jail was torn down, the metal bars of this jail has seen a lot over the years. Though it has been updated some though the decades, the cosmetic touch ups can’t hide the creepiness underneath. It is what you think of with a traditional older jail. Metal bars, clanging doors, dreary cement walls, and graffiti scribbled or etched into every space available. Those walls have witnessed who knows how many beatings, stabbings, deaths and suicides and it seems like some of those who died still stay within those cells. Walking down the barred corridors makes you feel like there are several eyes staring at you from the empty cells and you can almost hear the echos of the clang clang clang of inmates running things along the bars.

The most chilling areas of the jail, however, are the solitary cells. These were the cells where the extremely violent and mental people would go; those who couldn’t play nice with others and lost touch with reality. These were isolated and dark, with tiny fractured windows, and if you listened hard enough, you could hear the screams of the insane still ringing about. For a very short time, we had to open the old jail to house some inmates while some renovations were being made to the new jail, and during the stay, both inmates and officers talked of the strange incidences that occurred. Noises, clanging, footsteps, water running, even a figure passing across the camera monitor that was never there. Night of course was always the worst times and officers dreaded having to work their third shift in the creeptastic building. I’ve been to the old jail twice and both times were during the day and even in the light, it gave me the willies. I think if they were allowed to turn it into a haunted tour for Halloween, it would be the most popular and scariest around! And I’m certainly glad I never had to be someone working or housed in this heeby jeebies building!

Wow!! I love the whole atmosphere surround this jail, it sounds so intense! Thank you so much for joining us today, Vyki! Readers, don’t forget to head over to Brittany’s blog to see what she has featured today! Happy haunting!

Fortnight of Fright Guest Post by Dianne Salerni

October 24, 2013 by Alyssa

I am SO EXCITED to be featuring one of my favorite authors on the blog today!! Dianne Salerni is the author of WE HEAR THE DEAD, THE CAGED GRAVES, and THE EIGHTH DAY (a forthcoming series from HarperCollins) and some of you may remember that I gushed about her earlier this year after devouring THE CAGED GRAVES. Today, Dianne is here to talk about real caged graves, the spiritualist movement, and happenings that stemmed from both of these unique bits of history.

Graves in Cages and Spirits in the Basement

My first two novels, We Hear the Dead and The Caged Graves, are both better categorized as historical novels than paranormal or horror stories. However, each one originated from something creepy – and true.

The Caged Graves was inspired by two real graves in an abandoned cemetery in Catawissa, Pennsylvania. The graves belong to sisters-in-law who died within a couple days of one another in 1852 and whose family – for some reason — chose to enclose their burial plots in iron cages.

Grave of Sarah Ann

The story behind these graves has been lost to history. The most often cited explanation for the cages is protection from grave robbers – especially medical students seeking fresh cadavers for anatomy practice. But one has to wonder why only those two graves needed protection. Why did the family of these women consider them likely targets for grave robbers? And, more importantly, why erect a decorative, permanent structure for a danger that would only last a few days? The bodies wouldn’t be desirable very long.

There are some other strange things about this cemetery. On my second visit I noticed that all the graves belonged to women and children. It’s possible some headstones have been lost or broken to pieces, but it seems strange that not a single marker for an adult male survived. Not even the husbands of the two women! (I only discovered this after I wrote my novel, so the book doesn’t include this little mystery. That might have to wait for a future story!)

Grave of Asenath Thomas

While the historical facts behind The Caged Graves have been lost to time, the inciting incident that inspired We Hear the Dead is well documented by a pamphlet published a few weeks after the events. In May of 1848, in a one-bedroom, rented house in Hydesville, New York, a persistent but unexplainable rapping sound kept the tenants up several nights in a row. The adults, Margaret and John Fox, searched in vain for the source of the noise, while their two daughters, Maggie and Kate, insisted the rapping was caused by a “spirit.” After a few sleepless nights, an exhausted Margaret Fox complained that it must be the Devil himself.

That’s when the youngest girl, Kate, sat up in bed and said, “Here, Mr. Splitfoot*. Do as I do!” She snapped her fingers three times — and was answered by three sharp raps.

Kate and Maggie enticed the mysterious noise to imitate them several times and finally to answer questions by rapping once for yes and twice for no. By this means they determined the raps were caused by the spirit of a man who’d been robbed, murdered, and buried in the basement by a former tenant.

This creepy little incident was the beginning of the spiritualist movement – or rather, when Kate and Maggie’s older sister decided to take the girls on the road as spirit mediums – that was the beginning. The Fox sisters went from entertaining/scaring the neighbors in Hydesville to contacting wealthy patrons’ dead relatives for money all over the country. The younger girl, Kate, became the Lindsay Lohan of the 1850s while her sister Maggie was caught up in a star-crossed celebrity romance with a famous Arctic explorer.

Was it a hoax? There is evidence both for and against that. One sister admitted to fraud forty years later, but only after she was well paid for the confession. The other sister never recanted.

It’s a shame Maggie and Kate were never asked to contact the women buried in Catawissa’s caged graves and get the scoop on what happened there!

*Mr. Splitfoot is a 19^th century term for the Devil.

I bet that you didn’t know that We Hear the Dead was the inspiration for a short film called The Spirit Game, which premiered at the 2013 Cannes film festival! The trailer to the film can be found below, but also stay tuned for my review of We Hear the Dead, coming soon! Dianne, thank you SO MUCH for joining us on Books Take You Places, I loved reading all about the facts behind your books! Readers, head on over to Brittany’s blog to see what she has in store for you today!

The Spirt Game Trailer from Craig Goodwill on Vimeo.

Fortnight of Fright Guest Post by Jamie from The World for the Reading

October 23, 2013 by Alyssa

Hello readers! I hope that you are enjoying Fortnight of Fright thus far, we have been very lucky with our guests this year! Today we have Jamie from The World for the Reading telling us all about a TRUE HAUNTING (umm my favorite!!) Take it away, Jamie!!

The Haunting of Hoyt Hall

I don’t believe in ghosts, so when the opportunity came to live on the notoriously haunted fourth floor of Hoyt-Bowne Hall, I took it. The rooms were huge and Hoyt was right in the middle of campus. A little ghostly shenanigans seemed a small price to pay.

The ghost’s origin story varied depending on who told it, but here’s the gist: in the late 18^th century a woman having an illicit affair found out she was pregnant, was rejected by her lover, and hung herself in the attic. Other versions have her as defenestrated by her boyfriend; still others say that the pregnancy was the result of sexual assault. Whatever the true origin the result was a spirit said to be particularly malevolent to men. Any men who slept on the fourth floor were said to experience nightmares, headaches, trip over nothing, and if they should take a shower: extreme changes in water temperature. For this reason only women resided on the this floor, an unusual circumstance on a campus where every other dorm is co-ed by room.

My first night there I was awoken by a creak… creak …creak. The room’s two closet doors were opening and shutting on their own. Chalking it up to the open windows, I rolled over and went back to sleep. The next night: creak…creak…creak went the doors. This time the windows were closed. Well it’s an old building, I thought to myself. I shoved a plastic bin in front of the doors to stop the creaking, and learned to live with it. The rest of the year was spent mostly untroubled by the “ghost”: a girl down the hall yelled for me to come see a ball rolling around her floor apparently untouched by human hands, there were strange knocks on the walls at random places, my friends across the way found mysterious holes in their window screens. (This last had a clear explanation: a squirrel had chewed through the screen to get to a dish of Hershey’s kisses with almonds, the squirrel equivalent of crystal meth.) My friend Tom complained of random bruises, though they were likely the result of drinking in the woods, not supernatural in origin.

I had no more personal experiences… until one Friday night. Hoyt 4 was empty, finals were coming and we’d been given Monday and Tuesday off for “reading days”. Many people, my roommate and neighbors included, elected to go home for the weekend. I had several papers to write and had woken up that morning with a stomach virus. I decided to quarantine myself in the dorm and get as much work done as possible in between miserable trips to the bathroom. All was quiet that afternoon and into the evening. Suddenly there was a knock at my door. Startled, I answered it only to be blinded by a light. A camera was shining in my face and three freshmen guys stood there. These amateur Ghost Hunters wanted an interview: “No one else answered their door. How do you like living in the creepiest building on campus? Ever been attacked by the ghost? Did you know the lights are sometimes on in the attic? Are those Pokemon pajama pants?” The only thing currently haunting me was the Norovirus. Sweaty, nauseous, and mildly irritated I declined an on-camera interview and sent them on their way.

Some hours later, maybe around 2:00am I was brushing my teeth in the bathroom sink after another miserable excursion when I noticed how cold the room was. The window had been opened, even though it had been shut the last time I visited in the room about an hour before. Someone else must be up here after all, I thought, then shut the window and continued brushing. I heard a noise like swoosh swoosh coming from the side of the bathroom with the shower stalls. “Hello?” I called, “Anyone there? Cindy, is that you?” No response. The lights flickered, but then they often did. I washed my face.Creak… creak… creak. The doors of the toilet stalls were swinging back and forth. The door leading to the hallway opened. Small knocks were coming from the walls. Finally, bang went the toilet seat that I had left up, just as the lights went out.

I don’t believe in ghosts, but I raced out of that bathroom and locked myself in my own room with all the lights turned on, shoving the bin back in front of the closets as a precaution.

I loved this. So much. It sounds like a scene out of a really fantastic novel that I want to exist so I can read it RIGHT NOW, PLEASE! I love scary things but even I am not sure how I would have reacted to this one! Thanks so much for sharing with us, Jamie! As always, readers, remember to head over to Brittany’s blog to see what she has featured, and check back tomorrow for a featured post from THE CAGED GRAVES author, Dianne Salerni!

Review: The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab

October 22, 2013 by Alyssa

Hello fellow readers! Fortnight of Fright continues with a review of The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab!

Title: The Near Witch

Author: Victoria Schwab

Publishing Information: August 2, 2011 by Hyperion Books

Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, Witches, Romance

Series information: Standalone – though a prequel can be read for free here

Format: Hardcover, 282 pages

Source: Obtained an ARC from the author a Book Expo America

Recommended For: Fans of fairy tales and lyrical, imaginative prose

The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children.

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company.

And there are no strangers in the town of Near.

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life.

But when an actual stranger-a boy who seems to fade like smoke-appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true.

The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. Still, he insists on helping Lexi search for them. Something tells her she can trust him.

As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know-about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.

The first thing to talk about when discussing The Near Witch is the way in which Victoria Schwab integrates gorgeous imagery into her prose. The Near Witch is reminiscent of fairy tales of old, invoking images of deep forests, dark moors, and misguided villains. What Schwab excels at is weaving absolutely beautiful descriptions with layered characters, and plot, she teetered on the line between too much and too little throughout the novel and I find that for me, The Near Witch was just right.

I thoroughly enjoyed the strength shown by the characters in The Near Witch, Schwab has an excellent way of showing the reader glimpses into multiple characters without becoming too overwhelming with detail. Lexi is our main character and though she is growing up in a small village ruled by men, she does her best to stand out and follow her own path. This is done in a beautiful way as we are shown the integrity in her character when she is willing to trust a stranger when no one else will. The aforementioned stranger is a rather mysterious young man who has a bit of a shadowy past, though he is doing his best to not let that affect his future. The relationship between the two characters was indeed sweet, if not a little rushed. The secondary characters of the novel were also layered and interesting, the two “witches” of the village, Dreska and Magda, stole the show on more than one occasion, and I simply adored Lexi’s mother, though in truth I would have liked to see more of her throughout the novel.

What I can say about The Near Witch in terms of plot is that it is an extremely straightforward novel, there are no hidden agendas or surprise elements. In fact, I had a hard time not thinking ahead and making up my own twisty endings for the novel. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, I did find that it made the novel lack some depth. Perhaps my expectations of a reader are too high but upon completion I did feel as if the novel was missing a certain something to place it on my favorites shelf. With that being said, I must mention that despite the lack of depth, The Near Witch was a beautifully detailed fairy tale that spoke to my heart. I recommend it to those of you looking for something less enthralling, but more comfortable, it evokes a feeling of putting on your favorite sweater on the first cool day, after a very long summer.

Fortnight of Fright: Guest Review by Amy from Tripping Over Books

October 21, 2013 by Alyssa

Hello my friends! This morning we have one of my favorite people in the world participating in Fortnight of Fright, Amy from Tripping Over Books! Below you will find a piece of Amy’s review of The Outside by Laura Bickle, head on over to her post to read the rest of her thoughts on this awesome vampire/Amish mash up! Also be sure to head over to Brittany’s blog to see what she has featured for Fortnight of Fright today! Take it away, Ame!

Friends, I’m a little bit over the vampires. Just in general. Truthfully, I haven’t read that many vampire books, and I do watch shows on TV that center around vampires, but I’m not always eager to get on board with them. I had this feeling before I read the first book in this series, THE HALLOWED ONES, and that book basically disabused me of my meh-ness. Laura Bickle‘s story about the vampire apocalypse as seen through the eyes of the Amish was creepy and excellent. Reading THE OUTSIDE, the conclusion of Laura Bickle‘s story, became an instant priority, and it was worth the anticipation.

I read The Hallowed Ones on Amy’s recommendation, and I LOVED it. I honestly cannot wait to read the sequel. I know it might sound weird when you hear Amish or Amish and vampires thrown together but I promise you that it works! Thanks for joining us today, Ame!

Fortnight of Fright – Guest Post from Danielle Shipley: Scary-Good Times as a Scaredy-Cat

October 18, 2013 by Alyssa

Welcome, welcome!! It is day two of Fortnight of Fright! For those of you wondering what Fortnight of Fright consists of, head on over to the intro post and take a gander! I am so excited to have so much excellent blogger and author participation this year, we are going to be bursting at the seams with Halloween happenings! Today I have a lovely lady featured on the blog, Ms. Danielle Shipley! Danielle is a pretty fabulous person, and author so go check out her blog or twitter after reading her post on Halloween from the views of a “scaredy-cat!” Take it away, Danielle!

As a general rule, I dislike being spooked, and anyone who goes out of their way to startle a scream of fear out of me is likely to end up on my black list for quite some time. But every so often, over the course of my life, I’ll come across something that inspires my fear… and my happy fascination.

Sometimes, it’s a song. As a youngster, I got a pleasant tingle up and down my spine every time I heard the ghost story set to music, “No Such Thing”. (Anyone of my generation out there who remembers that little number from the Olsen twins? Talk about ‘90s nostalgia.) And there was something about Men At Work’s “Who Can It Be Now?” that reminded me of my one (and in the foreseeable future, only) viewing of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” – but in a good way! If I’d owned something as futuristic as a CD back then, I would have had these tracks on replay, shivers and all.

Then there are the movies. For someone who lacks the nerve for horror films, I was shocked at how much I loved the moonlight reveal of the zombie-like crew of “Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl”. And even though its vampires and werewolves made me physically sick with terror, “Van Helsing” made it onto my list of all-time favorite movies. (Leave to a quirky Dracula to suck me in. …pun only realized after the fact.) I’ve lost count of how many times I put these DVDs in just for the heck of it; just for a few scenes, even; just for the chills.

Have I ever enjoyed a reading scare? There was that time I found myself entranced against my will by the “Haunting of Derek Stone” books by Tony Abbot. It was “evil dead people”-palooza, up in there, and I still read it all the way through to the end. No other series can boast that. And I once managed to thoroughly creep myself out in the writing of a short story. Even knowing from the start how it would end, I hadn’t expected experiencing it to shake me up that badly. So you know what I did with the creepy antagonist? Wrote that bad boy his own novel, that’s what! (Complete with yet another scene that made me shudder.)

All of which just goes to show, even us scaredy-cats can have fun with a fright, from time to time.

And no, that is not an invitation for you to try to scare the cookies out of me. I am serious. I will end you.

We asked a few or our participants to answer some questions about Halloween…

Why do you love Halloween? Because it’s one holiday closer to Christmas!

Any fun Halloween memories? One year my birthday (October 30th) coincided with the Halloween Costume Day held by the elementary school at which I was then a librarian. I got offered sweets all day while dressed up as Ralphie from “The Magic School Bus”. It was pretty awesome.

What was the best costume you ever had? (Or if you don’t have one, someone else’s) I’d say the Ralphie outfit made me happiest. Green jeans, green T-shirt with a big red “R” pinned to the front, red baseball cap worn backwards. That’s how little it takes to make me feel like a boss.

Do you prefer mild scares or hair raising horror? Mild, please!

Favorites:

Halloween Candy? I’ve always been a Snickers fan.

Paranormal creature? (ghouls, gobilins, vampires, witches, etc) Gotta give this one to the vampires. The fangs have a certain charisma.

Halloween Movie: Going back to the Olsen twins, my childhood Halloween favorite was “Double, Double, Toil and Trouble”.

Halloween TV episodes or TV Shows: Can I say “Scooby-Doo” as an overall premise? The Mystery Inc. gang pretty much had to deal with a dash of Halloween every day!

As always, head over to Brittany’s blog to see what she has featured and check back Monday for a scary book review from a fellow blogger!

Fortnight of Fright: Hallow’s Reads

October 17, 2013 by Alyssa

Welcome, welcome!! It is day one of Fortnight of Fright! For those of you wondering what Fortnight of Fright consists of, head on over to the intro post and take a gander! I am so excited to have so many excellent blogger and author participation this year, we are going to be bursting at the seams with Halloween happenings! To kick off the event, Brittany and I thought that we would compile a list of some great Halloween recommendations from our fellow bloggers. So here we go, best Halloween reads!!

First up we have April from The Steadfast Reader recommended some of her favorite Halloween reads…and quick side note: I am PETRIFIED of IT (and all clowns, really) so there won’t be any images of him over here!!

– It by Stephen King (blog review): Why I love it: First line: “The terror, which would not end for another twenty-eight years–if it ever did end–began, so far as I can tell, with a boat made from a sheet of newspaper floating down a gutter swollen with rain.”

It’s a deep and intricately woven tale about childhood, love, loss, and imagination. At it’s core it’s about the loss of innocence and the power children and imagination have. King does a masterful job of putting the reader in the shoes of his characters. The Loser’s Club, in all their glory, both as children and adults are what make this novel the fantastic piece of horror literature it is.

Why it’s great for Halloween? It’s the penultimate horror story. Every creepy, scary archetype ever rained down upon mankind is found in this book. What scares you? Clowns? Check. Sewers? Check. Spiders? Check. Dead children? Okay, that’s less of an archetype and more of a tragedy — but that’s in there too. It should be noted depending on your reading speed, if you start on Halloween, this one might take you until Christmas, but that doesn’t mean that the journey isn’t completely worth it.

– Demon Theory by Stephen Graham Jones: Why I like it: It’s a unique piece of work in that it’s written as a treatment for a screenplay. It’s packed with footnotes and so full of pop-culture that it’s practically bursting at the seams! I honestly can’t say that I’ve ever read anything else like it. Between that and the emotions that it pulled from me, I classify it as art.

Why it’s great for Halloween? Well, the screenplay treatment is for three movies that take place on Halloween. This piece pulled some visceral emotional response from me. There’s both camp-horror and really scary horror. This makes it an ideal spooky Halloween read.

Secondly we have Celine from Nyx Book Reviews and as you can see Celine ALSO recommends IT as one of the scariest books out there…I TOLD YOU!!

– It by Stephen King (Goodreads)

It is by far the scariest book I have ever read. Not only does it deal with the evil inside humans, it also features a monster that is evil itself and that turns into your greatest fears. While reading this Stephen King classic you will find yourself turning on all of your lights and hiding underneath a blanket. It’s even more terrifying if you’re afraid of clowns.

– The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff (Goodreads – my review)

With such a creepy cover, it’s almost impossible to go wrong. The Replacement is a lovely scary young-adult book, which has one of the most unique story lines and setting I have encountered so far. Deliciously weird, The Replacement is a great read for people that love their books atmospheric, but that value getting some nightmare-free sleep at night.

– The Trial by Kafka (Goodreads – my review)

Never has a book made me as uncomfortable as The Trial has. At first glance it sounds like your average thriller – a man gets accused of a crime. Kafka manages to turn this simple premise into an absurd surreal experience that gets under your skin. Reading this book is uncomfortable and confronting, and ultimately scarier than most books about monsters are.

Thanks so much for sharing your recommendations with us, girls!! I will definitely be adding a few of these to the TBR – and steering clear of a certain CLOWN..ahem..Make sure to head over to Brittany’s blog for some other Halloween recommendations!! Happy reading, my friends!

Fortnight of Fright (2)

October 3, 2013 by Alyssa

Hello my friends!

Two awesome things coming your way…

First, you may remember that last year Brittany from The Book Addict’s Guide and I hosted a two week event called Fortnight of Fright, where we shared different posts on ALL OF THE HALLOWEEN THINGS. This year we are working together again to showcase different creepy books, movies, author interviews, and other excellent autumn and Halloween related goodies! The best part is that we get to work together with some awesome bloggers to make this happen, and the more the merrier, so if you think that you want to assist in ANY way, even if it is just telling us your favorite thing about Halloween, sign up via the Google Doc down at the end, below part two of this post!

Some fun posts from last year included:

The Scary-Funny Sweet Spot by Heidi at Bunbury in the Stacks

Favorite Villains

Favorite Halloween Shows

…and so many more!!

Second, you may also remember that I told you all about All Hallow’s Read, which is a lovely new tradition started by Neil Gaiman where people give each other BOOKS instead of CANDY. Doesn’t that sound AMAZING?! Brittany, Amy and I are all participating and we are gifting each other Halloween-y books for us to read and review during the month of October. I can’t tell you how excited we have all been to choose books for each other (and um we are obviously psyched to receive those books as well!!) and you have time before Halloween so I suggest that you get together with some friends, and give each other books, because WE ALL LOVE BOOKS. For more information on All Hallow’s Read, head on over to their website, and I will keep you all in the know as well because last year Neil Gaiman gave away a free short story via Audible and it was PHENOMENAL.

Happy reading, my friends!!

Review: Robin Hood Shows and Movies

October 1, 2013 by Alyssa

Classics Retold is wrapping up! I had a lot of fun with this project, though I am disappointed that I didn’t get to read and watch as many of the retellings as I had hoped..life got in the way and all that! Today I am going to do some mini reviews of a few Robin Hood movies and the BBC adaptation of Robin Hood.

Robin Hood Prince of Thieves – As I mentioned in a previous post, this is my favorite Robin Hood movie, it actually may be my favorite movie in general. I know that there are so many people who make jests about this film for various reasons, the fact that Kevin Costner couldn’t master the English accent being one of them, but I personally love this romanticized version of my favorite tale. The producers of Prince of Thieves focused more on the relationship between Robin and Marian, the tagline for the film read “For the good of all men, and the love of one woman, he fought to uphold justice by breaking the law,” which really shows the emphasis put on his love for Marian. Kevin Costner is totes handsome, even in Waterworld, and MORGAN FREEMAN plays Azeem, you know Morgan Freeman rules. You guys, I love this movie so much that I can quote every line and play part of “Everything I do” by Bryan Adams on guitar. I love it so much that I bought the extended bluray DVD, and *spoiler alert* it is extra cool because it gives evidence that Mortiana (the witch) is actually the Sherriff of Nottingham’s MOTHER. She kidnapped the son of the last sheriff so she could put her son in the place of power, wed him to a royal, and therefore make it so her line sat on the throne. Super creepy, but you go girl.

Marian: You came for me… You’re alive…

Robin Hood: I would die for you.

Robin Hood: Men in Tights – Who doesn’t love a good Mel Brooks film? Despite the fact that this is almost a direct parody of Prince of Thieves – no really at one point Robin looks at the camera and says “Because, unlike some other Robin Hoods, I can speak with an English accent,” this movie still makes me laugh out loud. I fell in love with Cary Elwes while watching him play Wesley (obvs), but I will love him forever as Robin. If this hasn’t sold you, it also features a young Dave Chappelle.

Prince John: Such an unusual name. Latrine. How did your family come by it?

Latrine: We changed it in the 9th Century.

Prince John: You changed it to Latrine?

Latrine: Yeah! It used to be Shithouse.

Prince John: It’s a good change…..it’s a good change.

Robin Hood (BBC) – Now, I’ve only seen about half of season one but I am HOOKED. First of all, Robin is a STUD, as are some of his “merry men,” in fact, the actor who plays Viserys in Game of Thrones plays (a brunette) Will Scarlet, and AHEM…RICHARD ARMITAGE IS GUY OF GISBORNE! HELLOOO Thorin Oakenshield!! Second of all, it’s quite funny in that BBC way, you know the kind that makes you chuckle but not quite laugh out loud. Another thing I absolutely adore about this version is that Marian is a BAMF. She knows how to use that bow just as well as Robin does, and she uses her wiles to gain insight as assist Robin and his men. I’ll be honest, this version also has some sad parts and it isn’t presented with the greatest of special effects. Still, it is incredibly entertaining – and it’s on Netflix, so go forth and watch!

Marian: He has to have the glory, doesn’t he?

Much: Glory? Nah. I think he just wants to be loved.

So that wraps up Classics Retold! Please go to the Classics Retold page under Events on the menu up top and look at the wonderful Classics Retold posts written by fellow bloggers!

Review: Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein

September 27, 2013 by Alyssa

Title: Rose Under Fire

Author: Elizabeth Wein

Publishing Information: September 10, 2013 by Disney Hyperion

Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, World War II

Series information: A Companion to Code Name Verity

Format: Hardcover, 368 pages

Source: Obtained an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley

Recommended For: Fans of historical fiction, World War II, and deeply moving relationships

While flying an Allied fighter plane from Paris to England, American ATA pilot and amateur poet, Rose Justice, is captured by the Nazis and sent to Ravensbrück, the notorious women’s concentration camp. Trapped in horrific circumstances, Rose finds hope in the impossible through the loyalty, bravery and friendship of her fellow prisoners. But will that be enough to endure the fate that’s in store for her?

I know many readers had a hard time not comparing Rose Under Fire to Code Name Verity, and I can see why, they are companion novels after all. Personally, I worked hard to separate the two, and not for the obvious reasons. I worked to separate them because…here comes a confession: I didn’t love Code Name Verity. Code Name Verity was a gorgeous and shocking novel, but for some reason I didn’t fall in love with it as so many readers did. Perhaps it was because I felt it was too hyped, or perhaps it was the fact that I didn’t like having to drudge through 2/3 of the novel before really FEELING anything for the characters. Whatever the reason, I am glad that I was able to separate, because that made me enjoy Rose Under Fire so much more. Rose Under Fire gets to you in a much more direct way, the harrowing details of the war are spelled out for you, there isn’t much to infer, and that made me fall more deeply into the story and feel for the characters.

As stated, the novel is harrowing and raw, this will come as no surprise once you read the description. However, the intense circumstances that surround these characters are not what make it so emotional. It is the relationships built under hard pressure, and the changes in Rose that really overwhelmed me as a reader. The characters in Rose Under Fire are incredible, they are strong and willful and determined to survive. They are all vastly different, but under the circumstances they grow into a family. A real family that at times, quite literally, holds on another upright in order to survive. It was incredibly emotional to read about these characters and how they reacted to one another, as they weren’t just different, but they were treated differently at camp. Some of the prisoners were used as experimental “rabbits,” and some were on work orders to transport dead bodies around the camp. Despite their desperate circumstances, these girls bided their time and worked together to defy those that held them prisoner. They were in no way compliant, despite how they acted and carried out their different tasks.

As I mentioned above, the transformation in Rose’s character is what really got inside me. As the novel begins the reader sees Rose as a naïve girl who is excited about her inclusion in the war effort. There are many comparisons throughout the novel between Rose and the other prisoners. For example, while Rose was picnicking prior to being captured, some of the rabbits were having gruesome experiments done to their bodies that would leave them crippled for the rest of their lives. It is the naiveté that Rose has prior to entering the camp that assists in her rapid transformation. It is not surprising that Rose is a shell of herself upon escaping the camp; she has to work to perform the simplest tasks such as eating, or sleeping with a blanket. Where some of those who have escaped want to fight and tell the world their story, Rose shies away from the courts, and people in general. Rose is not the fighter that Verity or Maddie are, she is more silent in her suffering and stands apart from these characters by showing strength in other ways. Ways that may seem small in comparison, but one must remember that everyone fights their own battles in their own way and for the most part, the characters throughout the novel understand that.

A little happy tidbit: Maddie is back! I loved, LOVED reading her parts and if I am being honest the parts that made me cry the most came in the form of Maddie’s reminiscing about Verity and how she built Rose back into a functioning human, little by little. There was one particular scene after Rose escapes where Maddie is reading her writings about being in camp and Maddie is just there on the bed with Rose, with her hand on her as a warm presence and reminder that Rose is not alone that really had me tearing up. These subtle messages, especially when they are encompassing emotions from both novels really got to me.

Overall, this novel was a beautiful read and I am happy that I experienced it though it isn’t something I would read again. There were no hidden agendas and surprises as in Code Name Verity, but the horrifying details are there on the page with little to infer. The relationships are deeper and more heartfelt and familial, which made me feel deeply for these characters. Rose Under Fire is a deeply moving novel that will definitely pull a reaction out of any reader. It comes highly recommended for fans of historical fiction and deeply moving relationships.

I also have the pleasure of working with two of my very dear friends, Brittany from The Book Addict’s Guide and Amy from Tripping Over Books on a new feature called Three’s Company, we will be reading the same book and then sharing our mutual thoughts with all of you! So STAY TUNED! Meanwhile, to hold you over..here is a little sneak peek at what we have in store…go check out Brittany’s review and Amy’s review and report back!