Gustav Gloom and the Nightmare Vault, by Adam-Troy Castro

(hb; 2013: second book in the Gustav Gloom series. Cover and interior illustrations by Kristen Margiotta)


From the back cover:

"Gustav Gloom's neighbors think he is the unhappiest little boy in the world.  But what they don't know is that the strange, dark house Gustav lives in is filled with more wonders and mysteries than could ever be explained.  But explain is exactly what Gustav needs to do when Fernie What moves in across the street.  And that's when the adventure really begins. . .

"Fernie and Gustav find themselves battling a new, shadowy foe - the shadow eater.  He is after the Nightmare Vault, which will unleash terrifying and threatening shadows into the world.  As Fernie and Gustav race to stop him, Fernie discovers more strange rooms in the Gloom mansion, learns about Gustav's mysterious past, and finds out just what happened to his missing parents."


Review:

Like Gustav Gloom and the People Taker, the first book in this series, Vault is one of the most fun, imaginative and offbeat kid's books I've read in a long while, with something for both children and adults.

One of my favorite lines in the book: "[Mr. What] was a professional safety expert and made his living teaching people how to avoid deadly accidents.  Fried chicken was, in his view, so very dangerous that he'd written an entire book, The Deadliest Cluck, about the terrible catastrophes it could cause.  According to the book, choking on a swallowed bone was not even the worst.  Chapter 7 described one case where a woman had hiccupped at the wrong time and inhaled an entire chicken leg up her right nostril, then sneezed it out and shot her husband through the heart."

Sharp-eyed fans of Tim Burton, Stephen King, Roald Dahl, Shirley Jackson, Henry Selick and the film ParaNorman may especially enjoy this shadow-themed and ultimately heartwarming (sans sappiness) treat.

Wonderful and whimsical work, this, between the dark, kid-friendly charm of Adam-Troy Castro 's story and characters, and Kristen Margiotta's perfect-for-the-book illustrations.

Followed by Gustav Gloom and the Four Terrors.

Gustav Gloom and the People Taker by Adam-Troy Castro

(hb; 2012: first book in the Gustav Gloom series. Cover and interior illustrations by Kristen Margiotta)


From the back cover:

"Gustav Gloom's neighbors think he is the unhappiest little boy in the world. But what they don't know is that the strange, dark house Gustav lives in is filled with more wonders and mysteries than could ever be explained. But explain is exactly what Gustav needs to do when Fernie What moves in across the street. And that's when the adventure really begins. . .

"When her cat chases his own shadow into the Gloom mansion, not only does Fernie get lost in Gustav's house full of shadows, but she also finds herself being chased by the mysterious People Taker. With Gustav's help, Fernie must save herself, her cat, and ultimately her family from what lurks in the Gloom mansion."


Review:

This is one of the most fun, imaginative and offbeat kid's books I've read in a long while, with something for both children and adults.

One of my favorite lines in the book: "This struck Fernie as the worst thing he had done yet. Taking people and throwing them into a bottomless pit to become slaves of a guy named Lord Obsidian was evil enough, but promising them pancakes first and not giving them any added an entirely different level of cruelty."

If my girlfriend and I had a child, this would be one of the first books I'd include in his/her library (for when he/she was old enough to understand/read it).

Fans of Tim Burton, Roald Dahl, Henry Selick and the film ParaNorman may especially enjoy this shadow-themed and ultimately heartwarming (sans sappiness) treat.

Wonderful work, this, between the dark, kid-friendly charm of Adam-Troy Castro 's story and characters, and Kristen Margiotta's perfect-for-the-book illustrations.

Followed by Gustav Gloom and the Nightmare Vault.

Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle

(hb; 1963; translated from French by Xan Fielding)

Review:

In the year 2500, human astronaut Ulysse Mérou and his two fellow scientist/astronauts discover and investigate an Earthlike planet at another end of the universe (a "region of space where the supergigantic star Betelgeuse - or Alpha Orionis, as our astronomers called it, reigned supreme. . . about three hundred light-years distant from [Earth]").

What they discover is more than an Earth-turned-on-its-evolutionary-head world - and that's just the beginning of the shocks, many of which are different than the cinematic versions that were spawned from this novel.

Apes is a solid, tightly-written short read that makes its seemingly implausible premise not only plausible, but almost inevitable, within the confines of Boulle's landmark science fiction logic.

Worthwhile read, this.

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Planet was released stateside as a film on April 3, 1968.

Charlton Heston played Colonel George Taylor [the film equivalent of Ulysse Mérou]. Roddy McDowall played Cornelius. Kim Hunter played Dr. Zira. Linda Harrison played Nova.

Maurice Evans played Dr. Zaius - Minister of Science. James Whitmore played President of the Assembly. Robert Gunner played Landon. Lou Wagner played Lucius.

Franklin J. Schaffner directed the film from a script co-authored by Michael Wilson and Rod Serling.

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Sequels followed: Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970); Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971); Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972); Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973).

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In 1974, a fourteen-episode television series, Planet of the Apes aired stateside.

A year later, an animated television series, Return to the Planet of the Apes, aired stateside - it ran for thirteen episodes before getting cancelled.

In 1981, a live-action television movie, Back to the Planet of the Apes - actually two episodes of the 1974 series (Planet of the Apes) edited together - aired on American television.

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A theatrical remake of the original film, Planet of the Apes, was released stateside on July 27, 2001.

Mark Wahlberg played Captain Leo Davidson. Evan Parke played Gunnar. Helena Bonham Carter played Ari. Estella Warren played Daena. Lisa Marie played Nova.

Tim Roth played Thade. An uncredited Charlton Heston, in a species role reversal, played "Zaius - Thade's Father".

Michael Clarke Duncan played Attar. Paul Giamatti played Limbo. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa played Krull.

Kris Kristofferson played Karubi. David Warner played Sandar. Erick Avari played Tival. Anne Ramsay played Lt. Col. Grace Alexander. Michael Jace played Major Frank Santos.

Famous cinematic make-up artist Rick Baker played "Old Ape #2". An uncredited Jesse Kristofferson, son of Kris Kristofferson, played a "Starving Human".

Tim Burton directed the film, from a script by William Broyles Jr., Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal.

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Rise of the Planet of the Apes - a prequel to the original Planet of the Apes - is scheduled for stateside release on August 5, 2011.

James Franco played Will Rodman. Andy Serkis played Caesar. Freida Pinto played Caroline. John Lithgow played Charles Rodman.

Brian Cox played John Landon. Tom Felton played Dodge Landon.

David Hewlett played Hunsiker. Tyler Labine played Franklin. Sonja Bennett played "Woman on Street". Chelah Horsdal played Irena.

Rupert Wyatt directed the film, from a screenplay co-authored by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver.

The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells

(hb; 1896)

From the inside flap:

"[This] is the story of [Edward] Prendick, a common man, who is shipwrecked on a mysterious island populated by Moreau, a scientist and Montgomery, his drunken assistant, a disgraced doctor. Growing suspicious of Moreau's experiments, Prendick discovers Moreau is creating strange, human-like cratures from animals. Wolves, dogs, pumas, oxen and other animals have been transformed by Doctor Moreau's skillful hands and brilliant mind into Beast People, capable of speech and thought.

"Following a shocking sequence of events Prendick is left alone with Moreau's creations, as they revert back to their animal state. . ."



Review:

Wells's fast-paced novel is immediately gripping and timeless, perfectly balancing the action/science fiction aspects of the tale, the emotions of its lead protagonist (Prendick, whose panic suffuses the work) and its horrific men should not play God with nature theme.

True to Frankensteinean form, Doctor Moreau is a curious and barbaric man, often more cruel and perverted than the Beast People he created and brainwashed. And this reader could practically smell Montgomery's desperate, acrid alcoholic sweat, as he, caught in his own fugue-panic, further enables Moreau's escalating (and equally desperate) atrocities.

One of my all-time favorite novels, this: own it, already.

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Seven films have resulted from this novel.

The first, The Island of the Lost, was released in 1921.

This German-language film was directed by Urban Gad, from a screenplay by Hans Berhendt and Bobby E. Lüthge.

Fritz Beckmann played Jim. Hans Berhendt (who also co-scripted the movie) played Pat Quickly. Alf Blutecher played Robert Marston. Tronier Funder played Dr. Ted Fowlen. Ludmilla Hell played Evelyn Wilkinson.

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The second version, Island of Lost Souls, was released stateside in December 1932.

Charles Laughton played Dr. Moreau. Richard Arlen played Edward Parker. Leila Hyams played Ruth Thomas. Bela Lugosi played "Sayer of the Law". Kathleen Burke played "The Panther Woman - Lota". Arthur Hohl played Mr. Montgomery. Tetsu Komai played M'ling. George Irving played "The Consul".

Erle C. Kenton directed the film, from a script by Waldemar Young and Philip Wylie.

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Terror Is A Man was the third cinematic version of Wells's novel, though the novel was never credited as the film's source material. Terror Is A Man was released stateside in November 1959.

Francis Lederer played Dr. Charles Girard. Greta Thyssen played Frances Girard. Richard Derr played Dr. Fitzgerald. Oscar Keesee played Walter Perrera.

Geraldo de Leon directed the film, from a script by Paul Harbor.

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Tim Burton directed, scripted and starred in the 1971 shot-on-Super-8 short The Island of Doctor Agor. It was Burton's first film, and the fourth cinematic adaptation of this Wells novel.

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The Twilight People was released stateside in January 1973. The film did not cite Wells's novel as a source, though this appears to be the case.

John Ashley played Matt Farrell. Pat Woodell played Neva Gordon. Jan Merlin played Steinman. Charles Macauley played Dr. Gordon. Pam Grier played "Ayesa, the Panther Woman". Ken Metcalfe played "Kuzma, the Antelope Man". Kim Ramos played "Primo, the Ape Man".

Eddie Romero, who also co-scripted the film with Jerome Small, directed this fifth film version of Wells's novel.

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The sixth version, The Island of Doctor Moreau, was released stateside on July 13, 1977. Don Taylor directed the film, from a screenplay by Al Ramrus and John Herman Shaner.

Burt Lancaster played Dr. Paul Moreau. Michael York played Andrew Braddock. Nigel Davenport played Montgomery. Barbara Carrera played Maria. Richard Basehart played "Sayer of the Law". Nick Cravat played M'ling.

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The seventh (and latest) cinematic adaptation, The Island of Doctor Moreau, was released stateside on August 23, 1996.

David Thewlis played Edward Douglas. Marlon Brando played Dr. Moreau. Fairuza Balk played Aissa. Val Kilmer played Montgomery. Ron Perlman played "Sayer of the Law". Marco Hoffschneider played M'ling. Temuera Morrison played Azazello. Mark Dascascos played Lo-Mai.

John Frankenheimer, who replaced an uncredited/fired Richard Stanley, directed the film, from a script by Richard Stanley and Ron Hutchinson.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl

(1964: prequel to Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. Illustrated by Quentin Blake.)

From the inside flap:

"Young Charlie Bucket can't believe his luck when he finds the very last of Mr. Willy Wonka's Golden Tickets inside his chocolate bar. He wins the trip of a lifetime -- a magical tour around Mr. Wonka's mysterious chocolate factory. once inside, Charlie and the four other winners -- Augustus Gloop, Veruca Salt, Violet Beauregarde, and Mike Teavee -- witness amazing wonders: rainbow drops, lickable wallpaper, and even a chocolate waterfall. But what happens when the children, one by one, disobey Mr. Wonka? In Roald Dahl's most popular story for children, the nasty are punished and the good are deliciously rewarded."

Review:

Whimsical, timeless, gently subversive morality work, this: by now most of us know the story, whether it's through the book, or the two movie versions.

One of my favorite all-time children's books.

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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has been filmed twice.

The first version, under the title Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, starred Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. Released stateside on June 30, 1971, it was directed by Mel Stuart, from a script by book author Roald Dahl, and an uncredited David Seltzer.

Peter Ostrum played Charlie Bucket. Jack Albertson played Grandpa Joe. Julie Dawn Cole played Veruca Salt. Roy Kinnear played Mr. Salt. Denise Nickerson played Violet Beauregarde. Leonard Stone played Mr. Beauregarde. Paris Themmen played Mike Teevee. Nora Denney, credited as Dodo Denney, played Mrs. Teevee. Michael Bollner played Augustus Gloop. Ursula Reit played Mrs. Gloop. Diane Sowle played Mrs. Bucket.

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The second version, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, was released stateside on July 15, 2005. John August scripted; Tim Burton directed.

Johnny Depp played Willy Wonka. Freddy Highmore played Charlie Bucket. David Kelly played Grandpa Joe. Helena Bonham Carter played Mrs. Bucket. Noah Taylor played Mr. Bucket. Christopher Lee played Dr. Wonka. Julia Winter played Veruca Salt. James Fox played Mr. Salt.

Lighthousekeeping, by Jeanette Winterson

(hb; 2004)

From the inside flap:

"Orphaned and anchorless, Silver is taken in by blind Mr. Pew, the mysterious and miraculously old keeper of the Cape Wrath lighthouse. As the lighthouse beam illuminates a swath of water, so do stories emerge from the vast ocean of Pew's memory: the history of Cape Wrath and its founder Babel Dark, a nineteenth-century clergyman. Dark lived two lives: a public one mired in darkness and deceit, and a private one bathed in the light of a passionate love. For Silver, Dark's life becomes a map through her own particular darkness, into her own story, and, finally, into love."

Review:

This is one of the best books I've read this year.

I expected it to be great, as Winterson's narratives are often fractured (they leap-frog through time, space, form and voice), but not this great.

The story: an "lighthousekeeping" orphan, Silver, tells, in a first-person narrative, of her childhood (beginning in 1969, when she and her balance-challenged dog, DogJim, are taken in by the latest lighthousekeeper, blind Pew), the history of Salts (the barren seaside town she, DogJim and Pew reside in), the life-story of the minister Babel Dark (whose tortured, 19th-century double life eventually tears him apart), and eventually, of her adulthood, post-1989 (Tim Burton's Batman is mentioned, in passing).

It's difficult, nearly impossible to do this book justice. It's sparsely-worded, symbolic, passionate, sad, cleverly funny, sublime, genre-defying and altogether enchanting.

As with other Winterson novels (The PowerBook comes to mind), it's also literary: Robert Louis Stevenson, author of the 1886 classic The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Charles Darwin (whose 1859 anthropological study, On the Origin of Species, also changed the world) make brief appearances, their ideas and persons an integral, interwoven part of Silver's tales.

Own this, if you can.

From The Borderlands: Stories of Terror and Madness edited by Elizabeth E. & Thomas F. Monteleone

(pb; 2003: horror story anthology)


Overall review

Exemplary anthology, originally published as Borderlands 5, with only a few clunkers in the mix. Well worth your time.


Standout stories

1. ) “All Hands” – John R. Platt: Quirky, delightful entry about a man who wakes up with a different pair of hands each day.


2.) “The Growth of Alan Ashley” – Bill Gauthier: Black-humored take on the delusion of “self-improvement” – a strange “growth” on the titular character’s body becomes imbued with increasing, dangerous importance. If this were a film short, I could see this being directed by Eraserhead-era David Lynch, or Videodrome-era David Cronenberg.


3.) “The Goat” – Whitt Pond: Heartbreaking tale about a teenage boy who’s trying to save his supposedly demon-possessed brother from their fellow townspeople.


4.) “The Food Processor” – Michael Canfield: Surrealistic tale about two brothers whose collective desire to build things conflicts with their Father’s desire that they become chefs, like him. Superior, semi-bizarre work, one that would make an excellent Tim Burton film, illustrated by Peter Max.


5.) “Storytime with the Bluefield Strangler” – John Farris: Destined-to-be-a-true-classic story about a little girl who’s being terrorized by a real-life boogeyman.


6.) “The Planting” – Bentley Little: Perverse B-movie gem about a pair of panties, a cabin and a dessicated mummy.


7.) “Infliction” – John McIlveen: Stunning, emotional tale about an ex-alcoholic tracking his runaway daughter, four years gone.


8.) “The Thing Too Hideous To Describe” – David J. Schow: Funny, ultimately sad story about a small-town monster who makes a friend. One of the most imaginative entries in this bunch.


9.) “Magic Numbers” – Gene O’Neill: The operative phrase for this one-of-a-kind work is um, wow. Memorable work.


10.) “Head Music” – Lon Prater: Another destined-to-be-a-classic tale, this one about a young man who’s drawn to a oceanborn monster in the middle of the night. Reminiscent of H.P. Lovecraft’s finer nightmares, or any issue of Creepy.


11.) “Around It Still The Sumac Grows” – Tom Piccirilli: Envy-inducing entry about a middle-aged man who returns to his high school – site of countless teenage humiliations – twenty years later.


12.) “Annabell" – L. Lynn Young: Sublime, sad work about a physically-beautiful mother who seeks to protect her deformed daughter from the barbed horrors of the world.


Solid entries

“Ramis Temporalis” (Gary A. Braunbeck); “Faith Will Make You Free” (Holly Newstein); “N0072-JK1” (Adam Corbin Fusco); “Time For Me” (Barry Hoffman); “Prisoner 392” (John F. Merz); “Answering the Call” (Brian Freeman); “Smooth Operator” (Dominick Cancilla); “A Thing” (Barbara Malenky); “Slipknot” (Brett Alexander Savory); “Stationary Bike” (Stephen King).


So-so entries

“Father Bob & Bobby” (Whitley Strieber); “Dysfunction” (Darren O. Godfrey); “One Of Those Weeks” (Bev Vincent).