Category Archives: History

50 years dead: Grace Metalious and Peyton Place

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Brian Bixby

It was fifty years ago today that the unhappy Grace Metalious (born Marie Grace DeRepentigny, 1924 – 1964), author of that scandalous best seller, Peyton Place, succeeded in drinking herself to death. In her lifetime, Peyton Place was banned from libraries and bookstores … Continue reading →

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Chapter Two of Prophecies and Penalties, and Charlie on the MTA

Posted on February 21, 2014 by Brian Bixby

So Emily Fisher is going back to her home town, which she doesn’t want to do, to investigate a murder, something she doesn’t know how to do. Misery may love company, but Emily doesn’t have any on her flight to … Continue reading →

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Abigail Lane: a biography

Posted on January 3, 2014 by Brian Bixby

As she has appeared in two stories on this blog, here is a brief biography of Abigail Lane, Practicing Magician, Office of Occult Affairs. Abigail Lane was born on November 18, 1851, the only daughter of an impoverished Connecticut cooper, … Continue reading →

Posted in Dragon Lady, History, Nightfeather, Writing fiction | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

Chapter 10 of Nightfeather: Ghosts, and the Peralta-Reavis land fraud

Posted on December 10, 2013 by Brian Bixby

Energized by finding out that one of the ghosts actually lived, Sanderson decided to take an active role in investigating the ghosts. But ghosts aren’t the only hazard out there. And Sanderson doesn’t yet know what they can do. But … Continue reading →

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Chapter 9 of Nightfeather: Ghosts, and silver

Posted on December 9, 2013 by Brian Bixby

The ghost told Sanderson that she needed more information. So she’s off to get more information from Decatur County’s unofficial historian, Miss Angela Farr. But will more information solve Sanderson’s problems, or raise new ones? Find out in chapter 9 … Continue reading →

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Chapter 3 of Nightfeather: Ghosts, and Joseph Rodes Buchanan

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Brian Bixby

If you’re going to take on an impossible task, then you need to develop impossible skills. Or so Sanderson seems to think in chapter 3 of Nightfeather: Ghosts, “In which Sanderson multiplies her regrets.” Because taking on the impossible isn’t the … Continue reading →

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Chapter 2 of Nightfeather:Ghosts, and Tarot

Posted on December 2, 2013 by Brian Bixby

Telling fortunes is easy, no? There are so many rich fortune tellers. Yeah, right, in your dreams. Sanderson plays Madame Fortuna to earn a few bucks. But it’s not always easy money. Find out how it can go wrong in chapter … Continue reading →

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Oregon vampires and elves

Posted on November 20, 2013 by Brian Bixby

Suzy Beal, who occasionally comments here, sent me a clipping of a story that caused both of my eyebrows to go up in utter astonishment. Just read it. It explains the header for this post, quite ludicrously. I had to … Continue reading →

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Review: Mitchell, Witchcraft and Magic in the Nordic Middle Ages

Posted on November 7, 2013 by Brian Bixby

An acquaintance mentioned to me a talk on “Witchcraft and the Law in Medieval Scandinavia” by Prof. Stephen A. Mitchell of Harvard University that she had heard and enjoyed. So I looked up Prof. Mitchell’s 2011 book, which includes a … Continue reading →

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The magic of Owen Davies

Posted on October 20, 2013 by Brian Bixby

Owen Davies is a U.K.-based scholar who has been writing scholarly and popular books on magic and witchcraft for more than a decade now. I’d only learned about him by reading his Grimoires: A History of Magic Books (2009), which I … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments