Top 5 preternatural books in hardcover

The Preternatural Post is launching a new series: Books! Movies and films are great, and we love them, but there is nothing like a book to really feed a person’s imagination. So today, 3 July, we are introducing the first of several weekly lists identifying the top-selling books in a variety of categories. We’re starting with hardcovers because, let’s face it, a hard bound book is what a book is. There’s a sense of permanence and timelessness to a hardback book that other forms just don’t have (although we will be listing those over the course of the week, too). The Preternatural Post’s book lists are compiled from the best-seller lists published by The New York Times and Publishers Weekly. Now, let’s get this party started!

Hardcover Fiction

The Kingdom was the bestselling preternatural book (hardcover fiction) for the week ending 25 June, 2011. The Kingdom, by Clive Cussler with Grant Blackwood, tells the tale of treasure-hunting husband and wife Sam and Remi Fargo.  This time, however, the Fargos (who also starred in Cussler’s Spartan Gold and Lost Empire) are looking for people, not treasure in a hunt that will take them to Tibet, Nepal, China, Bulgaria and other mysterious locales as they uncover secrets that could turn human history upside down. Oh, and there’s plenty of treasure to be found along the way. Published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons, a division of Penguin. (Ranked Number 11 overall on both NYT and PW bestseller lists.)

Dead Reckoning, the 11th book in the popular Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire Mystery series by Charlaine Harris, takes the Number 2 spot among preternatural hardcovers this week. This time, Sookie, Eric, Pam and the whole Bon Temps/Shreveport crew discover that sometimes you don’t always get what you want and even when you do things don’t always work out the way you planned. Published by Ace Books, a division of Penguin, Dead Reckoning, takes readers deeper into a southern fried world were vampires (and shape shifters) have come out of the coffin that is both similar to and vastly different from that of the HBO original series True Blood which take their inspiration from the books. Read our review of Dead Reckoning. (Ranked Number 12 on the PW list and Number 13 on the NYT list overall.)

At Number 3 for the week is Hit List, the 20th book in Laurell K. Hamilton’s ground-breaking Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series. Hit List finds U.S. Marshals Anita Blake (The Executioner) and Edward (Death) on the trail of a serial killer in the Pacific Northwest (hopefully, they aren’t after sparkly vampires or Native American werewolves). Published by Berkley Books, a division of Penguin. (Ranked Number 17 by PW and Number 18 by NYT among bestsellers overall.)

The oral history of Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson lands in the Number 4 spot for the week. This is a surprisingly fun read exploring what happens when cutting edge technology meets murder in the not so distant future. Fans may remark on Robopocalypse’ similarities to Max Brooks‘ World War Z but this time the characters are literally harder. Published by Doubleday Publishing, legendary preternatural director Steven Spielberg is already reportedly in preproduction on the film adaptation tentatively scheduled for 2013 release. (Ranked 26th overall by the NYT.)

Rounding out the top five fictional tomes in hardcover with preternatural themes is The Witches of East End by Melissa De La Cruz (author of the Blue Bloods series). The Witches of East End is the story of three women living on Long Island with a family secret they have been hiding for generations. You see, Joanna, Freya and Ingrid are the latest in a long line of witches. A great read for this weekend, since one of the plot twists is the disappearance of a young girl…on the Fourth of July weekend. Published by Hyperion Books last month, The Witches of East End is a novel on the rise. (Number 34 overall among NYT bestsellers.)

Read our list of bestselling nonfiction books in hardcover 

British Library partners with Google to bring European history online

The British Library and Google have announced a partnership to digitize a quarter-million (250,000) out-of-copyright books, pamphlets and periodicals published between 1700 to 1870 from the Library’s collections. The project will result in allowing access to up to 40 million pages from one of the world’s greatest collections to researchers, students and others around the globe through Google Books and the Library’s website.

“What’s powerful about the technology available today isn’t just its ability to preserve history and culture for posterity, but also its ability to bring it to life in new ways,” said Peter Barron, Google’s director of External Relations. “This public domain material is an important part of the world’s heritage and we’re proud to be working with the British Library to open it up to millions of people in the UK and abroad.”

No dates for when the digitization process will begin or be completed have been announced. The effort will focus on materials that are not yet freely available in a digital form online.

“There is no doubt that the digitization of this unique material will greatly benefit the research process,” Professor Colin Jones, President of the Royal Historical Society and Professor of History at Queen Mary, University of London commented. “Academics are increasingly using new technologies at their disposal to search for innovative ways of investigating historical material to enable us to probe new questions and find alternative patterns of investigation. Digitization gives us the freedom to not only do this quickly and remotely, but also enhances the quality and depth of the original.”

Among the first works to be digitized however, are an account of the hippopotamus (1775) and the tale of the first combustion engine-driven submarine (1858) as well as political pamphlets. In all the range of printed books that will be digitized covers the period that saw the French, American and Industrial Revolutions, the invention of rail travel and the telegraph, the Battle of Trafalgar, and the end of slavery. Material in a variety of major European languages.

The Hippopotamus (Leclerc) Courtesy of the British Library

The Night Attack: Dracula’s victory

The Night Attack

The Turkish army slept uneasily beneath the star-speckled Wallachian sky. Less than two weeks before they had lost 300 elite troops as they crossed the Danube. They now rested south of Târgovişte.

The campaign had not been easy. Vlad Tepes had instituted a scorched earth policy. For a week or more the Ottoman army under the sultan Mehmed advanced through a desolate land, devoid of life, human or animal. The army encountered many traps along the way. Rivers were diverted into fields creating swamps where none had existed. Pits covered by timber and leaves injured men and beasts creating havoc and delays as equipment, now damaged had to be pulled from them. Worse yet were the diseased humans, suffering from the black death, leprosy, tuberculosis and other deadly diseases that Vlad drove into the camps.

It is no wonder the army did not rest easy.

The attack began three hours after the sun had set. Vlad himself led half the Wallachian forces into the Turkish camp, intending to assassinate Mehmed by his own hand.  The Wallachians advanced with great noise and even bore torches with which to illuminate the battle. One can only wonder that the Turks were caught unaware by such a voice.

For the most part the Turks only engaged when the Wallachians took the fight into their very tents. The Sultan it seems had ordered his troops to remain within their tents. Some say this may have been to prevent panic and disorder in the event of an attack. Is it possible Mehmed feared something else that stalked the night? Something that couldn’t enter a soldier’s “home” no matter how temporary without permission?

Certainly Vlad seemed to know of the Sultan’s orders. His troops advanced without fear. They raced through the camp unopposed leaving havoc and disorder in their wake. Whether it was a great slaughter of Ottoman troops or just their animals remains a matter of debate since a boyar going by the name of Galeş whose forces should have been the nail in the coffin of the Turkish army failed to attack for unknown reasons.

Vlad Tepes also failed in his plan to murder Mehmed. Despite reported familiarity with the layout of the Ottoman encampment and the location of the Sultan’s tent, during the attack he mistakenly went for the tent shared by Mehmed’s two grand viziers.

Preternatural film freeze-frame: E.T. arrives (in 1982)

“He is afraid. He is alone. He is three million light years from home.”

Hard to believe he has been on Earth for nearly thirty years.

Elliott (Henry Thomas), who had such a special connection with the self-named E.T. has grown up. He’s become a film producer (Josh Petri) who unwittingly releases evil celluloid spirits while working making a film in Romania (Don’t Look Up) , a troubled genius who tries to bring about world peace with a volcanic eruption (The End of the Whole Mess episode of Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King),  a Man of God (The Last Sin Eater)  and even has another UFO encounter that doesn’t end as well as E.T. (Fire in the Sky). Obviously, saving the short flower-loving alien, had a profound effect on Elliot, since he is commonly the good-guy or at least and unintentional bad guy.

Little Gertie (Drew Barrymore) has become a beautiful young woman. Like any young girl who encounters the extraordinary early in life, she has tried living the Cinderella fairy tale (Ever After). She’s also taken a few wrong turns discovering pyrokinetic abilities (Firestarter) and hooking up with Harvey Dent (Batman Forever).

Sadly, the talented performer inside the lovable alien did not survive as long as E. T. has. Michael Patrick Bilon passed away in January 1983, some seven months after the iconic film was released on 11 June, 1982. At the time of his death, it was reported that the screen giant (who stood only 2 feet 10 inches tall and weighed 45 pounds) was in negotiations to appear in a sequel to E.T.: The Extra-terrestrial. The sequel was never made.

The E.T. costume weighed 40 pounds, nearly as much as Bilon himself. No wonder he missed his ride in the first sequence. How fast can anyone run wearing their own body weight?

E.T.‘s reach extends beyond those directly involved in the film.

Belfast marks the 100th Anniversary of Titanic launch with TITANICa launch

Titanic Windows, Sinclair - Seamen's - Presbyterian Church, Belfast, Northern Ireland

The legendary ship Titanic, slid into Belfast Lough at the world’s largest shipyard on 31 May, 1911. After three years in construction, it took barely more than a minute (62 seconds to be precise) for shipbuilders Harland and Wolff to launch the mobile monument to humanity’s ingenuity and ambition. A century later another special slipway event will mark the historic launch and a new, temporary exhibit, TITANICa: The Exhibition launches to showcase the history and lore of the Titanic.

“No ship has gripped the world’s imagination like the RMS Titanic,” said Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland. “Her remarkable story begins at her birthplace in Belfast, and we highly recommend visitors to Belfast to discover the story of her creation through this exhibit.”

The exhibit he refers to, like the iconic ship herself, launches 31 May at The Ulster Folk & Transport Museum in Belfast. TITANICa: The Exhibition features more than 500 original artifacts – some of which have never been seen before.

Best Book of 2010: The Beads of Lapis Lazuli

The best book of 2010, according to Outskirts Press, is a mystery novel mixing history and obsession with a liberal dose of the paranormal. The self-published work of author Doris Marcotte, The Beads of Lapis Lazuli was selected from among the three Colorado Independent Publishers Association EWY award winner to take home the top honor and the $1,500 Grand Prize from Outskirt Press.

“What a joy ride,” Marcotte enthused upon learning of her win. “It’s still hard to believe my little book has been so well-received!”

Prior to picking up her pen to write The Beads of Lapis Lazuli, Marcotte had studied the Minoan civilization for decades. Her extensive research and passion for the ancient civilization took her to the Athens National Museum, the British Museum in London and the Heraklion Archeological Museum on the island of Crete.

Beads made of lapis lazuli

That The Beads of Lapis Lazuli is a work of fiction, perhaps the most competitive genre among publishing award categories, makes Marcotte’s victory even sweeter and more impressive. Besides the $1,500 Grand Prize, The Beads of Lapis Lazuli will also be extensively promoted by Outskirts Press, one of the world’s fastest growing self-publishing and book marketing companies.

“What an accomplishment,” said Brent Sampson, president and CEO of Outskirts Press. “Doris has demonstrated the possibilities that exist when a talented and tenacious writer sets her mind on a goal. Her book is a product of excellence — a finely woven story with rich characters encompassed within a package brimming with production values: professional copyediting, a gorgeous custom cover, an enhanced interior, cover scribing and more.”

Ghosts of Mother’s Day

Many women in the western world wake up to breakfast in bed, flowers and cards, mostly hand drawn, at least one day a year. Except for the flowers, that’s probably exactly what Anna Jarvis had in mind when she founded Mother’s Day mother than 100 years ago.

Most people don’t know that Jarvis’ own mother was the first ghost of Mother’s Day. In 1907, two years after her mother died, Jarvis held a memorial service honoring her mother’s efforts to improve sanitary and health conditions in five cities, and began a campaign to gain national and international recognition for a holiday celebrating motherhood.

She succeeded spectacularly.

“The mother/daughter relationship is one of the strongest human bonds and once she’s gone, you’ll always miss her,” said Nancy Kiel, a bereavement counselor with Loyola University Health Systems. “Just because she’s gone in person doesn’t mean she’s gone in your heart.”

In fact, some mothers may not be gone at all.

Daughters, and even sons, will say the voice in their head that both cautions them against doing something stupid and encourages them to do and be their best sounds a lot like Mom after she is gone. That only makes sense, since those were her primary messages, along with “clean up your room”, while she was a live. It also makes sense to follow Mom’s advice.

“My mother always encouraged us to get something special,” Kiel admits. “To celebrate her life my sister and I go shopping and buy something we don’t need. I can still hear her say ‘Nancy, just get that.’”

The voice of the most famous ghost mother, a beautiful young woman thought to be named Maria, is said to be heard by more than just her family. La Llorona, as she is known in her native Mexico, allegedly murdered her children in order to be with the man she loved (maybe this is where Susan Smith got the idea?). After her lover rejected her, Maria commits suicide, however when she arrives at the gates of Heaven, St. Peter asks her where her children are. When Maria admits she does not know, she is denied entry into Heaven. According to the legend, she wanders the Earth seeking her lost children, weeping and crying out for her “hijos” (children). In some cases she may even kidnap children she finds wandering about in the dark. It isn’t known whether she mistakes these wandering children for her own or is just so desperate to get into Heaven that she will take any child that crosses her path.

A superstitious person might point out that Mother’s Day and Halloween, a holiday which celebrates ghosts among other things fall on opposite sides of the wheel of the year. It’s not surprising, therefore, that some ghosts can be associated with a holiday celebrating mothers, especially given the origins of Mother’s Day.

Who knows, maybe even the ghosts of Anna Jarvis and her mother are keeping an eye on the holiday they inspired.

Celebrating 80 years of the Empire State Building

Soaring 1,454 feet above Midtown Manhattan, New York’s Empire State Building (ESB) is one of the most recognizable and beloved of the City’s many attractions and landmarks. On a clear day, you can see 80 miles across 5 states (Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania). On a quiet evening, you may encounter one or more of the many visitors and occupants of the iconic building that have never left.

The Empire State Building is lit up with yellow lights on October 21 for Lights On Afterschool, the only nationwide rally for afterschool programs

It’s hardly surprising that in 80 years, the Empire State Building has acquired a few ghosts. If you’ve ever visited the building, you know it’s hard to leave. There’s something about the 200,00 cubic feet of Indiana limestone and granite, or maybe the 730 tons of aluminum and stainless steel topped by a broadcast antenna and lightening rod that inevitably sparks the imagination.

Whatever the reason, the ESB has it’s share of haunts. According to the Long Island Paranormal Investigators (LIPI), an organization founded in  2003 that investigates urban legends and ghost stories around the Long Island region, 14 documented suicides have been attempted from the observation deck of the building. The first, a laid off construction worker, occurred before the Empire State Building was even completed. During a three-week period in 1947, 5 people committed suicide by leaping from the Observation deck including, presumably the ESB’s most famous ghost, a World War II widow dressed in 1940′s attire. Two years earlier, in 1945, a B-25 bomber crashed into the structure killing 14 people. It is said the spirits of those who have leapt to their deaths haunt the Observatory and have even been seen reliving their fatal plunge.

One of the most widely publicized suicides was that of Evelyn McHale. Contemporary news reports indicate she was the sixth of the 26 person who had leapt to their death from the ESB by 2 May, 1947. The Miami Daily News described her plunge this way:

“Police said today that pretty Evelyn McHale, tried to throw her past away piece by piece then threw herself off the Empire State Building because she was afraid of the future.

Somewhere within a three-hour period yesterday she decided that life was a bigger gamble than death.

Shortly before 10:30 a.m. she bought a ticket to the Empire State observation platform. She removed her tan topcoat and laid it neatly over the four-foot parapet. On that she placed a small brown make-up kit and a black bag.

At 10:40 she jumped, her expensive rose-colored dress flashing through the mist as she plummeted past office windows. Her white scarf floated down lazily behind her and fell on the face of a policeman.”

It is interesting to note that while Miss McHale is not the haunting widow her death, which occurred on the 16th anniversary of the opening of the Empire State Building did influence the future. Her’s was the first of a spate of suicides resulting in the construction of a perimeter fence encompassing the observation deck. In addition, the photo taken by Robert C. Wiley in 1947 is said to have inspired Andy Warhol’s work entitled Suicide decades later. The Parenthetical Girls, an indie-pop band from Portland, recorded a song titled Evelyn Hale in 2010.

Today, 1 May,  2011, the Empire State building celebrates its 80th birthday as a modern engineering marvel. A few haunts can’t take that away for the magnificent edifice that was built over 7 million man hours (1 year, 45 days) beginning in March 1930 and ending when President Herbert Hoover pressed a button in Washington, D.C. to officially open the Empire State Building on 1 May, 1931.  Today this extraordinary edifice reigns as the tallest building in New York City and the largest commercial purchaser of 100 percent renewable energy.

“On this significant anniversary, the Empire State Building celebrates 80 years of being an international symbol of innovation and ingenuity,” said Anthony E. Malkin of the Empire State Building Company. “Through an award-winning renovations and modernization project, the world’s most famous office building offers unmatched experiences to both its tenants and the millions who visit the Observatories each year.”

Is Fort Knox haunted or not? Discover the answer for yourself

On the western shore of the Penobscot River in Maine sits one of the best preserved examples of seacoast fortification left in America today. It should be well-preserved. Fort Knox was the first granite fort built in the state of Maine. And although its days as a military installation are over, many say some of the soldiers and officers garrisoned there during the Civil War and the Spanish-American War remain.

Several paranormal and ghost hunting groups have visited Fort Knox. The most recent investigation was undertaken by the SyFy Channel‘s Ghost Hunters. The investigations yielded a number of personal experiences some of which were caught on tape (audio or video) and several that were not. In the end the Ghost Hunters concluded:

This place has some serious activity going on.

Of course, that is a matter of opinion.  Fortunately, the curious can experience Fort Knox for themselves, even staying in the same hotel that hosted the Ghost Hunter team thanks to the new Fort Knox Haunted (or Not?) History Package from the Four Points Bangor Hotel. The Package includes overnight accommodations at the Four Points Bangor Hotel by Sheraton for 2 adults or a family of up to 4 people per room, admission to Fort Knox and a tote bag with bottle water, a healthy snack, a flashlight, a Fort Knox Brochure and a map of the area for only $149 per night between 1 May and 31 October, 2011. Unfortunately, guest will not be able to duplicate the Ghost Hunter adventure (which premiered on 6 April, 2011) completely as Fort Knox is only open to visitors between 9 a.m. and sunset.

In addition to the occurrences documented in the Ghost Hunters show on the SyFy Channel , at least one psychic has confirmed the existence of spirits in the Fort. Some have suggested the spirits are those of a soldier had strong ties to the fort, such as Sgt. Leopold Hegyi, who served there for 13 years and died in his home across the road from Fort Knox.

Raphael and the dragon

April 6, 1483 is one of the dates most commonly given for the birth of the artist Raphael. It was the date of his death in 1520. Raphael, the old master painter whose works are noted as being among the most serene and tranquil of the Italian Renaissance, had a strong but often unmentioned connection to the preternatural.

Religion played a central role in Raphael’s personal and professional lives. Some of his best works can be found in the Vatican where his Stanze, the first of a series of four rooms also called the Raphael Rooms, includes The School of Athens, The Parnassus and the Disputa, three of his most famous and recognizable works. The Disputa is arguably his best. It is not surprising that angels and ancestors, especially saints and long-dead philosophers,  played a part in Raphael’s work. Recall that art, especially religious art, was a primary means of communicating and reminding a largely illiterate populace of religious stories and more even within the walls of the Papal Palace.

 

Raphael's St. George and the Dragon

It is in one of his lesser known and earliest works, however, that the strongest connection with the preternatural can be found. St. George and the Dragon is a small and unremarkable work from Raphael’s early career in Urbino, the town where he grew up. It is one of two cabinet paintings by Raphael depicting the saint, a fair maiden (unnamed) and a fearsome beast that is probably a dragon.

 

The creature does not bear much resemblance to dragons as we know them today. It is neither the fire-breathing giant of Middle Earth or fairy tales nor is it the stylized serpents of Chinese or Aztec cultures, though it shares some characteristics with both, as well as with other dragons from around the globe.

 

Raphael's St. George

Raphael’s dragon is small, not even as large as a horse. It is black, well, mostly black, with a pale belly. A dog-like head rides atop a long, almost serpentine neck. It’s difficult to tell how many limbs the creature has. Certainly there are two legs, and possibly four, which end in feet that are both clawed and webbed. It also has wings although whether it could fly or not is a great question even than how many limbs it has.

 

Despite these questions, Raphael’s dragon is far more likely to exist than more modern imaginings. Raphael’s dragon was of a size with predators known throughout Italy and Europe at that time. Not only is it roughly the size of a big cat or wolf, the coloring would make it difficult to spot, especially if it were nocturnal. And there was plenty of habitat for it to hide in during the first decade of the 1500′s.

In fact, at that size it is easy to see how they might even have survived to this day. Did the old master know something modern man doesn’t?