Welcome to the Haunted Library

What can you expect to see on this blog? Well, I wasn't entirely certain about that when I began blogging, and I'm still not sure where it will all end up. I'm not going to lay down any hard and fast rules for myself. Generally speaking, I only post about books that I like. It's not that I never write anything negative about a book; it's just that I most likely won't post it here (I've read 'Casting the Runes'... I know how dangerous writing reviews can be!).

I prefer traditional ghost stories... I find it hard to get in the mood for a good frightening in the presence of fluorescent tube lighting or central heating. Candlelight, churchyards and dusty old libraries filled with antiquarian tomes are more my thing. So, that's the sort of thing I'll post about here. Oh, and I don't like gore, so there won't be any of that.

In addition to all things ghosty, there may also be an occasional vampiric visitation (but definitely not the sparkly variety - heaven forbid!). And eventually, if I get the time, I may post some of my own illustrations based on old ghost stories. Whatever I post... there will be spookiness or weirdness of some sort involved.

Oh, and I don't receive review copies of books; I buy them... sniff them, hug them. All opinions are my own (or those of the imp who speaks to me from my left shoulder), and no books will be harmed in the process of writing these blog posts.

'What fearful shapes and shadows beset his path amidst the dim and ghastly glare of a snowy night!' Illustration by Frederick Simpson Coburn. From The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by Washington Irving.