Let’s leave Egypt behind for a while.
Last week my friend Lucy published her new novel, the first with Acheron Books. It’s called Nightbird and it’s a ghost story1.
So we had the opportunity of talking a lot about ghost stories, and our favorite novels, movies and what not. It was fun. It also turned out that Lucy would love to write a vampire novel, while I’d love to write a few ghost stories. And as we talked about books, I realized that while I love Peter Straub’s Ghost Story or James Herbert’s David Ash books, what I really like is ghostly short stories. The sort you can read in one sitting, and be scared and entertained.
And so I started compiling a list of my favorite collections of ghost stories. Continue reading
Category Archives: Media
Ancient Egyptian Music
The things one finds doing research…
Heidi Köpp-Junk is an Egyptologist specialized in Early Ancient Egyptian Music, and provides us with an unique opportunity to experience first hand what Ancient Egypt sounded like.
Anyone interested in the subject, can find more in this article, from The Ancient Near East Today.
The Breakfast Club in the Jungle
Two nights ago I was so desperate I watched Jumanji – Welcome to the Jungle.
Now, first things first: I don’t like to original Jumanji.
OK, Robin Williams, great special effects, fun premise and all that but I guess I was too old when it first came out.
When the new movie came out, I saw the usual hue and cry on Facebook, people tearing their hair off because someone was killing their childhood, and other people complaining about the female lead’s costume.
Business as usual on Facebook1.
So, what’s this thing I’m talking about? Continue reading
The Shepheard’s Hotel, Cairo
Quoth Wikipedia:
Shepheard’s Hotel was the leading hotel in Cairo and one of the most celebrated hotels in the world from the middle of the 19th century until it was burned down in 1952 in the Cairo Fire.
[…]
Shepheard’s Hotel was famed for its grandeur, for its guests, and as a base for the military. It was renowned for its opulence, with stained glass, Persian carpets, gardens, terraces, and great granite pillars resembling those of the Ancient Egyptian temples. Its American Bar was frequented not only by Americans but also by French and British officers. There were nightly dances at which men appeared in military uniform and women in evening gowns. Tourist shops faced the hotel from across the street, and there was a storeroom where officers could check their excess luggage.
Hope & Glory: (some of) our Neanderthals are different
Illustration by Alberto Bontempi for Hope & Glory
Karavansara 