The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
The arrival of a New Year invites reflection on a particular horror of human existence. A horror that was well exemplified…
Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”: A Magnificent Horror
There is a level of literary horror that is so monstrous it is magnificent,presenting a purity of perversity that no…
“A Visit from St. Nicholas” by Clement C. Moore: The Doctrine of Santa Claus
Twas only a matter of time. And it came—as it comes to all. ’Twas the night before Christmas, when all…
Dr. Seuss & How the Secular Humanist Stole Christmas
It is telling when the deficiencies of the adult world are told in the pages of children’s books. An instance…
The Tailor of Gloucester by Beatrix Potter
Christmastime is the homiest holiday: firesides, feasting, family… and fairy folk. The richest Christmas traditions concern down-to-earth things; which only…
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Ignorance and Want: “…no degradation, no perversion of humanity, in any grade… has monsters half so horrible and dread.” Leave…
“The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry: The Wise Fools of Christmas
Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat. Please put a penny in the old man’s hat. As Christmas carols…
The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde
There is nothing like a good ghost story. The forms of fiction are few that can compete with the proverbial dark…
J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings: Handbook of Hope
by Emma Warner
“Where there’s life there’s hope, as my Gaffer used to say; and need of vittles, as he mostways used to add.”…
The Devilment and Duels of Life
Fyodor Dostoevsky was condemned to death—public execution by firing squad. The year was 1849 and the young Dostoevsky, fresh from…
The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan: The Importance of the Impossible
If all literature were based upon plausibility and credibility, there would be no such thing as fiction. Imagination is a deterrent…
The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse by Beatrix Potter
If there is anything pleasant in life, it is doing what we aren’t meant to do. If there is anything…
Homesick at Home: A Chestertonian Thanksgiving
“Frances! Come here! Come here at once!” Frances Chesterton started and flew from her half-prepared afternoon tea to the study…
Thanksgiving and the Tall Tale
“Thanksgiving Day. Let all give humble, hearty, and sincere thanks, now, but the turkeys.” ~ Mark Twain, Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar…
Guilt Gone Wilde: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
If Oscar Wilde had been a man of our time, he might have had rather mixed feelings about the LGBT liberation…
Chesterton’s The Man Who was Thursday: Nightmare or Dream Come True?
Although the delight of civilized readers everywhere, detective fiction is built upon an uncivilized pessimism that expects to find evil lurking…
Life Echoes in Eternity: On J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Leaf by Niggle”
Urging his troops to manly fortitude in the face of Germanic barbarians, General Maximus of the 2000 film, Gladiator does not downplay the…
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner & Lent: A Matter of Life in Death
All are guilty. Unbridled assertion of self. Satanic pride. Pure and simple devilment. All are Judas. All are Caiaphas. All…
Is Silas Marner One of the Good Books?
Although the George Eliot novel is missing from some iterations of John Senior’s list of 1,000 Good Books, Silas Marner appears in the list as…
Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island
“One more step, Mr. Hands,” said I, “and I’ll blow your brains out! Dead men don’t bite, you know,” I…
