tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79915540686105741672024-02-18T21:29:08.026-05:00Dust & CorruptionReviews of horror and mystery fiction, reflections on the genre, occasional discussions of movies or the like, and various meanderings on other topics.Vagrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10053302275793357240noreply@blogger.comBlogger600125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991554068610574167.post-22052018554205542602020-01-06T18:44:00.001-05:002020-01-06T18:44:25.920-05:00I'll Be Honest...It's been almost a year, which is ridiculous. I'm sorry if I've let anyone down.
I think it's time for me to declare Dust & Corruption closed, for now. If anyone wants to hop in and take over, please leave a comment or contact me.
So much in my life has changed in the last few years...loss of a job, loss of a parent, my childhood home, the only home I'd ever known, being sold. At the same Vagrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10053302275793357240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991554068610574167.post-65704407860330820502019-05-06T20:07:00.001-04:002019-05-06T20:07:32.624-04:00May in the Phantom Concert Hall!
It's a lovely evening in early May; it's not hot or humid, the air is clear after a few days of rain, and we're in a mood to get out and have fun. Tonight we're hitting that old revived concert hall across town!
The star of the program is this piano concerto by Ferdinand Ries (1784-1838), a Romantic composer who was a student of Beethoven, and someone I only recently became aware of. And we'reVagrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10053302275793357240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991554068610574167.post-91391592590669707452019-04-30T20:26:00.000-04:002019-04-30T20:26:17.170-04:00Happy Walpurgisnacht! Now we are 11!
Happy Walpurgisnacht! Dust & Corruption turns 11 today! And I'm still going...maybe a bit slower, but I'm still going!
More to come in May! I hope everyone is having a good night...I wish I could go out, but I'm dealing with a sinus infection, plus I'm broke, so instead I'm staying in...Vagrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10053302275793357240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991554068610574167.post-39822082559745544862019-04-21T21:28:00.000-04:002019-04-21T21:28:07.458-04:00Whew...a few recent readsSorry to be dragging this month. I've been mentally and physically drained by various goings-on. I decided to skip the monthly musical interlude and go straight into some reviews...
This is an omnibus collection; the first part is by Louisa Baldwin, and the second by the lesser-known Lettice Galbraith. Neither had enough to warrant their own volumes, so they went with one.
Baldwin's The Vagrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10053302275793357240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991554068610574167.post-72258767312874754882019-03-17T23:11:00.000-04:002019-03-17T23:11:19.112-04:00Two Recent Reads
The first Ellery Queen novel, The Roman Hat Mystery, from 1929, is an interesting experience. The character hadn't quite gelled yet, and at the book's beginning is living in retirement in Italy with his father and also with his wife and child, and their manservant Djuna. (Not Djnma Barnes!) A friend meets them at random and convinces them to tell a tale of one of their cases. Ellery, as first Vagrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10053302275793357240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991554068610574167.post-47958461038527229232019-03-06T22:08:00.000-05:002019-03-06T22:08:09.381-05:00A March Evening at the Phantom Concert Hall
It's an unexpectedly cold night, but hopefully it's the last seriously cold night of the season. We're dolled up in Bohemian finery as always, going out to a free concert at the music school. We need something to lift us up; it's been a rough month for everyone. Viola was ill, Ramsey had issues at work, Grace was in an auto accident, and I had the mopes and wasn't up for doing much at all.
TheVagrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10053302275793357240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991554068610574167.post-20978759041788573632019-02-10T22:43:00.001-05:002019-02-10T22:43:19.066-05:00February at the Phantom Cabaret!
The worst of the winter chill is (we hope) over, and our minds and bodies are starting to gear up for spring. The days are noticeably longer, there's been a few warm days, so we're ready for it.
Tonight, we're heading off to that little cabaret we know...you have to duck down a dark passageway between two buildings, and emerge in a beautifully appointed space, full of atmospheric lighting and Vagrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10053302275793357240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991554068610574167.post-87711246304316736712019-01-21T21:41:00.000-05:002019-01-21T21:41:12.642-05:00Catching up on recent stuff...OK, I haven't been a very good correspondent. I'm trying to get caught up now and here's a few things I've read lately....
The second volume of her Henry and Emmy Tibbett series, Down Among the Dead Men is a solid if unremarkable mystery novel. Henry and Emmy are on holiday again, visiting some friends for a sailing vacation in the seaside hamlet of Berrybridge Haven. They get involved Vagrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10053302275793357240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991554068610574167.post-5902522821832361352019-01-06T16:32:00.000-05:002019-01-06T16:32:11.955-05:00A New Year in the Phantom Concert Hall!
It's the first weekend of the new year! We've all survived our various holiday plans (more or less) and reflected on how things change as we get older...it could never come fast enough when we were kids, but comes too quickly when we're adults.
Nevertheless, we're now facing both the promise of a new year, and the dread of getting back to our normal lives and work schedules. But, for tonight, Vagrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10053302275793357240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991554068610574167.post-61239430650667289582018-12-17T22:42:00.001-05:002018-12-17T22:42:48.235-05:00THE MUMMY, THE WILL, AND THE CRYPT by John Bellairs
The second Johnny Dixon adventure, The Mummy, the Will, and the Crypt, establishes the characters a bit more and introduces some continuing characters and elements.
Johnny is on a trip with Professor Childermass (which becomes an ongoing theme in the novels; the two are almost always going off on some jaunt or another), touring the mansion of late cereal magnate H. Bagwell Glomus, when they'reVagrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10053302275793357240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991554068610574167.post-84583756978217970292018-12-06T23:08:00.001-05:002018-12-06T23:08:46.956-05:00A December Night at the Phantom Recital Hall
Tonight's concert is something new and different/ we're able to nab good seats because a few of the more staid types turned up their nose at the program. What we have is an evening of modern accordion music!
OK, I recently fount out about a new cycle of works for accordion dedicated to the works of Hans Christian Andersen, and it's rather nice stuff, a breath of fresh air. Especially if you'reVagrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10053302275793357240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991554068610574167.post-18911062431893155232018-11-25T22:12:00.000-05:002018-11-25T22:12:15.634-05:00Two Gothic NovelsI've been slow to update, and have a stack of things I've read to review, so let's do some portmanteau blogging...
Rayland Hall, or, The Remarkable Adventures of Orlando Somerville is regarded as someone significant from a scholarly point of view. It's basically a chapbook of about 36 pages that's a plagiarism of a longer work, The Old Manor House by Charlotte Smith, a 1793 work thatVagrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10053302275793357240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991554068610574167.post-2123340899953425092018-11-11T21:58:00.002-05:002018-11-11T21:58:47.357-05:00A November Night in the Phantom Concert Hall
Halloween is over, the cold weather is arriving in earnest, and we've bundled up and ventured out for a concert at that lovely old restored hall downtown.
It's that in-between time...orchestras no longer need to do spooky-music programs and won't have to do any Christmas music for a while, so they can actually be a bit adventurous in the repertoire. One of the highlights of tonight's program Vagrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10053302275793357240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991554068610574167.post-26908685112106531072018-10-21T21:23:00.000-04:002018-10-21T21:23:00.194-04:00Back to Bellairs: THE CURSE OF THE BLUE FIGURINE
It's the Halloween season, and THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS is playing in theaters (I haven't seen it yet, sorry, my budget is tight and I don't get out to the movies much anymore), so it's a good chance to get back to John Bellairs' works.
The Curse of the Blue Figurine introduces his third hero, Johnny Dixon. It's the 1950s, and Johnny is living with his grandparents in Duston Vagrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10053302275793357240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991554068610574167.post-65111440894602115472018-10-08T22:54:00.002-04:002018-10-08T22:54:48.522-04:00October in the Phantom Ballroom!
So, let's gather in that new ballroom/dance hall that's opened, and have a spin around the floor! There's a live orchestra playing, the whiskey is flowing, the cava corks are popping (because who can afford champagne these days?), and everyone is having a blast.
I've been in a 30's mood lately, and remembered this lively novelty tune from famous bandleader Ray Noble and one of his groups, the Vagrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10053302275793357240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991554068610574167.post-27714564066875210502018-09-24T22:59:00.000-04:002018-09-24T22:59:47.204-04:00Some of What I've Read LatelySo...things have calmed down, Mom is back home after hip replacement surgery and a stay in a rehab home (not Amy Winehouse rehab, physical rehab), and I've dealt with the grief of her giving her sweet cat up to the Humane Society...an understandable decision, she can't care for him anymore, but still, it was like a kick in the chest for me. Hopefully the sweet little boy will be adopted soon.
SoVagrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10053302275793357240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991554068610574167.post-53598451791613113712018-09-12T21:44:00.000-04:002018-09-12T21:44:06.930-04:00A September Night at the Phantom Concert Hall
We're kicking off the fall season, and thumbing our nose at the dreary, rainy weather, by heading out to the concert hall again. Tonight's performance...Rheinberger's roiling, romantic piano concerto!
Isn't it great? One of those lovely pieces that flies under the radar. I love finding these obscure little gems.
Sorry to be late with this and not posting for a while. My elderly mother took Vagrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10053302275793357240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991554068610574167.post-16099857789856600092018-08-26T23:18:00.000-04:002018-08-26T23:18:27.348-04:00THE HORROR CHAMBERS OF JULES DE GRANDIN by Seabury Quinn
Finally, the last volume of Popular Library's reprint series! And just in time as the complete ebook reprints are now available....making these books pretty much obsolete. I spent years and tons of money hunting these down, and now...well, at least I enjoyed the chase, I guess.
Seabury Quinn apparently was a bit of a progressive in some ways, as you may have seen from my previous reviews of Vagrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10053302275793357240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991554068610574167.post-69238510978304959572018-08-12T21:18:00.000-04:002018-08-12T21:18:12.198-04:00A Steamy August Night at the Phantom Concert Hall
We're out at the symphony tonight! And as it's a hot night, we're going to listen to some pretty hot music...de Falla's remarkable "The Three Cornered Hat"!
"The Three-Cornered Hat"is actually a ballet, a rarity for its time for working mainly with traditional Spanish styles of dance, rather than classical ballet. But there days, it's mostly known as a concert piece. I love the use of Vagrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10053302275793357240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991554068610574167.post-24754587805845304892018-07-29T18:40:00.000-04:002018-07-29T18:40:23.022-04:00THE EXTRAORDINARY ADVENTURES OF ARSENE LUPIN, GENTLEMAN-BURGLAR by Maurice Leblanc
This is it. A landmark work, not only in crime fiction but also in the Dust & Corruption pantheon. Arsene Lupin's first published adventures. It doesn't get any better than this.
First published in 1905 (and now public domain) this sets the standard. Sure, other sympathetic crooks were around before. most notably A. J. Raffles, but Lupin was much better written and simply more fun. The Vagrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10053302275793357240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991554068610574167.post-41912001099838458542018-07-17T20:28:00.001-04:002018-07-17T20:28:23.426-04:00THE MANSION IN THE MIST by John Bellairs
I'm back!
Ah, that wonderful Edward Gorey artwork! A Gorey cover, and the Bellairs name, are almost a guarantee of a good time.
At the beginning of The Mansion in the Mist, Anthony Monday, Miss Eels, and her brother Emerson are vacationing on an island in a lake in northern Canada. One night, Anthony finds a wooden chest in a back room of the house they're staying in, and feels a strange urgeVagrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10053302275793357240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991554068610574167.post-32096109899604684682018-07-08T13:44:00.001-04:002018-07-08T13:44:38.978-04:00I'm back! A Phantom Serenade for July
Sorry to have been away for the last month. Some work-related anxiety issues, and some on-and-off health issues, and gay pride, and a few other things, kept me from concentrating on blogging. But here I am!
It's a lazy summer evening; we've had a lovely light dinner at a friend's house and lingering in the back yard, chatting and catching up while the sun slowly sets. And from nearby, we hearVagrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10053302275793357240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991554068610574167.post-49384640115527064182018-06-13T21:23:00.002-04:002018-06-13T21:23:43.293-04:00June at the Phantom Concert Hall!
So, it's a June night, and there's a new program at the concert hall, with some interesting modern music.
Here's a great part of the program; this was composed by Angelo Badalamenti as part of the soundtrack for the David Lynch film "Wild at Heart," and it deserves notice on its own.
Perfect for a summer evening, eh? Lots more to come!Vagrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10053302275793357240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991554068610574167.post-6807038279672481112018-05-28T21:34:00.000-04:002018-05-28T21:34:18.731-04:00TALES OF MYSTERY AND CRIME by William Wallace
I know, I swore I was back, but I've been sidetracked this month by a big spring cleaning project at home and a bustling new life at the job. But now things are going well, and the kitchen floor is clean enough to eat from, so I can get back to blogging.
This was a gift from some friends who went on vacation in London. And damn, that cover!
William Wallace is credited as "Sometime Vagrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10053302275793357240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7991554068610574167.post-87966947196101218832018-05-06T22:40:00.001-04:002018-05-06T22:40:31.333-04:00May at the Phantom Concert Hall!
Brush off that old jacket! Shake our that vintage gown! We've got concert tickets again!
Our connection at the concert hall downtown got us tickets to a big event, with a tribute to Paganini, that devilish master of the violin. A couple of violinists will be playing Pagainin's pieces, and then a noted pianist will be playing Rachmaninoff's "Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini," which is just Vagrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10053302275793357240noreply@blogger.com3