From My Reading Chair…
Finally, a property viewing with furnishings to my taste!
There’s a woven thread of Charles Addams and Edward Gorey running through Susan Meddaugh’s illustrations in In the Haunted House. The vintage feel, each scene contained within a beautiful border. Each frame gives me a little window into the room, and I’m already considering where to hang my own portrait. (Egotistical, moi?)
What sets this particular haunted house apart from many others is the textural treats. Even the front cover has something for my fingertips. Velvet bats, glittery ghosts and little flap-covered secrets scattered throughout. An unusually fully furnished haunted home!
Eve Bunting’s words creep, creak, stumble and skip through the rooms, with one rhyme following another in a rhythmic trot. There’s movement in the language as well as beneath the flaps. The paired rhymes keep me stepping along… which is a bit handy considering the twist!
It’s not just a haunted house, it’s a Halloween attraction! That puts the earlier encounters in a different light, and now I get to re-read and view the creatures as part of the eerie entertainment.
Apparently, I need an admission ticket, not a tenancy agreement. Fine! Guess I’ll join the queue again.
Creep on Reading, Pumpkins!