It would be an absolute shock for me to hear if anybody reading this has never heard of Edgar Allan Poe. The macabre master of American Romanticism is commonly known to have lived a harsh life filled with confusion, betrayal, alcoholism, and the deaths of many loved ones. Fitting misery for such dark tales. Whether … Continue reading →

Houdini Speaks to the Living by Beth Burns and Patrick Terry follows Harry Houdini encountering Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1926 during the former’s lecture tours. Houdini famously spoke on debunking mediums and spiritualists who claim to speak to the dead, believing such individuals to simply utilize stage magic to profit off of the suffering … Continue reading →

Nothing beats an antihero. They’re simply more fascinating than their heroic counterparts. Sure, we all want to believe in the moral ideal of selflessly doing the right thing solely for the sake of goodness and the betterment of those around us, and characters who reflect those hopes are a necessary presence in fiction. Yet it’s … Continue reading →

There’s a peculiar fascination I have with infamously misquoted lines. Passages like “Blood is thicker than water” and “Curiosity killed the cat” intrigue me in their societal context given that the original, unabridged passages each meant the opposite of what most people think of them to mean. And there are plenty more to go around. … Continue reading →

Every household fabricates familial idioms. These simple phrases may mean little or nothing to those outside of the household, but their significance is instantly recognizable to those within the family. For example, a common phrase I heard throughout my childhood from my father (and still hear to this day) is “Love your Mondays”. Other than … Continue reading →