Hal Johnson's Blog, page 2

A garland of quotations CXXXVI

(hear me tomorrow on the Death Coven podcast; see me Sept. 27, 12–5, at that Creepy Pop-Up Market in the Conti Building, 415 Howe Ave, Shelton CT)

THE BOOKS PEOPLE LIKE!

Were the stars only made to light
Robbers and burglarers by night?
To wait on drunkards, thieves, gold-finders,
And lovers solacing behind doors?
•Butler, Hudibras II (1664).

The Goldless Age, where Gold disturbs no dreams…
•Byron, The Island, or Christian and His Comrades (1823).

Text within this block will maintain its original spacing...

My kindergarten teacher tried to kill me

I grew up to write these books

My children are currently not permitted, by school rules, to walk on their own to kindergarten, or even to third grade, but I attended school long ago, in a more dangerous city, at a time when crime was much higher, so I walked to kindergarten alone. It was a different time, of course. Most days I was not truly alone, as I walked with my friend from across the street, who was one year older. A kindergartener and a first grader, walking through the city together. And...

Truly Wordless Comic Panels

I write, for a living, books

Thanks for reading Hal Johnson Books! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Dillin/Giella!

A garland of quotations CXXXV

Please check out the books I write

Stir a cesspit, and a foul air arises; stir a perfume, and a delightful fragrance ascends. But the movement is identical.
•Augustine, City of God (426).

In much the same way that the menstrual flow is at times disoriented and emerges through the nose, sexual craving becomes embodied in drawings, engravings, music, novels, and plays.
•Ōgai Mori, Vita Sexualis (1909).

And her nose, and the discharge therefrom knocking…
•Hipponax, fragment from Tzetzes (ca. 400 BC).

“Be ...

Blvd. of Blood

Continued from here. Table of contents for ease of navigation here.

BOOKS! THE KIND PEOPLE LIKE!

28.

The same name—“Spider”—had been calling all day, that 718 number, again and again. Gaye looked at the phone each time, closed the drawer each time, and each time waited it out, waited for the ringing to stop. It had to be something important; under ordinary circumstances he’d just call it over the horn—“Oberman, someone wants you”—but he knew Wanamaker would have his ass. Nevertheless, a combination...

Truly Wordless Comic Panels

I write, for a living, books

Thanks for reading Hal Johnson Books! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

John Blummer!

A garland of quotations CXXXIV

THE BOOKS PEOPLE LIKE!

“Profanity is always objectionable to a gentleman,” declared Tom dryly,
•H. Irving Hancock, The Young Engineers in Colorado; or, At Railroad Building in Earnest (1912).

Archytas was in general well-behaved and certainly avoided bad language. Once, when he was compelled to use an unbecoming expression, his resolution was not defeated: he did not utter the word but wrote it on the wall, thus demonstrating what he had to say but without being forced to say it.
•Aelian, Varia Hi...

Blvd. of Blood

Continued from here. Table of contents for ease of navigation here.

(The Story so far: After shooting a lot of people, Alan (and not Bernie) has fled the scene back to his car. Officer Oberman, meanwhile, has been stopping traffic in a completely different place.)

BOOKS! THE KIND PEOPLE LIKE!

25.

The southbound lane was completely backed up. Anyone coming off I-81 could take the onramp back onto 81 once they spied the jam, but it took a patrolman to get some cars to back up, one by one, until they w...

Truly Wordless Comic Panels

READ THIS BOOK! (and no other)

Hal Johnson Books is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Artist unknown (to me)!

A garland of quotations CXXXIII

BOOKS! THE KIND PEOPLE LIKE!

“Laughter,” according to Reader’s Digest, is “the best medicine.”
•Mike Topp, “Laughter” (2007).

Keep it always with you that laughter who knock at your door and say, “May I come in” is not the true laughter. No! he is a king, and he come when and how he like. He ask no person; he choose no time of suitability. He say, “I am here.”
•Bram Stoker, Dracula (1897).

He who stops laughing and opens his eyes
Meets Death ten times before he dies.
•Richard Spender, “Heart’s Song” (c...