Curses Inc And Other Stories

A spell that gets you land, money, long golden hair, or a date to the prom can’t be a curse, can it? A curse just gets you dead. Or does it?. . . In these ten stunning short stories, boys and girls learn firsthand just what magic spells, enchantments, and curses really can do. “Give this one to readers who are ready for some sophisticated tales of the supernatural.” —Booklist

The title story about a boy who tries to get even with a girl who humiliated him at school by using the mysterious online store "Curses, Inc." is followed by nine short stories about magic, witches, and ghosts.

The History and Legends of Lake Ronkonkoma, the Princess Curse and Other Stories; A Lifeguard's View, discusses the history and the folklore of Long Island's largest lake. It builds a strong case for the Princess legend. The author consulted professional opinions, of paranormal experts, who generally believe curses are real, not superstition. He also consulted many sources on Lake Ronkonkoma, to focus in on the fact that a young male has drowned almost every year, and that few females have died in the Lake. In fact it remains, that possibly only one female lost her life. Her official cause of death was kidney failure, caused by secondary drowning. The volume also chronicles the lifeguard career of the author, David S. Igneri. His lifeguards at the lake and his other beaches were, in general gifted athletes. However, to lifeguard Lake Ronkonkoma they needed specific training that was not covered in their regular lifeguard preparation. At first, Igneri himself, did not totally understand the task before him. However, he sought advice from older lifeguards, and read everything he could about Ronkonkoma, and formulated a program. In his early years he did not believe in the Princess Curse at all, and believed it was only superstition. His experiences during that time, made him re-think his views. Gradually he realized that some force or entity was causing, or helped causing the many deaths. David Igneri began to change his policies at Lake Ronkonkoma on July 5, 1965. He totally believes that the spirits told him what to do. His goal became to protect and save all of the people, all of the time, and stop the legend. After reading this volume, you will have to decide for yourself, how much success he had in this endeavor.

This beautiful, fully illustrated book presents a compendium of artworks throughout history which have been inspired by myth, fantasy and the unreal. Artists have explored imaginary worlds and fantastical creatures for centuries, expressing the unreal and impossible, the mystical and mythical, via the medium of paint. But what draws them to the imaginary, the uncharted and the unknown? Is it merely an escape from reality? Or are they seeking a greater understanding of the human experience, or perhaps the very meaning of life itself? With myriad styles and methods of expression, what links artists through the ages? And how have these visual flights of fancy and imagination changed over the course of time? The Art of Fantasy is a visual sourcebook of all that is fantastical – from fine art to illustration, and from surrealists and symbolists to the creatives working in undefined territories. While the artists in our history books (Blake, Goya, Dali, Magritte, Ernst) first brought fantasy art to the galleries, it was the twentieth century artists who brought it to the masses. It is in this book that, for the first time, they are united and equally weighted, presenting a mesmerising and thoughtful curation of the best fantasy artwork out there. This is an inspiring collection for fans of myth, magic, fantasy and art history.

“[A] lighthearted mystery . . . Kids who like mystery and fantasy and fans of television’s Sabrina, about a teenage witch, will like this” (Booklist). Nola’s not much of a witch—she can work only a few useless spells, like the one that lets her spy on people. But there’s no spell for keeping her crazy mother—who hears voices and is a magnet for witch-hunters—out of trouble. The two flee from town to town until the day Nola witnesses a murder. Which is bad enough, but worse is that the murderer may frame Nola and her mother for the crime. And then no amount of magic will save her. And you think your teenage years are tough . . . “Dialogue is fast and funny, the characters evincing a certain human desperation that makes them (the good guys, anyway) unfailingly sympathetic. Introduce Rowling fans to Vande Velde, and watch them make magic.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books “Vande Velde has produced a winner in this fantasy mystery . . . [Fans] will not be disappointed in this funny and charming story, which will attract mystery and romance lovers as well.” —VOYA “Vande Velde’s offering throws murder, witchcraft, and romance into the brew . . . The well-developed characters provide entertaining reading.” —School Library Journal “Fun and suspense for readers . . . Entertaining.” —Publishers Weekly “The story moves from a witch’s tale of many spells, to a murder mystery, and finally, a love story . . . Amusing, light reading.” —Kliatt “An entertaining fantasy for any reader.” —SF Site

A young wizard, who runs a school to teach wizards, looks forward to a quiet summer off but is drawn into adventures with princesses, unicorns, and ghosts instead.

Once upon a time all literature was fantasy, set in a mythical past when magic existed, animals talked, and the gods took an active hand in earthly affairs. As the mythical past was displaced in Western estimation by the historical past and novelists became increasingly preoccupied with the present, fantasy was temporarily marginalized until the late 20th century, when it enjoyed a spectacular resurgence in every stratum of the literary marketplace. Stableford provides an invaluable guide to this sequence of events and to the current state of the field. The chronology tracks the evolution of fantasy from the origins of literature to the 21st century. The introduction explains the nature of the impulses creating and shaping fantasy literature, the problems of its definition and the reasons for its changing historical fortunes. The dictionary includes cross-referenced entries on more than 700 authors, ranging across the entire historical spectrum, while more than 200 other entries describe the fantasy subgenres, key images in fantasy literature, technical terms used in fantasy criticism, and the intimately convoluted relationship between literary fantasies, scholarly fantasies, and lifestyle fantasies. The book concludes with an extensive bibliography that ranges from general textbooks and specialized accounts of the history and scholarship of fantasy literature, through bibliographies and accounts of the fantasy literature of different nations, to individual author studies and useful websites.

Wrongly convicted of murder and punished by being sealed in the tomb with the dead man, seventeen-year-old Selwyn enlists the help of a witch and the resurrected victim to find the true killer.