Book Review: A Skeleton in the Family

A Skeleton in the Family by Leigh Perry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

From the publisher: "Moving back into her parents’ house with her teenage daughter had not been Georgia Thackery’s “Plan A.” But when she got a job at the local college, it seemed the sensible thing to do. So she settled in and began reconnecting with old friends... Including Sid. Sid is the Thackery family’s skeleton. He’s lived in the house as long as Georgia can remember, although no one, including Sid, knows exactly where he came from and how he came to be a skeleton."

What can I say? I loved it. Sid is wisecracking, but in a timid, self-conscious way. He's loyal and protective, and intelligent. In short, he's everything you'd want in a family friend.

I loved the way the mystery built, I loved Sid's wisecracking, and I loved Georgia's logical solving of the problem. Author Leigh Perry did a great job of world-building when she placed Georgia in academia, making the struggles and politics come alive. In this first book, we don't come to understand exactly how Sid is an animated skeleton, but I didn't mind. I was able to suspend disbelief and just enjoy the show.

The narrator of the audiobook did a great job of bringing the characters to life. I expected Sid to be more "up" (yeah, I don't know why), but I easily settled into his dry (what else would you expect?) voice.

I loved the characters and am looking forward to more books in the series. Yay, Sid!

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“With Love, from Salem – the documentary” to debut at Cinema Salem

I'm posting this press release because I know the director personally and am greatly impressed with what he can do with a minimal amount of funding.

If you're planning to go to Salem, Massachusetts in October, you might want to check it out.

Press Release

“With Love, from Salem – the documentary” to debut at Cinema Salem

September 24, 2013

Salem, MA – Producers of the long anticipated Salem based documentary “With Love, From Salem” have finalized plans for the film’s debut with Cinema Salem, located in the heart of the historic city. The film will be featured at the Cinema from Friday October 25 through Sunday October 27, 2013. Details regarding showtimes will be announced shortly on the theater’s website www.cinemasalem.com.

The documentary (written, directed and produced by Karagan Cratty Griffith and featuring Gypsy and Richard Ravish, High Priestess and High Priest of Salem’s Temple of Nine Wells) chronicles the 20th Anniversary of the Temple’s Annual Samhain Ritual on Gallows Hill, an annual event that attracts hundreds of participants from around the world every October 31st.

Preview screenings of the film have received an overwhelmingly positive audience and critical response. The world premiere of the documentary was held on September 22, 2013 and included viewers from the UK, Portugal, Brazil and the Philippines.

The producers of the film, Logios/Red Bird Productions, are excited to partner with Cinema Salem, the North Shore’s most loved theater, to bring the experience of “With Love, from Salem” to the general public for the first time.

About “With Love, from Salem”

Salem, Massachusetts. The very mention of the town’s name conjures up thoughts of magic and witchcraft. Despite its proud place in American history, the year of 1692 was a time of suffering and injustice - 19 innocent people, condemned to death for crimes against God, died at the hands of their accusers on a bleak hill just outside the town.

The Temple of Nine Wells, a public Wiccan congregation administrated by The Rev. Richard Ravish, H.P and the Rev. Amy 'Gypsy' Ravish, HPs, has been walking to Gallows Hill on Samhain night for more than 20 years to honor the victims of the witch hunting hysteria of 1692. 

Every year on All Hallow's Eve, as darkness settles over the streets, hundreds of people gather in Salem from all over the world to join the Temple of Nine Wells on their annual journey to Gallows Hill. A few become many. Moved by the beating of the witch’s drum and lured by the gentle cadence of their chants, people set aside for one night their mundane cares and join the others on their walk. A simple pilgrimage becomes not only an act of remembrance, but also a celebration of life, of hope, and of love.

Through this beautiful and evocative film, you, too, can share in this truly magical experience, from preparation to the final ritual itself. And in the process you may gain a deeper understanding of contemporary witchcraft, as well as the significance of Samhain and the difference between it and the better-known festival of Halloween. Visually stunning and emotionally charged, “With Love, From Salem” provides a rare and precious glimpse of Samhain night in Salem, a night when witches still make magic as they dance the wheel of the year from darkness into light.

"Hauntingly beautiful, engaging, inspiring, and enchanting." 

Orion Foxwood, Founding Elder of Foxwood Temple of the Old Religion, Founder of the House of Brigh Faery Seership Institute, Co-founder of Conjure-Crossroads, author of "The Faery Teachings", USA

"With Love, From Salem is a true magical tale of how Witches and Pagans today have crafted an annual Samhain tradition of remembrance, healing, and hope at a place where Witch persecutions once happened."  

Rev. Selena Fox, Senior Minister, Circle Sanctuary, USA

"With Love from Salem is a fascinating, important and timely film that sets out to educate and interest."
Paul Pearson, editor of Greenmantle Magazine, UK.

“Ultimately, With Love, From Salem is a time capsule, a document of a couple who quietly served a community since the 1970’s, a fixed point where seekers and the curious could experience Witchcraft in a “land of ghosts.” It is about mortality and remembrance, not just for the victims of the Salem Witch Trials, but for our own elders as they age and pass on.”Jason Pitzi-Waters,The Wild Hunt

Contact

To learn more about this film, please contact Media Relations
Logios/ Projects/Red Bird Productions www.logios.biz
Theatrical Teaser: http://youtu.be/Nio_8FWt2RY
Official Trailer: http://youtu.be/LFDyebNQ3N8