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Something Wicked, Something Holy: Halloween Deities
Halloween is that most American of holidays: a mish-mash of old pagan religion, medieval customs and cavalcades of sugar. While no figure has come to symbolize Halloween the same way Santa embodies Christmas, that doesn’t mean people haven’t tried. Here’s some of our favorite gods and monsters who put the “Hallowed” in Halloween!
Posted by Jadzia Axelrod
Quirky History: Friend, Pet, and Healer of Wounds
The dog is man’s best friend. The fact that there are 43.3 million American households that own a dog would testify to the accuracy of that statement. In fact, the relationship between dogs and humans is as old as human civilization itself. And keeping dogs as pets goes back to the late Middle Ages.
Posted by E.H. Kern
5 Coolest Literary Representations of Cleopatra
[Movie still from Cleopatra, 20th Century Fox]
On August 12, 30 B.C.E., Cleopatra VII Philopater died in what we now call Egypt. You might be familiar with Cleopatra because of her renowned wit and intelligence, her beauty, and the way she died. When her enemy Octavian won the Battle of Actium, Cleopatra killed herself in the most metal way possible by inducing an asp (a highly poisonous snake) to bite her.
Posted by Elizabeth Ballou
Badass Women in Flight
[Photo by Mael BALLAND on Unsplash]
It’s Amelia Earhart Day and here at Quirk Books we’re not only celebrating the birthday of this magnificent groundbreaking aviatrix, we’re also basking in the splendor of the brilliant courageous women who came before and after her. Each of these women brings her own remarkable twist to the history of aviation and we’re thrilled we have the opportunity to share their stories with you today. Happy Amelia Earhart Day, y’all!
Posted by Danielle Mohlman
Quirky History: Micrography, or Minuscule Medieval Images Drawn with Letters
Whenever we here at Quirk Books think we have found everything there is to discover about the weird and wonderful world of medieval manuscripts, something new always pops up and takes us by surprise. This time, what came at us out of left field was the incredible art form of micrography.
Posted by E.H. Kern
Five Real-Life Wonder Women Meet Their Superhero Besties
Does real life imitate art, or does art imitate life? At Quirk Books we say, “Who cares, let’s have both!” That’s why our catalog includes Wonder Women: 25 Innovators, Inventors, and Trailblazers as well as The Spectacular Sisterhood of Superwomen: Awesome Female Characters from the History of Comics. And being that it’s Wonder Woman Week, we can’t help but wonder if the women featured in those two books would enjoy meeting each other and going on adventures and stuff.
Wonder Women illustrations by Sophia Foster-Dimino
Posted by Quirk Books Staff
