The kids are back in school this week and so far it’s sheer bliss. I love them, they’re awesome, they make my life full and exciting and I’d never trade them for anything. But peace and quiet are also nice.

It’s also been stormy and cooler than usual. I got to sit and watch the rain this afternoon while I folded laundry.

I’m still painting glossy black trim in my living room and pondering various shades of violet for my walls. I’ve been taking it in easy stages so I don’t have to pull out all the furniture at once, and the more I do the more I love it. I’m nearly finished with the living room trim and I think I’ll extend it down the hallway as well.

I’ve also finished two books, one older and one newer.

Last week’s book: The Scarlet Gospels, by Clive Barker. I loved it. I loved The Hellbound Heart when I read it years ago and I loved the Hellraiser movies (the first 5 or 6, anyway) but since then I’d gone a bit cold on Clive Barker. This book had me from the first pages, though. It had all the epic ambition of his longer, more fantasy-based books combined with the tight storytelling and brutality I expect from Hellraiser. Pinhead is probably my favorite horror villain, and this story was an absolutely fitting study of his character and motivation.

This week’s book: The Wasp Factory, by Iain Banks. This is from way back in 1984, and I found it browsing the internet for modern gothic novels. It was fascinating. There wasn’t much action–it was more of a character study. It’s a first person story, and that makes all the difference. What, to an outside observer, is creepy and awful seems sensible and necessary from inside the narrator’s head, and that’s what makes it so interesting. Banks is great at setting up little mysteries and revealing them at the right time in the right way, creating a magical, morbid atmosphere that kept me hooked. I had a few quibbles with the ending but I won’t discuss them here in case you haven’t read this. They were pretty minor anyway compared to my morbid enjoyment of the rest of the book.

With fall finally coming and more time to work and think, hopefully I’ll finish some projects and post a bit more often. I hope you’re all up to fun and fulfilling things as well.