More haunting tales of Ghosts, Aliens, Science Fiction, Western, Zombies, Headless Ghosts, Haunted Graveyards, Urban Legends, Curses and Vampires.

DIVA circus owner’s murder produces a roster of bizarre suspects /divDIV/divDIVSummer heat is choking New York, and the Great Merlini—conjurer, sleuth, and godson of P. T. Barnum—offers his friend Ross Harte a chance to get out of town. Before they can depart for the annual convention of the Society of American Magicians, a nervous woman enters Merlini’s shop, begging to purchase his most popular illusion: the headless lady. When the magician refuses to sell his last copy, she steals it./divDIV /divDIVShe is the daughter of Major Hannum, a recently deceased circus magnate whose death may not have been an accident. Somewhere among the carnies, barkers, and freaks lurks a killer, and only Merlini can save the carnival from further bloodshed. The killer’s plot is as sly as a funhouse mirror, but no detective is more at home in a world where nothing is what it seems./div

When Major Hannum, the owner of the circus, is killed in a suspicious car accident, Merlini the magician decides to investigate.

Paintings and their corresponding studies are reproduced in this survey of the artist’s work from 2011 to 2017. An interpretive poem, Blank Melody, by poet Charity Coleman serves as the book’s introduction. An essay by curator Jeff De Blois, titled Never Converge Into a Whole, examines art historical references and conceptual influences. Large reproductions and a pared down design reflect the artist’s illustrational style throughout this body of work.

When the four Stanley children meet Amanda, their new stepsister, they’re amazed to learn that she studies witchcraft. They’re stunned to see her dressed in a strange costume, carrying a pet crow and surrounded by a pile of books about the supernatural. It’s not long before Amanda promises to give witchcraft lessons to David, Jamie, and the twins. But that’s when strange things start happening in their old house. David suspects Amanda of causing mischief, until they learn that the house really was haunted long ago. Legend has it that a ghost cut the head off of a wooden cupid on the stairway. Has the ghost returned to strike again?