Book Description

"Mr. Hood's Holiday House has stood for a thousand years, welcoming countless children into its embrace. It is a place of miracles, a blissful round of treats and seasons, where every childhood whim may be satisfied... for a price!"

I love the first paragraph in this book! "The great gray beast February had eaten Harvey Swick Alive. Here he was, buried in the belly of that smothering month, wondering if he would ever find his way out through the cold coils that lay between here and Easter."

This is one of Clive Barker's stories written for youths but it is a wonderfully creepy story that adults would enjoy too. I listened to it via an audio book and liked it so much, I went out a bought a copy to share. If you like stories such as Coraline by Neil Gaiman, you should really like this tale.

I am offering this book for a bookring.

Bookring Rules:

1) When you receive the book, please journal it so that the group knows where it has landed.

2) Please take care of the book. Others want to read it and would be disappointed to receive a destroyed book. Take care of it as if it were your own.

3) Plan on keeping the book for no more than 30 days. If you think you might need more time, please make note as a journal entry. If you would like to participate in the ring but know that you can’t read it in the allotted time, I will gladly add you toward the end of the list.

4) When you’re ready to pass the book along, PM the next person on the list to get their address. Please journal again when you've sent it on. Let everyone know what you thought of the book and where you’ve sent it. Set the book’s status code to “traveling”.

Be considerate to the others in the bookring and do not stall the book.

Participants
(Reading order may change as others join)

Aus-charlotte - Australia
Billbooks - Australia (post anywhere)
bluezwuzl - Germany (post anywhere)
Sorcheen - Germany (post anywhere)
Tsjara - Netherlands (post anywhere)
Back to me (imawinn2)

This book has started its journey. First stop will be with Aus-charlotte in Australia. Happy Travels! Happy Reading!

Have received the book in the post, looking forward to reading it now. Thank you

Enjoyed this book, sent on its way to Billbooks.

Book has safely arrived in Melbourne in time for my holiday read

Good little read aimed more at a teenage audience but I enjoyed it. Now off to Germany

The book arrived safely last week when I was away for a long weekend... Thanks for sending it! Its a pleasant read for a long ride on the train and I really enjoyed it.
Thanks for sharing! The book is now off to sorcheen!

The book has arrived in Duisburg now. Thank you very much, I'm looking forward to reading it!

I really enjoyed reading this, thank you very much for sharing! :)
The book is on its way to the Netherlands now - enjoy!

Arrived here today (the envelope was open but I don't think anything has fallen out - there is even a lovely collection of bookmarks tucked between the pages). Thanks a lot for sending sorcheen! This book has been on my 'want to read list' for a long time, so it's great to do so as part of a bookring. Thanks imawinn for sharing the book! :)

I enjoyed reading this. A little bit scary but not too much, and the creepy drawings go very well with it. Harvey is a likeable character and I can understand how those long grey days of February can be very boring, and going on an adventure would be irresistible..
Glad to know how it all ended.

Thanks for sharing the book imawinn2!
It is now travelling back to you. :)

Thief of Always has returned home. Thanks to everyone who made this bookring a successful one. I enjoyed reading all your journal entries. Tsjara, the bookmarks, that were snuggled in the book, were a very nice surprise. Thankyou!

Sending this book out in my Box Full of Magical, Mystical Stories and Dangerous Beasties Bookbox. Happy Travels!

I've read this one so I'm leaving it in the Magical Mystical bookbox for someone else, but did want to add my thoughts.

A quick read, with some nicely gruesome aspects, if a bit obvious on the "message" side. Loved the opening line: "The great gray beast February had eaten Harvey Swick alive." Even though I couldn't quite sympathize with poor bored Harvey - I always liked school, and was such an avid reader that the most gray, chilly February could fly by unnoticed as I dived into book after book - it was easy enough to see the temptation of a place where all the best parts of each season and each holiday could be enjoyed all the time. (The plot has some similarities to that of Neil Gaiman's Coraline, though Barker's book precedes Gaiman's by a decade or so. The tones are different too, and while Coraline craved loving parents instead of her too-busy ones, Harvey likes his parents just fine, but wants to avoid the boredom of daily life.)

The artwork enhanced the joys - and the horrors - of the situation. All in all, an enjoyable story!

[There's a TV Tropes page for the story; entertaining, but do beware of spoilers.]