Historic Tearoom, Brothers Grimm, Mary Shelley, Gaslight, The Traitors & More: Endnotes 31 October

Every Friday, we celebrate the weekend — and all the reading and relaxing and daydreaming time ahead — with Melissa's favorite book- and travel-related links of the week. Why work when you can read fun stuff?!

This post is part of our Endnotes series.

The delightfully witchy-looking building above is Tu Hwnt i’r Bont, a tearoom in Llanrwst, North Wales. This enduring (and adorable) stone building started its life in 1480 as a private home and later became a courthouse. No word on whether or not suspected witches might have gone on trial here. But! Should you step inside today to treat yourself to a just-right homemade scone and steaming pot of tea — or any number of luscious layer cakes and sandwiches; menu here — you will see remnants of its history adorning the walls: old photos, illustrations, and even a painting of a suspected witch! Tu Hwnt i’r Bont is one of the most-photographed tearooms in the world, thanks to the Virginia creeper that wrapped the building in lush green leaves in the summer and bright red in the fall. But last January, Tu Hwnt i’r Bont got a makeunder when the vines were pruned back to help preserve the building. When we visited last week, there were a few remnants of creeping leaves (along with misty weather and carved pumpkins for a perfectly spooky atmosphere). The tearoom is tucked between the wild and woolly landscape of Snowdonia National Park and the charming Victorian ambience of Llandudno’s seaside promenade. Should you find yourself in North Wales, we heartily recommend all three. Until then, you can follow Tu Hwnt i’r Bont on Instagram.

• The excellent Noted Substack takes on the myth of the Brothers Grimm by using their own words from their handwritten notes. The accompanying photos of their handwriting and old books are great! And don’t sleep on the story of their dictionary.

• Sharing this for no particular reason at all: 20 Books That Offer Pure Escapism.

• This new illustrated edition of Gulliver’s Travels is a stunner.

• This is your periodic reminder that the free NPR books newsletter is so good — and if you’re not subscribed, you can do that here. This is a recent edition that I loved about just what the label ‘literary fiction’ means.

We will now proceed to the Halloween-related portion of today’s Endnotes. Read on if you dare.

• Smithsonian Magazine explores how Benevento, Italy, became the City of Witches. ‘Depending on whom you ask, a curse of the evil eye must still be warded off with a specific ritual involving oil and water and a traditional prayer. Leaving a broom at your door is a good way to ensure the local witches, known as the Janare, won’t sneak under the threshold—they’ll be too distracted counting the strands of straw. And if you wake to find that your horse’s mane has been braided, a Janara must have taken it for a late-night ride.’

• Related: This how-to for ridding your home of the evil eye is both practical and entertaining.

• These ghostly photographs by Karen Jerzyk are equal parts spooky and poignant.

• 7 of the World’s Most Beautiful Cemeteries. For more, listen to our podcast episode Cemetery: Celebrate Life, Honor the Dead.

• I’m a fan of Florence Welch’s particular brand of musical hocus pocus. Her new record Everybody Scream is out today — and in this article, she talks about how the Brontës and Gothic stories inspired her. ‘Throughout the making of Everybody Scream, Welch says she channelled Mary Shelley and the Brontë sisters through the lens of nineties cult classics such as The Craft and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I wanted to build a world where these contrasting [references] could co-exist – Georgian and grunge, all at once.’

• I just finished reading the novel Witsh by Welsh author Mari Ellis Dunning. I also enjoyed her essay about black hats, cauldrons and broomsticks, aka, the iconography of witches.

• Have you seen Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein yet?LitHub thinks you should! ‘Del Toro, who has written and produced this film in addition to directing it, deftly reads Shelley’s text as a story of parental abandonment, building out a wider story of parental abuse and neglect, emphasizing the tragic dehumanization and alienation that the Creature experiences after being forced into existence.’

• Sorta related: Ron Charles, book critic for WaPo, recommends the book Love, Sex, and Frankenstein by Caroline Lea. ‘By slicing up biographical details and sewing them back together with patches of her imagination, Lea has created a vibrant vision of Mary Shelley as a young feminist channeling her anger and finding her voice.’

• Dave and I are watching the black-and-white film Gaslight tonight (and eating this vampire-fighting pork stew). Here’s the scoop on an alternate ending to the movie.

• Take a deep dive into the world of Gothic graphic design. ‘When times are dark, art that reflects that darkness can be deeply comforting. When you infuse that darkness with romance and big emotion, it becomes catharsis.’

• For your haunted UK travel needs: The Most Haunted Country Houses in Britain and The Most Haunted Places in Britain — including a fortress patrolled by a ghostly bear.

• Edward Gorey is the master of stories that smush together melancholy and black humor so well, it’s impossible to tell where one stops and the other begins. One of my favorite Substack writers (read her excellent bio here) delves into two Gorey classics: The Hapless Child and The Doubtful Guest.

• On a lighter note, the always-lovely Incidental Comics plays with spooky words. Dayligone! Sepulchral! Cortege! Telluric! Learn new vocab and be entertained.

• Take a peek inside the walls and the history of Ardross Castle, the Scottish castle where The Traitors is filmed.

• Meet acclaimed ghost hunter Harry Price. ‘Showman and psychic researcher Harry Price turned Borley Rectory into a national sensation, and its infamy as a haunted house hasn’t gone away.’

• Quiz: How well do you know folklore monsters from around the world? I got only 7/12. (But who cares when the correct answers are so fascinating?!)

Happy Halloween!

Top image courtesy of Visit Wales.