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by Resa Haile

Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

Review by Resa Haile

In 1872, twenty-five years before the publication of Dracula by Bram Stoker, a vampire tale by another Irish writer saw the light of day. This story was Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu. It is not difficult to find a copy today, as it is included in many vampire, ghost, and horror anthologies, as well as being published in slender book format on its own.

The true heroine of the tale is not Carmilla, but the narrator, who “bear[s] an English name.” She and her father come to the titular character’s aid when the lady (apparently) suffers a malady while traveling with her mother. The mother is on “a journey of life and death, and cannot stop,” so it is arranged for Carmilla to come and stay with the heroine and her father.

Bram Stoker acknowledged the debt he owed to his predecessor. As Dracula would later later do, Carmilla cultivates a personal relationship with her victim. With the increase of intensity in Carmilla’s devotion, the object of her affections becomes more listless and unwell.

Reading Carmilla today, one may be struck by an undercurrent of lesbianism in Carmilla’s pursuit of her victims, who are always female. (The movie The Vampire Lovers is based on this book.) It is possible that Le Fanu thought females seemed more vulnerable to becoming victims of a predator, even when the predator was female.

It is interesting that Carmilla’s heart beats and she breathes, two things that rarely occur in modern vampire fiction. This story is quite atmospheric and well worth the time for anyone interested in the roots of horror fiction.

Artwork accompanying this article is by Resa Haile.

Pushing Daisies Blossoms

Series Review by Resa Haile

Pushing Daisies premiered in the fall 2007 television season to critical buzz and moderately-good ratings. The writers’ strike caused the series’ first season to be very short, and the second season had only thirteen episodes shot before cancellation. It is available on DVD.



Artwork by Resa Haile

This series was different from anything else on television. Narrated by Jim Dale, frequent Broadway star and well known as the reader of the Harry Potter audio books in the U.S. (On a side note, he also starred in the all-but-forgotten Digby The Biggest Dog in the World, and Digby is the name of the dog on Pushing Daisies as well.) The narration allows the audience to know when the regular characters are saying what they mean—and when they aren’t. It also provides wry commentary and gives the audience backstory and additional information.

Narrator: At that moment, the Piemaker felt a mixture of happiness and trepidation.

Ned (the Piemaker): Why is it always a mixture?

Pushing Daisies is the story of Ned, also known as the Piemaker, who has a special gift, or, possibly, curse. Ned has the ability to raise the dead with his touch.

There are certain rules that go along with Ned’s ability. If he touches the resurrected again, that touch is permanent death. If he doesn’t touch the resurrected again within one minute, the price of another death is extracted.

When Ned was a boy, he brought his mother back to life, causing the death of the next-door neighbor, father of Charlotte “Chuck” Charles, the girl he loved. (Some fans of the show have theorized Ned’s last name is Edwards, so that he would be Edward Edwards, a nice match-up with Charlotte Charles.) Of course, since Ned hadn’t yet figured out any of these rules, his mother was soon gone again as well. The dog Ned had as a child is still with him, but Ned can’t pet him. This leads to some funny scenes with Ned remote-petting Digby and other such devices.

Ned (Lee Pace) learns that his touch has a huge effect on the flavor of fruit (I can’t help but wonder if fruit or plants are dying mysteriously somewhere nearby) and becomes a maker of pies. Eventually, he opens a shop called “The Pie Hole,” which is shaped like a pie. He lives in an apartment above, and his waitress, Olive Snook (Broadway baby Kristen Chenoweth, whose wicked singing skills are sometimes put to good use in the series), lives in the apartment next to his. She nurses a crush on Ned, although he tries to avoid touching people.

Private eye Emerson Cod (Chi McBride) discovers Ned’s secret and uses him to revive murder victims in order to solve the crimes. Although the interrogations include a lot of dialogue, I did time one, and the victim was returned to the state of death in under the minute required.

One such victim, however, turns out to be Ned’s childhood love, Chuck (Anna Friel), and he cannot bring himself to touch her the second time. She becomes part of the investigation of her own murder, and part of the detective team, which later grows to include Olive.

A suspect with a heightened olfactory sense refers to Chuck, poetically, as a “girl smelling of honey and death.” Chuck wears unusual but often charming outfits that sometimes hearken back to 1930s movie heroines and sometimes channel Audrey Hepburn by way of Emma Peel. Everybody gets into the act when kooky and colourful undercover costumes are called for.

Chuck must keep her re-life a secret from her aunts (played by Swoosie Kurtz, with eye patch, and Ellen Greene, of Little Shop of Horrors fame, who also gets to sing), who raised her. Ned and Chuck love each other, but can never touch, thus solving the television quandary of keeping a couple from getting together without making one or both of the people involved seem like total jerks.

Chuck and Ned are probably more together than most television couples who can touch, making creative use of plastic wrap and beekeeping outfits. Some of the cases include a dim sum restaurant that runs illegal gambling using food instead of cards for its poker game, the murder of a bigamist, a disappearing act with a killer ending, and pop-up books (Emerson Cod ends up taking a break from his hobby of knitting to create one).

Emerson’s sarcasm makes a nice counterpoint to the sweetness of Chuck and Ned, and, if I sometimes find myself wishing Olive’s love for Ned could be requited, there seem to be several possible secondary candidates to win her heart. Besides, her burgeoning friendship with Chuck is entertaining.

The show is a brightly-colored film noir screwball comedy whodunit fable, with beautiful fairy tale set design and smart, witty writing and acting. The final episode tries too hard to pull all of the loose ends together, making me want to delete the last few minutes and write my own ending, but the series is wonderful overall.

Painting with Your Mouse

 by Resa Haile


Human beings have had the desire to express themselves for almost as long as there have been human beings. This desire has led to the creation of Art.

Art is a term that encompasses many things: Architecture, Dance, Drama, Literature, Music, Painting, Photography, and Sculpture were the ones named when I was in junior high. Photography was the newcomer to the group. There was debate about if there were seven or eight arts. Should Painting and Sculpture be one category? Should Music be split between Vocal and Instrumental? What kept some activities as Crafts? Could they break free and become Arts after all? Wasn’t performing magic an art? Was it a subcategory of drama? Was it a craft?

Now the world has expanded and definitions of what the arts are and what art can mean have expanded as well. There are digital arts, cinematic arts, graphic arts. Christo and Jeanne-Claude, a married couple, are famous for covering various natural locations in fabric. This is known as installation art. Which of the eight (or seven) arts would that be?

It can (at least) be agreed that art is a means of expression for the artist and that artists have used various tools and media for that expression.

In the area of visual arts, the computer age has brought us the Microsoft Paint program. This program features a “canvas” onscreen, which the artist–you—can use to achieve your vision.

Paint is fairly simple to use. It contains a palette of colors, which can be selected by clicking on a square.

More colors can be accessed by going to Colors and selecting Edit Colors.

There is also a “toolbox” available. Clicking on the star-shaped icon allows you to cut away at the image in whatever shape you choose. It can be tricky and requires some practice. More colors can be accessed by going to Colors and selecting Edit Colors.

The rectangular-shaped icon next to it allows you to cut or select with a rectangular shape. By doing this, you are able to cut or copy and paste, or to delete the selected section.

The eraser’s function is obvious, and, unlike a physical eraser, it works on paint.

The Fill With Color (“paint can”) icon allows you to change the color of a section.

The airbrush allows you to create effects like snow, tree blossoms, or even braided or curly hair. It is surprisingly versatile.

The pencil and the brush allow you to paint and draw using your mouse.

The magnifying glass allows you to increase the size of an image, making it easier for you to work on.

The Pick Color can be used to select a color for the Fill With Color to use, but this can be done more simply by clicking on the color and then the “paint can” or vice versa.

The capital letter A icon lets you create a text box on the canvas.

Other icons allow you to make curves, lines, and other shapes.

Now that we’ve gone through some of the basics, you probably would like to get started on a project. You may want to start with a tool that helps you to make shapes. You may choose to fill these with the “paint can.” Using the drop-down menu from Image, you can Invert Colors.

You may choose to take a photograph and invert the colors. You can copy the image, and then using the drop-down menu from Image, you can Flip/Rotate the second image. Add some paint (with the paint brush) for an interesting effect.

You may find, as you go along, that you are able to create a variety of images that have many uses—for ads, holiday cards, children’s stories, party decorations, and PowerPoint presentations, to name a few.

With Paint, the possibilities are limitless.



All artwork in this article is by Resa Haile.