But here I go anyway: As I look forward to sharing books with Coen, I’m reminding myself of some of my favorites from my childhood. Glancing at an Amazon reader review of John Bellairs’s 1969 fantasy novel Face in the Frost, I was struck by this quote from the book:
“In her slowly rising head were two black holes. Prospero saw in his mind a doll that had terrified him when he was a child. The eyes had rattled in the china skull. Now the woman’s voice, mechanical and heavy: “Why don’t you sleep? Go to sleep.” Her mouth opened wide, impossibly wide, and then the whole face stretched and writhed and yawned in the faint light.”
I’m reminded of nothing so much as the distorted, creepily out-of-proportion mouths so popular in modern horror movies. Click here to view an example from The Ring, but only if you want to see something creepy. There must be some others: I feel like I’ve seen a lot of horror movies recently where significant scare or at least startle value arises from the way someone’s mouth just… keeps… opening. The Ring example isn’t quite what I was picturing. Maybe someone can suggest some more titles.
Perhaps needless to say, I will be waiting to suggest this book to Coen until at least fifth grade.