Come closer my pretties...

A mild horror-themed post for you to skip. :-)

- Cute Ceriodaphnia water flea (wikipedia) cosplaying as a screaming ghost in a nice comfy empire-line patchwork dress.

- Another Daphnia water flea (wikipedia) ghost planning to lay her eggs soon... somewhere very near you.... ;-)

- Reading, February 2026 part 1 of 2: the Darkwood series.

18. Darkwood, Darkwood 1, by Gabby Hutchinson Crouch, 2019, 4/5

The author is better known for her contributions to Horrible Histories and various topical satire shows including The Now Show so she's well equipped to write a satirical fantasy novel critiquing anglophone western culture, as it slithers towards the far right, through the medium of a "middle grade and up" novel reclaiming populist fairytale motifs. The motivations that cause many ordinary people to accept creeping fascism are explored through fear of difference, and an army marching to the rhythm of "Something must be done. Something must be done." The main characters include step-parents who're doing their best, girls who do maths and engineering, boys who do witchcraft; and Snow, the White Knight, who has been "living as a Dwarf" for years. Snow and Buttercup, the Cake Witch, share some Very Special Smiles. I additionally enjoyed the in-jokes about the Bin Men who must have offerings left out every Monday night, and gossiping Mother Goggins (Postman Pat shoutout), and the many humorous one-liners and puns, e.g. chapter titles: The Spider Who Came in from the Cold; and Run, Forest, Run. The plotting and pacing of the ending didn't fully work for me (the fascists are mostly talked out of their fanatical murderous hate and That One Guy who can't be talked around seals his own fate so Our Heroes keep their hands clean and their hats white) and the cliffhanger for the second book was as irritating as such ploys always are so 4/5.

21. Such Big Teeth, Darkwood 2, by Gabby Hutchinson Crouch, 2020, 4/5

The fascists continue to back down, and chat, and walk away, and fail to be convincingly murdery enough, so the protags can survive encounters and stroll away with unambiguously clean hands. And when the fash with comparatively high tech weapons, including a flying boat, set an ambush they bring melee weapons instead of bows which is wholly unrealistic. Their elections, during which blustering male "orange" candidate stands against a mumsy female "green" candidate (who is very much a lesser EVIL in this book - the use of "green" here being the one truly bum note from a UK point of view), are as rigged as democracy in our world. And fear of the Other is used to justify fascist control as always. Apart from my few quibbles the writing is funny and the protags have their hearts in good places. A transgendered werewolf is added to the main characters.

22. The Glass Coffin, Darkwood 3, by Gabby Hutchinson Crouch, 2021, 4/5

( One paragraph cut for spoilery details. )

A consistent 4/5 for each novel and the whole series.

Warning for irritation to people who have to deal with real-world fascists and know they can't be talked around (see western politics).