GUNNERKRIGG COURT

http://squadcrypto.blogspot.com/2009/01/mothman-wolves-more.html

I was reading this intriguing post from one of Redfern's new recruits, Regan Lee, the other day..

"Not long ago, my husband “Joe” and I were talking about our childhood “weird” experiences; memories of the paranormal, or whatever word you want to use. Before I said anything, he began to tell me of something that happened to him sometimes when he was a kid. While he was in bed, furry gray “things” would gather around the edges of the bed, and tug at him, taking him away. (Neither of us remember where we went.)

I asked him if they reminded him in a way, of wolves; he said yes. Small nasty little wolf puppet, or stuffed animal-toy beings. He had never heard my story before."

And I was suddenly reminded of one of my daily time-wasting excercises. For over a year now I have been avidly reading a webcomic called Gunnerkrigg Court


Gunnerkrigg Court, the fictional school around which the story revolves, is a mysterious and vast establishment that many characters suspect hides much more than just a school. As the story progresses, it is soon revealed that the school is inhabited by a wide variety of both supernatural creatures—many of which become characters involved in the story's plot—and ultra-modern technology.


The court is built on the edge of a wide chasm, on the other side of which lies the Gillitie Wood, which is inhabited by "etheric" or magical creatures. At the time when the main story takes place, the two sides exist in a kind of truce, with the Court as the realm of science and technology and the Wood the realm of nature and the etheric.



All very well and good you might say, especially as you cribbed the two previous paragraphs from wikipedia, but what has this got to do with Regan's posting? Well, quite a lot. One of the characters is Reynardine, a fox demon who inhabits the body of a cuddly toy owned by the female protagonist of the story. Yes, I know it is a flimsy connection, but it gives me an excuse to plug Tom Siddell's excellent webcomic (now also in book form at last).



It also gives me an excuse to lean on Tom once more to appear at the Weird Weekend, because not only am I a massive fan, but I have been wanting to have a section of the event called "populating an imaginary world with creatures" for ages, and Tom would be perfect to launch it.



So, guys and girls. Go to http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/ and read the story from the beginning. I guarantee that a vast majority of the readers of the CFZ bloggo will become as addicted as I have become. Buy the book from Tom, and tell him that the CFZ sent you.....