Friday, October 1, 2021

New Book Release: The Vampire Almanac

The Vampire Almanac: The Complete History by J. Gordon Melton

Grab a stake, a fistful of garlic, a crucifix and holy water as you enter the dark, blood-curdling world of the original pain in the neck in this ultimate collection of vampire facts and fiction!

What accounts for the undying fascination people have for vampires? How did encounters with death create centuries-old myths and folklore in virtually every culture in the world? When did the early literary vampires―as pictured by Goethe, Coleridge, Shelly, Polidori, Byron, and Nodier as the personifications of man’s darker side―transform from villains into today’s cultural rebels?

Showing how vampire-like creatures organically formed in virtually every part of the world, The Vampire Almanac: The Complete History by renowned religion expert and fearless vampire authority J. Gordon Melton, Ph.D., examines the historic, societal, and psychological role the vampire has played―and continues to play―in understanding death, man’s deepest desires, and human pathologies. It analyzes humanity’s lusts, fears, and longing for power and the forbidden!

Today, the vampire serves as a powerful symbol for the darker parts of the human condition, touching on death, immortality, forbidden sexuality, sexual power and surrender, intimacy, alienation, rebellion, violence, and a fascination with the mysterious. The vampire is often portrayed as a symbolic leader advocating an outrageous alternative to the demands of conformity. Vampires can also be tools for scapegoating such as when women are called “vamps” and bosses are described as “bloodsuckers.”

Meet all of the villains, anti-heroes, and heroes of myths, legends, books, films, and television series across cultures and today’s pop culture in The Vampire Almanac. It assembles and analyzes hundreds of vampiric characters, people, and creatures, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Vlad the Impaler, Edward Cullen and The Twilight Saga, Bram Stoker, Lestat De Lioncourt and The Vampire Chronicles, Lon Chaney, True Blood, Bela Lugosi, Dracula, Dark Shadows, Lilith, Vampire Weekend, Batman, Nosferatu, and so many more.

There is a lot to sink your teeth into with this deep exhumation of the undead. Quench your thirst for facts, histories, biographies, definitions, analysis, immortality, and more! This gruesomely thorough book of vampire facts also has a helpful bibliography, an extensive index, and numerous photos, adding to its usefulness.

Sunday, August 1, 2021

New Book Release: The Big Book of Facts

The Big Book of Facts: Adventures in Science and History by Terri Schlichenmeyer


Strange science facts! Hilarious history facts! Informative and Fun! A treat of science and history stories and trivia that will inform and entertain anyone curious about the world!

From astonishing, amazing and surprising science and history facts to the little-known stories hidden inside bigger events, The Big Book of Facts is a fascinating tour through our weird and interesting world. You’ll learn about the earth and its history through absorbing stories and interesting tidbits. Did you know …

  • Babies start laughing at just a few weeks old; there are ten discernible types of laughter; and laughter spurs our appetite for food?
  • Like fingerprints, every tongue on Earth has a unique print?
  • The history of the U.S. Postal Service, including the Pony Express, … and the short-lived (but legal) practice of mailing children?
  • Hand washing was not always common through history; toilet paper was invented in the 1400s, and Sir John Harington invented the flushable toilet for Queen Elizabeth I?
  • Though they are all differently shaped by virtue of being an assembly of water droplets, there are ten basic kinds of clouds?
  • A basic and quick history of cash in America, including Alexander Hamilton and the Bank of the United States, Benjamin Franklin’s efforts to thwart counterfeiting, $100,000 bills, and the fact that more than 85% of the world’s money is digital only?
  • Though Shakespeare mentioned Valentine’s Day in “Hamlet,” sending paper cards to a beloved wasn’t a fad until the eighteenth century, and by the 1840s, insulting Valentine cards also became common?
  • Government agencies in the U.S. and France both agree that the measure of a second is determined by how long it takes a cesium atom to vibrate just over nine billion times?
  • The history of children’s games such as hide-and-seek, blindman's bluff, and jacks that date back to the ancient Greeks and Romans?

  • And much, much more.

    Engrossing, engaging, and enlightening, The Big Book of Facts lets you discover the fun oddities that make up our world. Wide-ranging and fact-filled with nearly 160 illustrations, this information-rich tome also includes a helpful bibliography and an extensive index for those scrambling for more information.

    Tuesday, June 1, 2021

    New Book Release: In and Around Maimonides

    In and Around Maimonides: Original Essays by Y. Tzvi Langermann

    In and Around Maimonides presents seven highly focused studies on Moses Maimonides and those around him. “In Maimonides” refers to close readings of passages from Maimonides’ writings; “around Maimonides” refers to his own family (his father R. Maimon and his son R. Abraham) with whom Maimonides’ views are in conversation; an unnamed scholar mocked by Maimonides; Judah Halevi, a major figure in Andalusian Judaeo-Arabic culture with whom Maimonides is often contrasted; and Maimonides’ Yemeni commentators, who wrote marginalia, sometimes long and detailed, in the margins of manuscripts, around the text of the Guide. These studies offer new and important insights into the thought of Maimonides on a variety of issues, such as the nature and purpose of prophecy or the capacity of humans to better themselves morally, as well as his reception and interpretation in the Arabic speaking world.

    Sunday, May 2, 2021

    New Book Release: James Edgar Paullin

    The Enduring Legacy of James Edgar Paullin, MD by Carter Smith Jr.


    To the general public, Edward Paullin, MD, was best known as one of Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s physicians who rushed to Warm Springs, Georgia, to attend the dying president. To the medical community, however, he was a highly regarded diagnostician and innovative researcher who changed how diabetes, typhoid fever and other diseases were understood and treated in Georgia. Bookhouse Group is excited to announce that The Enduring Legacy of James Edgar Paullin, MD has gone to press. This is the story of this fascinating early twentieth century physician who began his indispensable roles in the development of both Emory University School of Medicine and Piedmont Hospital.

    New Book Release: Fritz Garland Lanham

    Fritz Garland Lanham: Father of American Trademark Protection by Joe Cleveland


    Bookhouse has the privilege of publishing the story of a man whose extraordinary impact on American commerce affects almost all the products we use today. Fritz Garland Lanham­—Father of American Trademark Protection is not just a story about a landmark piece of federal legislation, it’s a remarkable story of protecting American business and American consumers. 2021 marks the 75th anniversary of the Lanham Trademark Act. Fritz Garland Lanham­—Father of American Trademark Protection commemorates the man whose vision and deep understanding of the legal importance of trademarks are critical to the day-to-day lives of every American.

    Saturday, May 1, 2021

    New Book Release: Disinformation and You

    Disinformation and You: Identify Propaganda and Manipulation by Marie D. Jones

    They provoke you with anger because fear-filled people are easier to manipulate. The tricks, tools and tactics used to influence you and your loved ones―along with the history of propaganda―explained and explored.

    We live in an age of disinformation, misinformation, and outright lies. The modern world blasts us with information, talking points, spin, advertising, and attempts to persuade. But what are we to believe and whom should we trust?

    Examining the history of propaganda and disinformation in war, politics, polling, media, entertainment, cults, advertising, science, medicine, today’s media landscape, and even in our personal interactions, Disinformation and You: Identify Propaganda and Manipulation helps you spot and counter the seductive and deceptive tactics to influence individual behavior. It provides helpful suggestions and tips for identifying disinformation and fighting back against manipulation and censorship.

    Engaging and useful, this book’s helpful topics include …

  • the money behind politics and the media
  • predictive programming as a form of social engineering
  • advertising sales tactics
  • how things go viral
  • the power of memes and hashtags to push a story or idea
  • censorship in the media and on social media networks
  • sponsored news, fake news, and the mainstream media
  • cult mentality and groupthink
  • disinformation campaigns and false flags
  • how conspiracy theories work
  • how to identify fake news and propaganda

  • Disinformation and You shows you the tricks used to influence your behavior. So, get on the bandwagon with the rest of us decent folk and stop listening to fools. After all, two out of three people have seen their IQ scores rise by buying this book! Really, buy this book and be smarter (in recognizing propaganda, that is). With many photos, illustrations, and other graphics, this tome is richly illustrated, and its helpful bibliography and extensive index add to its usefulness.

    Thursday, April 1, 2021

    New Book Release: Serial Killers

    Serial Killers: The Minds, Methods, and Mayhem of History's Most Notorious Murderers by Richard Estep

    Pain, torment, and torture. Cruelty, brutality, and violence. The twisted psyches, murder. and yes, even the ability to charm people. Take a deep dive into the terrifyingly real serial murderers, spree killers, and true faces of evil!

    They prey on the innocent with a malicious desire to inflict damage and harm. They hunt and stalk misfortunate victims in the dark, in broad daylight, in quiet neighborhoods, and in the local woods. Their bloodthirst isn't satisfied after their first kill. Or their second. Or third. Serial Killers: The Minds, Methods, and Mayhem of History's Most Notorious Murderers delves into the global phenomenon of serial and spree murderers.

    This chilling book looks at the horrifying stories of forty malevolent killers and hundreds of innocent victims, including such notorious homicidal maniacs as John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, and Jeffery Dahmer, but it also looks at lesser-known and overlooked murderers like Herbert Baumeister, America’s I-70 Strangler; Japan’s “Anime Killer,” Tsutomu Miyazaki; Russia’s “Rostov Ripper,” Andrei Chikatilo; the “Giggling Granny,” Nannie Doss; and many more. It journeys to 16th-century Scotland to meet a clan of cannibals whose existence is still debated by historians today, and to the fog-shrouded alleys of Whitechapel, London, where Jack the Ripper earned his grisly namesake. Along the way, we’ll meet the Dating Game Killer, the Milwaukee Cannibal, the Acid Bath Murderer, and other monsters.

    Serial Killers also asks the questions …

  • What makes a seemingly ordinary person stalk, torture, and murder their fellow human beings?
  • Are serial killers born or made?
  • What is the difference between a serial killer and a spree killer?
  • What were the identities of Jack the Ripper and the Zodiac Killer?
  • Was Albert DeSalvo really the Boston Strangler?
  • Is it possible that you could know a serial killer?

  • Caution is advised before entering the alarming world of twisted psychos and sociopaths! With more than 120 photos and graphics, this fright-filled tome is richly illustrated. Its helpful bibliography and extensive index add to its usefulness.