1.
Horror fiction
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Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten, scare, disgust, or startle their readers or viewers by inducing feelings of horror and terror. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon has defined the horror story as a piece of fiction in prose of variable length, which shocks or even frightens the reader, or perhaps induces a feeling of repulsion or loathing. It creates an eerie and frightening atmosphere, Horror is frequently supernatural, though it can be non-supernatural. Often the central menace of a work of fiction can be interpreted as a metaphor for the larger fears of a society. The genre of horror has ancient origins with roots in folklore and religious traditions, focusing on death, the afterlife, evil, the demonic and these were manifested in stories of beings such as witches, vampires, werewolves and ghosts. 18th century Gothic horror drew on these sources with the seminal and controversial The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole and this marked the first incorporated elements of the supernatural instead of pure realism. In fact, the first edition was published disguised as a medieval romance from Italy discovered and republished by a fictitious translator. Once revealed as contemporary, many found it anachronistic, reactionary, or simply in poor taste — but it proved to be immediately popular. That first novel of Gothic horror inspired such works as Vathek by William Beckford, A Sicilian Romance, The Mysteries of Udolpho and The Italian by Ann Radcliffe and The Monk by Matthew Lewis. A significant amount of fiction of this era was written by women and marketed at a female audience. The Gothic tradition blossomed into the modern readers call horror literature in the 19th century. Each of these novels and novellas created an icon of horror seen in modern re-imaginings on the stage. The proliferation of periodicals, as early as the turn of the century. One writer who specialized in fiction for mainstream pulps such as All-Story Magazine was Tod Robbins, whose fiction dealt with themes of madness. Later, specialist publications emerged to give horror writers an outlet, including Weird Tales, influential horror writers of the early 20th century made inroads in these mediums. Early cinema was inspired by aspects of horror literature, and early horror cinema started a strong tradition of horror films. This imagery made these comics controversial, and as a consequence they were frequently censored, many modern novels claim an early description of the living dead in a precursor to the modern zombie tale, including Dennis Wheatleys Strange Conflict, H. P. Lovecraft stories such as Cool Air, In The Vault, richard Mathesons novel I Am Legend would also influence an entire genre of apocalyptic zombie fiction emblematic of the films of George A. Romero
2.
Hardcover
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A hardcover or hardback book is one bound with rigid protective covers. It has a flexible, sewn spine which allows the book to lie flat on a surface when opened, following the ISBN sequence numbers, books of this type may be identified by the abbreviation Hbk. Hardcover books are printed on acid-free paper, and are much more durable than paperbacks. Hardcover books are more costly to manufacture. If brisk sales are anticipated, an edition of a book is typically released first. Some publishers publish paperback originals if slow hardback sales are anticipated, for very popular books these sales cycles may be extended, and followed by a mass market paperback edition typeset in a more compact size and printed on shallower, less hardy paper. In the past the release of an edition was one year after the hardback. It is very unusual for a book that was first published in paperback to be followed by a hardback, an example is the novel The Judgment of Paris by Gore Vidal, which had its revised edition of 1961 first published in paperback, and later in hardcover. Hardcover books are sold at higher prices than comparable paperbacks. Hardcovers typically consist of a block, two boards, and a cloth or heavy paper covering. The pages are sewn together and glued onto a flexible spine between the boards, and it too is covered by the cloth, a paper wrapper, or dust jacket, is usually put over the binding, folding over each horizontal end of the boards. On the folded part, or flap, over the front cover is generally a blurb, the back flap is where the biography of the author can be found. Reviews are often placed on the back of the jacket, bookbinding Paperback How to make a simple Hardcover book
3.
Boiled egg
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Boiled eggs are eggs cooked with their shells unbroken, usually by immersion in boiling water. Hard-boiled eggs are cooked so that the egg white and egg yolk both solidify, while for an egg the yolk, and sometimes the white, remain at least partially liquid. A few different methods are used to make boiled eggs other than simply immersing them in boiling water, Boiled eggs can also be cooked below the boiling temperature, via coddling, or they can be steamed. The egg timer was named due to its usage in timing the boiling of eggs. Boiled eggs are a popular breakfast food in countries around the world. There are variations both in desired doneness and in the method of how eggs are boiled, and a variety of gadgets for eggs exist. These variations include, Baked eggs Baking eggs in an oven instead of boiling in water, Baked eggs are identical to boiled eggs but the shells peel more easily. Starting temperature Room temperature or from a refrigerator, eggs may be left out overnight to come to room temperature, preparation Some pierce the eggs beforehand with an egg piercer to prevent cracking. There is much debate on this subject, ekelund et al. in Why eggs should not be pierced claimed that pricking caused egg white proteins to be damaged and was therefore to be discouraged. Others recommend against this, or add vinegar to the water to prevent the white from billowing in case of cracking, for this purpose, table salt can also be used. A cradle is also advocated as reducing cracking, since the eggs do not then roll around loose, to remove, one may allow the water to cool, pour off the boiling water, or remove the cradle. Steaming Eggs are taken straight from the refrigerator and placed in the steamer at full steam, the eggs will not crack due to sudden change in temperatures. At full steam, soft-boiled eggs are ready in 6 minutes, as the eggs are cooked by a steam source, there is no variation of water temperature and hence cooking time, no matter how many eggs are placed in the steamer. Sous vide Rather than cooking in boiling water, boiled eggs can be made by cooking/coddling in their shell sous vide in hot water at temperatures anywhere from 60 to 85 °C. It turns out that the egg white cooks at 75 °C and the yolk. Cooking time There is substantial variation, with cooking time being the variable affecting doneness. It usually varies from 10–17 minutes for large hard-boiled eggs, 1–4 minutes for large soft-cooked eggs. Cooling After eggs are removed from heat, some cooking continues to occur, particularly of the yolk, due to residual heat, for this reason some allow eggs to cool in air or plunge them into cold water as the final stage of preparation
4.
Walkman
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Walkman is a Sony brand tradename originally used for portable audio cassette/tape players in the late 1970s. In the 2010s, it was used to market Sonys portable audio, the original Walkman actually introduced a change in music listening habits by allowing people to carry recorded music with them and listen to music through lightweight headphones. Owners of the Walkman were able to back their lost time, commuting for example. It was the privatization and personalization offered by the Walkman that led to its success, the prototype was built in 1978 by audio-division engineer Nobutoshi Kihara for Sony co-founder Masaru Ibuka. Ibuka wanted to be able to listen to operas during his frequent trans-Pacific plane trips, the original idea for a portable stereo is credited to Brazilian-German inventor Andreas Pavel. The first Walkman was marketed in 1979 in Japan, using the name Walkman, from 1980, it was known as the Soundabout in many other countries including the US, Freestyle in Sweden, and the Stowaway in the UK. Advertising, despite all the languages, still attracted thousands of buyers in the US specifically. The names Walkman, Pressman, Watchman, Scoopman, Discman, and Talkman are trademarks of Sony, the name Walkman was based on its precursor, the Pressman tape recorder. An initial prototype of the Walkman was in fact made by replacing the monophonic recording circuit, head and speaker from the Pressman with a stereo playback-only head and amplifier. Sony continues to use the Walkman brand name for most of their portable audio devices, the marketing of the Walkman introduced the idea of Japanese-ness into global culture, synonymous with miniaturization and high-technology. The Walk-men and Walk-women in advertisements were created to be the ideal reflections of the subject watching, the advertising of the Sony Walkman served to portray it as a possession that was not only fashionable but culturally definitive. Owning one proved the owner was up to date and financially able to buy newly marketed commercial products, rather than waiting for them to become established and it became one of the most successful launches of any new product in the past half-century. A major component of the Walkman advertising campaign was personalization of the device, prior to the Walkman, the common device for portable music was the portable radio, which could only offer listeners standard music broadcasts. Having the ability to customize a playlist was a new and exciting revolution in music technology, potential buyers had the opportunity to choose their perfect match in terms of mobile listening technology. The ability to play your own music and listen privately was a selling point of the Walkman, especially amongst teens. Despite all this technological diversity, there must be one which is the choice for you. Sony accomplished the feat of mass individualized and targeted advertisement. Today, Walkman still maintains its role in culture, albeit a diminished one due to the large number of competitors in mobile audio devices today
5.
Little House on the Prairie
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Little House on the Prairie is a series of American childrens novels written by Laura Ingalls Wilder based on her childhood in the northern Midwest during the 1870s and 1880s. Eight were completed by Wilder, and published by Harper & Brothers from 1932 and 1943, of which the last covers her courtship with Almanzo Wilder, the first draft of a ninth novel was published posthumously in 1971 and is commonly included in the Little House series. The Little House series is based on memories of Laura Ingalls Wilders childhood in the northern Midwest region of the United States late in the 19th century. Wilders daughter Rose Wilder Lane assisted her mother with the editing of the works, the depth of her involvement, and the extent of her influence on the theme and content of the books, has been the subject of some scholarly debate in recent years. The original Little House books have remained continuously in print since their publication in the 1930s and they are considered classics of American childrens literature and remain widely read. The eight childrens novels were originally illustrated primarily by Helen Sewell and those five were all among the annual Newbery Medal runners-up. In 1953 Harper issued a complete set re-illustrated by Garth Williams, modern editions generally retain the Williams illustrations. The books have been adapted for stage or screen more than once, most successfully as the American television series Little House on the Prairie, the last concluded with a note, The end of the Little house books. In 1953, the eight were reissued in an illustrated, uniform edition with cover and interior illustrations by Garth Williams. The nine alone are summarized in the subsections below, other titles include sticker and craft books, cookbooks, diaries, calendars, dishes, and so on. Four series of books expand the Little House series to five generations of Laura Ingalls Wilders family. The Caroline Years series narrates Lauras mother, Caroline Quiners, childhood in Wisconsin, the Rose Years series follows Rose Wilder Lane from childhood in Missouri to early adulthood in San Francisco. It was written by her surrogate grandson Roger MacBride, in fact, Young Pioneerss main characters are even named Charles and Caroline, the names of Lauras parents. Two volumes of Lauras letters and diaries have also issued under the Little House imprint, On The Way Home and West From Home. In 2011 Wendy McClure published The Wilder Life, My Adventures in The Lost World of Little House on the Prairie, McClure brings her somewhat reluctant boyfriend Chris with her on her journeys. The story of the first book in the series, Little House in the Big Woods revolves around the life of the Ingalls family in their home near Pepin, Wisconsin. The family includes mother Caroline Ingalls, father Charles Ingalls, elder daughter Mary Amelia Ingalls, also in the story, though not yet born historically, is Lauras baby sister Carrie. In the book, Laura herself turns five years old, when the author had only been three during the events of the book
