Shaw Manor · Paris, Kentucky

The Reading Room

Comics, periodicals and books from the curator’s own shelves, under a green-shaded lamp.

Lamp lit · Quiet, please

Something keeps rearranging this room after dark. Spin the comic rack, flip through the magazines, and run a finger along the shelves. Each cover opens full size; every caption comes only from what’s printed on it.

The Comic Spinner

A squeaky wire spinner by the window: Marvel, EC, Harvey, a pink Topps book, and a whole box of Springfield.

The Periodicals Rack

Magazines, back issues and one framed sign. Some covers were redacted on the way in; the house keeps its mailing labels to itself.

A white wire rack packed with wrestling magazines under a framed sign reading 1970s Wrestling Magazines!

1970s Wrestling Magazines!

A framed sign over a wire rack of wrestling magazines, row after row of Wrestling mastheads.

Back issues of 2600: The Hacker Quarterly laid out in neat rows on a white table, with the black hardcover The Best of 2600: A Hacker Odyssey in the corner.

2600: The Hacker Quarterly

A run of back issues, laid out by volume. Legible labels include Volume Twenty-Nine, Volume Thirty, Volume Thirty-One, Volume Thirty-Two, Volume Thirty-Three, Volume Thirty-Five, Number Two, Volume Thirty-Nine, Number One, and Volume Forty-One, Number Three. A payphone, a shredder pile and a thumbs-down QR code on the covers.

Manor lore · unverified Filed next to the lock picks, for obvious reasons.

  • MAD magazine number 199 cover with the cover-line banner and Alfred E. Neuman grinning at a furious woman in a fur coat.
    MAD No. 199June ’78. Our price 60¢ CHEAP. We gore The Spy Who Loved Me, score Punk Rock, explore What’s Happening?, deplore Television Commercials, and ignore Donny & Marie.
  • A busy marker doodle in orange, pink, yellow and blue with wavy black lines and cartoon eyes.
    Doodle cardA colorful marker doodle card, photographed with the MAD.
  • Boys’ Life March 2018 cover with a compass in the logo and a red pocketknife, mailing label covered by a Classified sticker.
    Boys’ LifeMarch 2018. Be Prepared: the Wilderness Survival Issue. Also inside: To Pluto… and Beyond!
  • TIME Special Edition cover: one big green marijuana leaf on white under the headline Marijuana Goes Main Street.
    TIME Special EditionMarijuana Goes Main Street. A Booming Business, Your Brain on Pot, Legalization Marches On. By Bruce Barcott.
  • SLAM magazine cover with Kentucky Wildcats players in white jerseys around Blue Magic; the mailing label is covered with a plain paper patch.
    SLAMMay 2015. Blue Magic: are the Kentucky Wildcats the best college basketball team ever? March Madness special.
  • Playboy June 1978 cover: the Playmate of the Year seated against black, her very long blonde hair covering her as she combs it.
    PlayboyJune 1978 · $2.00. Entertainment for Men. Playmate of the Year: hair apparent Debra Jo Fondren assumes the throne. Exclusive: Bobby Baker’s inside story of corruption in Washington. A racy interview with George Burns.
  • A fanned pile of about two dozen 2600: The Hacker Quarterly issues, with a black-and-white Blacklisted zine on top at the right.
    2600: the pileThe rest of the run, fanned out across the table, with a zine on top: Blacklisted! The Official Hackers…
  • 2600 cover with a melting, fanged golden-arches monster in a lurid cartoon landscape.
    2600, Volume Forty-One, Number ThreeAutumn 2024. The Hacker Quarterly.
  • 2600 cover: a battered grey payphone with a peace-sign dial against blue and yellow paint splatter.
    2600, Volume Thirty-Nine, Number OneThe Hacker Quarterly. A grey payphone on a blue and yellow splatter cover.
  • Sports Illustrated cover of a Kentucky player in white going up for a shot, with the line Kentucky closes in on 40-0.
    Sports IllustratedApril 6, 2015. From the brink. To the brink. Kentucky closes in on 40-0.

The Newsstand

Newsprint, clippings and one back-cover ad. Handle gently: some of this paper is older than the house.

Orange starburst sticker of Shaggy yelling Zoinks!
Left half of a tattered, yellowed front page: The Sport…, Vol. 1, No. 1, St. Louis, Mo., with the column The Game in Gotham. Right half of the same front page: …ing News., March 17, 1886, Single Copies 5 Cents, with the column Ready for the Road.

The Sporting News

Vol. 1, No. 1. St. Louis, Mo., March 17, 1886. Single Copies 5 Cents. Front-page columns include The Game in Gotham, Harry Wright’s Team, Caruthers Coming and Ready for the Road. Handed down, as the family tells it, from his grandfather.

Shown in two halves, as photographed. Edges left tattered.

see also the Legends shelf in the Locker Room →
A comic book back cover crammed with tiny novelty ads from the Johnson Smith Company: X-Ray Vision, Spy Pen Radio, a Ventriloquist Dummy and a coupon for the Free 1982 Catalog of 1600 Novelties.
Johnson Smith CompanyA comic book back cover. Things You Never Knew Existed, Since 1914, Mt. Clemens, Mich. Coupon for the Free 1982 Catalog, 1600 Novelties; on the page: Spy Pen Radio, X-Ray Vision, Ventriloquist Dummy, Avalanche Shave Cream, Giant Balloons. He loved the Johnson Smith Company and, after watching the Pee-wee Herman movies, ordered lots of tricks and gadgets from them as a kid. He was a member of the Pee-wee fun club, too, and the pin’s in the shoebox.
Clipping from The Bourbon County Citizen with his photo as chili cook-off winnerClipped: chili cook-off, first placeThe Bourbon County Citizen, Feb. 10, 2016, p. 20. Pinned up in the Kitchen. Carlisle Mercury clipping: a boy behind a table of baseball card boxes and albumsClipped: New business, young businessmanThe Carlisle Mercury, on Locker Room Sports Cards. Kept with the card in the shoebox.
Emblem of an octopus wrapped around a globe, ringed with the words Today Gotham City, Tomorrow the World, United Underworld.
Hung by the doorToday Gotham City · Tomorrow the World. United Underworld.Manor lore · unverified The octopus is said to rearrange the newspapers when no one is looking.

The Bookshelves

Magic, the space race, matchbox labels, comics craft, pinball physics, ramen, an antique boys’ adventure, a cipher book, a hacker odyssey, two Kentucky books, relativity, psychoanalysis, party games, filmmaking on a budget and the art of living dangerously.

  • R.L. Stine’s Garbage Pail Kids: Welcome to Smellville cover: a kid whose head erupts in a mushroom cloud, surrounded by grinning gross-out kids in a trashed room.
    Garbage Pail Kids: Welcome to SmellvilleR.L. Stine. Hardcover. Includes 4 bonus stickers!
  • Bold cover of Magic Tricks with Coins, Cards, and Everyday Objects by Jake Banfield, with card suit shapes down the side.
    Magic Tricks with Coins, Cards, and Everyday ObjectsJake Banfield.
  • Cover of Man’s Conquest of Space: an astronaut on a spacewalk tether above Earth.
    Man’s Conquest of SpaceNational Geographic Society.
  • Ephemera book cover with a band of vintage matchbox labels above and below the title.
    EphemeraInspiring Papers from the Past · Forever, Always & Now.
  • Stan Lee’s How to Write Comics cover with Stan Lee in sunglasses in front of comic covers.
    Stan Lee’s How to Write ComicsBig yellow and red title over Stan Lee and a pile of comics.
  • How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way cover: Thor on a beam, the Hulk and Spider-Man swinging in.
    How to Draw Comics the Marvel WayBy Stan Lee and John Buscema.
  • Yellow cover of Emails from an A**hole: a grinning retro cartoon man holding up a rude finger beneath a Real People Being Stupid badge.
    Emails from an A**holeJohn Lindsay, The Evil Genius Behind DontEvenReply.com. Real People Being Stupid.
  • Red cover of Absinthe & Flamethrowers by William Gurstelle: a shot glass of green liquor, a line-drawn man firing a flamethrower, and three throwing knives.
    Absinthe & FlamethrowersProjects and Ruminations on the Art of Living Dangerously. William Gurstelle, author of Backyard Ballistics.
  • Red Pinball Science kit box styled like a pinball playfield with flippers, an atom and a rocket.
    Pinball ScienceBuild Your Own Pinball Machine. Everything That Matters About Matter: 48-page book, 84 model pieces, elastic bands, steel marble.see also the real machines in the Game Room parlor →
  • Japanese Soul Cooking cover, a grid of food and street photos around a red title panel, propped on a wooden stand.
    Japanese Soul CookingTadashi Ono & Harris Salat. Ramen, tonkatsu, tempura, and more from the streets and kitchens of Tokyo and beyond.
  • Black and gold cover of From Crook to Cook: Snoop Dogg in a white tank top holding a glass bowl, framed by gold filigree, whisks and rolling pins.
    From Crook to CookSnoop Dogg. Platinum Recipes from Tha Boss Dogg’s Kitchen. More cooking in the Kitchen →
  • Grey-green paperback cover of An Elementary Textbook of Psycho-analysis by Charles Brenner, orange and cream lettering, anchor logo at the bottom.
    An Elementary Textbook of Psycho-analysisCharles Brenner. A Doubleday Anchor Book, A 102. 95¢.
  • Relativity for the Layman paperback: a red cover with the Earth, a blazing sun, an atom and E=mc² under a black title band.
    Relativity for the LaymanJames A. Coleman. A Mentor Book. A simplified account of the history, theory, and proofs of relativity. Gives a really clear idea of relativity. (Albert Einstein)
  • Holographic silver Penguin cover of The Age of Spiritual Machines by Ray Kurzweil, shimmering with rainbow reflections.
    The Age of Spiritual MachinesRay Kurzweil. When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence. National Bestseller.
  • Teal and red cover of Party Games for All, with a dartboard, dice, dominoes and a list of games including charades and twenty questions.
    Party Games for AllMason and Mitchell. Barnes & Noble Everyday Handbook Series, 216. Social Mixers; Party, Mystery, Rotative, Stunt, Trick, Mental, and Forfeit Games and Contests. More games in the Game Room →
  • Black cover of Elements of Film by Lee R. Bobker: a stark high-contrast face beside a cream spine strip with the title in red.
    Elements of FilmLee R. Bobker. More film in the Camera Obscura →
  • Feature Filmmaking at Used-Car Prices cover designed as a strip of film, with the title in a black frame.
    Feature Filmmaking at Used-Car PricesRick Schmidt. Revised edition. How to write, produce, direct, film, edit, and promote a feature-length film for less than $10,000. More film in the Camera Obscura →
  • Black hardcover with silver lettering: The Best of 2600, A Hacker Odyssey, Collector’s Edition, by Emmanuel Goldstein.
    The Best of 2600: A Hacker OdysseyCollector’s Edition. Emmanuel Goldstein.
  • Worn blue hardcover with Red Ryder and the Secret of Wolf Canyon stamped in orange-red.
    Red Ryder and the Secret of Wolf CanyonBlue cloth hardcover, title stamped in red.
  • The Bluegrass Conspiracy cover: blurred blue figures under the title, with a Revised Edition starburst.
    The Bluegrass ConspiracySally Denton. Revised Edition. An Inside Story of Power, Greed, Drugs and Murder. A Kentucky book.
  • Cover of The Last Free Man in America: Gatewood Galbraith grinning in black, a gun raised, standing by a fence under a cloudy sky.
    The Last Free Man in America Meets the Synthetic SubversionThe Autobiography of Gatewood Galbraith. Another Kentucky book.
  • Orange PennyPress Crypto-Families puzzle book, volume 71, with a cipher list and an ice cream cone sketch.
    Crypto-FamiliesPennyPress Selected Puzzles, Volume 71. Decode over 300 themed lists using simple letter substitutions!
  • Antique green cloth cover of The Bungalow Boys Marooned in the Tropics: a diver in a brass helmet reaching for a treasure chest.
    The Bungalow Boys Marooned in the TropicsDexter J. Forrester. Antique cloth hardcover.

Bunker reading · prepared for a zombie apocalypse

Yellow and black metal Fallout Shelter sign with the three-triangle fallout shelter symbol in a black circle.
Hung in the Manor’s basementA real Fallout Shelter sign. Fine print: DOD FS No. 2 (Not to be reproduced or used without Department of Defense permission).
  • Red cover of Nuclear War Survival Skills with a yellow and black radiation symbol.
    Nuclear War Survival SkillsCresson H. Kearny. Introduction by Don D. Mann, foreword by Dr. Edward Teller. Lifesaving Nuclear Facts and Self-Help Instructions.

The Black Chamber

Secrets, codebreakers and cover-ups, behind the door that sticks. Five books on the shelf and four NSA files in the cabinet. The books link to their Open Library records; the files link to official government copies.

The shelf · five books

  • Cover of The Art of Deception by Kevin D. Mitnick and William L. Simon: tall grey title lettering, mirrored upside down below a blue author band.
    The Art of DeceptionWiley · 2002Kevin D. Mitnick & William L. Simon, foreword by Steve Wozniak. Controlling the Human Element of Security: how social engineers talk people out of information, and how to stop them. Open Library →see also the Secret Passage →
  • Cover of Body of Secrets by James Bamford: pale stencil-style title on a dark grey jacket with a small emblem.
    Body of SecretsDoubleday · 2001James Bamford. Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency: a history of the NSA from the Cold War to the turn of the century. Open Library →
  • Routledge Classics cover of The Road to Serfdom: the name Hayek in large white type over a blue sky with clouds.
    The Road to SerfdomRoutledge · 1944F. A. Hayek. A classic book of economic and political thought on central planning and individual freedom. Open Library →
  • Cover of Kingpin by Kevin Poulsen: a grey computer keyboard whose keys float away, above the title in yellow.
    KingpinCrown · 2011Kevin Poulsen. How One Hacker Took Over the Billion-Dollar Cybercrime Underground: the true story of hacker Max Butler, known online as Iceman. Open Library →see also the Secret Passage →
  • Cover of The Fluoride Deception by Christopher Bryson: lowercase title on a hazy amber jacket above a black-and-white photo of a smiling child.
    The Fluoride DeceptionSeven Stories Press · 2004Christopher Bryson, foreword by Theo Colborn. A journalist’s history of fluoride in industry and in public water. Open Library →

The cabinet · four NSA files

  • NSA Security Guidelines HandbookNSA/CSS · undatedThe new-employee security handbook, known in circulating copies as the NSA Employee Manual. Introduced by Philip T. Pease, Director of Security: anonymity, foreign travel, the press and prepublication review.No official government copy found online.
  • First page of the declassified Boak Lectures: handling instructions under the title A History of U.S. Communications Security, National Security Agency, Revised July 1973.
    A History of U.S. Communications SecurityNSA · Vol. I, revised July 1973The David G. Boak Lectures, first given in 1966 to NSA interns: codes, cipher machines, TEMPEST, and the strengths and weaknesses of U.S. COMSEC. Declassified copy at NSA.gov (PDF) →
  • Cover of American Cryptology during the Cold War, 1945 to 1989, Book I, with drawings of a plane, a jeep, a ship, a radar dish and NSA buildings, stamped Top Secret.
    American Cryptology during the Cold War, 1945–1989NSA Center for Cryptologic History · 1995Book I: The Struggle for Centralization, 1945–1960, by Thomas R. Johnson. NSA’s own history, from the end of World War II to 1960: AFSA, Korea and the founding of NSA. Declassified copy at NSA.gov (PDF) →
  • Cover of PURPLE DRAGON: The Origin and Development of the United States OPSEC Program, with a coiled dragon drawing and the NSA seal, stamped Top Secret.
    PURPLE DRAGONNSA Center for Cryptologic History · 1993The Origin and Development of the United States OPSEC Program: how a Vietnam War review of U.S. operations, begun in 1966–67, became operations security (OPSEC). Declassified copy at NSA.gov (PDF) →
see also the Locksmith’s Briefcase →

Manor lore · unverified The cabinet drawer is said to lock itself whenever someone says Purple Dragon out loud.

The Special Display & the Lectern

One book under glass, and one open on the lectern.

Dark maroon cover of Handbook for the Recently Deceased, with a couple seen from behind beneath a pink and blue sky.

Handbook for the Recently DeceasedThe Beetlejuice prop book, kept under glass.Do not read aloud three times

On the lectern tonight Paperback cover of The Creature from Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin: tall white title on a teal panel, with the Great Seal eagle on a gold cover below.

Now Reading

The Creature from Jekyll IslandA Second Look at the Federal ReserveG. Edward Griffin

A 1994 book about the creation of the Federal Reserve, traced back to a 1910 meeting on Jekyll Island, Georgia.

The Bar Cart Shelf

The drinking library rolls between rooms: an antique bar guide, forgotten cocktails, modern classics and a bartender’s guide with a bunny on it.

  • Antique dark green cloth cover with gilt lettering: New Guide for the Hotel, Bar, Restaurant, Butler and Chef.
    New Guide for the Hotel, Bar, Restaurant, Butler & ChefBy Bacchus & Cordon Bleu. Hand-book for the management of hotels & American bars; newest fashionable drinks.
  • Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails Deluxe Edition cover with an old bar photo framed in red scrollwork and an award seal.
    Vintage Spirits and Forgotten CocktailsTed Haigh, aka Dr. Cocktail. Deluxe Edition, revised and expanded. From the Alamagoozlum to the Zombie and beyond.
  • Black Death and Co cover with a gold coupe glass, crossed bar spoons and script title.
    Death & CoModern Classic Cocktails.
  • Black Playboy Bartender’s Guide hardcover with the white rabbit-head logo.
    Playboy Bartender’s GuideThomas Mario, illustrations by LeRoy Neiman.

The bottles these books call for are downstairs: visit the Bottle Cellar →

Whispers from the Stacks

Overheard in the Reading Room

Manor lore · unverified
  • The comic spinner turns by itself at midnight, always stopping on the flying saucer.
  • Nobody has ever finished the Crypto-Families book. The letters rearrange whenever you look away.
  • The Handbook for the Recently Deceased is kept under glass for a reason. Nobody says what the reason is.
  • The 2600 issues are never quite where you left them. Somebody in this house knows how to get out of anything.
  • Turn the lamp off and the bunny on the bartender’s guide glows faintly. Probably.

None of the above is true, probably. The real stories behind these books haven’t been filed yet.