TRAINING COURSES & LEVEL 1 CERTIFICATION OCT. 17th CALL ABOUT 980-9311 ALL OUR WINTER SKI PROGRAMS REGISTER NOW! | WEST VANCOUVER SEAWALL & AINE A i " music of Alison Hunter each Wednesday Evening OPEN 7 DAYS & NIGHTS A WEEK 2427 Marine Drive, West Van. 926-8838 eae i \ Trio of books delve into things that go bump in the night HAVE YOU noticed anything, well, unusual around the home lately? Sudden temperature drops, doors opening and closing on their own, bloodcurdling shrieks and perhaps the odd bit of foul-smeiling slime oozing up the wall? Are family members just a tifle stranger of late? Is little Alissa decapitating more dolls than is her habit? Has young Zachary developed a marked craving for raw liver — for breakfast? Has the puppy taken to slinking out of the room, growling through bared teeth, whenever your spouse walks in? Dees your spouse slink out of the room, growling through bared teeth, when you walk in? Do your neighbors cross t!:2mselves (and the street) whenever they see you? Does anything appea- different recently, such as inexplicable absences of common household items — garlic, crucifixes, mirrors and sharpened stakes? Or mysterious additions; you know — bats, black cats and perhaps the add coffin or two in the basement? Or maybe there's just a touch more eye of newt in the casserole than there used to be? if the response to any of the above questions is a pathetic, sobbing “Yes! Yes!’ thei: Books Now probably has the answer to your prayers in the following three-step, home-study course. Step one: Weird research. You need to know everything there is on the subject of the supernatural and the next two books will pro- vide enough materia! to inspire a legion of Stephen Kings. A Dictionary of Superstitions (Oxford; 494 pp.; $39.95 in hard- STEELE book review cover) is tar more than a definitive compendium of folk beliefs, curses, spells and other compo- nents of the realm of superstition. Authors lona Opie and Moira Tatem have gone so far as to document the origins and devel- opment of each entry. Here are a few examples. Most of us have heard that step- ping on a grave is bad luck, but Opie and Tatem have traced this superstition back over 2,000 years (with numerous intermittent refer- ences) in print form to 319 B.C. The belief that the moon causes personality changes has been commonly held since at least the 13th century. Black cats have, through the ages, been viewed as both lucky and unlucky depending on time and culture. The Dictionary of Superstitions is amusing, authoritatively infor- mative and will provide even the most ardently superstitious with a wealth of new causes for concern. The Supernatural, on the other hand, is a self-proclaimed “...guide to exorcism and black masses, werewolves and vampires, ghosts and poltergeists, voodoo worshippers and spiritualists, alchemists and witches.” This slim paperback (Signet/ Penguin; 240 pp.; $4.95) provides a good basic background on all of the above but may have been overly ambitious in attempting to tackle so many fascinating topics in this abbreviated form. While the price is certainly right (and the research laudable) The Super- natural is little more than a tan- talizing introduction to the demonic and the damned. Weli, so much for step one — Weird Research; now on te step two — Practical Applications of Occult Theory in Contemporary Modes. Even as you read this column, Canadian witches are brewing up their own brands of white and black magic from coast to coast. That's right — from Bonavista to Vancouver Island, this land is See Victoria Page 23 a 1S. 10th ANNIVERSARY ENTREES ~ SALMON FORSTER ........ a cece eee 11,95 A 7oz. portion of B.C.’s best, poached to perfection and j PRIME RIB OSCAR .... A 602. cut of our very best topped with crabmeat, asparagus YA covered with tomato herb sauce crowned with hollandaise. and sauce bernaise. SEAFOOD NEWBURG VO AU VENT...... seeeeecc ee 14,50 cece eee 10,95 An assortment of seafood prepared the traditional way and served inside a puff pastry shell. CHICKEN OCEANA....... sew ees cae ce ence IDS A tender breast of chicken stuffed with baby shrimp and herb butter. Served with a light dill sauce. VEAL PARMIGIANA Breaded and pan fried until golden swiss cheese, baked, and placed upon a rich cream sauce. Smothered NIGHTLY DOOR PRIZES SOUVENIR GLASS $1.25 WITH BAR BEVERAGE (Children’s Menu Available) COUNTRY RESTAURANT AT EMERALD PARK nero 5 FLT rc OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK LUNCH — DINNER Bion. to Sai. & Holidays 11:00 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday 10:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. 350 EAST 2ND ST. NORTH VANCOUVER. 988-8353