Powerful people are sent to basements. So to give hope to those us who live/work in them, we are featuring some inspiring basement-dwellers.
Harry Dresden is the only wizard in the Chicago yellow pages. He lives in the basement of an old boarding house with his cat Mister and his dog/mammoth Mouse. And his skull named Bob. Well, the skull isn’t Bob--Bob is the spirit of intellect who lives in the skull and helps Harry with cases when....
You know what? Let’s just back up a step. If you haven’t encountered the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher yet, consider this your late Christmas present. These stories are like intense crossovers between paranormal mysteries and hardboiled detective novels. They’re smart, gritty, funny, and the magical aspects are perhaps the best wordbuilding we’ve seen this side of Middle Earth. And the audiobook versions narrated by James Marsters (yes, THAT James Marsters, Spike from Buffy) are out-of-this-world phenomenal.
Oh, and because Harry is a wizard, he tends to short-circuit electronics, hence living in a basement with no electricity. And he has a sub-basement beneath THAT where he has his magical lab with summoning circle, depleted uranium, romance novels… you know. Magic equipment. You can start with the first book in the series, of course, but #7 Dead Beat with an animated skeletal T-Rex is a really fun way to get immersed.
How to Commemorate:
- Eat at Burger King.
- Accidentally set something on FUEGO!
- Read a paperback novel.
- Draw chalk circles everywhere you go.
- Play Dungeons & Dragons with werewolves. Or as close to werewolves as you can find. Try your local game store. (And, yes, I do play D&D. So what?)
- Extra-super-bonus points if you send us a picture of you playing the Harry Dresden RPG.
Works Cited
The Dresden Files, by Jim Butcher.
