Alli puts aside her distaste for Halloween to dive into Lloyd Alexander’s The Black Cauldron, which is the second book in the beloved high fantasy series, The Chronicles of Prydain. Published in 1965, the book went on to win a Newbery Honor and to inspire a 1985 Disney film. The Black Cauldron tells the story of an unlikely group of crusaders seeking to squelch an undead military force called the Cauldron-Born, but there’s so much more to the book than that. In our 2018 reading, we find it to be a fascinating portrayal of gender politics — the role of heroines, mansplaining, and different versions of masculinity (including the toxic kind). Thanks to author Erin Nelsen Parekh for joining us for this spooky episode! Check out her website Drivel and Drool and follow her on Twitter (@ENParekh).