If you’re looking for a fun, not-so frightening movie to watch this Halloween after the trick-or-treaters have packed it in, I suggest Phantom of the Paradise, released 50 years ago this fall. A 1970’s take on the classic …Opera tale, the movie is about a failed songwriter who swears vengeance Continue reading a halloween treat: “phantom” at 50
…is what I’m going to share with you from Philip K. Dick’s disturbing short story, “The Father-Thing,” first published in 1954, and adapted into an episode of a TV show in 2017. If the name Philip K. Dick sounds familiar, it’s because he was a prolific sci-fi writer whose works Continue reading the most messed-up thing you’ll read today…
There’s a new This Wasted Land, and it’s out today. Not a sequel, but a new edition, with a new cover, new (and revised) material, and–of course–new monsters. Why the upgrade? Because though TWL came out two years ago, and has had good sales and great reviews, I was only Continue reading getting “wasted” again
It’s Halloween, so let’s talk monsters, a staple of horror films and fiction. As a kid, I spent many a Saturday morning in front of the TV, slurping down cereal and watching such cerebral fare as Rodan, The Creature From the Black Lagoon, and Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster (the Continue reading know your monsters! 15 terrors, and what they mean
The latest in a series about influences from my childhood When I tell you that author H.P. Lovecraft was a big influence on me, I imagine that hardcore horror-, sci-fi-, and fantasy fans reading this can only reply, “DUH!” Lovecraft casts a HUGE shadow over those genres, especially the first, Continue reading when the world was young: h.p. lovecraft
The latest in a series about influences from my earlier days. Everyone knows Ray Bradbury as a science-fiction writer, but one of my favorite works from him (aside from his masterpiece, Something Wicked This Way Comes) is his young adult novel The Halloween Tree, which I read many years ago Continue reading when the world was young: the halloween tree
The latest in a series about influences from my earlier days Fantasy/sci-fi/horror writer Richard Matheson passed away earlier this year, and I had been meaning to write about that when I saw that actress Karen Black had recently died as well. And if you’re wondering what those two have in common, bear Continue reading when the world was young: the “trilogy of terror” doll
