Book Review: Fright edited by Charles M. Collins The cover makes this book look like a generic product, but that’s a little deceiving. It’s actually an anthology skewed towards the Gothic end of horror rather than the gory, emphasizing vocabulary-rich authors. Most of the stories were rarely reprinted before this collection in 1963. We open… Continue reading Book Review: Fright
Tag: curses
Book Review: The Casebook of Carnacki the Ghost Finder
Book Review: The Casebook of Carnacki the Ghost Finder by William Hope Hodgson Four men come to the house on Cheyne Walk in Chelsea when the man who owns the house, Thomas Carnacki, summons them for dinner. They ask no questions, as they know Carnacki will wait until his own good time to tell them… Continue reading Book Review: The Casebook of Carnacki the Ghost Finder
Book Review: The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories
Book Review: The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories edited by Otto Penzler I have a fondness for Sherlock Holmes, as I am sure the majority of my readers do. Unsurprisingly, there has been a ton of Holmes fanfiction over the years. Pastiches that try to capture the feel of Arthur Conan Doyle’s prose, parodies… Continue reading Book Review: The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories
Book Review: Dark Waters
Book Review: Dark Waters by Michael Merriam Disclaimer: My copy is an uncorrected proof; there may be changes in the final product (I am hoping for many less spellchecker typos.) Many years ago, Richard Martz ran afoul of the law forbidding children who have both mage and fey blood from being born. His lover and… Continue reading Book Review: Dark Waters
Book Review: Demons of the Night and Other Early Tales
Book Review: Demons of the Night and Other Early Tales by Seabury Quinn Seabury Grandin Quinn (1889-1969) was a prolific pulp author, producing more than five hundred short stories. He’s best remembered for his Jules de Grandin stories appearing in Weird Tales, featuring a French-accented occult detective. This particular collection, however, is focused around his other early… Continue reading Book Review: Demons of the Night and Other Early Tales
Magazine Review: Argosy October 8, 1938
Magazine Review: Argosy October 8, 1938 Argosy began its life as The Golden Argosy, a children’s weekly, in 1882. By 1889 publisher Fred Munsey had discovered that the readers aged out too fast to keep the magazine viable, so he switched to fiction aimed at adult readers and shortened the title. It’s considered one of the… Continue reading Magazine Review: Argosy October 8, 1938
Manga Review: Ranma 1/2
Manga Review: Ranma 1/2 by Rumiko Takahashi Soun Tendou, a widowed martial arts instructor in the Nerima suburb of Tokyo, has three daughters: gentle Kasumi, cunning Nabiki and fiery Akane. They are surprised to learn one day that their father made an agreement with his old friend Genma Saotome to marry one of them to… Continue reading Manga Review: Ranma 1/2
Book Review: The Blue Fairy Book
Book Review: The Blue Fairy Book edited by Andrew Lang Once upon a time, (1889 to be specific), British children did not have access to collections of fairy tales. Educators of the time thought fairy tales were too unrealistic and harmful to children, and beneath adults. Mr. Lang felt differently; he had delighted in such… Continue reading Book Review: The Blue Fairy Book
Book Review: Temporary Walls
Book Review: Temporary Walls edited by Greg Ketter and Robert T. Garcia This short book of fantasy stories was inspired by John Gardner’s On Moral Fiction, in which the author argued that writing fiction is an inherently moral endeavor and that writers, especially those in the fantasy genre, should instruct their readers about “the morality that tends… Continue reading Book Review: Temporary Walls
Book Review: 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories
Book Review: 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories edited by Stefan Dziemianowicz, Robert Weinberg & Martin H. Greenberg This was my Halloween season read this year, an anthology commissioned for the Barnes & Noble stores in 1995. There are indeed one hundred stories in this hefty tome, averaging about six pages. They are not all about… Continue reading Book Review: 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories