Book Review: Galaxy of Ghouls

Book Review: Galaxy of Ghouls edited by Judith Merril October is scary stuff season, so let’s look at a book of creepy tales.  This collection of 16 “science-fantasy” stories is themed around various monsters, from the classic to the out-there. We open with “Wolves Don’t Cry” by Bruce Elliott, turning the traditional werewolf story upside… Continue reading Book Review: Galaxy of Ghouls

Book Review: Fresh Fear

Book Review: Fresh Fear edited by William Cook Horror anthologies are like a box of chocolates.  One story might be crunchy frog, another spring surprise, while a more disappointing one is just maple cream.  (Seriously, maple cream?)  This is because horror tends to be a balancing act between what the writer finds scary and what… Continue reading Book Review: Fresh Fear

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

Magazine Review: Infernal Ink Magazine January 2014

Magazine Review: Infernal Ink Magazine January 2014 edited by Hydra M. Star Disclaimer:  This magazine came to me through a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. Infernal Ink is a horror fiction and poetry magazine aimed at ages 18+.  As such, it contains sex, violence, sexualized violence (Trigger Warning for rape)… Continue reading Magazine Review: Infernal Ink Magazine January 2014

Movie Review: The Sorcerer and the White Snake (2012)

Movie Review: The Sorcerer and the White Snake (2012) Fahai (Jet Li) is a Buddhist monk and abbot of a monastery who goes about the countryside with his bumbling apprentice  Neng Ren (Wen Zhang) defeating demons who harm humans and imprisoning them until they reform.  (Effectively forever for most of them.) Meanwhile, white snake demon… Continue reading Movie Review: The Sorcerer and the White Snake (2012)

Book Review: Trafficking in Magic, Magicking in Traffic

Book Review: Trafficking in Magic, Magicking in Traffic edited by David Sklar & Sarah Avery Disclaimer:  I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. This fantasy anthology has a dual theme, as indicated by its title; magic as transaction, and magic while traveling.  The former theme brings… Continue reading Book Review: Trafficking in Magic, Magicking in Traffic

Book Review: The Elfstones of Shannara

Book Review: The Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brooks Disclaimer:  I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. Long ago, before even the rise of the old humans, the good and evil faerie creatures had a great war.  At the end of it, the evil beings who… Continue reading Book Review: The Elfstones of Shannara

Book Review: To Ride Hell’s Chasm

Book Review: To Ride Hell’s Chasm by Janny Wurts The small, isolated Kingdom of Sessalie is about to celebrate a wedding.   Princess Anja is about to marry the High Prince of Devall, which is not only politically advantageous, but a love match.  But on the eve of the wedding, Anja goes missing. It falls… Continue reading Book Review: To Ride Hell’s Chasm

Manga Review: Soul Eater

Manga Review: Soul Eater by Atsushi Ohkubo On a very alternate Earth, humanity has several different subspecies that do not exist on ours.  The most notable of these are Witches, who have the inherent ability to use magic, and Weapons, humans who can shapeshift into…weapons…that can then be wielded by more standard humans known as… Continue reading Manga Review: Soul Eater

Book Review: Splatterlands

Book Review: Splatterlands edited by Anthony Rivera and Sharon Lawson Disclaimer:  I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway on the premise that I would review it. According to Wikipedia, “splatterpunk” was a movement in horror writing between roughly 1985 and 1995,  distinguished by its graphic and often gory descriptions of violence and attempts to… Continue reading Book Review: Splatterlands