Book Review: The Invaders: Alien Missile Threat

Book Review: The Invaders: Alien Missile Threat by Paul S. Newman The Invaders was a Quinn Martin production that ran on American television from 1967-1968. Architect David Vincent (Roy Thinnes) discovers that aliens from a dying planet are infiltrating Earth (particularly America) in human disguises for the purpose of making our planet their planet. Since… Continue reading Book Review: The Invaders: Alien Missile Threat

Book Review: The Big Book of Victorian Mysteries

Book Review: The Big Book of Victorian Mysteries edited by Otto Penzler While stories that could be considered “mysteries” in some sense have existed as long as writing, and perhaps a bit before, the short story mystery came into its own during the lifetime of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). This volume collects forty-nine notable stories from… Continue reading Book Review: The Big Book of Victorian Mysteries

Magazine Review: Oriental Stories Winter 1932

Magazine Review: Oriental Stories Winter 1932 edited by Farnsworth Wright Oriental Stories was a mostly-quarterly pulp magazine published from 1930-1933, with a name change to The Treasure Chest Magazine for an additional year. Its remit, as you might have guessed from the title, was tales of the exotic, mysterious East, from Islamic North Africa through… Continue reading Magazine Review: Oriental Stories Winter 1932

Manga Review: The Crater

Manga Review: The Crater by Osamu Tezuka In the late 1960s, Osamu Tezuka’s career was facing a crisis. He was still popular, with publishers quite willing to buy more of the kid-friendly material he’d become famous for. But he wasn’t a trend-setter anymore. The new generation of manga creators was into gekiga, more serious and… Continue reading Manga Review: The Crater

Book Review: The Crystal Stopper

Book Review: The Crystal Stopper by Maurice Leblanc Arsène Lupin should probably have been more cautious when two members of his gang, Vaucheray and Gilbert, asked him to assist with the burglary of the Enghien country home of government deputy Daubrecq. But Vaucheray is experienced, and Lupin is impressed with Gilbert’s good character (for a… Continue reading Book Review: The Crystal Stopper

Book Review: Dick Tracy: The Secret Files

Book Review: Dick Tracy: The Secret Files edited by Max Allan Collins and Martin H. Greenberg In 1990, the venerable Dick Tracy comic strip got a movie adaptation, Dick Tracy, starring Warren Beatty and Madonna. To cash in on the publicity, the then-writer of the strip, Max Allan Collins, was asked to do both a… Continue reading Book Review: Dick Tracy: The Secret Files

Movie Review: The Whisperer In Darkness

B-67 explains the benefits of joining the Mi-Go.

Movie Review: The Whisperer in Darkness (2011) directed by Sean Branney There’s severe flooding in Vermont in 1927, and reports of dead things in the water that don’t look like anything recognized by standard biologists. Albert Wilmarth (Matt Foyer), a professor of folklore at Miskatonic University, scoffs. After all, the locals are primed to believe in… Continue reading Movie Review: The Whisperer In Darkness

Anime Review: Spy X Family

Anya knows her goal, even if she has difficulties with the specifics.

Anime Review: Spy X Family In an alternate Earth’s 1960s, an uneasy peace exists between the nations of Westalis and Ostania. There are those who have forgotten the horrors of war or even welcome them, and are working to break out of this “cold war” situation. The Westalian spy organization WISE works against those in… Continue reading Anime Review: Spy X Family

Comic Book Review: Fleetway Picture Library Classics Presents: Rick Random

Comic Book Review: Fleetway Picture Library Classics Presents: Rick Random art by Ron Turner In the far future of the 2040s, Earth belongs to the Interplanetary Board, a coalition of worlds both in the Sol System and beyond. As it just so happens, it’s headquartered in what used to be the country of Great Britain.… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Fleetway Picture Library Classics Presents: Rick Random

Manga Review: Lady Snowblood Vol. 1: The Deep-Seated Grudge Pt. 1

Manga Review: Lady Snowblood Vol. 1: The Deep-Seated Grudge Pt. 1 story by Kazuo Koike, art by Kazuo Kamimura It is the Meiji Era, and Japan is rapidly modernizing. Some have even suggested abolishing the Japanese language in favor of one easier to communicate in! But some traditions are more deeply rooted than others, like… Continue reading Manga Review: Lady Snowblood Vol. 1: The Deep-Seated Grudge Pt. 1