Manga Review: Smashed by Junji Ito Who’s ready for another big collection of horrific tales from one of Japan’s best scary manga creators? I know I am! The volume opens with “Bloodsucking Darkness” about a girl with an eating disorder and the well-meaning boy who tries to help her with his swarm of vampire bats.… Continue reading Manga Review: Smashed
Tag: fear
Book Review: The Halloween Tree
Book Review: The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury Eight boys are out in costume tonight, looking for Halloween fun. Skeleton, witch, ape-man and so many more. Eight boys, but it should be nine. Where is Pipkin, merriest of the lot? He is taken, vanished into the darkness. What can be done? They must search for… Continue reading Book Review: The Halloween Tree
Book Review: Secondhand Origin Stories
Book Review: Secondhand Origin Stories by Lee Blauersouth Opal’s father should have been a superhero, but he used his powers to protect a neighbor illegally and wound up in jail. Ever since, Opal has kept her nose clean, excelling in school and decorum, in the hope of being licensed and redeeming the family name. Now… Continue reading Book Review: Secondhand Origin Stories
Book Review: The Fourth Galaxy Reader
Book Review: The Fourth Galaxy Reader edited by H.L. Gold Galaxy Magazine had a decent run with a lot of good stories, so it’s not surprising that even this fourth collection of fifteen science fiction reprints from the 1950s has a strong selection. (I recognized almost all of these!) There’s an introduction which runs down inferior… Continue reading Book Review: The Fourth Galaxy Reader
Book Review: Great Thrillers: 101 Suspenseful Tales
Book Review: Great Thrillers: 101 Suspenseful Tales compiled by Stefan Dziemianowicz The definition of “thriller” is a little loose in this fun anthology, though most of the stories do have at least some suspense. It feels more like the compiler picked a bunch of the public domain stories he liked, but didn’t have a strong… Continue reading Book Review: Great Thrillers: 101 Suspenseful Tales
Book Review: Time and Mr. Bass
Book Review: Time and Mr. Bass by Eleanor Cameron Long ago and long ago and even before that, came the Mycetians to Earth from Basidium, the Mushroom Planet. Much of their history has been lost to Deep Time, but it is known that they were stranded on this planet, and eventually wound up settling in… Continue reading Book Review: Time and Mr. Bass
Comic Book Review: Snake Tales
Comic Book Review: Snake Tales edited by Mike Howlett Ophiophobia (fear of snakes) is a common phenomenon (Hi Mom!) and has plagued humanity from ancient times, even appearing in the Book of Genesis. Even humans not afflicted with undue fear of the legless reptiles tend to distrust them, and snakes are often cast as villains… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Snake Tales
Comic Book Review: Batman Archives Volume 1
Comic Book Review: Batman Archives Volume 1 written by Bill Finger & Gardner Fox, art by Bob Kane & Sheldon Moldoff Batman was the second full-fledged superhero published by National Periodicals, soon to be better known as DC. The kernel of the idea was proposed by artist Bob Kane, and fleshed out by writer Bill… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Batman Archives Volume 1
Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents the Flash, Volume 4
Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents the Flash, Volume 4 edited by Julius Schwartz The Flash is Barry Allen, a police detective who was working during a thunderstorm one night when a bolt of lightning struck a shelf of chemicals, spilling the mixture on him. Barry quickly realized that he’d been gifted with super-speed, making… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents the Flash, Volume 4
Book Review: Tuesdays With Morrie
Book Review: Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom In 1995, there was fighting in Bosnia, O.J. Simpson was on trial for murder, and a man named Morrie Schwartz was teaching his last class about life. It met on Tuesdays, and the student was sportswriter Mitch Albom. Twenty years before, Mitch had been Morrie’s student in… Continue reading Book Review: Tuesdays With Morrie