Book Review: The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories Vol. 1 Edited by James D. Jenkins & Ryan Cagle As has been mentioned in reviews on this blog before, there is a lot of literature from around the world published every year that English-only folks never get to read because it’s in other languages and… Continue reading Book Review: The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories Vol. 1
Tag: Ireland
Book Review: The Fungus
Book Review: The Fungus by Harry Adam Knight Dr. Jane Wilson, brilliant mycologist, wants to feed the world with mushrooms. (Maybe she got the idea from Time and Mr. Bass?) To that end, she’s created a virus-like enzyme that causes the edible mushrooms she’s been working with to grow to enormous size at an accelerated… Continue reading Book Review: The Fungus
Magazine Review: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction April 1978
Magazine Review: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction April 1978 edited by Edward L. Ferman This issue of the long-running speculative fiction magazine is “All-British”, which the editorial material notes was one of the easiest theme issues to do, since they already had a number of stories by British authors on hand. They dug… Continue reading Magazine Review: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction April 1978
Book Review: Great Supernatural Stories: 101 Horrifying Tales
Book Review: Great Supernatural Stories: 101 Horrifying Tales compiled by Stefan Dziemianowicz This hefty volume collects a variety of public domain stories concerning the supernatural. While the majority fall roughly into the category of horror, some are more what we’d call “dark fantasy” and a handful are just “well, that’s a weird thing that happened.”… Continue reading Book Review: Great Supernatural Stories: 101 Horrifying Tales
Book Review: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Book Review: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice edited by Jack Zipes Most likely, when you saw this title, you immediately thought of the Fantasia sequence with Mickey Mouse, or perhaps the more recent Disney film with Nicolas Cage. But the multiplying of brooms is only one aspect of the tales gathered under the general title of “The… Continue reading Book Review: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Magazine Review: Water~Stone Review Volume 9: What Prevails
Magazine Review: Water~Stone Review Volume 9: What Prevails edited by Mary Francois Rockcastle It is time again to look at Hamline University’s annual literary magazine. This issue is from 2006. It’s dedicated to Frederick Busch, author of Girls, who had visited the university shortly before his death the previous year. The subtitle, borrowed from one… Continue reading Magazine Review: Water~Stone Review Volume 9: What Prevails
Book Review: Cat Pictures Please and Other Stories
Book Review: Cat Pictures Please and Other Stories by Naomi Kritzer This is the first collection of speculative fiction stories by Naomi Kritzer, headlined by the title piece, which won a Hugo Award in 2016. There’s seventeen stories in all. “Cat Pictures Please” is a sweet story about an artificial intelligence accidentally created from a… Continue reading Book Review: Cat Pictures Please and Other Stories
Comic Book Review: The Complete Voodoo Volume 1
Comic Book Review: The Complete Voodoo Volume 1 Edited by Craig Yoe EC was not the only publisher putting out lurid horror comics during the brief period between the post-World War Two decline of superhero books and the installation of the Comics Code. Others quickly followed in their footsteps. Robert Farrell was one of those… Continue reading Comic Book Review: The Complete Voodoo Volume 1
Book Review: Old Celtic Romances
Book Review: Old Celtic Romances by P.W. Joyce The Gaelic-speaking people of ancient Ireland told tales of their mighty ancestors and great men, not unlike the people of every nation and tribe. When writing came, they began to put these tales into manuscripts. Out of the large body of remaining literature, in 1879 P.W. Joyce… Continue reading Book Review: Old Celtic Romances
Book Review: Penny Dreadfuls: Sensational Tales of Terror
Book Review: Penny Dreadfuls: Sensational Tales of Terror edited by Stefan Dziemianowicz While the term “penny dreadfuls” proper belongs to a particular type of inexpensive newsprint periodical, as explained in the introduction to this volume, the twenty stories chosen here can all be described as lowbrow sensationalist literature written for those seeking thrills in their… Continue reading Book Review: Penny Dreadfuls: Sensational Tales of Terror