Book Review: The Hills of Homicide by Louis L’Amour Before he landed the contracts that were to make him America’s most beloved Western writer, Louis L’Amour tried his hand at various other genres of pulp fiction. But the pulp magazine market was drying up, so it was generally a good thing he found other work.… Continue reading Book Review: The Hills of Homicide
Tag: missing persons
Magazine Review: Hooded Detective January 1942
Magazine Review: Hooded Detective January 1942 The Black Hood was one of the superheroes created for the MLJ (later Archie) Comics line, first appearing in Top-Notch Comics #9 in 1940. Matthew Kipling “Kip” Burland was originally a rookie cop who was framed for grand larceny and injured to near death by a criminal known as… Continue reading Magazine Review: Hooded Detective January 1942
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
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 Book of Cthulhu II
Book Review: The Book of Cthulhu II edited by Ross E. Lockhart It’s spooky stuff month again, so I sat down with this thick volume (24 stories) of tales inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft for a couple of weeks. This is a sequel to The Book of Cthulhu that I reviewed earlier on… Continue reading Book Review: The Book of Cthulhu II
Book Review: Halo in Brass
Book Review: Halo in Brass by Howard Browne (writing as John Evans) Paul PIne, private detective, is hired on a missing persons case. It seems that Laura Fremont, originally from Lincoln, Nebraska, has gone incommunicado in the big city of Chicago. Her plain rural parents are worried sick. The first obstacle pops up in that… Continue reading Book Review: Halo in Brass
Movie Review: Firecracker (1981)
Movie Review: Firecracker (1981) directed by Cirio H. Santiago Susanne Carter (Jillian Kesner) is a martial arts instructor from California looking for her missing sister Bonny (Carolyn Smith), a photographer who was going by her professional name of “Vanessa” when she disappeared in the Philippines. According to bar-with-rooms-upstairs owner Pete (Pete Cooper), she hasn’t been… Continue reading Movie Review: Firecracker (1981)
Manga Review: Chibi Vampire Airmail
Manga Review: Chibi Vampire Airmail by Yuna Kagesaki Karin Maaka is descended from a long line of vampires. That’s supposed to be a secret as vampires want the world (and especially the Catholic Church’s vampire hunters) to believe they were all wiped out decades ago. Her parents, the Markers, moved to Japan with most of… Continue reading Manga Review: Chibi Vampire Airmail
Magazine Review: Asimov’s Science Fiction May/June 2021
Magazine Review: Asimov’s Science Fiction May/June 2021 edited by Sheila Williams Back in 1977, Isaac Asimov was one of the top three or so science fiction writers in the world, and had a very strong personal brand. So when Davis Publications wanted to create a “name brand magazine” for science fiction like Ellery Queen Mystery… Continue reading Magazine Review: Asimov’s Science Fiction May/June 2021
Movie Review: The Lost Boys (1987)
Movie Review: The Lost Boys (1987) directed by Joel Schumacher Santa Carla has the unofficial nickname of “The Murder Capital of the World.” Sure, the brightly colored boardwalk attracts people to this small Pacific Coast city, but all those “Missing” posters lend an eerie air to the place. And if you’re on edge, then any of… Continue reading Movie Review: The Lost Boys (1987)