Book Review: Lobster Johnson: The Satan Factory by Thomas E. Sniegoski Disgraced doctor Jonas Chapel, on the run from the mob in Mexico, stumbles across a mysterious skeleton dripping a fluid that turns humans into monsters. Soon thereafter Chapel’s back in New York, teaming up with the very gang boss who’d ordered the hit on… Continue reading Book Review: Lobster Johnson: The Satan Factory
Tag: New York City
Magazine Review: Gamma 3
Magazine Review: Gamma 3 edited by Charles E. Fritch Gamma was a short-lived science fiction magazine (five issues in 1963-64), known for high-quality cover art and snagging stories from authors connected with the film industry. (Indeed, I picked up this issue because of the sweet Morris Scott Dollens art.) It was digest-sized and relatively thin. … Continue reading Magazine Review: Gamma 3
Comic Book Review: Essential Rampaging Hulk, Vol. 2
Comic Book Review: Essential Rampaging Hulk, Vol. 2 edited by John Denning Quick recap: In the 1970s, Marvel Comics started doing larger magazines for newsstand distribution, most of them in black and white. One of these was The Rampaging Hulk, which originally featured adventures taking place between the Hulk’s appearances in the first year of his… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Essential Rampaging Hulk, Vol. 2
Book Review: A Miscarriage of Justice
Book Review: A Miscarriage of Justice by Nicholas Carter The quiet village of Tarrytown, New York (not far from Sleepy Hollow) is rocked by scandal when Bert and Adele Denore cut their honeymoon in Cuba short. It seems someone sent poison pen letters to the hotels and casinos they had planned to visit, alleging unspeakable… Continue reading Book Review: A Miscarriage of Justice
Book Review: Fright
Book Review: Fright edited by Charles M. Collins The cover makes this book look like a generic product, but that’s a little deceiving. It’s actually an anthology skewed towards the Gothic end of horror rather than the gory, emphasizing vocabulary-rich authors. Most of the stories were rarely reprinted before this collection in 1963. We open… Continue reading Book Review: Fright
Book Review: Nick Carter Volume 2
Book Review: Nick Carter Volume 2 edited by Anthony Tollin As noted in my review of the first volume, Nick Carter, Master Detective, was a long-running character who had three distinct phases. These reprint volumes primarily cover his pulp magazine career. The stories were written under the house name “Nick Carter,” even though they weren’t… Continue reading Book Review: Nick Carter Volume 2
Book Review: Father of Lies | Mirror Image
Book Review: Father of Lies | Mirror Image by John Brunner and Bruce Duncan, respectively. Belmont Books was a minor publisher of paperback books with a specialty in speculative fiction, which lasted from 1960 to 1971. Apparently in an effort to mimic the success of Ace Doubles, they produced a series of “Belmont Doubles” that… Continue reading Book Review: Father of Lies | Mirror Image
Comic Book Review: Vertigo CYMK
Comic Book Review: Vertigo CYMK edited by Scott Nybakken Disclaimer: I received this volume from a Goodreads giveaway for the purpose of writing this review. No other compensation was offered or requested. I don’t talk a lot about colorists. In most comics, they’re not noticed unless they really screw up, or there’s a particularly striking image.… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Vertigo CYMK
Book Review: The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories
Book Review: The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories edited by Otto Penzler I have a fondness for Sherlock Holmes, as I am sure the majority of my readers do. Unsurprisingly, there has been a ton of Holmes fanfiction over the years. Pastiches that try to capture the feel of Arthur Conan Doyle’s prose, parodies… Continue reading Book Review: The Big Book of Sherlock Holmes Stories
Magazine Review: The Avenger #8: House of Death | The Hate Master
Book Review: The Avenger #8: House of Death | The Hate Master by Kenneth Robeson Quick recap: The Avenger, Richard Henry Benson, is a wealthy adventurer who took early retirement to spend time with his wife and daughter. They were murdered by criminals, and he has sworn vengeance on crimedom, gathering a team of highly skilled… Continue reading Magazine Review: The Avenger #8: House of Death | The Hate Master