Manga Review: Excel Saga 02

Manga Review: Excel Saga 02 by Rikdo Koshi The secret organization ACROSS must take over the world. For its own good, of course. But at the moment, they’re a bit short-staffed. Their leader, Il Palazzo, has only two active agents, the hyperactive but not very bright Excel, and Hyatt, whose constitution is either extremely poor… Continue reading Manga Review: Excel Saga 02

Movie Review: Zebraman

Sometimes Zebraman is caught shorthanded and needs a little help from Zebranurse.

Movie Review: Zebraman (2009) directed by Takashi Miike Strange things are afoot in Yokohama, possibly involving aliens. Defense Agency workers Oikawa (Atsuro Watabe) and Segawa (Koen Kondo) are assigned to go undercover and investigate. But they aren’t the protagonists of this story. Instead, the focus is on third-grade teacher Shin’ichi Ichikawa (Sho Aikawa), who is not… Continue reading Movie Review: Zebraman

Magazine Review: The Shadow #60: Prince of Evil | Messenger of Death | Room 1313

Magazine Review: The Shadow #60: Prince of Evil | Messenger of Death | Room 1313 edited by Anthony Tollin There were multiple authors who operated under the house name Maxwell Grant to write the pulp magazine Shadow stories. This volume of Shadow reprints features three of them and is an interesting study in compare and… Continue reading Magazine Review: The Shadow #60: Prince of Evil | Messenger of Death | Room 1313

Movie Review: The Man They Could Not Hang

Dr. Savaard in a rare good mood.

Movie Review: The Man They Could Not Hang (1939) directed by Nick Grinde Dr. Henryk Savaard (Boris Karloff) has a radical idea to improve the chance of successful surgery. Much of the risk of an operation comes from the fact that the patient is alive, their body still functioning. Make a mistake, and you kill the… Continue reading Movie Review: The Man They Could Not Hang

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: Nova 2

Book Review: Nova 2 edited by Harry Harrison In the introduction to this 1972 anthology, Mr. Harrison talks some about the internationalization of science fiction beyond North America and Western Europe. In recognition of this growing trend, he’s included a Brazilian author’s story. “Oh, and we have one story by a woman.” In reality, there… Continue reading Book Review: Nova 2

Movie Review: Dead-Alive (1992)

Movie Review: Dead-Alive (1992) directed by Peter Jackson Times have been tough on Skull Island since the colonialist exploiters stole the island’s biggest attraction, King Kong, back in the 1930s. And now another colonialist has come for a specimen of the Sumatran Rat Monkey, which despite the name is found only on Skull Island. Explorer Stewart… Continue reading Movie Review: Dead-Alive (1992)

Book Review: Wilderness Nurse

Book Review: Wilderness Nurse by Marguerite Moders Marshall Denise Burke is a nurse, and a good one. Despite her relative youth, Denise is skilled enough to be given assignments as a “special nurse” who provides round the clock care for patients who need the extra attention and can pay. However, one too many special assignments… Continue reading Book Review: Wilderness Nurse

Magazine Review: Famous Fantastic Mysteries Fall 2016

This scene does not appear in any of the stories this issue.

Magazine Review: Famous Fantastic Mysteries Fall 2016 edited by Matthew Moring Every so often, someone tries to relaunch a once-popular magazine. Most of these efforts fold quickly. The subject of this review is one such, lasting a single issue. As you’ll recall from a previous review, Famous Fantastic Mysteries was primarily a reprint title, presenting… Continue reading Magazine Review: Famous Fantastic Mysteries Fall 2016

Book Review: The Beast with Five Fingers

Book Review: The Beast with Five Fingers by W.F. Harvey W.F. Harvey (1885-1937) was born in Yorkshire, of Quaker family, and became a doctor. However, his health was poor and he was often unable to practice, so he wrote short stories on the side, many of them falling generally into the “weird” category. This volume… Continue reading Book Review: The Beast with Five Fingers