Moods & Pseudo-memories: H. P. Lovecraft – Reincarnated?
Feb28

Moods & Pseudo-memories: H. P. Lovecraft – Reincarnated?

Moods & Pseudo-memories: H. P. Lovecraft – Reincarnated?   The following article originally appeared in The Lovecraft eZine of 5 February.   Did Lovecraft ever entertain the notion of having lived previous lives?  Never mind ‘Herbert West – Re-animator’; how sounds ‘Howard Lovecraft – Reincarnationist’? Ah, just listen to those collective groans of incredulity. In fact, I don’t even think it’s a real word.  Well, such an idea is...

Read More
Stephen King’s Rose Madder
Feb28

Stephen King’s Rose Madder

A Very Grim Fairy Tale: Defending Stephen King’s Rose Madder I have really been led up the garden path as regards Stephen King’s 1996 offering Rose Madder. No; that’s not really quite true.  In fact, I appear to have allowed myself to be led up the garden path – a little like Rosie herself, perhaps.  So– big difference.  You see, I’ve always heard that this is one of King’s worst books, if not the very worst.  I’ve even gotten...

Read More
The Chronicles of Conan – Volume 6 – The Curse of the Golden Skull
Feb28

The Chronicles of Conan – Volume 6 – The Curse of the Golden Skull

The Chronicles of Conan Volume 6 The Curse of the Golden Skull And Other Stories     The sixth volume of Dark Horse Books’ masterful collections of the ’seventies Marvel Conan comics opens with one of artist John Buscema’s finest and most attention-grabbing title pages. The Cimmerian and his mismatched companion, the Khitain thief Bourtai are in the scorching deserts to the West of that country.  Heat is baking off the sands and Conan...

Read More
Cthulhu 2000 – A Lovecraftian Anthology
Feb28

Cthulhu 2000 – A Lovecraftian Anthology

Cthulhu 2000 A Lovecraftian Anthology Edited by Jim Turner With Illustrations by Bob Eggleton Arkham House Publishers, Inc.   An Occasional Look at Lovecraftian Anthologies: 4 Part One   Just before diving into this anthology I want to get a little nit-picking out of the way.  [You know, it has just dawned on me what that expression actually means.  Nit-picking.  Come to think of it, that’s nearly as yucky as anything in this...

Read More
The Charming Quirks of Others by Alexander McCall Smith
Feb16

The Charming Quirks of Others by Alexander McCall Smith

The Charming Quirks of Others by Alexander McCall Smith     This is my seventh wander through the gentle world of Isabel Dalhousie’s Edinburgh life, since discovering her last year with the first in the series, The Sunday Philosophy Club.  This is the book from which the series takes its name, despite the irritating fact that we have only had the one reference to the Club since then, and have yet to witness an actual meeting.  In it...

Read More