Gore Vidal’s Screening History
Jul18

Gore Vidal’s Screening History

Writing on Air: Gore Vidal’s Screening History   “As I now move, graciously, I hope, towards the door marked Exit, it occurs to me that the only thing I ever really liked to do was go to the movies.  Naturally, Sex and Art always took precedence over the cinema.  Unfortunately, neither ever proved to be as dependable as the filtering of present light through that moving strip of celluloid which projects past images and voices onto a...

Read More
Retro-Weird! Tarzan and the Ant Men
Jun29

Retro-Weird! Tarzan and the Ant Men

Retro-Weird! Tarzan and the Ant Men   Well, talk about giving with one hand and taking away with the other.  This time last week I was singing the praises of Orion Books’ Gateway Omnibus volumes and here I am today cursing them out of it for a shower of undependable, cheating bastards. [As will be seen, almost as soon as I had finished writing this, I had to eat those rather uncharitable words and send a mental apology towards Orion –...

Read More
The Chronicles of Conan Volume 14: Shadow of the Beast And Other Stories
Oct14

The Chronicles of Conan Volume 14: Shadow of the Beast And Other Stories

The Chronicles of Conan Volume 14: Shadow of the Beast And Other Stories   This final piece is an overview rather than a review and therefore contains spoilers galore.   The Moon-Eaters of Darfur (issue #108 of Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian) opens on a miserable, rain driven and stormy landscape as the Cimmerian heads north of the Kushite capital of Meroê, leaving behind a city in the throes of full-blown upheaval. With him is the...

Read More
The Chronicles of Conan Volume 13 Heading North: Whispering Shadows And Other Stories Part 2
Sep22

The Chronicles of Conan Volume 13 Heading North: Whispering Shadows And Other Stories Part 2

The Chronicles of Conan Volume 13 Heading North: Whispering Shadows And Other Stories Part 2   These ongoing pieces are overviews rather than reviews and therefore contain spoilers galore   Robert E. Howard’s short story The Vale of Lost Women didn’t appear in print until thirty-one years after his death, at which point it was quickly accepted into the official canon of Conan the Cimmerian.  Despite that, it probably remains at worst,...

Read More
Wings in the Night – The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard, Volume 4
Sep14

Wings in the Night – The Weird Works of Robert E. Howard, Volume 4

Wings in the Night The Weird Works of Robert E.  Howard, Volume 4 Edited by Paul Herman Part Two   These ongoing pieces are overviews rather than reviews and therefore contain spoilers galore.   In July and November of 1932 respectively, Weird Tales published what would be the last outings in his lifetime for two of Robert E. Howard’s most famous characters:  Solomon Kane and Bran Mak Morn. However, beginning with December, 1932 and...

Read More
Interview with the Vampire
Sep14

Interview with the Vampire

Interview with the Vampire: Re-assessing Anne Rice’s Modern Classic   I recently took a great notion to revisit this famous horror novel, Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire.  Back in the day, I had read the first three books in what became known as the The Vampire Chronicles, particularly enjoying this one.  By the time I hit the fourth in the series – The Tale of the Body Thief – I had become thoroughly bored with the...

Read More