Manga Review: Orochi: The Perfect Edition 1

Manga Review: Orochi: The Perfect Edition 1 by Kazuo Umezz Despite her rather ominous name, Orochi doesn’t stand out in a crowd. She appears to be a moderately attractive woman in her early twenties. If you saw her on the street, you might not notice her at all. But Orochi isn’t quite human, and has… Continue reading Manga Review: Orochi: The Perfect Edition 1

Book Review: The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror Volume 16

Book Review: The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror Volume 16 edited by Stephen Jones Let’s go back to 2004 for what at least one editor considered excellent short horror fiction. As with the later volume I have reviewed, there’s a lot of ancillary material. It opens with an extended look at horror and horror-adjacent… Continue reading Book Review: The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror Volume 16

TV Review: The Untamed

Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian enjoy a quiet moment between tragedies.

TV Review: The Untamed At the beginning, Wei Wuxian (Zhan Xiao) dies. The cultivation clans have banded together at Nightless City to battle the Yiling Patriarch, master of the dark arts. Wei Wuxian is confronted by his adoptive brother Jiang Cheng (Zhuocheng Wang) and best friend Lan Wangji (Yibo Wang). Wei winds up plummeting off… Continue reading TV Review: The Untamed

Magazine Review: Strange Tales September 1931

Magazine Review: Strange Tales September 1931 edited by Harry Bates Strange Tales was published as a direct competitor to Weird Tales, the top fantastic/occult story pulp magazine of the time, starting with this issue in 1931. It had more of an action slant to its editorial policy as compared to the more idea-heavy stories of… Continue reading Magazine Review: Strange Tales September 1931

Movie Review: Tales of Terror (1962)

Movie Review: Tales of Terror (1962) directed by Roger Corman This trilogy of scary stories was loosely adapted from the work of Edgar Allen Poe by Richard Matheson. By now, Roger Corman and Vincent Price were a practiced team at these adaptations. In “Morella”, Price plays “Locke”, a widower who has spent the last 26 years… Continue reading Movie Review: Tales of Terror (1962)

Book Review: The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2014

Book Review: The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2014 edited by Paula Guran Even the fastest, most dedicated readers can’t read everything that’s published each year.  Not even in relatively limited genres like fantasy or horror.  That’s where “Year’s Best” collections come in handy.  Someone or several someones has gone through the enormous pile… Continue reading Book Review: The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2014

Book Review: Penny Dreadfuls: Sensational Tales of Terror

Book Review: Penny Dreadfuls: Sensational Tales of Terror edited by Stefan Dziemianowicz While the term “penny dreadfuls” proper belongs to a particular type of inexpensive newsprint periodical, as explained in the introduction to this volume, the twenty stories chosen here can all be described as lowbrow sensationalist literature written for those seeking thrills in their… Continue reading Book Review: Penny Dreadfuls: Sensational Tales of Terror

Book Review: Stories from Sleep No More

Book Review: Stories from Sleep No More edited by August Derleth Sleep No More was a 1940s anthology of horror fiction put together by noted Wisconsin historical fiction (and horror) author August Derleth.  It featured primarily creepy stories from the pulp magazines of the 1930s.  In the 1960s, a paperback reprint came out.  To make… Continue reading Book Review: Stories from Sleep No More

Book Review: Fresh Fear

Book Review: Fresh Fear edited by William Cook Horror anthologies are like a box of chocolates.  One story might be crunchy frog, another spring surprise, while a more disappointing one is just maple cream.  (Seriously, maple cream?)  This is because horror tends to be a balancing act between what the writer finds scary and what… Continue reading Book Review: Fresh Fear

Book Review: 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories

Book Review: 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories edited by Stefan Dziemianowicz, Robert Weinberg & Martin H. Greenberg This was my Halloween season read this year, an anthology commissioned for the Barnes & Noble stores in 1995.  There are indeed one hundred stories in this hefty tome, averaging about six pages.  They are not all about… Continue reading Book Review: 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories