Movie Review: The Vampire (1957)

Dr. Beecher just hasn't been himself lately.

Movie Review: The Vampire (1957) directed by Paul Landre Dr. Paul Beecher (John Beal) is a typical small-town doctor of the 1950s. He has an office in his house staffed by new pretty nurse Carol Butler (Coleen Gray), and also makes house calls. A widower, he lives with his young (11-12) daughter Betsy (Lydia Reed), who… Continue reading Movie Review: The Vampire (1957)

Comic Book Review: The Complete Voodoo Volume 1

Comic Book Review: The Complete Voodoo Volume 1 Edited by Craig Yoe EC was not the only publisher putting out lurid horror comics during the brief period between the post-World War Two decline of superhero books and the installation of the Comics Code.  Others quickly followed in their footsteps.  Robert Farrell was one of those… Continue reading Comic Book Review: The Complete Voodoo Volume 1

Book Review: Oliver Twist

Book Review: Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens An anonymous woman stumbles into a village about seventy-five miles from London, heavily pregnant and with her shoes in tatters.  She collapses in the street, and is taken to the parochial workhouse.  There, she gives birth to a boy and then perishes, seemingly leaving no clue to who… Continue reading Book Review: Oliver Twist

Magazine Review: Thrilling Mystery March 1936

Magazine Review: Thrilling Mystery March 1936 by various Thrilling Mystery was a pulp horror magazine created by Thrilling Publications; I’ve been unable to find publication history details in a quick search.  It specialized in “weird menace” tales, which had supernatural trappings but were ultimately revealed as having non-supernatural (but not necessarily plausible) explanations.  It did… Continue reading Magazine Review: Thrilling Mystery March 1936

Book Review: The Pavilion

Book Review: The Pavilion by Hilda Lawrence (also published as “The Pavilion of Death”) When Regan Carr’s mother passes away from illness, the young woman is hard-pressed.  Her part-time job as a small town librarian for $25 a week (roughly equivalent to an $8/hr job in 2017) is not sufficient to cover the doctor’s bills… Continue reading Book Review: The Pavilion

Book Review: Infinity Five

Book Review: Infinity Five edited by Robert Hoskins This is the fifth and last (so far as I know) of the Infinity series of science fiction anthologies from Lancer Books.  As mentioned in my review of Infinity Two, they’re heavy on the New Wave style of story, free to have sex scenes and rough language (but not yet… Continue reading Book Review: Infinity Five

Book Review: The Year’s Greatest Science-Fiction and Fantasy Second Annual Volume

Book Review: The Year’s Greatest Science-Fiction and Fantasy Second Annual Volume edited by Judith Merril This 1957 volume contains speculative fiction stories from magazines published in roughly the previous year, hand-picked by the editor to represent the best the field had to offer at the time.  (I’ve previously reviewed the fifth annual, which switched the… Continue reading Book Review: The Year’s Greatest Science-Fiction and Fantasy Second Annual Volume