Magazine Review: Spicy Mystery Stories June 1936 by various creators As I’ve previously mentioned, the “spicy” pulps were racy for their time, with descriptions of women’s breasts and thighs, and it being obvious that the characters are having sex, but never actually describing the sex or genitals. This particular magazine, despite the title, has little… Continue reading Magazine Review: Spicy Mystery Stories June 1936
Tag: curses
Manga Review: Mao Volumes 19 & 20
Manga Review: Mao Volumes 19 & 20 by Rumiko Takahashi Note: SPOILERS for previous volumes. You may want to read my reviews of those if you’re not caught up. Quick recap: Nanoka is a girl from the 21st Century who travels in time to the 1920s, where she helps the onmyoji (wizard/priest/doctor) Mao, who is… Continue reading Manga Review: Mao Volumes 19 & 20
Manga Review: Cat-Eyed Boy The Perfect Edition 2
Manga Review: Cat-Eyed Boy The Perfect Edition 2 by Kazuo Umezz Quick recap: The Cat-Eyed Boy (who has no “real” name) is the child of nekomata cat monsters who for unknown reasons was born looking unusually humanoid. His mother died in childbirth and his father dumped him at a shrine. Fortunately, the baby was taken… Continue reading Manga Review: Cat-Eyed Boy The Perfect Edition 2
Manga Review: Mao Volumes 16-18
Manga Review: Mao Volumes 16-18 by Rumiko Takahashi Note: This review contains SPOILERS for the first 15 volumes, so you might want to go back to earlier entries if you’ve missed one or more. Quick recap: Nanoka is a 21st century girl who was cursed by the cat ayakashi Byoki. She discovered that a certain… Continue reading Manga Review: Mao Volumes 16-18
Comic Book Review: The Best of DC #38: Superman Vs. the Supernatural
Comic Book Review: The Best of DC #38: Superman Vs. the Supernatural edited by Nicola Cuti As I’ve mentioned before, Superman’s impressive array of powers at the top of the super-scale make him a hard character to write challenges for. This led to the invention of Kryptonite and its subsequent overuse as a plot device.… Continue reading Comic Book Review: The Best of DC #38: Superman Vs. the Supernatural
Book Review: Strange Scottish Stories
Book Review: Strange Scottish Stories by William Owen Like many another country, Scotland has a bloody history of dark deeds done and tales of the supernatural to be told during long cold winter nights. This 1981 anthology features some of those stories as retold and illustrated by William Owen. Most of the stories are from… Continue reading Book Review: Strange Scottish Stories
Book Review: Wicked West
Book Review: Wicked West edited by Abigail Linhardt and J.H. Fleming The combination of Western and horror genres is a popular one; those wide open spaces in which people and entire towns can just disappear make for a setting that allows a lot of spookiness. This bespoke anthology has eleven stories in this subcategory. “The… Continue reading Book Review: Wicked West
Book Review: Nettle & Bone
Book Review: Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher We open in media res as Marra, age thirty, tries to make a dog from bones and wire in a cursed land inhabited by cannibals. Some of whom are quite nice, really–just don’t eat anything they offer you. It’s damaging her hands something fierce, but then impossible… Continue reading Book Review: Nettle & Bone
Manga Review: Mao Volumes 14 & 15
Manga Review: Mao Volumes 14 & 15 by Rumiko Takahashi Recap: Nanoka Kiba is a modern girl who was cursed by the cat ayakashi (monstrous spirit) Byoki. Among the results is that she can travel between the 21st Century (it’s currently 2020) and the Taisho Era of Japan. In that 1920s setting, she became involved… Continue reading Manga Review: Mao Volumes 14 & 15
Book Review: The Game Master’s Book of Random Encounters
Book Review: The Game Master’s Book of Random Encounters by Jeff Ashworth I’ve been a fan of the various iterations of Dungeons and Dragons since 1979, when I first encountered people who played the game. While my involvement has waxed and waned over the years, I still enjoy reading the game products. One of the… Continue reading Book Review: The Game Master’s Book of Random Encounters