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
Tag: ghosts
Magazine Review: Famous Fantastic Mysteries March 1944
Magazine Review: Famous Fantastic Mysteries March 1944 edited by Mary Gnaedinger Famous Fantastic Mysteries ran from 1939 to 1953 as primarily a reprint magazine. It was originally published by the Munsey Company to feature the many speculative fiction stories they’d published over the years in their non-specialist magazines like Argosy, to cash in on the now… Continue reading Magazine Review: Famous Fantastic Mysteries March 1944
Manga Review: Showa: A History of Japan 1953-1989
Manga Review: Showa: A History of Japan 1953-1989 by Shigeru Mizuki This is the final volume of Shigeru Mizuki’s history of Japan and his personal life during the Showa Era. It mixes events that affected the entire country with stories of his struggles as a man and an artist. As noted in the introduction by… Continue reading Manga Review: Showa: A History of Japan 1953-1989
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
Comic Book Review: Essential Defenders Vol. 6
Comic Book Review: Essential Defenders Vol. 6 written (mostly) by J.M. DeMatteis, Pencils by Don Perlin The Defenders are one of Marvel Comics’ more oddball teams, beginning with a line-up of Doctor Strange, Hulk, Silver Surfer and the Sub-Mariner, four of Marvel’s most powerful characters who did not belong to other teams. After a couple… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Essential Defenders Vol. 6
Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents: Batman, Volume 6
Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents: Batman, Volume 6 edited by Julius Schwartz By 1971, the Batman television show had been off the air long enough that its sales boost to the Batman and Detective Comics series had faded, and with it, the incentive to model the magazines on the show. Bruce Wayne moved from stately Wayne Manor to… Continue reading Comic Book Review: Showcase Presents: Batman, Volume 6
Book Review: Twice Told Tales
Book Review: Twice Told Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) is one of the great American writers; his The Scarlet Letter is studied in many schools across this land. But it took him quite a while to reach that status. After crushingly disappointing sales for his first novel, Fanshawe, Hawthorne spent a dozen years in poverty,… Continue reading Book Review: Twice Told Tales
Audio Review: The Adventures of Luke Skywalker
Audio Review: The Adventures of Luke Skywalker Most Star Wars fans are aware that director George Lucas based much of the look and feel of the first movie on classic Hollywood films and especially the thrilling chapter serials. But have you ever considered what A New Hope would sound like if it were a big-budget film made in… Continue reading Audio Review: The Adventures of Luke Skywalker
Magazine Review: The F. Scott Fitzgerald Review 2015
Magazine Review: The F. Scott Fitzgerald Review 2015 edited by William Blazek F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) is considered one of America’s great writers, best known for The Great Gatsby, his 1925 novel (which didn’t really get much traction until after he died. He was a colorful figure, and his contentious relationship with his wife Zelda… Continue reading Magazine Review: The F. Scott Fitzgerald Review 2015
Book Review: Siege 13
Book Review: Siege 13 by Tamas Dobozy During World War Two, Hungary was one of the Axis powers, with its own fascists led by the Arrow Cross Party. At first this seemed like a good idea, as Hungary gained back territories it had lost after the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. But late in the… Continue reading Book Review: Siege 13