Book Review: Mazes and Labyrinths by W.H. Matthews Humans have long been fascinated by structures that pack the maximum amount of path in a small space, and those that create a puzzle to move through to find a center or exit. This 1922 book was the first major work in English to take a thorough… Continue reading Book Review: Mazes and Labyrinths
Tag: Holland
Movie Review: Diamonds Are Forever
Movie Review: Diamonds Are Forever (1971) directed by Guy Hamilton We open with James Bond (Sean Connery) globetrotting in a search for his archenemy, Ernst Stavros Blofeld (Charles Gray), leader of the international crime syndicate SPECTRE. He quickly catches up to and kills two Blofelds, one of whom was a surgically-altered double for the real criminal.… Continue reading Movie Review: Diamonds Are Forever
Book Review: Great Supernatural Stories: 101 Horrifying Tales
Book Review: Great Supernatural Stories: 101 Horrifying Tales compiled by Stefan Dziemianowicz This hefty volume collects a variety of public domain stories concerning the supernatural. While the majority fall roughly into the category of horror, some are more what we’d call “dark fantasy” and a handful are just “well, that’s a weird thing that happened.”… Continue reading Book Review: Great Supernatural Stories: 101 Horrifying Tales
Book Review: Girl with a Pearl Earring
Book Review: Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier Griet is sixteen, and would ordinarily be living in her parents’ home for another few years, preparing for the day she would get married and join her husband’s family. But her father was blinded in an accident at his job as a tile painter, and… Continue reading Book Review: Girl with a Pearl Earring
Book Review: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Book Review: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice edited by Jack Zipes Most likely, when you saw this title, you immediately thought of the Fantasia sequence with Mickey Mouse, or perhaps the more recent Disney film with Nicolas Cage. But the multiplying of brooms is only one aspect of the tales gathered under the general title of “The… Continue reading Book Review: The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
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: Last Hope Island
Book Review: Last Hope Island by Lynne Olson Disclaimer: I received this Advance Review Copy as a Goodreads giveaway for the purposes of this review. No other compensation was requested or offered. Some changes may be made before the final publication date of 4/25/17–for example, the index isn’t included in this version. This book opens… Continue reading Book Review: Last Hope Island
Book Review: The Wrath of Brotherhood
Book Review: The Wrath of Brotherhood by Ozgur K. Sahin Captain Roy Toppings had planned to live a relatively peaceful life plying a small shipping route between England and the Continent, but the murder of his sister by pirates set him on a different course, and now he’s a privateer operating out of Port Royal.… Continue reading Book Review: The Wrath of Brotherhood
Book Review: Fright
Book Review: Fright edited by Charles M. Collins The cover makes this book look like a generic product, but that’s a little deceiving. It’s actually an anthology skewed towards the Gothic end of horror rather than the gory, emphasizing vocabulary-rich authors. Most of the stories were rarely reprinted before this collection in 1963. We open… Continue reading Book Review: Fright
Book Review: The Black Tulip
Book Review: The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas The year is 1672, and the Haarlem Tulip Society has offered a hundred thousand florin prize to the tulip breeder who can create a black tulip, without imperfection or spot of other color. Cornelius van Baerle of the sleepy village of Dordrecht is one of the… Continue reading Book Review: The Black Tulip