Book Review: Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2026 edited by Robert Greenberger Disclaimer: I contributed to the Kickstarter for this book, and there’s an advertisement for this blog on page 44. It’s time for another annual installment of this pulp-style anthology! Some returning authors, some new ones, and some familiar characters to follow. This year, the genres… Continue reading Book Review: Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2026
Tag: police inspectors
Book Review: The Complete Max Carrados Volume II
Book Review: The Complete Max Carrados Volume II by Ernest Bramah Disclaimer: I contributed to the Kickstarter for this project. To recap from my review of the first volume, Max Carrados is a blind detective published in stories from 1913-1934. A resident of a ritzy London suburb who’d been blinded in a riding accident, Max… Continue reading Book Review: The Complete Max Carrados Volume II
Movie Review: Demonia
Movie Review: Demonia (1990) directed by Lucio Fulci In 15th Century Sicily, five nuns are crucified in a chamber of their convent. This is somehow seen by Liza Harris (Meg Register), an archaeology student, during a seance in Seattle in 1990. Her mentor, Canadian archaeologist Professor Paul Evans (Brett Halsey) scoffs at her vision as superstitious… Continue reading Movie Review: Demonia
Movie Review: Death Walks at Midnight
Movie Review: Death Walks at Midnight (1972) directed by Luciano Ercoli Dateline: Milan, Italy in the early 1970s. Valentina (Nieves Navarro) is a model whose primary job is appearing in fumetti fotoromanzi which are basically comic books done with photographs instead of drawings, a popular medium of the time. As a lark, she agrees to take an LSD-like… Continue reading Movie Review: Death Walks at Midnight
Movie Review: A Shriek in the Night
Movie Review: A Shriek in the Night (1933) directed by Albert Ray This movie delivers on the title right after the credits as wealthy philanthropist Adam Harker (uncredited) plunges screaming to his death from the skyscraper apartment building he lived in. The obvious assumption is that he fell from the balcony of his penthouse. So it’s… Continue reading Movie Review: A Shriek in the Night
Movie Review: A Date with the Falcon
Movie Review: A Date with the Falcon (1942) directed by Irving Reis Gay Lawrence (George Sanders), also known as “The Falcon”, is planning a trip with his fiancée, Helen Reed (Wendy Barrie) to get married and have a honeymoon far from big city crime. But his old frenemy on the police force, Inspector Mike O’Hara (James… Continue reading Movie Review: A Date with the Falcon
Movie Review: Three on a Ticket
Movie Review: Three on a Ticket (1947) directed by Sam Newfield Private investigator Michael “Mike” Shayne (Hugh Beaumont) has just arrived at his office when his secretary Phyllis “Phil” Hamilton (Cheryl Walker) tells him he has an appointment with a prospective client, Jim Lacy (Brooks Benedict). Lacy is a private eye from the East Coast that… Continue reading Movie Review: Three on a Ticket
Movie Review: Mark of the Vampire
Movie Review: Mark of the Vampire (1935) directed by Tod Browning (also released as “Vampires of Prague”) Czechoslovakia, 1934, near the city of Prague. It is growing dark, but in the inn run by a local fellow (Michael Visaroff), two English travelers want to be on their way. The innkeeper warns that vampires roam these parts… Continue reading Movie Review: Mark of the Vampire
Movie Review: Woman on the Run (1950)
Movie Review: Woman on the Run (1950) directed by Norman Foster Frank Johnson (Ross Elliott) is out walking his dog Rembrandt (uncredited) one evening when he witnesses a gangland slaying. He gets a good look at the killer, but not vice versa as the gunman shoots at his shadow instead before driving off. When the police,… Continue reading Movie Review: Woman on the Run (1950)
Manga Review: Tomorrow the Birds
Manga Review: Tomorrow the Birds by Osamu Tezuka Once upon a time, birds did not rule the Earth. That role was taken by the ape-creatures who called themselves “humans.” The humans enslaved birds, killed them for sport, even ate them! But then one day benevolent aliens saw our plight, and arranged to redress this injustice… Continue reading Manga Review: Tomorrow the Birds