Book Review: Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2026

Cover by Jeffrey Ray Hayes

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

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: The Cowboys (1972)

Mr. Nightlinger tells the boys a story about his father that might not be entirely true.

Movie Review: The Cowboys (1972) directed by Mark Rydell 1877. the Montana Territory. Wil Andersen (John Wayne), an aging, flinty rancher, needs to start his cattle on a drive to Bell Fourche, South Dakota, the nearest railhead. Problem is, a gold strike has been made the other side of Bozeman, and the ranch hands have deserted… Continue reading Movie Review: The Cowboys (1972)

Movie Review: Live and Let Die

James meets the new "Mrs. Bond".

Movie Review: Live and Let Die (1973) directed by Guy Hamilton Three British agents die in 24 hours. One in New York at the United Nations, one in New Orleans, and one on the Caribbean island of San Monique. This may have something to do with the connection between President Kananga (Yaphet Kotto) of San Monique… Continue reading Movie Review: Live and Let Die

Book Review: The Complete Max Carrados Volume 1

Book Review: The Complete Max Carrados Volume 1 by Ernest Bramah Disclaimer: I contributed to the Kickstarter for this collection. Ernest Bramah Smith, who dropped his last name for his literary efforts, was born in 1868, and was a school dropout and farmer before becoming a writer. His first published book in 1900 was The… Continue reading Book Review: The Complete Max Carrados Volume 1

Movie Review: The Buddy Holly Story

Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper all together on stage.

Movie Review: The Buddy Holly Story (1978) directed by Steve Rash We first meet Buddy Holly (Gary Busey) and his bandmates Jesse (Don Stroud) and Ray Bob (Charles Martin Smith) at a roller rink in Lubbock, Texas. They’re just out of high school and doing okay on a local level. But Buddy has a new sound… Continue reading Movie Review: The Buddy Holly Story

Magazine Review: Other Worlds December 1951

Cover by Malcolm Smith, illustrating "Yelisen."

Magazine Review: Other Worlds December 1951 edited by Ray Palmer Let’s have another look at this long-running science fiction magazine! The opening editorial by Ray Palmer hypes up the serial which will start in the next issue, Rog Phillips’ These Are My Children, advertised here as something truly special. Sadly, the book version seems to… Continue reading Magazine Review: Other Worlds December 1951

Movie Review: White Comanche

Johnny Moon regards his brother.

Movie Review: White Comanche (1967) directed by Gilbert Kay Johnny and Notah Moon (both William Shatner) are twin brothers, identical save for slightly different eye colors. Their father was white, and their mother of the Comanche nation. Early on, they were raised in both traditions, but their father died early, and when their mother died around… Continue reading Movie Review: White Comanche

Magazine Review: Spicy Mystery Stories June 1936

Cover is symbolic; the "cat person" in the story is male.

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

Movie Review: Gone With the Wind

Scarlett is breaking under the stress of working with war wounded.

Movie Review: Gone With the Wind (1939) directed by Victor Fleming Gerald O’Hara (Thomas Mitchell) is an Irish immigrant who got lucky in a card game many years ago, winning a substantial tract of farmland in Georgia. He married a woman of French extraction named Ellen (Barbara O’Neil) and by hard work and being a decent… Continue reading Movie Review: Gone With the Wind