Magazine Review: The Scots Magazine October 1978 Like many people of Scots descent, I have a mild interest in the country and customs of my ancestors. I even wonder sometimes what the place is currently like. For me and people like me, there’s the regional interest publication, The Scots Magazine. First published in 1739 as… Continue reading Magazine Review: The Scots Magazine October 1978
Tag: Scotland
Book Review: Mazes and Labyrinths
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
Book Review: The Case of the Constant Suicides
Book Review: The Case of the Constant Suicides by John Dickson Carr Castle Shira is not a canny place. Ever since one of the Campbell soldiers involved in the Glencoe Massacre threw himself from the tower, supposedly to escape the ghost of a murdered MacDonald, there have been a series of falling deaths associated with… Continue reading Book Review: The Case of the Constant Suicides
Book Review: The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror Volume 16
Book Review: The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror Volume 16 edited by Stephen Jones Let’s go back to 2004 for what at least one editor considered excellent short horror fiction. As with the later volume I have reviewed, there’s a lot of ancillary material. It opens with an extended look at horror and horror-adjacent… Continue reading Book Review: The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror Volume 16
Book Review: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Strange Tales
Book Review: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Strange Tales by Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) wrote several “weird” stories as well as adventure tales like Treasure Island. This volume collects five of them. “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” starts us off with the adventures of Mr. Utterson,… Continue reading Book Review: Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Strange Tales
Book Review: World’s Best Science Fiction: Third Series
Book Review: World’s Best Science Fiction: Third Series edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr (also printed as “World’s Best Science Fiction 1967”) The introduction to this volume of science fiction stories from 1966 mentions that there was a tendency to longer stories in the field, perhaps because many of the ideas required more… Continue reading Book Review: World’s Best Science Fiction: Third Series
Book Review: The Butchering Art
Book Review: The Butchering Art by Lindsey Fitzharris It was not that long ago that surgeons and surgery were to be feared. Without anesthetics, the pain and shock of having your body cut into would often kill the patient. And if they survived that, the chances were good that infection would set in. A combination… Continue reading Book Review: The Butchering Art
Movie Review: Braveheart
Movie Review: Braveheart (1995) directed by Mel Gibson It is late 13th Century Scotland, and the land is without a king. King Edward I of England (Patrick McGoohan), known as “Longshanks”, claims ownership and has sent his armies to occupy the land. After a peace negotiation with Scots lords ends in a war crime by Longshanks,… Continue reading Movie Review: Braveheart
Anime Review: Baki (2018)
Anime Review: Baki (2018) Baki Hanma is not your average high school student. He may look normal if a teensy bulky and with a dull expression on his face with his school uniform on, but once he doffs his outer clothing, it’s clear that he’s possessed of superior musculature and covered in scars. For in… Continue reading Anime Review: Baki (2018)
Movie Review: Terror By Night
Movie Review: Terror by Night (1946) directed by Roy William Neill The Star of Rhodesia, a large diamond, has long been associated with blood and death, bringing woe to its owners and those around them ever since it was dug up. The current owner is Lady Margaret Carstairs (Mary Forbes), a formidable dowager. Her son Roland… Continue reading Movie Review: Terror By Night