Manga Review: Platinum End Volume 3

Manga Review: Platinum End Volume 3 Story by Tsugumi Ohba, Art by Takeshi Obata Quick recap:  Mirai Kakehashi has had a miserable life as an abused orphan, but when he attempts suicide, he is rescued by an angel.  Nasse, the Angel of Purity, informs Mirai that he’s been chosen to join a contest to determine… Continue reading Manga Review: Platinum End Volume 3

Book Review: The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2014

Book Review: The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2014 edited by Paula Guran Even the fastest, most dedicated readers can’t read everything that’s published each year.  Not even in relatively limited genres like fantasy or horror.  That’s where “Year’s Best” collections come in handy.  Someone or several someones has gone through the enormous pile… Continue reading Book Review: The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2014

Manga Review: Fullmetal Alchemist, Volume 10

Manga Review:  Fullmetal Alchemist, Volume 10 by Hiromu Arakawa. In the country of Amestris, the highest form of science known is alchemy, the ability to transmute substances into another form.  It seems limited only by the Law of Equivalent Exchange “to obtain an object, something of equal value must be lost.”  Transmutation of humans is… Continue reading Manga Review: Fullmetal Alchemist, Volume 10

Magazine Review: Thrilling Mystery March 1936

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

Manga Review: Tokyo Ghoul Volume 1

Manga Review: Tokyo Ghoul Volume 1 by Sui Ishida There is a parallel Earth that seems exactly like ours, except that humanity shares the planet with “ghouls.”  Ghouls are shaped like humans, and can pass for them with a little effort, but they are not human.  They possess body weapons known as “kagune” and can… Continue reading Manga Review: Tokyo Ghoul Volume 1

Book Review: The Book of Cthulhu

Book Review: The Book of Cthulhu edited by Ross E Lockhart Fantasy and horror author H.P. Lovecraft wasn’t a big seller during his lifetime, but the loose setting he created of the Cthulhu Mythos, where humans are only the most recent inhabitants of a cold and chaotic universe, and many of the previous inhabitants are… Continue reading Book Review: The Book of Cthulhu

Anime Review: Erased

Anime Review: Erased (Japanese title Boku Dake ga Inai Machi “The Town Without Me” or “The Town Where Only I Am Missing”) The year is 2006, and Jun “Yuuki” Shiratori is on Death Row for the abduction and murder of three children back in 1988.  Very few people still believe that he’s innocent, considering the substantial circumstantial… Continue reading Anime Review: Erased

Anime Review: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable

Anime Review: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable Josuke Higashikata (the kanji for his name can also be read as “Jojo”) has lived all his life in the northeastern coast city of Morioh with his single mother and his police officer grandfather.   When he was a small child, he became deathly ill for several weeks,… Continue reading Anime Review: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable

Book Review: Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology

Book Review: Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology edited by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer As the subtitle of this volume indicates, it’s a collection of 29 short stories written from a feminist perspective. There are selections from the 1960s through the 2000s–SF, fantasy, horror and a couple of stories that seem to… Continue reading Book Review: Sisters of the Revolution: A Feminist Speculative Fiction Anthology

Anime Review: Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex, Vol. 03

Anime Review: Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex, Vol. 03 It is the year 2030, and after the effects of World Wars Three & Four, Japan is relatively unscathed, having become one of the world’s economic and technological powerhouses.  In particular, they lead the world in cybernetics, and various cyborg upgrades are commonplace.  Of course,… Continue reading Anime Review: Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex, Vol. 03