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: writers
Movie Review: Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Movie Review: Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) directed by Blake Edwards Holly Golightly (Audrey Hepburn) is a free-spirited sort of woman, out all night and having breakfast before going to bed by window shopping at the famous jewelry store Tiffany’s. She often loses or forgets her key, much to the annoyance of her upstairs neighbor Mr. Yuniyoshi… Continue reading Movie Review: Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Manga Review: Billy Bat 1
Manga Review: Billy Bat 1 by Naoki Urasawa with Takashi Nagasaki Billy Bat is a private detective in a world of anthropomorphic animals. He’s a hard-boiled type in the noir tradition with a cynical personality who refuses to use his wings unless he absolutely has to. (Or perhaps he can’t fly at all.) His current… Continue reading Manga Review: Billy Bat 1
Movie Review: The Life of Emile Zola
Movie Review: The Life of Emile Zola (1937) directed by William Dieterle We first meet Emile Zola (Paul Muni) when he is a penniless writer sharing a freezing garret with his friend, starving artist Paul Cezanne (Vladimir Sokoloff). They favor the “realist” schools of their respective crafts, which is not only unpopular with the buying public,… Continue reading Movie Review: The Life of Emile Zola
Book Review: Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2025
Book Review: Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2025 edited by Robert Greenberger Disclaimer: I contributed to the Kickstarter for this book. A lesser known aspect of pulp fandom is the creation of new stories in the tradition of the pulp magazines of old, action-packed and exciting. Thus this series of books which feature modern authors trying their… Continue reading Book Review: Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2025
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
Movie Review: Bloody Pit of Horror
Movie Review: Bloody Pit of Horror (1965) directed by Massimo Pupillo, Italian title “Il Boia Scarlatto” (The Crimson Executioner) Horror paperback publisher Daniel Parks (Alfredo Rizzo) wants to have the covers of his next few books be photographs. So he and a small crew of models, photographer and writer are touring Italy for the exactly right… Continue reading Movie Review: Bloody Pit of Horror
Book Review: Head of a Traveler
Book Review: Head of a Traveler by Nicholas Blake (pen name of Cecil Day-Lewis) Nigel Strangeways, a writer and literary scholar when he isn’t being distracted by his private investigation work, is thrilled to have a chance to meet Robert Seaton, one of Britain’s greatest living poets. Plash Meadow, Seaton’s house, is in Oxfordshire near… Continue reading Book Review: Head of a Traveler
Book Review: Great Science Fiction About Doctors
Book Review: Great Science Fiction About Doctors edited by Groff Conklin and Noah D. Fabricant, M.D. While medical doctors are common and important in science fiction, stories directly about them or the field of medicine are a bit rarer. It was one magazine’s speculation that it would be difficult to fill an anthology with really… Continue reading Book Review: Great Science Fiction About Doctors
Book Review: Fantastic Flops
Book Review: Fantastic Flops edited by Prof. Christopher McGlothlin, M.Ed. Disclaimer: I contributed to the Kickstarter for this book. Despite the best efforts of producers, directors, writers, actors and all the varied crew members who work on them, sometimes movies don’t do well enough to be considered successful. Maybe they’re just bad, or had terrible… Continue reading Book Review: Fantastic Flops