From Hell It Came directed by Dan Milner
Back in the 1960s, when I was just a young lad and when there were only three major television stations to contend with, The New York Times used to make pithy commentaries, in their TV section, regarding films that were to be aired that day. I have never forgotten the terse words that the paper issued for the 1957 cult item From Hell It Came. In one of the most succinct pans ever written, the editors simply wrote: “Back send it.”
October 23rd, 2018. Sandy Ferber | Film / TV, Horror | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
The Writer’s Map: An Atlas of Imaginary Lands edited by Hue Lewis-Jones
Before I get into the review proper of Hue Lewis-Jones’ The Writer’s Map: An Atlas of Imaginary Lands, I have to note up front that my digital copies of the book had major formatting issues so that passages were jumbled up such that one paragraph would end and a wholly unrelated paragraph (one from either earlier or later in the book) would follow. Or the book would just stop, with pages from, say 25 onward,
October 22nd, 2018. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis
Thomas Jerome Newton is a humanoid alien who has come to Earth on a mission. He hopes to save the remaining 300 aliens who are dying on his home planet. Since childhood he’s been preparing for this, training by watching and listening to Earth’s radio and TV broadcasts. Being mostly humanoid in appearance, and understanding much of Earth’s culture, he has disguised himself to successfully pass as a man from Kentucky.
Soon after his arrival, he contacts a patent lawyer and begins to “invent” the technology of his superior planet.
October 22nd, 2018. Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5 | Walter Tevis | Audio, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Dunwich Horror directed by Daniel Haller
Having enjoyed great success with a string of some seven pictures based on the works of the writer who has been called the greatest horror author of the 19th century, Edgar Allan Poe, American International Pictures (AIP) soon turned its attention to the horror author who has been called the greatest of the 20th, the so-called “Sage of Providence,” Howard Phillips Lovecraft. For their first Lovecraft attempt, the studio came out with the Boris Karloff outing Die, Monster, Die,
October 22nd, 2018. Sandy Ferber | Film / TV, Horror | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Kat: In an effort to get better quality sleep, I’ve been forcing myself to get off the computer by 8:00 every night and then spending a few hours listening to audiobooks while working jigsaw puzzles. I’m sleeping better and I’m getting a lot read this way (plus, I listen during my commute to and from work). Since you heard from me last, I’ve read All Systems Red by Martha Wells, Dimension of Miracles and Untouched by Human Hands by Robert Sheckley,
October 21st, 2018. Tim Scheidler | Status Update | 3 comments |
Putting the Science in Fiction: Expert Advice for Writing with Authenticity in Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Other Genres edited by Dan Koboldt
Putting the Science in Fiction: Expert Advice for Writing with Authenticity in Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Other Genres is a collection of brief essays from experts in various fields that originally appeared as part of editor Dan Koboldt’s blog, which he describes in this way:
“Each week, we discuss elements of sci-fi or fantasy with an expert in a relevant topic area.
October 19th, 2018. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Wizard Knight by Gene Wolfe
The Wizard Knight by Gene Wolfe is one of the best fantasy novels to appear in the last decade or so. The novel is split into two separate books, The Knight and The Wizard, but like Gene Wolfe’s classic BOOK OF THE NEW SUN, it’s really one big story split into separate volumes and best read back-to-back.
The Wizard Knight tells the story of Sir Able of the High Heart,
October 19th, 2018. Stefan Raets and Kat Hooper´s rating: 3.5, 5 | Gene Wolfe | Audio | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Creature from the Haunted Sea directed by Roger Corman
On the front cover of Ed Naha’s indispensable book The Films of Roger Corman there is a subtitle that reads “Brilliance on a Budget,” and a look at Corman’s working schedule and method of production will surely bear out that statement. Take, for example, the background for his 1961 film Creature from the Haunted Sea. As the story goes, Corman and crew were in Puerto Rico in 1959, where Corman was executive producing the film The Battle of Blood Island at the same time as he was directing his own film The Last Woman on Earth.
October 19th, 2018. Sandy Ferber | Film / TV, Horror | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
Driving to Geronimo’s Grave by Joe R. Lansdale
See, here’s why I read Joe R. Lansdale; in Driving to Geronimo’s Grave (2018), there is a short story called “Wrestling with Jesus.” The story is about wrestling and male bonding. It’s violent. It’s gross and vulgar. The plot involves two men gambling over a woman. There are two women characters; one is weak and venial and the other is evil and manipulative. It has foul language. It’s funny. Generally, only “it’s funny” would even remotely attract me to a story like this,
October 18th, 2018. Marion Deeds | Joe R. Lansdale | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
The Night Visitor directed by László Benedek
In 1968, Swedish director Ingmar Bergman released what might be arguably deemed his closest attempt to create an outright horror film, Hour of the Wolf, starring Max von Sydow and Liv Ullman. The three would go on to work together several more times in the coming years, and although the following pictures that they made together (such as Shame and The Passion of Anna) WERE fairly emotionally devastating, none could be termed outright horror.
Viewers desirous to see Max and Liv together in another film that is indisputably in the horror domain,
October 18th, 2018. Sandy Ferber | Film / TV, Horror | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
I picked my copy up last week and I can't wait to finish my current book and get started! I…
Gentlemen, I concur! (Forgive me for jumping into your convo)
The cover is amazing. I love how the graphic novel (and the review!) hewed close to the theme of "good…
I've thought about picking that one up. The artwork looks perfect.
I like the way you think, Bill. I found the second one particularly objectionable; the one with Khan. It was…