Recent Posts

Cahokia Jazz: Syncretism, symbolism and realpolitik

Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford

Cahokia Jazz is a detective novel, set in 1922 in the city and state of Cahokia, USA. Police detective Joe Barrow and his partner Phineas Drummond are called up onto the roof of the Cahokia Land Building in the middle of the night, where they find the mutilated corpse of a takata—a European-American–posed like an Aztec sacrifice, its heart removed. In most cities, this would simply be bizarre, but in Cahokia, this makes the murder a flashpoint for unrest in a city and state governed largely by the takouma,

Fourth Wing: Dragons, death, and damn those tight pants!

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

Typically I write a summary in my own words about a book I’m reviewing, but I would like to start this review by sharing the publisher’s description because it plays an important role in how I initially perceived Fourth Wing (2023) by Rebecca Yarros:

Enter the brutal and elite world of a war college for dragon riders from USA Today bestselling author Rebecca Yarros.

Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was supposed to enter the Scribe Quadrant, living a quiet life among books and history.

Your Shadow Half Remains: To look is the one forbidden thing

Your Shadow Half Remains by Sunny Moraine

2024’s Your Shadow Half Remains provides a seductive and disturbing journey of psychological horror, as we visit the mind of an isolated young woman in a post-apocalyptic world, where one look into another human’s eyes can kill both of you.

Your Shadow Half Remains is plainly inspired by Josh Malerman’s Bird Box, only in Moriane’s work, the thing you must not look at is a human face.

The Scarlet Boy: Don’t spare me the details!

The Scarlet Boy by Arthur Calder-Marshall

In the mood for an offbeat haunted-house novel to keep you company during this fall season … or during any season; a beautifully written tale of supernatural horror that you have most likely never heard of before? Well, then, I have a doozy of a suggestion for you … namely The Scarlet Boy, by the British author Arthur Calder-Marshall! The book has been unfortunately neglected for over six decades now, and a quick look at its sporadic publishing history will help explain why it might be an unknown quantity for you and the general reading public today,

WWWednesday: November 20, 2024

Do we Do we need a remake of Forbidden Planet?? Doesn’t matter—we’re getting one.

BBC released a trailer of the Doctor Who Christmas special. Reactor doesn’t have it, but they saw it.

This is a plug for a local southeastern anthology. The proceeds go to families in Appalachia who lost businesses and homes during the recent hurricanes. I may or may not have a story in it. I’m not being coy; I sent in a story but I haven’t seen the complete TOC yet.

In the weeks following the election,

November 20th, 2024. Marion Deeds | Giveaway!, World Wide Wednesday | 1 comment |

Absolution: Still feels freshly fascinating

Absolution by Jeff VanderMeer

These f—-ing people complaining about this f—-ing book. What the f—-ing f? Sure it’s f—ing weird, sure you don’t get any f—-ing answers, but if you f—-ing read the first three f—-ing books, what the f—- did you expect? Goodnight f—-ing Moon? The Very F—-ing Hungry Caterpillar? If you’re gonna f—-ing buy a Jeff Vanderf—-ingMeer book, then you better expect a f—-ing Vanderf—ker.

Sorry, sorry. Got a little too immersed in the final section of Absolution, and I’ve seemingly picked up the voice of that section’s narrator,

November 19th, 2024. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Jeff VanderMeer | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |

The Navigator’s Children: If this is the end, it’s a fully satisfactory one

The Navigator’s Children by Tad Williams

A long, long time ago in a world far, far away (otherwise known as 1988), a younger me picked a heavy (like really heavy) book titled The Dragonbone Chair off the shelf in the bookstore. If you had told that younger, thinner, more-haired me that I’d still be reading about those characters almost 40 years later in 2024, I would have laughed at the absurdity. But here I am, just putting down The Navigator’s Children (2024),

November 15th, 2024. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4.5 | Tad Williams | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Doctors Wear Scarlet: Hated the movie, loved the book

Doctors Wear Scarlet by Simon Raven

The British film Bloodsuckers, from 1970, was easily one of the worst cinematic experiences I’ve sat through in recent memory; a confused and confusing mess of a movie, made even more disappointing for me by dint of the fact that the two lead actors whose participation induced me to watch the film in the first place – namely, Peter Cushing and Patrick Macnee – don’t even appear on screen together once! And yet, I thought, the central premise of the film,

Poison Ivy: Thorns: A mature YA graphic novel

Poison Ivy: Thorns by Kody Keplinger (writer), Sara Kipin (artist), Jeremy Lawson (colorist), and Steve Wands (letterer)

Keplinger’s Poison Ivy: Thorns is a wonderful young adult graphic novel from DC illustrated in a unique style by Sara Kipin. The graphic novel is divided into four sections: Toxic, Roots, Bloom, and Ivy. It takes a look at Poison Ivy when she was Pamela Isley, a struggling high school student, and it gives her a different origin story than some of the usual ones that are presented in other DC storylines,

November 9th, 2024. Brad Hawley´s rating: 4 | Comics, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | no comments |

The Clock in the Sun: How We Came to Understand Our Nearest Star

The Clock in the Sun: How We Came to Understand Our Nearest Star by Pierre Sokolsky

In The Clock in the Sun: How We Came to Understand Our Nearest Star, Pierre Sokolsky does a nice job in covering the history of solar mechanics and exploration, concisely and clearly explaining things in his own language but also, in one of my favorite aspects of the book, offering up a number of lengthy passages from his source material, letting us hear those early thinkers in their own words.

The early sections on pre-Scientific Revolution observations are detailed and often fascinating,

November 8th, 2024. Bill Capossere´s rating: 4 | Non-fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Two Twisted Crowns: A satisfying ending

Two Twisted Crowns by Rachel Gillig

2023’s Two Twisted Crowns completes Rachel Gillig’s romantasy duology, THE SHEPHERD KING. Along the way, lovers are parted, bonds are broken, justice is meted out and centuries-old secrets are revealed.

This review may contain spoilers for One Dark Window, the first book of the series.

At the end of the first book, Elspeth revealed that Nightmare, the magical entity she hosts, knew the location of the final Providence card,

November 7th, 2024. Marion Deeds´s rating: 3.5 | Rachel Gillig | SFF Reviews | no comments |

WWWednesday: November 6, 2024

Reactor has an interview with Anna de Marcken, who won the Ursula K. LeGuin award with her novella It Lasts Forever and Then It’s Over, described as “not your usual zombie story.” She states she’s uncomfortable with metaphors.

Judith Tarr sometimes reviews older movies, especially ones with a speculative story element. Here she reviews 1996’s Loch Ness.

Readers won a victory against book-banning in Alaska.

In her newsletter, Charlie Jane Anders talks about first-draft revisions and making words count.

Films that flopped and then became classics: the Guardian has a list.

November 6th, 2024. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | no comments |

Ghost Drum: A dark and haunting Slavic fairy tale

Ghost Drum by Susan Price

Susan Price is a gifted author, though like Anne Pilling, I suspect her work is just a tad too dark and uncanny to draw in a devoted child fanbase. Truly, she pulls no punches with what she writes for her young audience – here for example, the protagonist is killed when she’s deliberately impaled with a large stake. Though she finds a way to reanimate her body, it’s not before hungry wolves chew off one of her arms. You know,

Abeni’s Song: A beguiling middle grade adventure

Abeni’s Song by P. Djèlí Clark

P. Djèlí Clark’s 2023 middle-grade adventure novel, Abeni’s Song, kicks off a new series with an engaging heroine, wonderful magic and thrilling adventures. Set in an African forest during the 18th or 19th century, Abeni’s Song follows Abeni as she tries to recover her friends and family from an enemy who calls himself the Witch Priest. The Witch Priest has given the adults of Abeni’s village to the “ghost ships.” It is up to her,

Horror Double Feature: PROM NIGHT & FRIDAY THE 13th

In today’s 23rd and final Shocktober Double Feature, we will deal with an ax-wielding nutjob, Leslie Nielsen, horny camp counselors, and a relentless series of homicides! It’s Prom Night and Friday the 13th!

PROM NIGHT (1980)

Take a dash of Brian de Palma’s Carrie, blend in a hint of John Carpenter’s Halloween, sprinkle in a healthy pinch of Saturday Night Fever and you may end up with a concoction very much like 1980’s Prom Night,

October 31st, 2024. Sandy Ferber | Film / TV, Horror | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

WWWednesday: October 30, 2024

The 2024 World Fantasy Convention, held in Niagara Falls, NY, was a lot of fun. The World Fantasy Con on Sunday, October 20. They included The Reformatory by Tananarive Due for Best Novel, Half The House is Haunted by Josh Malerman for Best Novella, and “Silk and Cotton Awards were announced and Linen and Blood” by Nghi Vo for Best Short Fiction.

I am posting a picture of a black squirrel I saw at Niagara Falls park, because I had never seen that color variation before, and a picture of the waterfalls veiled in mist,

October 30th, 2024. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 1 comment |

Horror Double Feature: The Manitou & The Descent!

In today’s Shocktober Double Feature, we will be mesmerized by a hideous neck fetus (yes, you read that right), a levitating old biddy, a spelunking trip gone horribly wrong, and albino bat creatures! It’s The Manitou and The Descent!

THE MANITOU (1978)

My psychotronic-film guru, Rob, didn’t have to do more than give me a one-sentence summary of its storyline in order to convince me to see 1978’s The Manitou. After all, what horror fan wouldn’t be sold by a plot in which pretty Susan Strasberg develops a large tumor on her neck,

October 30th, 2024. Sandy Ferber | Film / TV, Horror | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |

Horror Double Feature: The Changeling & The Haunting of Morella!

In today’s Shocktober Double Feature, we will be chilled by a seriously haunted house, a creepy séance, an evil old witch, and David McCallum! It’s The Changeling and The Haunting of Morella!

THE CHANGELING (1980)

I came to discover this movie after reading of it in the wonderful reference book DVD Delirium, which begins its review of The Changeling by saying “Now this is how you do a scary ghost story.” As it turns out, I couldn’t agree more.

October 29th, 2024. Sandy Ferber | Film / TV, Horror | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |

Horror Double Feature: Mantis in Lace & Breeders!

In today’s Shocktober Double Feature, we will be faced with an LSD freakout, a meat-cleaver murder, bare-nekkid ladies, and extraterrestrial insectoids! It’s Mantis in Lace and Breeders!

MANTIS IN LACE (1968)

Mantis in Lace is, in four fairly equal quarters, a soft-core skin flick, a psychedelic drug movie, a slasher horror film AND a police procedural. In it, we meet Lila (Susan Stewart), a young and gorgeous topless dancer who takes LSD one night with a guy she’s picked up. After hallucinating pretty severely for a while,

October 28th, 2024. Sandy Ferber | Film / TV, Horror | SFF Reviews | no comments |

Horror Double Feature: The Baby & The Abandoned!

In today’s Shocktober Double Feature, we will be gobsmacked by a grown man who lives in a baby crib, the always-wonderful Marianna Hill, zombies, and a haunted farmhouse! It’s The Baby and The Abandoned!

THE BABY (1973)

Although many of us have been guilty of “not acting our age” on occasion, few can be said to be so consistently immature as the character David Manzy plays in the 1973 horror film The Baby. Manzy’s Baby is a 21-year-old man who lives in a crib,

October 25th, 2024. Sandy Ferber | Film / TV, Horror | SFF Reviews | no comments |

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Recent Discussion:

Marion Deeds on Cahokia Jazz: Syncretism, symbolism and realpolitikNovember 26, 2024
I think you'll enjoy it.
Bill Capossere on Cahokia Jazz: Syncretism, symbolism and realpolitikNovember 26, 2024
sounds fascinating--on my list!
Justin Blazier on Fourth Wing: Dragons, death, and damn those tight pants!November 26, 2024
Definitely a fun ride, even if a little outside my usual tastes. It'll be a great TV series if they…
Kat Hooper on Fourth Wing: Dragons, death, and damn those tight pants!November 25, 2024
I've been wondering about this book!
Sensor Sweep: Tolkien, Robert E. Howard, Leviathan, D.C. Comics – castaliahouse.com on Horror Double Feature: Die, Monster, Die! & I, MonsterNovember 25, 2024
[…] (Fantasy Literature): In today’s Shocktober Double Feature we have two curious stories, courtesy of H. P. Lovecraft […]