Blog Archives

Science Fiction (William Emmons Books): This installment of the Official William Emmons Books Newsletter is a look at the October 1949 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. I’ll be getting into the meat of the issue in this post. But since this is the first full issue of Astounding I’ve reviewed here, I’ll start by laying […]

Weird Tales (Tellers of Weird Tales): Three stories appeared in Weird Tales under the byline “Houdini.” I have nominated Otis Adelbert Kline as the author of the first, “The Spirit Fakers of Hermannstadt” (two-part serial, Mar.-Apr. 1924). John Locke has offered Harold Ward as possible author of the second, “The Hoax of the Spirit Lover” (Apr. […]

Fiction (Syfy.com): An oft-discussed, but seldom seen, short story written by a young Rod Serling has finally entered our dimension. Now available to read in the latest issue of The Strand Magazine, “First Squad, First Platoon,” is a semi-autobiographical tale based on The Twilight Zone creator’s harrowing experiences during Pacific combat in World War II. Told from […]

Comic Books (Rip Jagger Dojo): As far as I can remember the Eclipse Comics adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit came out of left field. I don’t remember much buzz about it at the time, but it was a period when I was less connected to comics overall. After the burst of interest in fantasy […]

Conan (Sprague de Camp Fan): The Conan Companion, Hall Publications, is a 24-page booklet published in 1976. It consists of articles by Michael Resnick, David and Susannah Bates, John Meyer, L. Sprague de Camp, and Bill Crlikov and artwork by Gene Day, Richard L. Farley, Ken Raney, Bot Roda, and Wayne Warfield. Genre (Wasteland & […]

Conan (Sprague de Camp Fan): “Lethal Consignment” by Shaun Hamill is the newest Heroic Legends Conan e-book. Shaun Hamill lives in north Texas, so he is a neighbor of mine. Perhaps he’ll make it to Howard Days on June 7th in Cross Plains. At only $1.99 Mr. Hamill’s consignment writing of this Conan short story […]

Publishing (Wasteland & Sky): We’re going back to that seminal year in 1939. This was back when Fandom were holding conventions and looking towards the glorious utopic future. Meanwhile, a set of writers were more concentrated on preserving a past in danger of being forgotten. This is the story of Arkham House! Fantasy (Echoes of […]