Latest Posts

  • Green Grow the Rushes, O

    Green Grow the Rushes, O Happy Winter Solstice! In honor of the day, I’m thinking of the old folk song, “Green Grow the Rushes, O.” It’s frequently listed as a “song of Christmas,” yet many of its references are clearly… Continue reading

  • Congratulations, World Fantasy Convention 2017 Winners!

    The convention, held this November, recently announced its roster of winners. You can find them here: 2017 World Fantasy Convention℠ Continue reading

  • Fantasy writers’ award switches to new design; away from Lovecraft

    And it’s about time. Since 1975, the World Fantasy Convention has awarded a statuette depicting horror writer H. P. Lovecraft to honor the best fantasy fiction of the year. Along with the Nebula and Hugo awards, the World Fantasy award… Continue reading

  • Is today International Fairy Day?

    I keep seeing this, as well as references to some mysterious “official fairy day web site.” Trying to track down its origins, I have come to the conclusion that “international fairy day” may have been an invention of fantasy artist Jessica… Continue reading

  • Ishiguro, Murikami, and the Uses of Fantasy

    Fantasy is an enduring genre with multitudes of fans, yet many literary types dismiss it. Why? To be honest, a lot of fantasy suffers from a problem that afflicts much speculative fiction (science fiction, dystopian fiction. . .a loose term). Unfortunately,… Continue reading

  • The Intergalactic Nemesis

    It’s a bird. . .it’s a plane. . .it’s a radio program. . .it’s a comic book. A LARGE comic book. Uhhh. . .what is it, actually? The Intergalactic Nemesis is a stage production created by a group calling itself… Continue reading

  • All Hallows’ Eve, by Charles Williams, Inkling

    Happy Halloween! ‘Tis the season to remember Charles Williams, especially his novel All Hallows’ Eve, set as it is on the night before All Saints Day. All Saints Day, aka All Hallows Day (saint=holy=hallowed), is the day the Church sets… Continue reading

  • Where’s Cthulhu?

    Sometime in the late summer or early fall of 1926, H. P. Lovecraft wrote his most famous work of horror fiction, The Call of Cthulhu. Cthulhu was an ugly crouching clay idol that the narrator, in the first chapter (“The… Continue reading

  • How to become a fresh, clean, MASCULINE scent elf

    Old Spice deodorant has repackaged itself to reflect a cool new generation. Sure, you can buy Old Spice “Classic.” But. . but. . . that’s your father’s deodorant, right? This is not your father’s Old Spice-mobile. Now you can buy… Continue reading

  • All the news from FantasticFest 2012

    FantasticFest is the Austin, Texas film festival Variety calls “the geek Telluride.” The festival screens the latest fantasy, horror, scifi, and just plain weird movies. This year’s standout moment was a secret screening of Cloud Atlas, the film version of … Continue reading