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Review of “Count Magnus” by M. R. James: Halloween Countdown

Plot:The story’s narrator says he has come into possession of some papers belonging to Mr. Wraxall, a traveler and writer of travel guides. In the early summer of 1863, Mr. Wraxall sets off to explore Sweden. At the time, most Britons considered Scandinavia to be a backwater. Snobs. He spends time conducting research at aContinue reading “Review of “Count Magnus” by M. R. James: Halloween Countdown”

Review of “The Coach” by Violet Hunt: Halloween Countdown

Plot:An older man in a gray frock coat waits in a storm for a coach. The rain runs down the back of his suit; he has neither luggage nor an umbrella. It’s St. John’s Eve, midsummer. The coach arrives. The driver, wrapped against the weather, appears to have no head. The man in gray boards,Continue reading “Review of “The Coach” by Violet Hunt: Halloween Countdown”

Review of “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe: Halloween Countdown

Plot:Montresor tells the reader that he had borne the injuries from his friend Fortunato as best he could, but when Fortunato insulted him, he vowed revenge. He kept up the pretense of friendship until he could exact his revenge—and he would do so with impunity. Fortunato’s weak point was his belief in his connoisseurship ofContinue reading “Review of “The Cask of Amontillado” by Edgar Allan Poe: Halloween Countdown”

Review of “The Whistling Room” by William Hope Hodgson: Halloween Countdown

Plot: Carnacki recounts his adventures at (fictional) Iastrae Castle, some twenty miles northeast of Galway, Ireland. Mr. Sid K. Tassoc, the new owner, requested his help after finding the castle haunted. He bought the castle, intending to renovate it before marrying and bringing his bride to live there. He’s frustrated because sounds—whistling and sometimes screaming—comeContinue reading “Review of “The Whistling Room” by William Hope Hodgson: Halloween Countdown”

Review of “Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen” By Alex Diaz-Granados

Full disclosure: The author of this short story is a netbuddy of mine going back to sometime in the early aughts. We “met” on the (alas!) defunct site Epinions some twenty-odd (many of them quite odd) years ago. The Stuff: At a party where Jim is more observer than participant, a young woman approaches himContinue reading “Review of “Comings and Goings: The Art of Being Seen” By Alex Diaz-Granados”

Review of “The Dark Side of Christian History” by Helen Ellerbe

In short: The book has an engaging writing style and is a quick, easy read. However, it is too short to do the subject justice and suffers from oversimplification and insufficient information. My first impression of this book, with its 188 pages of text, was that it was too short to do its subject justice.Continue reading “Review of “The Dark Side of Christian History” by Helen Ellerbe”

Review of “Reunion: Coda: Book 2 of the Reunion Duology” by Alex Diaz-Granados

Full disclosure: The author and I have been netbuddies for twenty years (YEE GADS!), first “meeting” at the defunct review site, the late great Epinions. This novel is a lyrical story of new love interwoven with a story of acceptance of love lost and self-forgiveness. In his mid-thirties, Professor Jim Garraty is lucky in manyContinue reading “Review of “Reunion: Coda: Book 2 of the Reunion Duology” by Alex Diaz-Granados”

Review of “Mysterious Island” (1961)

Our Saturday night pizza and bad movie offering was an adaptation of a Jules Verne novel with stop-motion special effects of Ray Harryhausen. It brought me back to many Saturday afternoon movies back in the day. Plot: The opening scenes depict a storm at sea, but a scene title tells us the action takes placeContinue reading “Review of “Mysterious Island” (1961)”

Review of “Godzilla vs. Monster Zero” (1965)

For our Saturday pizza and bad movie, we enjoyed a return to the classics—a Kaiju flick that managed to squeeze in an alien invasion. Plot: The World Space Authority is sending two astronauts, Glenn Amer (Nick Adams) and K. Fuji (Akira Takarada), to explore the newly discovered Planet X, located beyond Jupiter. (… maybe wedgedContinue reading “Review of “Godzilla vs. Monster Zero” (1965)”

Review of “Two Boys Kissing” by David Levithan

The Stuff: This young adult novel follows the fortunes of several gay boys and young men. A Greek chorus of gay men who died during the AIDS crisis serves as the narrator. They cannot interact with the living. Peter and Neill are a couple still in high school who have been dating for a while.Continue reading “Review of “Two Boys Kissing” by David Levithan”