The Monster Story
This pot begins: Originally I was going to start this with “The Monster Story begins with Frankenstein” but with a little more thought I realized Read More
Category: Sword & Sorcery
Science Fiction Across the Genres
Science Fiction runs the gamut as it burns across the genres. You might think an SF story has to be robots, spaceships, time travel or Read More
Conan Novels
The Conan Novels have their own history alongside that of Robert E. Howard and his famous Cimmerian. Even if you never saw a copy of Read More
The Arthur W. Saha Year’s Best Fantasy
Arthur W. Saha (1923-1999) was editor for DAW’s Year’s Best Fantasy #7-14 (1981-1988). The previous editor had been Lin Carter, whose selections leaned towards Sword Read More
The Sapphire Siren & Portal Fantasy
“The Sapphire Siren” was an unusual tale from an author with an equally odd name, Nyctzin Dyalhis. The story appeared in Weird Tales, February 1934 Read More
The Dark One by Bill Purcell
I came across this old review I wrote for The Dark One by Bill Purcell and it got me thinking. How many now obscure books Read More
Careful What You Wish For III: I Want a New Genre
One piece of advice most writing books make is that a new writer should familiarize themselves with their chosen genre so they don’t repeat worn Read More
Top Ten Favorite Robert E. Howard Monsters
My top ten favorite Robert E. Howard monsters appear here chronologically because I can’t bring myself to pick a number one favorite. It was hard Read More
Conan and the Cthulhu Mythos
Conan, the black-haired, red-skinned Cimmerian, has become over the last fifty years a different fellow than the legendary swordsman who walked off the pages of Read More
The Towers of Fantasy
The Pulps The towers of fantasy fiction have always been locations of sorcery, mystery and strife. If the bad guy lives in a tower, whether Read More