When he wasn’t chained and hanging from skyscrapers, or entombed underwater, Harry Houdini spent much time debunking criminals and fraudulent spiritualists. By the 1920s, Spiritualism had taken on religious weight both in Europe and the United States, and as with such phenomena, unscrupulous types stepped in to gain profit or to exploit hopeful séance attendees […]

No superhero has received more ridicule than Ultra the Multi-Alien. Even Aquaman garnered more respect during the years when fans denigrated him as the useless Justice League member who swims and talks to fish.  Jon Morris includes Ultra in his The League of Regrettable Superheroes, stating “Ultra resembles a mixed-up box of puzzle pieces.”  Blogger […]

Books based on or related directly to Universal Monsters have been appearing for decades.  Many read like lighter versions of Kim Newman’s Anno Dracula, bursting with Easter eggs from other sources within the Universal library and beyond.  I’ll discuss a few to show you how writers and publishers have drawn inspiration from these classic films. […]

I can’t do audio formats. When friends went mad for Welcome to Nightvale, The Thrilling Adventure Hour, and podcasts, I hoped for print editions of these recordings so I could join the fun.  Thankfully, the forces behind Welcome to Nightvale have come through for me, publishing scripts I can read while listening to episodes. But […]

Musicals aren’t my first choice for entertainment, but I’ve enjoyed sing-along performances of My Fair Lady played at the Retrodome, now 3Below, located in San Jose, California.  During my 1989 three-month tour of Europe, I spent a week in Salzburg, Austria, where I stayed at a hostel which offered daily Sound of Music tours and […]

The first episode of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel contains the greatest television scene I’ve ever witnessed. Until reaching that magic moment, viewers receive introductory material about Miriam “Midge” Maisel, a well-to-do resident of the Upper West Side in New York during the late 1950s.  Her husband’s a professional, her father’s a mathematician at Columbia University, […]

In 2019, Worldcon, the annual World Science Fiction Convention, happened in Dublin, Ireland.  Beyond enjoying the convention, my time on the Emerald Isle represented a homecoming, an unexpected reunion of sorts, because I connected with my familial roots in a stunningly unexpected way. The process began with my mother, who passed in 2004, and who […]

In 2016, Justice League Action premiered on Cartoon Network. Each episode featured two fifteen-minute segments during which members of the Justice League face off against any number of villains. The series lasted for one season and although the format was geared toward younger viewers, references to Silver Age heroes and concepts kept older fans interested […]

If you ever go back into Wooley Swamp, son, you better not go at night!There’s things out there in the middle of them woodsThat’d make a strong man die from fright!There’s things that crawl, and things that fly,And things that creep around on the ground!And they say the ghost of Lucias Clay gets up and […]

Two films bear the title The Tower of London, both offering interpretations of events surrounding Richard III that exploit elements of horror.  I saw the first forty years ago, and when Chris Garcia proposed an  issue of The Drink Tank focusing on all aspects of the Tower of London itself, I decided to not only […]