This year marks the 160th anniversary of Lewis Carroll’s novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, which was originally published in 1865. Very few works of English-language children’s literature have had such a lifespan. 2025 also marks the 160th anniversaries of Mary Papes Dodge’s Hans Brinker, Mary White Sewell’s Mother’s Last Words, and Jean Ingelow’s Stories Told to…
ESSAY: How Naomi Kritzer’s Science Fiction Strips Away Cyberspace
We have entered an era of AI slop. Periodicals are struggling with floods of submissions cooked up by ChatGPT rather than human imaginations, while readers downloading ebooks from Amazon are faced with the possibility of their latest purchase being the churned-out product of AI masquerading as actual creativity or scholarship. While science fiction is no…
ESSAY: Lestat’s Precursors: Four Faces of American Vampirism
Some readers may feel that, so far, the stories covered in this series on nineteenth-century American vampire literature have shown an insufficient quantity of fangs. The first part covered stories by Edgar Allan Poe, Washington Irving, and Ambrose Bierce that dealt with the theme of the seductive revenant – but, strictly speaking, none were about…
ESSAY: Dead at 55: Survival of the Dead (2009)
Concluding a series that celebrates the fifty-fifth anniversary of Night of the Living Dead with a look at the classic zombie film and its many follow-ups.
ESSAY: Lestat’s Precursors: Cora Linn Daniels and Sardia
Continuing a series examining the early days of American vampire fiction: Part 1 looked at the work of Edgar Allan Poe, Washington Irving, and Ambrose Bierce; part 2 discussed a story by James Kirk Paulding. Now, let us meet another author…
ESSAY: Lestat’s Precursors: The Vroucolacas in America
The previous post in this series examined stories by Edgar Allan Poe, Washington Irving, and Ambrose Bierce that explored the themes of macabre resurrection and twisted sexuality, thereby helping to pave the way for later generations of American vampire literature. However, none of these stories directly addressed vampire folklore.
ESSAY: Dead at 55: John Russo at Avatar Press (2005-2011)
Content warning: This article contains illustrated scenes of graphic violence, including sexual violence. Continuing a series that celebrates the fifty-fifth anniversary of Night of the Living Dead with a look at the classic zombie film and its many follow-ups.
ESSAY: Lestat’s Precursors: Vampires in the American Canon
AMC’s Interview with the Vampire saw its second season this year, along with news that it had been renewed for a third season. There is evidently still life in the Anne Rice books which formed the basis of the series and gave the world the vampire antiheroes, Louis and Lestat.
ESSAY: Dead at 55: Day of the Dead Remake (2008)
Continuing a series that celebrates the fifty-fifth anniversary of Night of the Living Dead with a look at the classic zombie film and its many follow-ups.
ESSAY: Dead at 55: Diary of the Dead (2007)
Continuing a series that celebrates the fifty-fifth anniversary of Night of the Living Dead with a look at the classic zombie film and its many follow-ups.
ESSAY: Extreme Ghostbusters is Extremely Good (with Episode Guide)
There’s a piece of Ghostbusters media that often gets lost in the shuffle. No, I’m not talking about that one, I’m talking about Extreme Ghostbusters! If you’re unfamiliar, Extreme Ghostbusters [also known as XGB] was a short-lived animated series designed as a sequel series to The Real Ghostbusters. The show took place a few years…
ESSAY: Dead at 55: Night of the Living Dead 3D (2006)
Continuing a series that celebrates the fifty-fifth anniversary of Night of the Living Dead with a look at the classic zombie film and its many follow-ups.