Category Archives: Reading fiction

The Halloween read: the horror of Adrian Ross

Posted on October 31, 2019 by Brian Bixby

It’s my custom around Halloween to dredge up and read a “moldy oldie,” a story of horror or the supernatural written many years ago, which is mostly forgotten today. This year, my choice was the two horror stories written by … Continue reading →

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Horror for Halloween: The Werewolf of Paris by Guy Endore

Posted on October 31, 2018 by Brian Bixby

One of the standard criticisms of supernatural horror literature is that it is unreal. Why this isn’t a criticism of all literature is a good question, but supernatural horror literature is condemned for presenting us with unreal horrors when so … Continue reading →

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Review: The Disciples of Cthulhu (1976)

Posted on September 16, 2018 by Brian Bixby

So let me describe to you the typical Cthulhu Mythos story formula. Adult male comes across hints of evil. He does research, uncovering various writings that point to an alien evil that could destroy Mankind. Finally, he confronts the alien … Continue reading →

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Dead authors, live horrors: anthologies by Aickman and Matheson

Posted on July 25, 2018 by Brian Bixby

Of the two men, an American is more likely to recognize the works, if not the name, of Richard Matheson (1926 – 2013), because so many have been adapted to the screen. For example, there is that classic Twilight Zone episode, … Continue reading →

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Books of wonder: reviewing Ice and Picnic at Hanging Rock

Posted on March 4, 2018 by Brian Bixby

There are stupid ideas. And I had one. Why not review two genre-bending works of fiction, both by female British Commonwealth authors, both published in 1967? Won’t the comparisons be fun and informative? And so I sat down to read … Continue reading →

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Review: uncertain narrators in horror: novels by Hogg and Tryon

Posted on December 31, 2017 by Brian Bixby

We tend to think of the unreliable narrator as a 20th century development. The unreliable narrator rejects the apparent objectivity of the omniscient narrator so beloved by the Victorians, warning us that all knowledge is subjective, all stories told from … Continue reading →

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Future imperfect: reviewing the original Buck Rogers stories

Posted on April 1, 2017 by Brian Bixby

Of recent years, there have been complaints that science fiction is moving away from its roots, that it is less about heroic space opera and more about squishy liberal notions. This controversy has even upset the Hugo Awards. So I … Continue reading →

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Going back into time for historical fantasy novel reviews

Posted on March 28, 2017 by Brian Bixby

While I’ve not been writing, I’ve been reading to recharge my batteries. I tackled two recent historical fantasy novels, Stephanie Burgis’s Congress of Secrets (2016) and Walter H. Hunt’s Elements of Mind (2014). Odds are you might like one or the other, but … Continue reading →

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My 2016 horror moldy oldie: Edward Page Mitchell, The Crystal Man

Posted on October 30, 2016 by Brian Bixby

It’s time for the annual “moldy oldie” reading, when I dig up some generally forgotten writer’s horror stories to read for Halloween. This year, Paula Cappa,  an award-winning writer and blogger, introduced me to the stories of Edward Page Mitchell, … Continue reading →

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Review: Dawn Kurtagich, The Dead House

Posted on October 1, 2016 by Brian Bixby

It was the cover, and the tag line “the girl of nowhere,” that snagged me when I was looking for something light to read, because as we all know, Young Adult horror novels are light reading. Well, Dawn Kurtagich’s debut … Continue reading →

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