Tag Archives: review

50 years dead: Grace Metalious and Peyton Place

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Brian Bixby

It was fifty years ago today that the unhappy Grace Metalious (born Marie Grace DeRepentigny, 1924 – 1964), author of that scandalous best seller, Peyton Place, succeeded in drinking herself to death. In her lifetime, Peyton Place was banned from libraries and bookstores … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Review: Flowers, Galdrabok: Icelandic Book of Magic

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Brian Bixby

A few years ago, I found out from Owen Davies’ Grimoires  that there was an English translation of an Icelandic grimoire. Having developed an interest in the Icelandic sagas and the curious magic in them, I meant to hunt the translation … Continue reading →

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Conflict: reviewing a year of writing

Posted on January 28, 2014 by Brian Bixby

Time for another review of writing techniques, based on the last year’s work. Let’s talk about conflict. Lesson #1: Personal conflict works. Some of the better parts of Martha’s Children, notably Nora’s tense interview with her parish priest, are driven … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing fiction | Tagged , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

The blog from now until February, 2014

Posted on December 23, 2013 by Brian Bixby

With the conclusion of my Christmastime ghost story Nightfeather: Ghosts yesterday, this blog is going off its regular schedule until February 1, 2014. That doesn’t mean there won’t be any posts, just that they won’t follow a regular schedule, let alone … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing fiction | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Review: William Hope Hodgson, The Ghost Pirates (1909)

Posted on October 31, 2013 by Brian Bixby

William Hope Hodgson (1877 – 1918) was a modestly successful English writer in his day, until he joined up in World War I and was killed on the battlefields of France. His reputation, never great, languished for several decades. In … Continue reading →

Posted in Reading fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Off to the movies: one old, one new: Hell House, Hell Baby

Posted on October 14, 2013 by Brian Bixby

I live with someone who does not enjoy horror films, so when she’s away, I often rent them. This last weekend was one such occasion, so I watched two films, 1973’s The Legend of Hell House and this year’s Hell Baby. The … Continue reading →

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Stoker devolution: from Dracula to Seven Stars to The Awakening

Posted on September 17, 2013 by Brian Bixby

Between having some idle time, and doing some Egyptian-themed reading, I decided to watch a movie I’d been meaning to see for some years, The Awakening. No, I’m not going Kate Chopin on you, nor am I talking about the 2011 … Continue reading →

Posted in Reading fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Review: The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Sept./Oct. 2013

Posted on September 10, 2013 by Brian Bixby

I wanted to like the current issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction more than I did. The writing is polished and there are some clever ideas here. That’s the problem: the stories are more successful going for my … Continue reading →

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Chapter 27 of Martha’s Children, and Rick Springfield’s Nick Knight

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Brian Bixby

Martha’s had a bad day. A dead sorceress has hauled her out of her coffin, one of her offspring left behind a dismembered corpse, and she passed out unexpectedly. But it’s now nighttime, and nighttime is the right time when … Continue reading →

Posted in Martha's Children, Reviews, Writing fiction | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

One billion years plus forty: Brian Aldiss and the history of sci-fi

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Brian Bixby

One of my constant readers, Judy (whose blog demonstrates her skills as a photographer), sent me a copy of Brian W. Aldiss’s Billion Year Spree: The True History of Science Fiction (1973), along with some cards featuring her photography. The … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Reading fiction, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 15 Comments