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November – 2018 – castaliahouse.com

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Mousehole, by Stuart Harbour appeared in the Winter 1954 issue of Fantastic Story Magazine. It can be read here at Archive.org. Mousehole is one of those stories that takes a sort of cutesy approach to weird horror. The premise is Lovecraftian, the outcome grisly, and the results droll. The nutshell of the story is a […]

Do you miss the days when science fiction stories meant fun, crazy ideas? When a short fiction collection would entertain you and wow you with its strange, bold worlds? Then you’ll love the leading Hispanic voice in Science Fiction’s debut short fiction collection. With influences ranging from Heinlein, to McCaffrey, to Burroughs, these short stories […]

Don’t let the cover fool you, Choose Your Own Apocalypse won’t leave you flipping back and forth based on choices you make.   Presented by The Space Balrogs, a collective of science-fiction authors who pool their writing talents and marketing savvy, this book feels more like a sampler platter than a meal, and that’s not a […]

“Prince of Egypt” is a 1998 animated movie made by Dreamworks back before Dreamworks ruined western animation with “Shrek”*. It is a musical made in a different, more mature and adult style than the Disney renaissance films that were all the rage those days. It is also probably the last great biblical epic ever put […]

Fiction (Weekly Standard): In 1975, Christopher Tolkien left his fellowship at New College, Oxford, to edit his late father’s massive legendarium. The prospect was daunting. The 50-year-old medievalist found himself confronted with 70 boxes of unpublished work. Thousands of pages of notes and fragments and poems, some dating back more than six decades, were stuffed […]

George R. R. Martin was on the Stephen Colbert Show Wednesday night. Colbert asked him about The Winds of Winter. Colbert said to him: “Aren’t you supposed to be finishing The Winds of Winter this entire time? Not to add to the chorus of ‘what has taken so long,’ but this is a 700-page detour!” Martin had […]

Pulps and comics are kissing cousins. Not only have comics plundered the pulps for heroes, stories, and franchises, in many cases, comics and pulps were owned by the same publishers. For instance, Street & Smith’s Chelsea House imprint ran comics of most of their pulp books. But Marvel holds special ties to science fiction. Not only […]

Samurai struggle with honor in civil war, dragons soar over nuclear wastelands, and Louis L’Amour, Andre Norton, and David Drake return in this roundup of the newest releases in fantasy and adventure fiction. Blade of Retribution (Blood Samurai #3) – Lynn Francis  An emperor’s wraith from the grave that would see the fall of a dynasty […]

Allow me to take a break from my usual column this week. Rather than sharing with you a small slice of the vast rich cake of independently produced genre fiction, I’d like to elbow my way into your celebration in order to express my gratitude and give thanks to some richly deserving parties.  I’ll have […]

Four Anime Reviews is one of the most popular posts I’ve ever done on the site. Since then I have watched a lot – and I do mean a LOT – more anime, and enjoyed almost all of it (I will only actually watch something to the end that I enjoy). In light of that, […]

JORDANETICS: A Journey Into the Mind of Humanity’s Greatest Thinker is now available for Kindle and Kindle Unlimited. Jordan Peterson is believed by many to be the greatest thinker that humanity has ever known. He is Father Figure, Philosopher-King, and Prophet to the millions of young men who are his most fervent fans. He is the […]

As a reviewer, I’m told I have two distinct responses to movies. The first is “This movie is so bad they should bring back the stocks so we can lock up everyone involved and pelt them with rotten vegetables.” My second review posture is “Eh, it didn’t totally suck in every single way,” which I’m […]