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Borges Wrote the Sci-Fi Masterpiece of the 20th Century
Science fiction is any idea that occurs in the head and doesn’t exist yet, but soon will, and will change everything for everybody, and nothing will ever be the same again. — Ray Bradbury In 1944 a little-known Argentine writer named Jorge Luis Borges published a slender volume of cryptic short stories humbly titled Ficciones. Enigmatic and…
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The Many Covers of RL Stine
RL Stine has the benefit of having written for both teens and young readers during an era of markedly good cover art. Few series have been as blessed by consistently fantastic artwork as Goosebumps, and Stine’s early work for Point Horror hit the market when garish, sleazy covers were still the norm for works of horror…
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Bentley Little’s The Store: An Underrated Masterpiece
I don’t know why I’ve avoided Bentley Little for so long. I read his novel The Walking when it came out, and half of The Town years ago, but neither novel caught my attention so much that I stuck with him. That says more about me though than it does about Little, because after finally coming around to reading The…
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Baby Driver: The Perfect Score for the Perfect Score
Baby Driver squealed into theaters last week, debuting as the first great action movie of the summer. Sporting a top-shelf ensemble cast, inventive chase scenes—both on road and on foot—and one of the coolest soundtracks since Guardians of the Galaxy, the newest offering from director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) is pleasing…
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Borges Essay Wins Thresholds International Feature Competition 2017
It was announced today that my essay “Did Borges Write the Sci-Fi Masterpiece of the 20th Century?” won this year’s Thresholds Feature Writing Competition. The judges were incredibly generous in their assessment of the piece: ‘This intriguing short essay allows us to explore the brilliance of Borges’ short stories as well as his uncanny prescience as…
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Submitted For the Approval of the Midnight Society: The Rise and Decline of Horror Anthologies on TV
The history of television is marked throughout by horror anthologies: shows that presented standalone terrors night after night. In spite of a healthy birth and a productive span of decades, the form has–sadly–witnessed a sad decline. That television as a medium is currently booming makes this decline all the more puzzling. The heyday for televised…
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Read an Ebook Week: Free Downloads at Smashwords.com!
As part of Read an Ebook Week (March 5 thru March 11) you can download both of my story collections completely FREE at Smashwords.com.Click the link below to be taken to the downloads: Smashwords Read an Ebook Week Hope you enjoy! If you do, let me know by leaving a review on Goodreads or Amazon.com.…
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How Stephen King’s Earliest Novels Shaped His Career
Juvenilia is a term used to define the works of a writer or artist that are produced while they are still young and before their skills have been wholly fine-tuned. For most writers, this work is rather embarrassing. It is all too easy to see the flawed characters, the hackneyed dialogue, the wandering plot of…
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How Michael Crichton Mined Classic Literature to Write Modern Science Fiction
Years after his death, Michael Crichton is still dominating American culture. Jurassic World shattered records at the box office upon its release, demonstrating that Crichton’s dinosaurs-run-amok brainchild still holds wide appeal. HBO’s remake of Crichton’s early film Westworld was met with great fanfare, both from critics and audiences. And in 2017, a newly-discovered Crichton manuscript will be…
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The Black Cat Moan 