Marilyn Monroe at 100: Her Surprising Links to Cool Stuff
Believe it or not, Marilyn Monroe possessed some unguessed connections to Edgar Rice Burroughs, H. Rider Haggard and Fritz Leiber.
Read MorePeter Beresford Ellis: Championing the Celts for 80 Years
Peter Beresford Ellis is one of the foremost popularizers of Celtic fiction and non-fiction of the last hundred years. In addition, he has authored biographies of H. Rider Haggard and Talbot Mundy.
Read MoreJoseph Clement Coll -- A Century Gone
On this day in 1921, Joseph Clement Coll died suddenly of appendicitis at the age of forty. Widely-respected for his pen-and-ink technique, Coll had illustrated classic tales by Arthur Conan Doyle and Sax Rohmer. After his death, JCC's work would influence the likes of Frank Frazetta and Gary Gianni.
Read MoreTalbot Mundy and "Moon Over Africa"
The guys at the Old Time Radio website claim that the radio serial, “Moon Over Africa”, was written by pulp great, Talbot Mundy. Mundy’s biographer begs to differ.
Read MoreTalbot Mundy -- Eighty Years Gone
Talbot Mundy, one of the Forefathers of Sword and Sorcery, died on this date in 1940. His influence still lives on. You just have to know where to look.
Read MoreMundy Monday: Tros of Samothrace as a Precursor to Sword & Sorcery
Sword and sorcery tales are characterized by sword-swinging action focused on personal battles rather than world-shaking events, with an element of magic or the supernatural and sometimes one of romance as well. Tros of Samothrace has all those ingredients and was serialized a number of years before REH’s work; doesn’t that mean that it is Sword & Sorcery too?
Read MoreMundy Monday: The Savage Swords of Tros
Swords are a recurring feature of Talbot Mundy’s stories. The four swords that we will examine in this post are the gladius, the spatha, the falcata and the long sword used by the Celts.
Read MoreMundy Monday: The Purple Pirate
Purple Pirate continues the adventures of Tros of Samothrace amid the war-torn chaos of a period where half a dozen factions fought for the control of Rome and the seas were stalked by pirate kings who harassed the Wolves of the Tiber when they could and plundered the rest of the world when they willed.
Read MoreTo Dree, Or Not To Dree?
So, the other day I was rereading the first chapter of Robert E. Howard’s "People of the Black Circle" and I hit this line:
"Again that far, weirdly dreeing cry, from realms immeasurable."
That word, "dreeing." Obviously, the gerund form of "dree." But what was "dree"? What did it mean?
Read MoreMundy Monday: Queen Cleopatra
Cleopatra enlists Tros in her campaign to first ascend to the throne of Egypt and then to defend Egypt from Rome, the all-powerful and ever-hungry war machine that dominates the Mediterranean world. To do this, she will use every resource she can muster and all of her charms to beguile the one man who can master Rome and make it obey: Caesar himself.
Read More