The DMRtian Chronicles, 2/6/2022
This week: Richard L. Tierney, Michael Moorcock, Conan, a possible Kane movie, Lovecraft, George Barr, Star Wars, and more.
Read MoreRichard L. Tierney: 1936-2022
Richard L. Tierney was one of the cadre of young authors back in the 1970s who spearheaded a Sword-and-Sorcery renaissance. He was also a poet and Cthulhu Mythos scholar of note. His tales of the ex-gladiator S&S hero, Simon of Gitta, remain classics in the genre.
Read MoreExcalibur Exegesis
This film, when I saw it in the theatre in 1981, had and still does have a great impact on me. In this brief essay I’d like to explain why. I write only on the basis of my own impressions. I have never listened to director John Boorman’s commentary; nor have I studied any other. This is Excalibur in the eye of the beholder.
Read More(The Best of) Edmond Hamilton's Weird Tales Fiction
Edmond Hamilton wrote many stories of Merrittesque adventure for Weird Tales during the 1930s and 1940s. In my opinion, those stories are some of his finest, albeit lesser-known. Hamilton could write a gripping weird tale, though he became more famous for his straight-up science fiction, especially his space operas.
Read MoreOf Pirates, Pigs, and Pagan Astronauts: Poul Anderson's Fantasy
Poul Anderson is one of the very best authors the the genre ever produced, effortlessly writing anything from Hard SF to retold Viking Sagas over his five-decade career. That said, most of his earlier work has remained stubbornly out of print. Which is just one reason why Fantasy, a 1981 title from Tor books, was such a rare treasure.
Read MoreThe Art of George Barr
George W. Barr—a cover artist for Amra, DAW Books, Amazing and Weird Tales—turned eighty-five today. Barr could—at the top of his game—paint covers with a sensuous or ethereal beauty, often in glorious colors.
Read MoreThe DMRtian Chronicles, 1/30/2022
This week: Elric, Conan, Clark Ashton Smith, Edmond Hamilton, ‘80s barbarian movies, and more.
Read MoreBeneath The Boiling Inrush of The Seas
In the late 19th century, the Lost Race/World novel had emerged as a major force with H. Rider Haggard’s She: A History of Adventure and its countless imitators. At the same time, there was a resurgence of speculation about the possible existence of Plato’s Atlantis. So perhaps it was inevitable that writers would decide to tell the story of the most famous lost civilization of all.
Read MoreBlack Sam Bellamy and the Witch of Wellfleet
Bellamy’s rise from treasure scavenger to pirate captain, capped by the capture of the Whydah Galley in 1717, and its destruction in a howling nor’easter in April of that year, enshrined Bellamy in legend and folklore. Among the folktales that surround Black Sam is the legend that he launched his pirate career for the love of Mary Hallet, who would herself go down in history as The Witch of Wellfleet.
Read MoreVampires, Skin-walkers and Lost Childhoods: The Widow’s Son by Ryan Williamson
The Widow’s Son starts with its protagonist, Zarahemla Two-Crows, Special Agent of the Federal Occult Research Bureau, escorting a psychopathic Skin-Walker prisoner to justice. We are in the Arizona Territory in the late 1870s and the (very) big taciturn special agent has his hands full. The “weird west” doesn’t get any weirder than this.
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