Friday, December 30, 2011

Fans on the Fence About "The Adventures of Tintin"

The GeekOut blog has an essay on why Tintinologists and fans are on the fence about the recent "The Adventures of Tintin" movie:

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Alert: Johnny Dixon & SF Gateway

In what probably will be our last post for 2011, we make note of yet another round of Bellairs e-books. Yes, we mentioned the American editions published by eReads earlier this summer and now we’re pleased to pass word along about the UK counterparts.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Time Capsule: 1885

December 21, 1885
: The sight of a comet, a brightly-lit fireball, blazing across the darkness of space can be a memorable and awe-inspiring scene. That’s just what happened 126 years ago tonight when such a chunk of rock landed on the Clabbernong Farm in Capharnaum County.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Where's There: Sorin Hall

John Bellairs describes this Notre Dame dormitory as "South Bend's answer to the House of Usher" with one room being “at least 15 feet high, its exact height being a mystery because of the ever-present cloud formations, and...decorated to resemble a cross between a Victorian tenement and a Pompeian attic [the beginning: a little too much about the author; Oct. 3, 1958].

Friday, December 9, 2011

Chapter Thirteen Witch Craft

Hey, friends, it’s your ol’ pal, Broteus, again – refreshed after the last holiday and preparing for the next gathering. I hope your Thanksgiving was pleasant. There’s wasn’t a lot going on at the Mitchell’s this year ‘cept we decided to invite my former graduate assistant, Myron, over to spend the day. He did some sort of trick to amuse the grand kids by sticking olives on the ends of his fingers. I didn’t get it. Did check out some of the Marcy’s Thanksgiving Parade, though. Anyone here remember some of the original balloons? Felix the Cat? Harold the Barrel? The two-headed pirate? Dalcy and I aren’t really up on the new characters...sort of a grand parade of lifeless product placement. (The grand kids liked this more than the olives, so they're mostly normal.) No sign of the tree, though.

Monday, December 5, 2011

A History Of The Horror Genre

Two things about author Brian Keene that you learn from his website are:
  1. he writes novels, comic books, short fiction, and occasional journalism for money, and
  2. his 2003 novel, The Rising, is often credited with inspiring pop culture’s current interest in zombies.
Keene gave the keynote speech at the 2011 Anthocon in Portsmouth, New Hampshire (the first Anthocon, held last month - November 11-13) and shared some of his thoughts on the "history of the horror genre":