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The author of Skulls in the Stars is a professor of physics, specializing in optical science, at UNC Charlotte. The blog covers topics in physics and optics, the history of science, classic pulp fantasy and horror fiction, and the surprising intersections between these areas. -
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Author Archives: skullsinthestars
Meeting Darlene and playing Jasmine: The Battle for the Mid-Realm!
Life has had its ups and downs over the past few years, with a number of particularly painful downs. But every once in a while, something really lovely happens that reminds me that the world still has some surprises and … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment, Fantasy fiction, Personal
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The Third Grave, by David Case
As a big fan of ancient Egypt, I am a sucker for horror novels based on ancient Egyptian mythology. So when I saw that Valancourt Books had reprinted David Case’s 1981 novel The Third Grave earlier this year, I knew … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
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Edweard Muybridge’s grand achievement (1873)
So, now that my book Falling Felines and Fundamental Physics is available for purchase, I’ve been answering questions for editors working on the translated editions that will appear. These questions led me back to doing a little historical research, and … Continue reading
Posted in Animals, History of science
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A Night in the Lonesome October, by Roger Zelazny
So, just before October began, I declared my plan to read Roger Zelazny’s A Night in the Lonesome October (1993) in the way that a lot of dedicated fans do: one chapter per day. This post is a summary of … Continue reading
Gallery of classic horror illustrations!
I’ve been in a very Halloween mood this year, and with the holiday almost upon us, I thought I would share one more post about classic horror. This time, I want to focus on the classic illustrations that accompanied a … Continue reading
Old School Dungeons & Dragons: Part 11
Well, I’ve finally done enough old school Dungeons & Dragons posts on twitter to fill a blog post again! So here’s an update to my long-running series of classic D&D. Earthshaker! (1985), by David “Zeb” Cook. The exclamation point is … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment, Fantasy fiction
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Halloween Treats 2019
Time to continue what has been the longest-running tradition on this blog: posting a collection of classic (freely available) horror stories for folks to read during the creepy season! The list of past posts is getting too long to share … Continue reading
