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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. -
Category Archives: Horror
Basil Copper’s “Necropolis” and “Into the Silence”
Thanks to a busy workload over the past few months, I’m way behind in my blogging on a variety of topics! I thought I’d start catching up first on my backlog of weird fiction, as I’ve been reading an immense … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Mystery/thriller
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John Blackburn’s “A Scent of New-Mown Hay” and “The Flame and the Wind”
Valancourt Books has been releasing new editions of classic John Blackburn books faster than I can blog about them! I’ve spent a fair amount of time talking about Blackburn on this blog, and with good reason: he was an amazing … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
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The Challenge from Beyond, with Moore, Merritt, Lovecraft, Howard, and Long
No matter how much classic weird fiction I read, there is still plenty out there that I have not read, or even heard about. Recently I was surprised to learn about a five-part tale of weirdness, The Challenge from Beyond … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Lovecraft
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A few intriguing Valancourt Books releases!
Been very busy with work lately, trying to meet some deadlines before the start of the Fall semester. In the meantime, I thought I’d say a few words about a few recent Valancourt Books releases that I read on my … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
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Richard Le Gallienne’s “The Worshipper of the Image” (1899)
I have been arguing for some time that there is much more of a connection between horror and science than is generally appreciated. In fact, I explore this relationship in detail on my Tumblr, Science Chamber of Horrors. Occasionally, however, … Continue reading
Posted in History of science, Horror
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Basil Copper’s The Great White Space
H.P. Lovecraft not only introduced a fundamentally new genre of horror — “cosmic horror” — but inspired generations of writers who have built on his ideas and taken them in interesting new directions. Valancourt Books recently released a new edition … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Lovecraft
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R.I.P. Richard Matheson (1926-2013)
Yesterday, I learned via Boing Boing that Richard Matheson, amazing author of speculative fiction, horror, and much more, died at the age of 87. One of my earliest blog posts was a “horror masters” post on Richard Matheson, who I’ve … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Science fiction
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Jack Finney’s The Body Snatchers
This post continues a long-neglected series of posts about classic novels of science fiction and horror that were adapted into movies of the 1950s and 1960s. Years past, I talked about John Wyndham’s The Midwich Cuckoos and The Day of … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Science fiction
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John Blackburn’s The Face of the Lion
I won’t have many more of these to announce in the future (I swear!), but I wanted to point out that another book by John Blackburn has been released recently that contains an introduction by me — The Face of … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
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Colin Wilson’s The Philosopher’s Stone
I have to admit: I almost didn’t finish reading Colin Wilson‘s 1969 novel The Philosopher’s Stone, recently reprinted by Valancourt Books. The novel is, in my opinion, a slow-starter; it takes quite some time for this curious story to find … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Lovecraft, Science fiction
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Skulls in the Stars 