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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
I Believe in Mister Bones, by Max Booth III
Book 6 for my 2025 goal of 30 books for the year! I’m off to an absurdly good start. Sometimes it takes something very simple to draw me to read a book. In the case of I Believe in Mister … Continue reading
Latest Dead Reckonings is out!
Hi folks! For those who are familiar, I occasionally write book reviews for the horror and weird periodical Dead Reckonings, and the most recent issue is out! I wrote about Laird Barron’s recent collection of horror fiction, a return to … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Personal
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The Night of the Ripper, by Robert Bloch
Book 4 for 2025! My goal is 30 this year. My friends at Valancourt Books have recently been reprinting the works of horror master Robert Bloch, most famous for penning Psycho (1959) but also an award winning author of many … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Mystery/thriller
Tagged book review, Fiction, History, Horror, review
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Bury Your Gays, by Chuck Tingle
Book 1 of 30 for 2025! I’m off to a great start with a great book. Back in 2023 I read Chuck Tingle’s debut horror novel Camp Damascus and absolutely loved it. Tingle followed up not long after with Bury … Continue reading
The Citadel of Fear, by Francis Stevens
Book 19 of 26 books for 2024! Can I reach 22 before year’s end? I definitely underestimated Francis Stevens on this one. Stevens was the pseudonym of Gertrude Barrows Bennett (1884-1948), an author of fiction that now tends to fall under … Continue reading
Gwen in Green, by Hugh Zachary
Book 18 of 26 books for 2024! Maybe I’ll make at least 22… Valancourt Books has been doing a great literary service by reprinting “Paperbacks from Hell” such as Carnosaur, and I’ve been reading as many of them as I can … Continue reading
The Case Against Satan, by Ray Russell
Book 17 of 26 books for 2024! Hoping to hit 20. I think everyone on the planet is familiar with William Peter Blatty’s 1971 novel The Exorcist and the William Friedkin-directed 1973 adaptation, which is widely considered one of the greatest … Continue reading
The Opener of the Way, by Robert Bloch
Book 15 of 26 books for 2024! Still aiming for 20. Valancourt Books, of who I am a huge fan of, continues to impress with quality editions of quality authors. Recently, they have started reprinting the works of horror master Robert … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Lovecraft
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Alley, by Junji Ito
Book 13 of 26 books for 2024! Fighting to complete most of my objective, in spite of life throwing me a lot of tough curveballs. I’ve spent a significant amount of time talking about the work of Junji Ito, a … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
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The Book of Iod, by Henry Kuttner
Book 12 of 26 books for 2024! Let’s see if I can get to 50% read by the end of the weekend… I have long been a fan of the work of Henry Kuttner, who was perhaps the most versatile … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
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