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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
Two ghost stories: “The Man in the Picture” and “Isis”
It seems that ghost stories have been told since the beginning of speech itself, and have held a special place in the imagination of people for just as long. It is hard to characterize what sets a “ghost story” apart … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
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Stephen McKenna’s The Oldest God
Imagine that you were at an isolated weekend party, and people started to act aberrant, even evil. You begin to suspect that one of the guests of the party is in fact a monster, corrupting the others. What do you … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Lovecraft
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Isaac Newton… Father of invisibility physics?
My blog has been a good impetus to research a number of interesting scientific topics more deeply than I would otherwise have had the ambition to do. For instance, since the blog’s inception, I’ve been pushing the origins of “invisibility physics” … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Invisibility, Science fiction
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Laird Barron’s Occultation
It didn’t take much for me to become a fan of Laird Barron’s writing. I first encountered the horror author’s work in the wonderful anthology Haunted Legends, and Barron’s story The Redfield Girls stood out as a beautifully written and … Continue reading
Peter Straub’s Ghost Story
I have historically had a curious quirk about my fiction reading that I suspect a lot of people share: the more famous a work is, the less motivated I am to read it. This may be the hipster within me … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
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Madness on canvas: art in horror fiction
When you read enough horror fiction, certain themes recur consistently in the wonderful chaos of ideas. Among these, I was recently struck by how often the visual arts appear as the centerpiece of horror stories. This primarily involves paintings, but … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
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Martin Cruz Smith’s Nightwing
It can take an author many years of writing to establish their own unique voice and style. Their early works are often a fascinating “what if” scenario, giving a glimpse of directions a well-known novelist may have alternatively taken. The … Continue reading
Posted in Animals, Horror
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Laird Barron’s The Imago Sequence
Still working on my NaNoWriMo novel, though I hope to finish well before the end of the month. In the meantime, I’m trying to catch up on a few long-delayed posts! Last month, I had the pleasure of reading and … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
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The Lady of the Lake… a scientific ghost story
Ghost stories are somewhat passé in our modern, technical world — many of the mysterious phenomena that used to fill people with fear in past eras have been demystified thanks to our better knowledge of science. The phantom lights in … Continue reading
Posted in General science, Horror
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Datlow and Mamatas’ “Haunted Legends”
I can always tell when Halloween is near — wandering through the bookstore, I inevitably find multiple new books of horror that I absolutely cannot resist. This time around, I found three must-have hardcovers, putting a significant dent in my … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
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Skulls in the Stars 