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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
John Wyndham’s The Day of the Triffids (1951)
This continues my brief foray into 1950s/1960s horror/science fiction, which I started with John W. Campbell’s Who Goes There?, which was the source for The Thing From Another World and John Carpenter’s The Thing. Today let’s talk triffids! A couple … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
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Thomas M. Disch’s The M.D.: A Horror Story
My post-doc advisor once suggested that the ultimate sign of a good movie is whether or not it ‘stays’ with you after it’s over. The same can also be said about good fiction, which will end up haunting the reader … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
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Valancourt Books continues its evil plot to free me of my money!
Anyone who’s been reading this blog for a while knows that I’m a big fan of Valancourt Books, especially their excellent reprints of classic works by Richard Marsh. Well, I’ve been trying to cut back on my book buying recently, … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
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Dracula’s forefathers: Lord Ruthven, Varney and Carmilla
The depiction of the vampire which we see in most of contemporary horror fiction has its roots in Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897). Of course, vampires have lurked in the shadows of folklore through recorded history, and Stoker drew upon that … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
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John W. Campbell Jr.’s Who Goes There?
I’ll be getting back to some physics posts this week — I promise! In the meantime, I thought I’d step away from reading old, old classic horror of the 19th century for a bit and look to a different era: … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment, Horror
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James Malcolm Rymer’s Varney the Vampire
One of the reasons I enjoy writing this blog is that it gives me an excuse to hunt down and read obscure horror classics that were nonetheless highly influential on the genre. Last night I finished reading such a classic … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
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Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s The Last Days of Pompeii
One of the fun things about blogging about both science and horror fiction is the unusual connections that one can find between them. On of my favorite science topics outside of physics is vulcanology, which is why I read blogs … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Mystery/thriller
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Roald Dahl, sex spy?
This is entertaining. Roald Dahl, famous author of children’s stories such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and nasty little shockers such as Man From the South, was apparently a spy for the British government during World War II. His … Continue reading
Posted in ... the Hell?, Horror
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Valancourt’s definitive edition of Marsh’s “The Beetle” released!
I just received in the mail the other day my copy of Valancourt Books’ edition of Richard Marsh’s The Beetle: A Mystery. The Valancourt edition is the definitive edition for the collector, with an introduction by Richard Marsh scholar Minna … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
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Some words from Wordsworth Mystery & Supernatural
Over the past few months, I’ve been throwing in a ‘shout-out’ to some smaller press publishers who specialize in classic and hard-to-find weird fiction; some original posts on the topic can be found here and here. A few weeks ago … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
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