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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
Some Halloween Treats…
Through Pharyngula, I found a link to The Little Professor, a blogger of Victorian stuff, who linked through a lovely website to some of her favorite ghost stories. (Following me so far?) This seemed like a good idea, so I … Continue reading
Unwanted love: An underused horror theme?
H.P. Lovecraft, in his essay Supernatural Horror in Literature, remarked that, “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” He was, in my opinion, completely correct. … Continue reading
Ramsey Campbell: The Nightmare Man
I thought I’d start my discussion of ‘Masters of Horror’ by talking about my favorite horror author of all time, and perhaps one of the most unappreciated horror authors ever. The shelves of your local bookstores, which no doubt carry … Continue reading
The more things change…
Most people are hopefully aware of the very strong religious right movement to incorporate creationism (the belief that God created the world and everything in it in its present form) in science classes as valid topic of study alongside evolution … Continue reading
Horror Masters: “Themes” of horror fiction writers
I’m planning to write little posts highlighting the works of a lot of the true masters of horror fiction, including a bit about them and what I consider to be their most enjoyable yarns. One aspect that I will address … Continue reading
An interesting intersection of Lovecraft and relativity theory
My thesis advisor has often lamented the rise of email in society, mainly because the electronic correspondence isn’t as permanent as the written letter, and lots of interesting historical anecdotes can get lost. I delved into one of these recently … Continue reading
Happy birthday to another horror giant
Several weeks ago was Roddy McDowell’s birthday; today is the birthday of another great actor of horror films. Happy birthday to Jodelle Ferland! If you haven’t heard of her, I’m not surprised; she’s only 13 years old today.
The link between horror and comedy and the best horror/comedy films
Those who read and watch enough in the horror genre know that there’s an odd, difficult to quantify, connection between the genres of comedy and horror. This connection is what attracted me to horror in the first place several decades … Continue reading
Posted in Entertainment, Horror
17 Comments
Inspiration from Lovecraft for fiction writers
Here I dig up yet another letter from HPL, to E. Hoffmann Price, from 1936: Glad you found the Mts. of Madness readable. That was my attempt to pin down the vague feelings regarding the lethal, desolate white south which … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Lovecraft
2 Comments
The Terror
Well, I’m back home for a couple more hours, then I head off to another meeting in California for a few more days. In the meantime, I thought I’d quickly comment on one of the best horror novels I’ve read … Continue reading
Posted in Horror
8 Comments
Skulls in the Stars 