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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. -
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Category Archives: Mystery/thriller
The Last, by Hanna Jameson
Life has been rough lately… and by “lately,” I kinda mean the past two years, for various reasons, on and off. Because of that, I’ve struggled to focus on reading fiction, much to my own dismay. However, I opted to … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Mystery/thriller
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The Cadaver of Gideon Wyck, by Alexander Laing
Got a few physics blog posts in the pipeline, but in the meantime I’m still catching up on a lot of book blogging! I’ve had The Cadaver of Gideon Wyck (1934) in my library for some time, as I picked … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Mystery/thriller, Science fiction
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John Blackburn’s A Book of the Dead
If you’ve read my blog enough, you know that I occasionally write introductions for volumes released by the excellent Valancourt Books, in particular a lot of introductions to the work of the late John Blackburn (1923-1993), master of horror and … Continue reading
Posted in Mystery/thriller, Personal
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Chuck Wendig’s Invasive
Insects have long been ready protagonists for horror and thriller fiction. A few famous examples that come to mind are H.G. Wells’ 1903 story The Valley of Spiders and Carl Stephenson’s 1937 story Leiningen Versus the Ants. In the wild and terrifying … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Mystery/thriller
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Riccardo Stephens’ The Mummy
An ancient Egyptian mummy. An ominous and deadly curse. A growing collection of fatalities in the mummy’s presence. It is a familiar, and intriguing, plot for horror novels. But one of the earliest of such novels has gone unread for … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Mystery/thriller
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Ghosts Know, by Ramsey Campbell
The British author Ramsey Campbell has long been my favorite writer of horror, and one of his novellas — Needing Ghosts — has the unusual distinction of being the only story I’ve ever read that made me doubt my sanity when … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Mystery/thriller
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John Blackburn’s Dead Man’s Handle
This post marks a minor personal milestone: with the book featured in it, I have now read all of John Blackburn‘s published works. I put off reading this one for quite some time for a reason that I’ll explain at the … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Mystery/thriller
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