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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 Radiant Shell, by Paul Ernst
Another invisibility story! The number and variety of stories continues to amaze me. You know what we haven’t really seen yet? A good invisible spy story! “Raiders Invisible” came close, but its invisible spies were the bad guys; we need … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Mystery/thriller
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The Invisible Robinhood, by Eando Binder
Okay, this story seemed at first to be a pretty silly and stupid invisibility tale, but it leads down a fascinating historical rabbit hole. So follow along… The setting: the city, late at night. A young couple in love are … Continue reading
Posted in Invisibility, Mystery/thriller
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The Invisible Master, by Edmond Hamilton
I keep finding new invisibility stories! Will I ever come to an end? Stay tuned! It is pretty clear at this point that stories about invisibility were a huge business in the early to mid 20th century, and every author … Continue reading
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Invisible Death, by Anthony Pelcher
Back into some posts about invisibility in fiction, based on those stories that I didn’t talk about in my (hopefully) upcoming book about the history and physics of invisibility! If you’ve been reading this blog recently, you might think that … Continue reading
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Private Eye, by “Lewis Padgett”
I thought I’d take a one day break from invisibility stories to talk about one of my favorite science fiction stories of all time: “Private Eye,” by Lewis Padgett, published in the January 1949 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. It … Continue reading
Posted in Mystery/thriller, Science fiction
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Disappearance at Devil’s Rock by Paul Tremblay
My apologies for the long delay in writing — the chaos in the world and the busy nature of life has left me rather drained! But I have managed to start reading some fiction again, and I thought I would … Continue reading
Posted in Horror, Mystery/thriller
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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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Skulls in the Stars 