Category Archives: Weird fiction

A. Merritt’s The Metal Monster

Posted on February 2, 2009 by skullsinthestars

Last week I discussed A. Merritt’s book The Moon Pool (1919), an adventure/horror novel showing genuine flashes of weird brilliance but marred by some rather stereotypical pulp conventions.  Merritt’s next novel, The Metal Monster (1920), is something else entirely!  Perhaps … Continue reading →

Posted in Horror, Lovecraft, Weird fiction | 5 Comments

A. Merritt’s The Moon Pool

Posted on January 21, 2009 by skullsinthestars

Occasionally my random impulse buys at the bookstore turn out to be unusually fruitful!  After Christmas, I was looking to spend some of my gift card money and happened across a copy of A. Merritt’s The Moon Pool (1919): I … Continue reading →

Posted in Horror, Lovecraft, Weird fiction | 6 Comments

Thomas M. Disch’s The Prisoner

Posted on January 9, 2009 by skullsinthestars

Recently I started investigating the works of author Thomas M. Disch, a well-known horror author and generally remarkable fellow who committed suicide in 2008.  His book The M.D.: A Horror Story was one of the books I read in my … Continue reading →

Posted in Mystery/thriller, Weird fiction | 3 Comments

The Crystal World, by J.G. Ballard

Posted on December 31, 2008 by skullsinthestars

I’ve been slowly working my way through a huge collection of apocalyptic novels in preparation for another major blog post.  Amazon has clued in to my bleak, weird taste in books and recommended The Crystal World (1966), by J.G. Ballard: … Continue reading →

Posted in Horror, Weird fiction | 2 Comments

Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s The Coming Race

Posted on December 15, 2008 by skullsinthestars

I’ve described the work of  Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873) before.  He was a highly prolific author who was highly influential in a number of fields, although his overly romantic prose is often ridiculed these days.  Nevertheless, Bulwer-Lytton’s work survives to this … Continue reading →

Posted in Weird fiction | 4 Comments

Get your ass to… Venus?

Posted on December 8, 2008 by skullsinthestars

Some time ago, I did a post about the sword-and-planet stories centered on the planet Mars, such as Burroughs’ classic John Carter of Mars series.  Earth’s other neighbor has also been the inspiration for a significant amount of fantastic fiction, … Continue reading →

Posted in Weird fiction | 6 Comments

Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Venus series

Posted on December 3, 2008 by skullsinthestars

I’ve talked a bit about Edgar Rice Burroughs’ sword and planet adventures before; in particular, I’ve discussed his ‘Barsoom‘ (Mars) series briefly and did a post on the first two books on his ‘Pellucidar‘ (Hollow Earth) series.  In preparation for … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure fiction | 2 Comments

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Maracot Deep

Posted on November 12, 2008 by skullsinthestars

One of the fun things about my blogging is that I keep turning up relatively unknown works by famous authors which, although not on par with their classics, give fascinating insights into the authors’ views.  They’re usually quite entertaining, as … Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure fiction, Weird fiction | Leave a comment

John Wyndham’s The Kraken Wakes

Posted on November 6, 2008 by skullsinthestars

John Wyndham either didn’t like the world much or worried about it a lot!  In a previous post, I discussed his classic horror/sci-fi novel The Day of the Triffids (1951), in which a meteor shower leaves most of the world … Continue reading →

Posted in Horror, Weird fiction | 1 Comment

Henry Kuttner’s Elak of Atlantis

Posted on November 3, 2008 by skullsinthestars

I’m a complete sucker for sword-and-sorcery fantasy, and actually I’ve written a significant amount of it for my own amusement.  Of course, the true master, and really the originator of the genre, is Robert E. Howard, whose Conan stories are … Continue reading →

Posted in Fantasy fiction, Robert E. Howard | 2 Comments