James Malcolm Rymer’s Varney the Vampire

Posted on September 24, 2008 by skullsinthestars

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 that I’ve been eager to read for years, James Malcolm Rymer’s Varney the Vampire (1845):

“Varney” is perhaps the greatest example of the ‘Penny Dreadful‘ publications of 19th century Britain.  It was originally released as a weekly serial, and the complete version was later printed in one complete volume in 1847.  Until recently, the only way that a reader could enjoy Varney’s exploits was through poor quality photoreproductions of the original volume.  In 2007, Zittaw Press released the first new, retypeset version of the story, edited and annotated by über-scholar Curt Herr of Kutztown University.  The new edition corrects typesetting and spelling errors (as much as is humanly possible), includes a detailed introduction, explanatory footnotes, reproductions of original illustrations, and additional analysis and examples of penny dreadfuls at the end of the volume.

I give a discussion of penny dreadfuls, and my thoughts on Varney and its influence on vampire lore, below the fold.

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Posted in Horror | 9 Comments

Ebert writes a mean ‘Poe’

Posted on September 23, 2008 by skullsinthestars

A few days ago, it was noted that Roger Ebert had posted an article titled, “Creationism: Your questions answered“.  The article gives a straight-faced accounting of creationist beliefs, which was somewhat shocking to many fans who were familiar with Ebert’s long agnosticism and support of evolution.  The curious article was noted in many places, including Pharyngula, sparked an intense debate: was Ebert writing satire?  had his website been hacked?  was he losing his mind?

Ebert himself has answered the question in a blog post: it was a satirical piece.  One of the clues, which I hadn’t quite understood when I read it, was the retitling of his Adaptation review with, “Evolution is God’s intelligent design.”  The post was a demonstration of Poe’s law in action.

What was the point?  If I understand Ebert correctly, it was a test/demonstration of the too-ready credulity of people these days.  I’m not sure it was quite the right test: people of all ages, even scientists, have been known to start believing crazy and weird things without much provocation.

Posted in ... the Hell? | 3 Comments

Meeting the Scibloggers…

Posted on September 20, 2008 by skullsinthestars

The fiancée and I just returned this afternoon from attending the NC Scienceblogs celebration in honor of the millionth scienceblogs comment!  We spent a nice afternoon at the Asheboro Zoo with a great collection of people, including Coturnix, Dave and Greta Munger, SciCurious, Kevin Zelnio, Sciencewoman and plenty of others!  It was nice meeting everyone in person for the first time, and hopefully I’ll run into them again soon, possibly at ScienceOnline ’09!

I was so happy to chat with everyone, I only got a few pictures!

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Posted in Personal | 6 Comments

Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s The Last Days of Pompeii

Posted on September 19, 2008 by skullsinthestars

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 like Magma Cum Laude.

Recently, I happened across a very nice book by J.Z. de Boer and D.T. Sanders, Volcanoes in Human History.  In short, it looks at the major volcanic eruptions with a focus on their impact on human events.  Perhaps the most famed of these events is the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 C.E., which resulted in the destruction of Pompeii.  What especially caught my eye, though, was the following comment,

Among the earliest books about the catastrophe of 79 C.E. is The Last Days of Pompeii, a novel published to popular acclaim in 1834 by the English writer Edward Bulwer-Lytton.  Though overly sentimental and melodramatic for modern tastes, it presents a fascinating glimpse of Pompeiian life in the first century and a vivid picutre of what it must have been like when the earth shook, walls tumbled, and ash and lapilli rained down upon the city, turning day into night.

Emphasis mine.  To a horror fiction fan, Bulwer-Lytton is known as the author of one of the greatest haunted house stories ever written, The Haunted and the Haunters: Or the House and the Brain.  Of Bulwer-Lytton, H.P.  Lovecraft had the following to say in his essay Supernatural Horror in Literature:

At this time a wave of interest in spiritualistic charlatanry, mediumism, Hindoo theosophy, and such matters, much like that of the present day, was flourishing; so that the number of weird tales with a “Psychic” or pseudo-scientific basis became very considerable. For a number of these the prolific and popular Edward Bulwer-Lytton was responsible; and despite the large doses of turgid rhetoric and empty romanticism in his products, his success in the weaving of a certain kind of bizarre charm cannot be denied.

The House and the Brain, which hints of Rosicrucianism and at a malign and deathless figure perhaps suggested by Louis XV’s mysterious courtier St. Germain, yet survives as one of the best short haunted-house tales ever written.

In light of this, I thought I would take a look at the ‘other side’ of Bulwer-Lytton, and read his most famous romance, The Last Days of Pompeii (1834).

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Posted in Horror, Mystery/thriller | 1 Comment

The Republican war on intelligence

Posted on September 16, 2008 by skullsinthestars

Back in 2004, I had the pleasure of hearing Hillary Clinton speak at the Optical Society of America Annual Meeting in Rochester, NY.  After her prepared remarks, she took questions from the audience.  One questioner asked about some Bush administration policy — I can’t remember which one — and Hillary demurred from giving too much criticism, saying something to the effect of, “I know this is a non-partisan audience.”

The response?  Uproarious laughter, including from me.  Hillary didn’t quite understand the humor of her statement, but the reality is that only a handful of people in that room at that time could probably think of anything good to say about President Bush or the Republican party.  (I personally know only two scientists who have supported Bush over the past eight years — and one of them now vocally condemns the man.)

That isn’t to say that there weren’t conservatives in the audience, or among scientists in general.  Any scientist who is paying the least amount of attention to the actions of the Republicans over the last decade, however, cannot in good faith support them.  The Republicans have turned their party into the party of ignorance, and I fear that, regardless of the outcome of the current Presidential election, their shameless anti-education — and anti-knowledge — demagoguery will continue to hurt the United States for years to come.

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Posted in ... the Hell?, General science, Politics | 5 Comments

The Giant’s Shoulders #3 is up!

Posted on September 16, 2008 by skullsinthestars

The  third edition of The Giant’s Shoulders is up at Entertaining Research! It’s a smaller edition than the previous ones, but still has some very nice entries (mine included!).  Thanks to Guru for putting it together!

The next edition will be held on October 15th at Second Order Approximation.  Let’s get those entries in!  I myself am working my way translating about 60 pages worth of old French research.

Posted in General science, Science news | Leave a comment

Richard Wright of Pink Floyd dies

Posted on September 16, 2008 by skullsinthestars

The music world has lost one of its greats: Rick Wright, keyboardist and founding member of Pink Floyd, died at 65 after a long battle with cancer.

His contributions to the band were often dismissed, especially, it seems, by fellow band member Roger Waters.  My impression, though, is that Pink Floyd is one of those bands that worked its magic best when all its members were contributing to the creative process.

There’s probably one video that captures the mood amongst Pink Floyd fans right now, and seems a fitting tribute:

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Richard Marsh’s A Metamorphosis

Posted on September 15, 2008 by skullsinthestars

I continue with some reviews of the works of Richard Marsh, in celebration of the release of Valancourt’s edition of The Beetle. This time I discuss a book that is, as yet, only available through Google books, Richard Marsh’s A Metamorphosis (1903).

This story is a marked departure from other Marsh works I’ve read, in that it combines the elements of a thriller with what can only be called a rollicking adventure story.  I discuss it and give some observations below the fold…

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Posted in Mystery/thriller | Leave a comment

The LHC shakes things up — the nuts, that is

Posted on September 13, 2008 by skullsinthestars

Since writing about the first official test of the LHC on September 10th, I’ve noticed I’m getting a significant amount of hits.  This is a bit strange, since my post was pretty much the least informative post about the LHC, among many good ones.  Then I noticed the nature of some of the searches that led people here:

earthquake sept 10 related to lhc

lhc earthquake

earthquake lhc

lhc caused earthquakes sept. 10

lhc +earthquake

Ah; my post had been primarily critical of CNN’s lede concerning the LHC, and I mocked it by modifying other ledes of that day, including the story about the Iranian earthquake.  But why were people searching for the words “LHC” and “earthquake” together.  A quick Google search found the following:

This is not a joke. This is not a ploy. This is real. 4 major earthquakes in a single day, and it just so happened to be the day the LHC was powered on. I’m not saying one caused the other because I have no definite proof, but I’m also not saying that it isn’t possible. If you dismissed the fear of what the LHC could possibly bring to the earth, I asked that you take another hard look and consider the possibility that you could be wrong. Consider the possibility that you don’t know everything and also consider the possibility that there are forces out there which are much greater than our understanding, some of which are not meant to be tampered with.

*Sigh*  Other articles and comments can be found making similar claims (and one spoof).

Let me, as a physicist, be completely, unambiguously clear about this: the LHC had absolutely nothing to do with any earthquake anywhere on the Earth, and it never will.

If you need more reassurance, go below the fold.

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Posted in ... the Hell? | 9 Comments

Happy Birthday to Richard Kiel!

Posted on September 13, 2008 by skullsinthestars

It would be horrible of me to let September 13th pass by and not note the birthday of the most excellent actor Richard Kiel!  Kiel turns 69 today.

Kiel, standing a daunting 7’2” tall, has made a career out of playing intimidating bruisers and sinister villains.  Horror fans might know him for his two turns as monsters in the original Night Stalker series: once as a Native American shaman, once (unrecognizable) as a moss monster.  Western fans might remember him as the hired goon Club in Pale Rider.  Science fiction fans might recognize him as the towering (and hungry) alien Kanamit in the Twilight Zone episode To Serve Man.   MST3K fans will of course immediately recognize him as the lovelorn caveman Eegah!

Most people, though, will think of Richard Kiel as the sinister, steel-teethed assassin Jaws in two james Bond films, Moonraker and The Spy Who Loved Me!

Kiel has also had a hand at writing and producing, penning the family movie The Giant of Thunder Mountain.  In 2004, he penned his autobiography, Making It BIG in the Movies.

Happy Birthday to Richard Kiel, and thanks for giving us some villains and monsters (and heroes) worth remembering!

Shtemlo!

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