Just in time for Halloween, Ellen Datlow’s Screams From the Dark presents 29 “scary” stories for readers to shudder about. My favorite stories, not surprisingly, come from “name” writers. Joyce Carol Oates takes us to the horrors of a pre-Civil War southern planation in rural Alabama in “‘The Father of Modern Gynecology’: J. Marion Syms, M. D. (1713–1883.”

Richard Kadrey, author of the Sandman Slim series, delivers a disturbing story with “What Is Love But the Quiet Moments After Dinner.” Two stories feature creepy islands: “The Island” by Norman Partridge and “Flaming Teeth” by Garry Kilworth. Partridge’s island is a living thing who controls most of the elements around it. A couple of vampires enter the island’s sphere of influence and mayhem results. Kilworth’s island isn’t on any maps and when a yacht with three couples explore the secret island, they find something that deserves to stay hidden.

I’ve read over a dozen Ellen Datlow anthologies and enjoyed them all. Screams From the Dark will get you in the mood for the Halloween season. GRADE: B

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction by Ellen Datlow — 1
You Have What I Need by Ian Rogers — 4
The Midway by Fran Wilde — 20
Wet Red Grin by Gemma Files — 39
The Virgin Jimmy Peck by Daryl Gregory — 59
The Ghost of a Flea by Priya Sharma — 82
The Atrocity Exhibitionists by Brian Hodge — 100
“The Father of Modern Gynecology”: J. Marion Syms, M.D. (1813-1883) by Joyce Carol Oates — 120
Here Comes Your Man by Indrapramit Das — 134
Siolaigh by Siobhan Carroll — 148
What Is Love But the Quiet Moments After Dinner? by Richard Kadrey — 165
The Island by Norman Partridge — 182
Flaming Teeth by Garry Kilworth — 202
Strandling by Caitlín R. Kiernan — 216
The Special One by Chikodili Emelumadu — 232
Devil by Glen Hirshberg — 241
Crick Crack Rattle Tap by A. C. Wise — 260
Children of the Night by Stephen Graham Jones — 278
The Smell of Waiting by Kaaron Warren — 289
Now Voyager by Livia Llewellyn — 306
The Last Drop by Carole Johnstone — 327

Three Mothers Mountain by Nathan Ballingrud — 342

Widow-Light by Margo Lanagan — 359
Sweet Potato by Joe R. Lansdale — 368
Knock, Knock by Brian Evenson — 379
What is Meat with No God? by Cassandra Khaw — 392
Bitten by Himself by Laird Barron — 397
Burial by Kristi DeMeester — 411
Beautiful Dreamer by Jeffrey Ford — 420
Bloedzuiger by John Langan — 432
About the Authors — 473
About the Editor –479

Diane and I saw The Prom at Shea’s Performing Arts Center with an almost sold-out audience. Plenty of teenagers!

The Prom is a musical with music by Matthew Sklar, lyrics by Chad Beguelin, and a book by Bob Martin and Beguelin, based on an original concept by Jack Viertel.  When their play flops on Broadway two aging actors decide to generate positive publicity when they travel to the conservative town of Edgewater, Indiana, to help a lesbian student banned from bringing her girlfriend to high school prom.

The culture clash between the conservative parents and the liberal actors generate much of the story. You can pretty much guess how this all turns out. Very predictable. The best song is “Unruly Heart” about Love works. There was a Netflix version of The Prom that we didn’t see. The Prom is a mildly entertaining musical. What do you remember about your Prom? GRADE: B

Musical numbers:

Act I “Changing Lives” – Dee Dee, Barry, Ensemble” Changing Lives” (Reprise) – Dee Dee, Barry, Angie, Trent “Just Breathe” – Emma “It’s Not About Me” – Dee Dee, Barry, Angie, Trent, Ensemble “Dance with You” – Emma, Alyssa “The Acceptance Song” – Trent, Dee Dee, Barry, Angie, Ensemble “You Happened” – Emma, Alyssa, Kevin, Nick, Ensemble “We Look to You” – Mr. Hawkins “Tonight Belongs to You” – Barry, Emma, Mrs. Greene, Ashley, Mandy, Ensemble

Act II Entr’acte – Orchestra “Zazz” – Angie, Emma “The Lady’s Improving” – Dee Dee “Love Thy Neighbor” – Trent, Ensemble “Alyssa Greene” – Alyssa “Barry Is Going to Prom” – Barry “Unruly Heart” – Emma, Ensemble “It’s Time to Dance” – Emma, Alyssa, Company

The subtitle of Peter Shapiro’s The Music Never Stops is What Putting On 10,000 Shows Has Taught Me About Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Magic. Shapiro chronicles his long career as a rock concert promoter with all of its ups and downs.

It’s not easy to put on a concert of any kind, but rock concerts present special problems. Shapiro takes the reader through the process and writes about concerts where everything went right–like the Rainbow Grateful Dead Concert–to concerts where everything went wrong.

Shapiro’s decades of experience gives him perspectives on the evolution of rock concerts. He writes about the devastating effect the Pandemic had on live concerts–basically shutting them all down. Zoom concerts didn’t work.

If you’re a fan of rock concerts, The Music Never Stops gives you an insiders look at the music industry and the groups and performers who are trying to make a comeback after Covid-19. Are you planning to go to a concert in the next year? GRADE: A

Table of Contents:

1 Rainbows Are Real 1

2 And Miles to Go 6

3 Cold-Calling Kesey 11

4 American Road 16

5 Wetlands Preserved 22

6 Ten Thousand Shows 29

7 A Guest at My Own Party 36

8 Becca & Company 41

9 Seventy-Two Hours 46

10 You Can’t See It If You’re Not There 53

11 MMMBob! 58

12 Black Lily 63

13 Soldier Field: Part 1 68

14 Where Getting into a Jam Is a Good Thing 76

15 The Night Before 86

16 Operation Kinko’s 93

17 Inaugural Blues 100

18 Be the Last Man Standing … or the First to Leave 105

19 The Days Between 109

20 U2 in 3D 115

21 Roxy Music 121

22 Green Apples 129

23 Rock. And Roll. 134

24 Bowlive (So Many Memories I Don’t Remember) 143

25 Nearly Flaming Out and The Roots Redeemed 149

26 Bowl Train 154

27 GoogaMooga 161

28 The Obvious Is Obvious (Until You Miss It) 165

29 The Original Rock Palace 170

30 Choose Your Own Adventure 180

31 Garcia + Weir = POW! 187

32 Viva Las Vegas 193

33 Unbroken Chain 198

34 The Faraway End of the Far Away 205

35 The More I Practice, the Luckier I Get 211

36 Doubling Down 216

37 Attics of My Life 225

38 Formerly Interlocken 241

39 Jam The Vote 251

40 Bobby & Phil 256

41 The Apollo Mission 261

42 The Majority Party 266

43 Easy Rider Live, Baby! 271

44 There’s a Reward 276

45 Madison Square Funk 281

46 Jimmy Fallon’s Almost Dead 286

47 Be in the Stream 294

48 Rescue Squad 305

49 Grateful Mahalo 315

50 Weekends Don’t Happen Every Day 321

Acknowledgments 331

Photo Credits 333

After the Buffalo Bills melted down in Miami, losing to the Dolphins 21-19, the injury list grew. The Bills face the prospect of playing the elusive Lamar Jackson of the Ravens with a depleted defensive line and a makeshift secondary. Despite their injury woes, the Bills are favored by 3 1/2 points. It looks like the Bills and the Ravens will be playing in the wind and rain remnants of Hurricane Ian today. How will your favorite NFL team fare today?

Blonde, at two hours and 47 minutes, is Andrew Dominik’s pseudo-biography based on the Joyce Carol Oates 2000 novel of the same name (you can read my review here). The movie wallows in tragedy despite a moving portrayal by Ana de Armas of the tormented Marilyn Monroe.

Ana De Armas is glorious and the cinematography of Chayse Irvin, shifting between color and black-and-white, keeps all eyes on the star…just as the real Marilyn Monroe did. Dominik follows Oates’s novel with its sexual speculations and earns the movie’s NC-17 rating by showing Marilyn with men who rarely appreciate her…or respect her.

I came away from watching Blonde with similar feelings that I had when I finished Joyce Carol Oates’s novel over 20 years ago: sad and depressed. Are you a fan of Marilyn Monroe? GRADE: B

John Dickson Carr was 25 years old when he published The Corpse in the Waxworks in 1932. Mademoiselle Duchene was seen entering the Gallery of Horrors at the Musee Augustin waxworks in Paris. Later, she was found murdered in the Seine.

Henri Bencolin, head of the Paris police, tackles this crime as another woman’s body is found in the waxworks. The investigation leads Bencolin into the dark underworld of private clubs where masks hide identities…and sexual transgressions.

In his informative Introduction, Martin Edwards surveys Carr’s Bencolin mysteries and gives an overview of John Dickson Carr’s career. As a bonus, a rare Inspector Bencolin short story, “The Murder in Number Four,” is included in this wonderful British Library Crime Classics edition. GRADE: B+

Last week I reviewed Between the Covers, a compilation of cover songs by various artists and groups (you can read my review here). Since I enjoyed that listening experience, I found two artists who recorded complete albums of cover songs: Rod Stewart and Phil Collins.

Still the Same: Great Rock Classics of Our Time came out in 2006. I’m assuming Rod Stewart chose these songs although there’s nothing in the liner notes to say he did. I liked Rod’s version of Bob Dylan’s “If Not For You ” and his version of Van Morrison’s “Crazy Love.” I was not crazy about Rod’s interpretation of Bob Seger’s “Still the Same.” All in all, Still the Same is a very listenable CD of cover songs. GRADE: B

Phil Collins does claim he chose the songs on his 2010 cover album: Going Back. Collins does a nice job on “Going Back,” a Gerry Goffin/Carole King, song. Collins clearly loved Goffin/King songs as a kid because he includes “Some of You’r Lovin’,” too. I really liked Collins’s version of Phil Spector’s “Do I Love You.” In addition to several Motown hits, Collins includes a soulful rendition of Curtis Mayfield’s “Talkin’ About My Baby.” I was impressed with “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” too. If you’re looking for an album of songs that helped launch Phil Collins on his music career, check out Going Back. Do you remember these songs? GRADE: B+

TRACK LIST:

Side One:

Girl (Why You Wanna Make Me Blue) 2:33

(Love Is Like A) Heatwave 2:53

Uptight (Everything’s Alright) 3:02

Some Of Your Lovin’ 3:19

In My Lonely Room 2:25

Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me For A Little While) 2:58

Blame It On The Sun 3:26

Papa Was A Rolling Stone 6:43

Never Dreamed You’d Leave In Summer2:59

Side Two:

Standing In The Shadows Of Love 2:42

Do I Love You 2:50

Jimmy Mack 2:56

Something About You 2:47

Love Is Here And Now You’re Gone 2:40

Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever 2:48

Going To A Go-Go 2:49

Talkin About My Baby 2:47

Going Back 4:37

“The Saturn Game” won the 1981 Nebula Award for Best Novella and the 1982 Hugo Award for Best Novella. I picked up this edition in The Science Fiction Collection series (you can read my review of another volume in The Science Fiction Collection here).

“The Saturn Game” centers around imaginative roleplaying that provides relief for some of the crew on the long, dull flight to Saturn. However, the crew’s imaginary world becomes hazardously confused with the real world when a team of crew members begins the exploration of Iapetus, one of Saturn’s moons.

Poul Anderson, one of my favorite Science Fiction writers, always blended cutting edge technology with SF adventure to produce compelling stories. “The Saturn Game,” both ground-breaking and suspenseful, deserves the awards it won. GRADE: A

“Moonage Daydream” is a song by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was originally recorded in February 1971 at Radio Luxembourg‘s studios in London and released as a single by his short-lived band Arnold Corns in May 1971 on B&C Records. Bowie subsequently re-recorded the song later that year with his backing band the Spiders from Mars—comprising Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey—for release on his 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. The re-recording was co-produced by Ken Scott and recorded at Trident Studios in London in November 1971. The re-recording is a glam rock song that uses melodic and harmonic hooks, as well as percussion and guitar influenced by heavy metal. On the album, the song directly introduces the character Ziggy Stardust, who describes himself as a bisexual alien rock superstar who will save the Earth from the impending disaster described in the opening track “Five Years“. It features saxophone played by Bowie and a guitar solo and string arrangement by Ronson.”

I saw Moonage Daydream at a local Regal Theater. Six other people showed up. Moonlight Daydream uses previously unreleased footage from Bowie’s personal archives, including live concert footage mostly from the Ziggy Stardust concerts in the 1970s. Also, a number of interviews including Bowie and Dick Cavett highlight Bowie’s creative process and Bowie’s need to constantly change.

If you’re a fan of David Bowie’s music, there’s plenty of it in Moonage Daydream. Are you a David Bowie fan? GRADE: B+

TRACK LIST:

1.	“Time… One of the Most Complex Expressions…”
2.	“Ian Fish U.K. Heir (Moonage Daydream Mix 1)”
3.	“Hallo Spaceboy (Remix Moonage Daydream Edit)”
4.	“Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud (Live) (Stereo)”
5.	“All The Young Dudes (Live) (Stereo)”
6.	“Oh! You Pretty Things (Live) (Stereo)”
7.	“Life on Mars? (2016 Mix – Moonage Daydream Edit)”
8.	“Moonage Daydream (Live) (Stereo)”
9.	“Medley: The Jean Genie / Love Me Do / The Jean Genie (Live) [ft. Jeff Beck]”
10.	“The Light (Excerpt)”
11.	“Warszawa (Live Moonage Daydream Edit)”
12.	“Quicksand (2021 Mix – Early Version)”
13.	“Medley: Future Legend / Diamonds Dogs Intro / Cracked Actor”
14.	“Rock ‘n’ Roll With Me (Live)”
15.	“Aladdin Sane (Moonage Daydream Edit)”
16.	“Subterraneans (2017 Remaster)”
17.	“Space Oddity (Moonage Daydream Mix)”
18.	“V-2 Schneider (2017 Remaster)”
19.	“Sound and Vision (Moonage Daydream Mix)”
20.	“A New Career in a New Town (Moonage Daydream Mix)”
21.	“Word on a Wing (Moonage Daydream Mix Excerpt)”
22.	““Heroes” (Live Moonage Daydream Edit)”
23.	“D.J. (Moonage Daydream Mix)”
24.	“Ashes to Ashes (Moonage Daydream Mix)”
25.	“Move On (Moonage Daydream A Cappella Mix Edit)”
26.	“Moss Garden (Moonage Daydream Edit)”
27.	“Cygnet Committee / Lazarus (Moonage Daydream Mix)”
28.	“Memory of a Free Festival (Harmonium Edit)”
29.	“Modern Love (Moonage Daydream Mix)”
30.	“Let’s Dance (Live Moonage Daydream Edit)”
31.	“The Mysteries (Moonage Daydream Mix)”
32.	“Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide (Live Moonage Daydream Edit)”
33.	“Ian Fish U.K. Heir (Moonage Daydream Mix 2)”
34.	“Word on a Wing (Moonage Daydream Mix)”
35.	“Hallo Spaceboy (Live Moonage Daydream Mix)”
36.	“I Have Not Been to Oxford Town (Moonage Daydream A Cappella Mix Edit)”
37.	““Heroes”: IV. Sons of the Silent Age (Excerpt)”
38.	“★ (Moonage Daydream Film Mix Edit)”
39.	“Ian Fish U.K. Heir (Moonage Daydream Mix Excerpt)”
40.	“Memory of a Free Festival (Moonage Daydream Mix Edit)”
41.	“Starman (Original Single Mix) (2015 Remaster)”
42.	“You’re Aware of a Deeper Existence…”
43.	“Changes (2015 Remaster)”
44.	“Let Me Tell You One Thing…”
45.	“Well, You Know What This Has Been an Incredible Pleasure…”

“It is a delicious thing to write, to be no longer yourself but to move in an entire universe of your own creating. Today, for instance, as man and woman, both lover and mistress, I rode in a forest on an autumn afternoon under the yellow leaves, and I was also the horses, the wind, the words my people uttered, even the red sun that made them almost close their love-drowned eyes.” (p. 343)

James Patterson did not write these words…Gustave Flaubert did. But, as Patterson elaborates on this quote in his James Patterson: The Stories of My Life it’s clear Patterson’s writing experience parallels Flaubert’s.

Although the trajectory of Patterson’s autobiography is roughly chronological, Patterson loves to jump around with a story about his writing novels with Bill Clinton and Dolly Parton. I was stunned at the number of Famous People Patterson encountered before he got famous himself.

I confess I haven’t read many James Patterson books. I read  The Thomas Berryman Number, Patterson’s first novel published in 1976. It won the Edgar Award for Best First Mystery. The story about how that happened is pretty funny the way Patterson tells it.

In fact, there are plenty of funny stories in James Patterson: The Stories of My Life. Some very sad and tragic ones, too. I came away impressed with Patterson’s work ethic and his restrained ego. After all, Patterson is the best selling writer in the world, but doesn’t gloat about it. Diane has read all 22 volumes in Patterson’s Woman’s Murder Club series. Patterson wrote the first novel, 1st to Die. Subsequent novels have been cowritten with Andrew Gross (2–3) and Maxine Paetro (4–22). Diane loves them.

If you’re a James Patterson fan, you’ll enjoy his autobiography. If you want to find out how Patterson became the best selling writer in the world, that’s worth finding out, too. Patterson includes a surprise on practically every page. Great writing technique! Are you a James Patterson fan? GRADE: A