I loved watching The Twilight Zone as a kid. But I really enjoyed Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, too. I recognized some of the episodes right away because I had read the stories by H. P. Lovecraft, C. M. Kornbluth, and Fritz Leiber that the episodes were based on. Take a look at the Table of Contents and you’ll see some familiar authors and stories.
The Introduction by Carol Serling extolls her husband’s love of horror and the supernatural. And, Carol Serling discusses the projects cut short by Rod Serling’s untimely death at the age of 50 after heart surgery in 1975.
How many of these stories do you recognize. Were you a fan of Night Gallery? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
x – Introduction – Carol Serling
1 – The Escape Route – Rod Serling – na The Season to be Wary, Little Brown: Boston, 1967
71 – The Dead Man – Fritz Leiber – nv Weird Tales Nov ’50
104 – The Little Black Bag – C. M. Kornbluth – nv Astounding Jul ’50
138 – The House – André Maurois – vi Harper’s Jun ’31
141 – The Boy Who Predicted Earthquakes – Margaret St. Clair – ss Maclean’s, 1950
152 – The Academy – David Ely – ss Playboy Jun ’65
163 – The Devil Is Not Mocked – Manly Wade Wellman – ss Unknown Jun ’43
171 – Brenda – Margaret St. Clair – ss Weird Tales Mar ’54
184 – Big Surprise [“What Was in the Box”] – Richard Matheson – ss EQMM Apr ’59
191 – House—with Ghost – August Derleth – ss Lonesome Places, Arkham: Sauk City, WI, 1962
199 – The Dark Boy – August Derleth – ss F&SF Feb ’57
215 – Pickman’s Model – H. P. Lovecraft – ss Weird Tales Oct ’27
230 – Cool Air – H. P. Lovecraft – ss Tales of Magic and Mystery Mar ’28; Weird Tales Sep ’39
240 – Sorworth Place [“Old Place of Sorworth”; Ralph Bain] – Russell Kirk – nv London Mystery #14 ’52
This is the strangest set of music compilation CDs I own. If you look at the various Track Lists, you’ll see what I mean. The songs are from various eras of Rock-and-Roll, various styles, some obscure groups, odd choices, and strange combinations of songs/artists. The accompanying documentation goes into some detail about how these songs came about: songwriters, producers, etc.
The “concept” behind this series was to take songs from the Columbia Records and Epic Records vaults and remix and remaster the sound. Several of these songs appear in true stereo for the first time on these discs. The choices seem bizarre to me, but there are some gems here. And, the sound is fabulous! These buffed up songs are all spiffed up for new audiences.
Do you recognize these songs? Any favorites here? GRADE: B+
Season Two of What We Do in the Shadows delivers more dark humor than the First Season. The premise is that a group of vampires resides in a house in Staten Island, New York. This American mockumentarycomedy horror television series was created by Jemaine Clemen and features Nandor (a warrior vampire hundreds of years old), Laszlo, and Nadja (a romantically linked vampire couple); Colin Robinson, an energy vampire (who drains people of their energy instead of their blood); and Guillermo, Nandor’s familiar, who is secretly a Vampire Killer.
The fun of this series revolves around the vampires trying to adjust to contemporary society and technology. Guillermo (Harvey Guillén), assists the group in hopes Nandor (Kayvan Novak) will turn him into a vampire. Laszlo (Matt Berry) and Nadja (Natasia Charlotte Demetriou) provide romantic interests, but they also have roguish natures that take them into unusual situations. Colin Robinson (Mark Proksch), the world’s most boring vampire, cunningly drains energy in many comic settings. I particularly enjoyed the episode where Colin tracks down an Internet troll.
Clearly, dark humor may not be the genre people want to indulge in during the Age of the Coronavirus. But, for something completely different and funny (at least to me), I recommend this quirky series. GRADE: A
In these dystopian times, it’s always comforting to think “It could always be worse.” Worse, in this case, are two Mad Max movies: The Road Warrior and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Civilization has collapsed and anarchy rules.
In The Road Warrior Mad Max, played my Mel Gibson, reluctantly helps an lonely colony surrounded by a savage biker gang. In Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome we’re treated to Tina Turner running a gladiatorial arena complete with chainsaws! Yes, the coronavirus pandemic is bad, but these Futures are much, much worse!
Are we facing the End Times as some of our religious friends warn us? Are things going to get better…or worse? Should we all start practicing our chainsaw skills? GRADE: B+ (for both movies)
Despite the murky cover artwork, this latest full-blown Murderbot novel by Martha Wells expands the character of the rogue SecUnit when it’s kidnapped by a familiar space transport. The transport goes through a wormhole in record time (later revealed as assisted by an alien remanent) to an abandoned colony on a forgotten planet.
Murderbot juggles several conflicting missions: protect the team he’s associated with including a difficult adolescent girl, defend the transport from the raiders, restore its pilot, and discover why it was kidnapped in the first place.
As in the previous four Murderbot novels (you can read my reviews here, here, here, and here) there’s plenty of action. But the attraction of these books–for me at least–is the attempt of an Artificial Intelligence to adapt to a human environment. Martha Wells does a masterful job capturing the strangeness and the frustration of a robot trying to protect its clients while trying to solve the mysteries of the situation.
My only quibble with Network Effect is that Martha Wells assumes you’ve read the previous four books and remember the characters and details she’s provided in those novels. Starting with Network Effect might cause confusion for some readers. I can’t wait for the next book in this series! GRADE: A–
I’m a fan of these DC Animated movies. In this latest feature, Justice League Dark: Apokolips War the Justice League is tricked by Darkseid and the results are disastrous. Darkseid turns Batman into a minion. The Earth is being mined by Darkseid’s machinery into ruin. And Superman’s powers are suppressed by liquid Kryptonite. Things look grim.
Surprisingly, magic comes to the fore in this movie. John Constantine joints Raven (from Teen Titans) to use their combined powers to change the trajectory of doom.
If you’re a fan of the Justice League and the magic elements of the DC Universe, you’ll enjoy Justice League Dark: Apokolips War. GRADE: B
SPECIAL FEATURES:
DC Showcase: Adam Strange (Animated Short) – On an asteroid mining colony, mysterious drifter Adam Strange is dismissed as an interplanetary derelict. But when the miners open a fissure into the home of a horde of deadly alien insects, his true identity is exposed. He is space adventurer Adam Strange, whose heroic back-story is played out in flashbacks as he struggles to save the very people who have scorned him for so long.
Darkseid: New God/Evil Classic (New Featurette) – This documentary explores the machinations of one of fiction¹s greatest Super Villains as we learn more about what fuels Darkseid’s drive
Filmmaker Audio Commentary – Observations and behind-the-scenes insight from Executive Producer James Tucker, Directors Matt Peters and Christina Sotta, and Screenwriter Ernie Altbacker.
Look Back: Justice League Dark (Featurette) – John Constantine leads a group of misfit characters that use magic to vanquish their opponents. This is the dark version of the Justice League taking on the malevolent forces that go beyond our plane of existence.
Look Back: Batman and Harley Quinn
From the DC Vault: Justice League Action, “Zombie King”
From the DC Vault: Justice League Action, “Abate and Switch”
From the DC Comics Vault: Teen Titans, “Nevermore”
A Sneak Peek at the next DC Universe Movie, Superman: Man of Tomorrow
Guillermo del Toro’s eloquent Foreward to Ray Russell’s Haunted Castles: The Complete Gothic Stories praises this winner of both the World Fantasy Award and the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement. And, so does Stephen King, who called “Sardonicus” as “perhaps the finest example of the modern gothic ever written.”
The stories included in this collection represent the skillful application of fear and dread to modern life. In his Gothic “S” trilogy–“”Sardonicus” (1961), “Sagittarius” (1962), and “Sanguinarius” (1967)–capture the extreme emotions generated when dealing with the bizarre. This volume brings together some of Ray Russell’s best work. And, who can resist the marvelous cover artwork by Lola Dupre? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Foreward: Haunted Castles, Dark Mirrors: On the Penguin Horror Series by Guillermo Del Toro xi
I’ve been listening to a lot of music lately and stumbled across this 2-CD set from the 1970s. One-Hit Wonders make a quick splash and then are rarely heard of again. Sometimes they are “gimmick” songs like Carl Douglas’ “Kung Fu Fighting” and “In the Summertime” by British group Mungo Jerry. Others are rough drafts of songs that become much bigger hits when done by other groups and artists. A good example of this is “Turn the Beat Around” by Vicki Sue Robinson which was redone and released by Gloria Estefan. It became a big hit.
So, it’s hit or miss with this collection of songs. Do you see any favorites here? GRADE: B
DISC 1:
SONG TITLEARTIST
TIME
Turn The Beat AroundVicki Sue Robinson
3:24
Ring My BellAnita Ward
3:31
Sometimes When We TouchDan Hill
2:22
Rose GardenLynn Anderson
2:49
In The SummertimeMungo Jerry
3:37
Seasons in the SunTerry Jacks
3:30
The Night Chicago DiedPaper Lace
3:32
Rock The BoatHues Corporation
3:09
Don’t Give Up on UsDavid Soul
3:39
Kung Fu FightingCarl Douglas
3:17
Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)Edison Lighthouse
2:51
Sweet MaryWadsworth Mansion
2:42
The Night the Lights Went Out in GeorgiaVicki Lawrence
3:36
TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)MFSB featuring the Three Degrees
Alumnus Entrusts his Pulp Fiction Collection to SUNY at Buffalo
It happened to four-time UB alumnus George Kelley long ago when he went away to summer camp. George’s mother took his absence as the perfect opportunity to tackle the clutter that predominated his adolescent bedroom. When George got home, he was devastated to find that, in her zeal, his mom had tossed his entire comic book collection. “I was crushed. And then I just couldn’t go back to comic books. I had to move on to paperbacks…and I became much neater, so my mom wouldn’t throw them away.” A lesson for us all.
That incident, though painful for George, became a boon for UB when George made the decision in 1994 to donate his extensive pulp fiction collection to the UB Libraries. “I earned three master’s degrees and a PhD from UB, so I feel like I should pay back all the amazing things UB gave me. I’ve had a great life.”
Now more than 30,000 editions strong, the priceless collection is a resource for enthusiasts as well as academics studying the emerging field of fandom. “As an academic research library, we’re fortunate to be the stewards of these amazing materials,” says Evviva Weinraub Lajoie, Vice Provost for University Libraries. “Its study can inform us about American attitudes and concerns of the mid-20th century, the evolution of publishing, the sociology of fan subculture, and other insights.”
To some, pulp fiction cover art is as sought after as the stories inside. In fact, Kelley says, sometimes the compelling—and usually provocative—scenes on the cover had nothing to do with the story line. “It didn’t matter. The art sold the book.” Kelley’s favorite pulp fiction artist, Robert McGinnis, is responsible for illustrating more than 1,200 covers and 40 movie posters, including a number in the Kelley collection. “I consider [books with McGinnis art] to be sculptures. Today people collect them, but they might not even read the book, they just want it for the cover.”
Wood pulp, the cheap and accessible paper the books were printed on, is notoriously fragile. To ensure the collection’s long-term survival, George has also made a commitment to UB for the materials to undergo a deacidification process. “A collection like this needs meticulous attention,” says Ron Gaczewski, preservation officer and head of the Libraries Services Center “Thankfully, George stored each book in a Ziploc bag, which was fortuitous. It’s not a solution in and of itself, but it helped,” Gaczewski said. “We’re so are grateful that he is also supporting the additional preservation work as well.”
We asked George about the collection and his commitment to UB during a recent visit to campus.
You’re a passionate collector. How did that happen?
GK: My love of reading came from my parents and our weekly trips to the library to borrow books. As an adult, when I was traveling as a consultant, I would visit used bookstores and read them while I waited for my flight. Instead of getting rid of them, I saved them, and it grew from there.
I also think some people have the collecting gene. It seems like it’s mostly men, and it includes me. You can’t imagine the happiness you feel when you find a really good rare book. You just feel exhilarated. It’s fabulous.
Is pulp fiction a thing of the past?
GK: Absolutely not. Modern day science fiction, detective stories and romance novels are extensions of pulp fiction from decades ago. A good modern example is 50 Shades of Gray (by E.L. James).
As an expert, do you get asked to speak about pulp fiction or your collection?
GK: Yes, particularly at science fiction conventions and mystery conventions. In fact, I just moderated a panel at Bouchercon 50 (the World Mystery Convention), about paperbacks and paperback collecting. The audience was thrilled to hear about UB preserving this stuff, because the books were meant to be disposable, like newspapers.
Pulp fiction and fandom are emerging areas of academic study. What do you think it says about our society or our culture? What do these books reveal?
GK: I think for a lot of people today there’s too much reality. So people want a fantasy. It’s escapism. I like to escape into humor, but humor’s hard because not everybody thinks the same thing is funny. But a vampire’s a vampire’s a vampire, so that makes it pretty simple.
Why did you decide to donate your collection, and why SUNY at Buffalo?
GK: Well, I stored the books in my basement because the weight of it would have collapsed the floors upstairs. And finally, one day when my wife couldn’t get to the washer and dryer, she said, ‘You have to choose between clean clothes and the books.’ So, I contacted UB, and fortunately you were interested.
This collection brings me joy, and it brings me more joy to know that UB has it, and that you’re taking care of it for the next generation. Because people are going to look at this and marvel, because there won’t be anything else like it. Everything’s changed in publishing, art, illustration. Now, everything’s digital. Everything’s video. So, I think it’s important to understand what came before.
What are your hopes for this collection?
GK: Ideally, since you’ve got all the source material, I want to see it maintained and accessible for future generations.
When George isn’t at home reading, you may find him hunting for books to add to his collection. Most often he frequents The Book Corner, in Niagara Falls, and Old Editions, in North Tonawanda…which, he admits, is “dangerously close” to his house.
