It’s not often that I buy a $35 book for 25 cents. But I did a week ago at a pop-up Book Sale at my local Library. All the books on one of book carts were 25 cents. Most of the books were hardcover best sellers, but stuck on the bottom row was The Astounding Illustrated History of Fantasy & Horror. This coffee-table book features movies, TV & Streaming programming, Art, comics, pulp magazines, and fiction.

Plenty of people worked on this book: Roger Luckhurst, Mike Ashley, Michael Kerrigan, Matt Cardin, Dave Golder, Russ Thorne, and Rosie Fletcher. The Consultant Editor was S. T. Joshi.

The Astounding Illustrated History of Fantasy & Horror is a browser’s delight! Plenty of great cover artwork. Plenty of movie stills. Informative and insightful commentary, too! GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Foreword by Ramsey Campbell — 6

Introduction — 8

1: The Advent of Modern Fantasy: pre-1595-1922 — 18

2: With the Immortals: 1923-1945 — 42

3: Inklings of Other Worlds: 1956-1948 — 68

4: On the Brink of Evolution: 1960-1979 — 90

5: The Battle Between Light & Dark: 1980-1989 — 114

6: A Flourishing of the Genres: 1990-2000 — 132

7: The Many Paths to Tread: 2001-2010 — 150

8: Embracing the Future: 2011-2020 — 170

Key People — 188

Further Reading & Websites — 189

Index — 190

In the liner notes to Judy Collins Sings Leonard Cohen: Democracy Judy Collins relates how Leonard Cohen first performed…with her assistance. Cohen was painfully shy and struggled with singing before a crowd. Collins not only helped Cohen over this hurtle, she started recording some of his songs like “Suzanne.”

Listening to these songs from the Sixties and early Seventies brought back how much I loved this music when I first heard it. Are you a Leonard Cohen fan? Do you like Judy Collins? GRADE: A

TRACK LIST:

1. “Democracy” – 6:55 (new recording)
2. “Suzanne” – 4:23 (from In My Life, 1966)
3. “A Thousand Kisses Deep” – 5:42 (new recording)
4. “Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye” – 3:34 (from Wildflowers, 1967)
5. “Dress Rehearsal Rag” – 5:23 (from In My Life, 1966)
6. “Priests” – 4:58 (from Wildflowers, 1967)
7. “Night Comes On” – 4:03 (new recording)
8. “Sisters of Mercy – 2:34 (from Wildflowers, 1967)
9. “Story of Isaac” – 3:33 (from Who Knows Where the Time Goes, 1968)
10. “Bird on a Wire” – 4:40 (from Who Knows Where the Time Goes, 1968)
11. “Famous Blue Raincoat” – 5:37 (from Living, 1971)
12. “Joan of Arc” – 5:57 (from Living, 1971)
13. “Take This Longing” – 5:26 (from Bread and Roses, 1976)
14. “Song of Bernadette” – 4:13 (previously unreleased live recording from 1999)

I’ve had this copy of Ramsey Campbell’s Fine Frights: Stories that Scared Me on my shelves since 1988, the year the book was published. I finally got around to reading it and found some gems.

My favorite story in this anthology is Joseph Payne Brennan’s creepy “The Horror at Chilton Castle.” The narrator of the story tells how he was involved in a bizarre ritual in the bowels of an ancient castle that holds a horror centuries old. Very atmospheric! I also liked “The Clerks of Domesday” by John Brunner. I’ve read a lot of Brunner’s work but somehow missed this story about the prelude to a nuclear war.

Ramsey Campbell provides informative introductions to the stories and reveals why he selected them. If you’re in the mood for some scary stories, Fine Frights will fit the bill. GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction / Ramsey Campbell — ix

Child’s play / Villy Sørensen — 1
More sinned against / Karl Edward Wagner — 15
Lost memory / Peter Phillips — 43
The fifth mask / Shamus Frazer — 67
The horror at Chilton Castle / Joseph Payne Brennan — 91
The clerks of domesday / John Brunner — 119
Thurnley Abbey / Perceval Landon — 157
Cutting down / Bob Shaw — 187
The necromancer / Arthur Gray — 219
The greater festival of masks / Thomas Ligotti — 235
The war is over / David Case — 251
Upon the dull earth / Philip K. Dick — 269

Based on Jessica Bruder’s non-fiction book, Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century, Chloe Zhao’s movie version features bleak look at contemporary America. Frances McDormand plays a 60-something drifter called Fern who lives in her van. Fern’s husband used to work at the U. S. Gypsum plant at Empire, Nevada. When the plant closes, the company town shrivels up. And, Fern’s husband shrivels up and dies.

Fern decides to become a nomad. She works briefly as a temporary worker at an AMAZON Fulfillment Center. Fern joins a group of aging workers and recent retirees with their RVs living their dreams of traveling around and picking up odd jobs when they need cash.

Fern meets Dave, played by David Strathairn, who she is attracted to. And the feeling is mutual. Fern is a moody character with a lot of emotional baggage.

Nomadland is not a documentary, but it occasionally feels like one as some of the nomads share their stories with Fern: tales of PTSD, early deaths, cancer treatments, and suicides. Chloe Zhao uses real nomads in many of the scenes which gives the film some of its gravitas.

Right now, I’d vote Nomadland BEST PICTURE and Frances McDormand BEST ACTRESS. What did you think of Nomadland? GRADE: A-

Jamie Conklin narrates this cautionary tale about growing up with a “talent.” Jamie can see and talk to dead people. The ghosts tend to fade away after a few days but while they’re around, Jamie can speak with them…and the ghosts always tell the truth.

It takes time for Jamie’s mother, Tia, to believe in her son’s power to talk to the dead. But when Tia recognizes her son’s talent, she also realizes it could bring Trouble. And, of course it does.

Stephen King manages to fit in a serial bomber, a drug lord who’s into torture, and a crooked cop into this fast-paced 250-page novel. You’ll find Jamie’s story compelling and suspenseful.

In 2005, Stephen King wrote The Colorado Kid for Hard Case Crime. In 2013, he wrote Joyland. Later (2021) is the third book King has written for this publisher. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait another eight years for the next Stephen King Hard Case Crime novel! Are you a Stephen King fan? GRADE: A

I just finished reading Stephen King’s new novel, Later. I’m about to begin reading Matthew Hughes’s Barbarians from the Beyond, a sequel to Jack Vance’s The Demon Princes series.

What are you reading?

Vanessa Price loves wine and uses her new book, Big Macs & Burgundy, to de-mystify wine choices. I enjoyed the scrumptious pairings of fast food and wine, but Vanessa Price shows about 300 matches of common foods with delectable wines.

I also appreciated Vanessa Price’s wine picks for every budget (I’m in the Low End since I find it difficult to discern a difference between a $12 bottle of wine and a $120 bottle of wine).

In addition to the wine advice, Vanessa Price shares her story of how she started as a novice in the wine business and rose to be one of the top sommelier restauranteurs in the country. If you’re interested in food and wine, Big Macs & Burgundy offers a lot of advice and fun. GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

The Best From Fantasy and Science Fiction, Second Series presents an array of stories. One of my favorite Manly Wade Wellman stories, “The Desrick on Yando,” features Silver John  (aka, John the Balladeer) in a classic story of greed. I also enjoyed Sprague de Caamp and Fletcher Pratt’s clever “The Black Ball” is another of the Gavagan’s Bar series of wild stories.

As a Ron Goulart fan, “Letters to the Editor” made me laugh. These early The Best From Fantasy and SF anthologies included unlikely “genre” authors like Elizabeth Bowen and Robert Graves. I also found Boucher and McComas’s introductions to the stories in this volume informative. All in all, a satisfying group of stories. GRADE: B

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction / [Anthony Boucher, J. Francis McComas] — vii
Budding explorer / Ralph Robin — 3
The shout / Robert Graves — 17
The tooth / G. Gordon Dewey — 44
Ugly sister / Jan Struther — 69
The black ball / L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt — 80
The hole in the moon / Idris Seabright — 93
The third level / Jack Finney — 101
The cheery soul / Elizabeth Bowen — 108
Ransom / H.B. Fyfe — 123
The earlier service / Margaret Irwin — 134
The hyperspherical basketball / H. Nearing, Jr. — 155
The desrick on Yandro / Manly Wade Wellman — 179
Come on, Wagon! / Zenna Henderson — 197
Jizzle / John Wyndham — 210
Stair trick / Mildred Clingerman — 227
The soothsayer / Kem Bennett — 235
Hobson’s choice / Alfred Bester — 246
Letters to the editor / Ron Goulart — 268

Back in 1994, I was busy finishing my doctoral dissertation and preparing for my dissertation Defense…and working full time. So I don’t remember anything about the 25th Anniversary of Woodstock. But, according to the liner notes to Woodstock 94 300,000 enthusiastic fans showed up for the event.

And, plenty of Big Names showed up, too. Bob Dylan, Peter Gabriel, Crosby, Stills, & Nash, Metallica, Traffic, Joe Cocker, the cranberries, Melissa Etheridge, Aerosmith, Sheryl Crow, and Nine Inch Nails. But, there are also a bunch of lesser bands like Candlebox and Jackyl.

Do you remember the 25th Anniversary Woodstock concert? Are any of your favorite performers on these discs? GRADE: B

TRACK LIST:

Disc One:

1. Live – “Selling the Drama” – 4:33
2. Blues Traveler – “But Anyway” – 4:18
3. Melissa Etheridge – “I’m the Only One” – 5:33
4. Joe Cocker – “Feelin’ Alright” – 4:57
5. “Stage Announcement” – 1:22
6. The Cranberries – “Dreams” – 4:25
7. Blind Melon – “Soup” – 3:20
8. Green Day – “When I Come Around” – 3:01
9. Salt-n-Pepa – “Shoop” – 5:18
10. Tom Arnold – “Stage Announcement” – 0:53
11. Red Hot Chili Peppers – “Blood Sugar Sex Magik” – 5:21
12. Porno for Pyros – “Porno for Pyros” – 3:05
13. Primus – “Those Damned Blue Collar Tweekers” – 6:42
14. Jackyl – “Headed for Destruction” – 5:33
15. Aerosmith – “Draw the Line/F.I.N.E.*” – 9:45
16. Calvert DeForest – “Stage Announcement” – 0:10
17. Nine Inch Nails – “Happiness in Slavery” – 5:47

Disc Two:

1. Metallica – “For Whom the Bell Tolls” – 7:23
2. The Neville Brothers – “Come Together” – 3:53
3. Youssou N’Dour – “Generation (Diamone)” – 5:47
4. Zucchero Fornaciari – “Mama” – 7:23
5. Sheryl Crow – “Run Baby Run” – 5:27
6. Crosby, Stills & Nash – “Déjà Vu” – 7:18
7. Violent Femmes – “Dance, Motherfucker, Dance!/Kiss Off” – 6:30
8. Collective Soul – “Shine” – 5:58
9. Candlebox – “Arrow” – 3:35
10. Cypress Hill – “How I Could Just Kill a Man” – 3:22
11. Rollins Band – “Right Here Too Much” – 5:18
12. Bob Dylan – “Highway 61 Revisited” – 6:20
13. Traffic – “Pearly Queen” – 5:08
14. Peter Gabriel – “Biko” – 8:06

There is a genre loosely termed “Bar Tales.” Lord Dunsany wrote 150 short stories written between 1925 and 1957 of these types of stories in his Jorkens series. Arthur C. Clarke wrote a similar series of stories later published in his Tales From the White Hart collection.

Tales from Gavagan’s Bar is a celebrated collection of fantasy short stories by American writers L. Sprague de Camp and Fletcher Pratt. Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon series by Spider Robinson is equally popular with readers of this genre.

I’m a fan of Sterling Lanier’s Ffellows tales. Take “Kings of the Sea” for example. Ffellows tells the listeners in the bar about an adventure he experienced in his youth that nearly cost him his life. The unusual events in “Soldier Key” produces another hair-raising adventure.

If you’re in the mood for some Tall Tales and incredible happenings, I highly recommend The Peculiar Exploits of Brigadier Ffellowes. GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

• “Introduction” (Arthur C. Clarke) (English edition and later American edition only) — v
• “His Only Safari” (1970) — 1
• “The Kings of the Sea” (1968) –25
• “His Coat So Gay” (1965) — 47
• “The Leftovers” (1969) — 77
• “A Feminine Jurisdiction” (1969) — 87
• “Fraternity Brother” (1969) — 113
• “Soldier Key” (1968) — 129