I’ve been reading the work of Joe R. Lansdale for over thirty years. But Lansdale’s prolific career has generated so many novels and stories, I’ve only been able to keep up with a fraction of his output. With Halloween just around the corner, The Essential Horror of Joe R. Lansdale arrives at just the right time to provide some spooky vibes for the darkening season.

The Essential Horror of Joe R. Lansdale collects what Lansdale considers the best of his work in horror (of course, Lansdale has written Science Fiction, Fantasy, crime novels, and weird westerns, too). Joe Hill (aka, Stephen King’s son) tries hard to explain Lansdale in his Introduction and…admits he comes up short.

Here’s some reasons why Joe Hill struggled with categorizing Joe R. Lansdale. Take “Hoodoo Man and the Midnight Train.” There’s magic–the Dark kind–enchanted weapons, a spooky Train, and a girl to be rescued. Or what about “The Folding Man” with a limousine filled with nuns–the real Bad kind–and a chase filled with menace and danger. A malevolent spirit powers “God of the Razor” which–as an aside–identifies Jack the Ripper. And what the zombies in “On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folk.”

So many unique ideas, so many quirky characters, so much horror!

The Essential Horror of Joe R. Lansdale is one of those books just brimming with stories that will rattle around in your mind for a long time. Highly recommended! GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction by Joe Hill — 7

Introduction by Joe R. Lansdale — 13
“The Folding Man” — 15
“Hoodoo Man and the Midnight Train” — 33
“God of the Razor” — 59
“My Dead Dog Bobby” — 71
“Tight Little Stitches in a Deadman’s Back” — 75
“By Bizarre Hands” — 93
On the Far Side of the Cadillac Desert with Dead Folk — 109
“Love Doll: A Fable” — 151
“Mister Weed-Eater” — 157
“The Bleeding Shadow” — 183
“Not From Detroit” — 213
“The Hungry Snow” — 225
“Dog, Cat, and Baby” — 257
Bubba Ho-tep — 261
“Fish Night” — 299
“Night They Missed the Horror Show” — 309

The Elsbeth Season 3 premiere was broadcast on Sunday, October 12, 2025, on CBS. The first episode, titled “Yes, And…,” aired at 9 p.m. (Elsbeth returns to its normal time slot on Thursday at 10:00 P.M.).

Elsbeth  episodes often involve workplaces where stress, tensions, and resentments create motives for murder. The Season 3 premiere has murder victim, Scotty Bristol, a successful late-night host (and miserable boss), played by outgoing host of The Late Show, Stephen Colbert. Colbert plays Scotty as nasty and cranky to his staff. He can’t be bothered to prepare for interviews with his guests, On top of this terrible behavior, Scotty abuses his writers by mocking them when they make their joke pitches.

So it comes as no surprise when the murder happens. Elsbeth returns from Scotland and tackles this case with her usual enthusiasm. If you’re a fan of Elsbeth, this is a welcoming episode to start the new season. If you’re not watching Elsbeth, you’re missing some fun. GRADE: Incomplete, but trending towards an A.

The 4-1 Buffalo Bills play the 2-2 Atlanta Falcons tomorrow on Monday Night Football. The Falcons are coming off a bye so they’re well rested for this game. While the Bills are 4-point favorites in this game, I think the end result will be closer. The Falcons have a lot of talented players…they just haven’t been able to put them all together consistently. I’m hoping that’s not going to happen on MNF.

How is your favorite NFL team going to perform today?

Ken Carpenter, a mid-50s Average Man, suddenly loses his faith. His pastor, Reverend Todd, suggests Ken take a vacation. Ken’s wife, Nancy, is completely floored by her husband’s decision to travel to London (where Ken was stationed when he was in the Air Force) to “find himself”…alone. On the flight from Nebraska to London, Ken meets Pat Monday, a middle-aged divorcee looking for a sexual partner for her stay in London. Ken also meets Tamyra, a young bartender who listens to his problems. Man From Nebraska (2006) lacks the intensity of August: Osage County and the humor of Superior Donuts. But Tracy Letts captures the angst of a man who becomes unmoored from his belief system. This is another play I would like to see performed. GRADE: B-

If you watch Kathryn Bigelow’s new movie, A House of Dynamite, which is in theaters and will be on available on Netflix October 24, be prepared to lose some sleep.

If you’ve seen The Day After or The Sum of All Fears, you’ll be familiar with the premise of A House of Dynamite. A military tracking station identifies a single missile with a nuclear warhead, origin unknown, heading toward the U.S. mainland. If the missile is not shot down, it will hit in 20 minutes. So basically, this movie focuses on the 19 minutes left before impact.

The movie lurches between the threat of the missile and the characters who are trying to stop that missile from hitting the U.S. and another set of characters trying to figure out who launched the missile and how to retaliate.

The cliches of “edge of my seat” and “white-knuckle suspense” are extremely applicable to A House of Dynamite as Bigelow amps up the stress frame by frame. No spoilers, but be prepared to be freaked out! GRADE: B (for bombshell)

Michael Moorcock and Joe R. Lansdale are two of my favorite writers. And here they are together, in a Planet Stories Press (aka, Paizo Press) “Double Feature” that came out in 2010. Planet Stories Press published about 32 titles between 2007 and 2012, mostly reprints of Robert E. Howard, Henry Kuttner, Leigh Brackett, and C. L. Moore. So this volume is a rarity: two original stories.

Sojan the Swordsman is an amalgam of short stories Michael Moorcock wrote as a teenager starting in 1954. Most of the stories were published in Tarzan Adventures in the 1950s and this is the first U.S. publication that collects all the stories.

Both Moorcock and Lansdale admit Edgar Rice Burroughs profoundly influenced them when they read ERB as kids. Clearly, it’s doubtful that either one of these guys would have been writers without the impact of reading Burroughs in their youth.

“Borrowing” from ERB, Moorcock’s Sojan the Swordsman (aka, Sojan Shieldbearer), is an aspect of the Eternal Champion. Sojan fights with a sword and a pneumatic gun similar in function to the Needle Gun used by Jerry Cornelius. Sojan, once Sir John de Courey until he was killed in combat on Earth and resurrected on Zylor, encounters a world of wonders…and dangers. With a new name, a new identity, and no memory of his past, Sojan contends with the Devil Hunters of Norj and the Hounds of the Cergii.

Joe R. Lansdale’s Under the Warrior Star also features a character who is transported from Earth to an alien planet. A troubled loner, Braxton Booker, gets involved in a secret Government project that sends Brax to another planet called Juna. And, sure enough, there are giants to fight, deadly Mantis creatures to battle, and a beautiful girl to fall in love with.

If you’re a fan of Sword and Planet stories, Sojan the Swordsman and Under the Warrior Star are worth seeking out. GRADE: B

Last week I posted about Dick Clark’s All Time Hits, Volume 1 & 2 (you can read about them here). While Dick Clark’s All Time Hits, Volume 1 & 2 featured songs from the late 1950s and early 1960s, the tunes on Dick Clark’s All Time Hits, Volume 3 & 4 are songs from the later 1960s and early 1970s.

Dick Clark’s All Time Hits, Volume 1 includes classics like Rare Earth’s “Get Ready” and Iron Butterfly’s “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.” I’ve always enjoyed The Spencer Davis Group’s “Gimme Some Lovin'” and Procol Harem’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale.”

Dick Clark’s All Time Hits, Volume 2 also presents some standards like The Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Summer in the City” and The Isley Brothers “Twist and Shout.” I’m a fan of Al Stewart’s “Year of the Cat” and “Nights in White Satin” by The Moody Blues. Do you remember these songs? Any favorites here? GRADE: B (for both)

TRACK LIST:

I finally got around to reading this Martin Edwards’ anthology from 2016. In his Introduction, Edwards makes the case that the Golden Age of Murder featured crime in the manor house rather than the alley’s of London. I’ve read over a dozen anthologies edited by Martin Edwards and Serpents in Eden continues his successful pattern of mixing well-known mystery writers with those not-so-well known. And, even when Edwards includes well-known writers like Arthur Conan Doyle and G. K. Chesterton, he chose a non-Sherlock Holmes story by Doyle and a non-Father Brown story by Chesterton.

My favorite story in Serpents in Eden is R. Austin Freeman’s “The Naturalist at Law,” a Dr. John Thorndyke mystery. A body is found with feet sticking out of the water. Who is the victim? Why was he murdered? Who had a motive to kill him? Thorndyke approached the case with logic and cleverness.

The most unusual story in Serpents in Eden is “Inquest” by Lenora Wodehouse. Yes, Lenora Wodehouse is the step-daughter of P. G. Wodehouse. The story was originally published under the pseudonym of “Loel Yeo.” This is the first time “Inquest” has been published under the author’s true name.

If you’re interested in classic Golden Age mystery stories, Serpents in Eden will deliver hours of entertainment for you. GRADE: B+

Table of Contents:

Introduction, vii,
The Black Doctor Arthur Conan Doyle, 1,
Murder By Proxy M. McDonnell Bodkin, 24,
The Fad of the Fisherman G.K. Chesterton, 50,
The Genuine Tabard E.C. Bentley, 73,
The Gylston Slander Herbert Jenkins, 93,
The Long Barrow H.C. Bailey, 119,
The Naturalist at Law R. Austin Freeman, 146
A Proper Mystery Margery Allingham, 181,
Direct Evidence Anthony Berkeley, 190,
Inquest Leonora Wodehouse, 213,
The Scarecrow Ethel Lina White, 234,
Clue in the Mustard Leo Bruce, 252,
Our Pageant Gladys Mitchell, 260,

If you’ve read all 75 novels and 28 short stories Georges Simenon wrote about Maigret (like Jeff Meyerson has) you’ll be surprised to see chubby, pipe-smoking, avuncular Jules Maigret transformed into a youngster in this new PBS series.

Benjamin Wainwright stars as Jules Maigret, who heads the elite police unit known as La Crim, responsible for investigating all serious crime in and around Paris. Stefanie Martini stars as Madame Louise Maigret. Blake Harrison, Reda Elazouar, Kerrie Hayes, Shaniqua Okwok, and Rob Kazinsky make up the “Les Maigrets,” Maigret’s loyal team of detectives, with Nathalie Armin as Prosecutor Mathilde Kernavel.

Maigret, Season One has six episodes and I’ve only watched the first one that dropped over the weekend. GRADE: Incomplete, but trending towards a B