Sadie Hartmann’s new 101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered puts its emphasis on more recent horror novels, mostly those published in the past 15 years. A few classics are included like Joe Lansdale’s The Bottoms from 2000 and The Ballad of Black Tom (2016) by Victor LaValle but the majority of the books recommended are new to me. Check out the Book List and Table of Contents below.

Each book receives a page with information about the author, a picture of the cover artwork, and a summary of the plot with emphasis on why you should read it. I’ve read Christopher Buehlman’s (p. 20-21) The Blacktongue Thief (2021) and Buehlman is featured in an interview here where he mentions books that affected him and his writing career: Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House, Last Days by Adam Nevill, and William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist audiobook where the author is the narrator.

Many of you might be familiar with Stephen Jones and Kim Newman’s Horror: The 100 Best Books (1993) and Horror: Another 100 Best Books (2005). 101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered updates those two volumes and will cause you to order more books in this genre. GRADE: A

101 Horror Books To Read Before You’re Murdered – List

1		The Grip of It by Jac Jemc (Goodreads Author)  3.19 avg rating — 12,414 ratingsscore: 100, and 1 person voted
2		The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig (Goodreads Author)  3.74 avg rating — 22,058 ratingsscore: 99, and 1 person voted
3		Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey (Goodreads Author)  3.37 avg rating — 26,144 ratingsscore: 98, and 1 person voted
4		Kill Creek by Scott Thomas  3.77 avg rating — 19,542 ratingsscore: 97, and 1 person voted
5		The Ancestor by Danielle Trussoni (Goodreads Author)  3.37 avg rating — 4,340 ratingsscore: 96, and 1 person voted
6		The Switch House by Tim Meyer (Goodreads Author)  3.57 avg rating — 652 ratingsscore: 95, and 1 person voted
7		Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill (Goodreads Author)  3.85 avg rating — 135,383 ratingsscore: 94, and 1 person voted
8		NOS4A2 by Joe Hill (Goodreads Author)  4.08 avg rating — 127,717 ratingsscore: 93, and 1 person voted
9		Jurassic Park (Jurassic Park, #1) by Michael Crichton  4.10 avg rating — 950,489 ratingsscore: 92, and 1 person voted
10		Pet Sematary by Stephen King (Goodreads Author)  4.06 avg rating — 583,302 ratingsscore: 91, and 1 person voted
11		Hell Hound by Ken Greenhall  3.93 avg rating — 1,293 ratingsscore: 90, and 1 person voted
12		Jurassic Park (Jurassic Park, #1) by Michael Crichton  4.10 avg rating — 950,489 ratingsscore: 89, and 1 person voted
13		Hearts Strange and Dreadful by Tim McGregor (Goodreads Author)  4.27 avg rating — 189 ratingsscore: 88, and 1 person voted
14		The Return by Rachel Harrison  3.36 avg rating — 14,803 ratingsscore: 87, and 1 person voted
15		Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman (Goodreads Author)  4.27 avg rating — 17,553 ratingsscore: 86, and 1 person voted
16		The Lesser Dead by Christopher Buehlman (Goodreads Author)  4.05 avg rating — 5,752 ratingsscore: 85, and 1 person voted
17		Those Across the River by Christopher Buehlman (Goodreads Author)  3.71 avg rating — 12,133 ratingsscore: 84, and 1 person voted
18		The Suicide Motor Club by Christopher Buehlman (Goodreads Author)  3.93 avg rating — 1,725 ratingsscore: 83, and 1 person voted
19		The Necromancer’s House by Christopher Buehlman (Goodreads Author)  3.75 avg rating — 3,022 ratingsscore: 82, and 1 person voted
20		The Blacktongue Thief (Blacktongue, #1) by Christopher Buehlman (Goodreads Author)  4.23 avg rating — 20,178 ratingsscore: 81, and 1 person voted
21		White Horse by Erika T. Wurth (Goodreads Author)  3.52 avg rating — 10,742 ratingsscore: 80, and 1 person voted
22		When the Reckoning Comes by LaTanya McQueen  3.72 avg rating — 6,627 ratingsscore: 79, and 1 person voted
23		The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas (Goodreads Author)  3.84 avg rating — 39,688 ratingsscore: 78, and 1 person voted
24		The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories by Tara Moore (Editor)  3.79 avg rating — 717 ratingsscore: 77, and 1 person voted
25		The Valancourt Book of Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories: Volume Two by Allen Grove (Editor)  4.01 avg rating — 210 ratingsscore: 76, and 1 person voted
26		The Valancourt Book of ​Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories: Volume Three by Simon Stern (Editor)  3.97 avg rating — 128 ratingsscore: 75, and 1 person voted
27		The Valancourt Book of ​Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories: Volume Four by Christopher Philippo (Goodreads Author) (Editor)  3.85 avg rating — 93 ratingsscore: 74, and 1 person voted
28		The Valancourt Book of ​Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories: Volume Five by Christopher Philippo (Goodreads Author) (Editor)  3.79 avg rating — 86 ratingsscore: 73, and 1 person voted
29		The Shrieking Skull & Other Victorian Christmas Ghost Stories by James Skipp Borlase  3.68 avg rating — 50 ratingsscore: 72, and 1 person voted
30		Hark! the Herald Angels Scream by Christopher Golden (Goodreads Author) (editor)  3.70 avg rating — 1,727 ratingsscore: 71, and 1 person voted
31		Season’s Creepings: Tales of Holiday Horror by Ronald Kelly (Goodreads Author)  4.09 avg rating — 342 ratingsscore: 70, and 1 person voted
32		Wraith by Joe Hill (Goodreads Author)  4.12 avg rating — 4,347 ratingsscore: 69, and 1 person voted
33		Krampus: The Yule Lord by Brom (Goodreads Author)  4.11 avg rating — 10,734 ratingsscore: 68, and 1 person voted
34		Secret Santa by Andrew Shaffer (Goodreads Author)  3.46 avg rating — 4,358 ratingsscore: 67, and 1 person voted
35		The Visitor by Sergio Gomez (Goodreads Author)  3.35 avg rating — 3,954 ratingsscore: 66, and 1 person voted
36		Dead of Winter by Kealan Patrick Burke  3.95 avg rating — 925 ratingsscore: 65, and 1 person voted
37		Halldark Holidays by Gabino Iglesias (Goodreads Author) (Editor)  4.28 avg rating — 79 ratingsscore: 64, and 1 person voted
38		Where the Dead Go to Die by Aaron Dries (Goodreads Author)  4.01 avg rating — 517 ratingsscore: 63, and 1 person voted
39		Ghost Summer by Tananarive Due (Goodreads Author)  4.21 avg rating — 1,984 ratingsscore: 62, and 1 person voted
40		The Good House by Tananarive Due (Goodreads Author)  3.99 avg rating — 7,688 ratingsscore: 61, and 1 person voted
41		The Between by Tananarive Due (Goodreads Author)  4.06 avg rating — 3,756 ratingsscore: 60, and 1 person voted
42		My Soul to Keep (African Immortals, #1) by Tananarive Due (Goodreads Author)  4.15 avg rating — 6,293 ratingsscore: 59, and 1 person voted
43		The Living Blood (African Immortals, #2) by Tananarive Due (Goodreads Author)  4.35 avg rating — 2,620 ratingsscore: 58, and 1 person voted
44		Blood Colony (African Immortals, #3) by Tananarive Due (Goodreads Author)  4.13 avg rating — 1,648 ratingsscore: 57, and 1 person voted
45		My Soul to Take (African Immortals, #4) by Tananarive Due (Goodreads Author)  4.15 avg rating — 1,102 ratingsscore: 56, and 1 person voted
46		Ghoul by Brian Keene (Goodreads Author)  3.86 avg rating — 4,536 ratingsscore: 55, and 1 person voted
47		The Birds and Other Stories by Daphne du Maurier  4.05 avg rating — 11,989 ratingsscore: 54, and 1 person voted
48		The Cormorant by Stephen Gregory (Goodreads Author)  3.52 avg rating — 904 ratingsscore: 53, and 1 person voted
49		The United States of Cryptids: A Tour of American Myths and Monsters by J.W. Ocker (Goodreads Author)  3.91 avg rating — 1,386 ratingsscore: 52, and 1 person voted
50		In the Valley of the Sun by Andy Davidson (Goodreads Author)  3.86 avg rating — 2,006 ratingsscore: 51, and 1 person voted
51		The Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon (Goodreads Author)  3.86 avg rating — 28,003 ratingsscore: 50, and 1 person voted
52		Hairspray and Switchblades by V. Castro (Goodreads Author)  3.76 avg rating — 309 ratingsscore: 49, and 1 person voted
53		Goddess of Filth by V. Castro (Goodreads Author)  3.67 avg rating — 5,409 ratingsscore: 48, and 1 person voted
54		The Queen of the Cicadas by V. Castro (Goodreads Author)  3.76 avg rating — 1,374 ratingsscore: 47, and 1 person voted
55		Mestiza Blood by V. Castro (Goodreads Author)  3.91 avg rating — 304 ratingsscore: 46, and 1 person voted
56		The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro (Goodreads Author)  3.66 avg rating — 4,845 ratingsscore: 45, and 1 person voted
57		Aliens: Vasquez by V. Castro (Goodreads Author)  3.38 avg rating — 359 ratingsscore: 44, and 1 person voted
58		Boys in the Valley by Philip Fracassi (Goodreads Author)  4.23 avg rating — 4,363 ratingsscore: 43, and 1 person voted
59		The Demonologist by Andrew Pyper (Goodreads Author)  3.32 avg rating — 9,755 ratingsscore: 42, and 1 person voted
60		The Wicked by James Newman (Goodreads Author)  3.85 avg rating — 732 ratingsscore: 41, and 1 person voted
61		Come Closer by Sara Gran (Goodreads Author)  3.65 avg rating — 27,801 ratingsscore: 40, and 1 person voted
62		My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix (Goodreads Author)  3.94 avg rating — 106,611 ratingsscore: 39, and 1 person voted
63		We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix (Goodreads Author)  3.74 avg rating — 23,110 ratingsscore: 38, and 1 person voted
64		Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of ’70s and ’80s Horror Fiction by Grady Hendrix (Goodreads Author)  4.27 avg rating — 9,798 ratingsscore: 37, and 1 person voted
65		The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix (Goodreads Author)  3.81 avg rating — 210,690 ratingsscore: 36, and 1 person voted
66		How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix (Goodreads Author)  3.71 avg rating — 89,847 ratingsscore: 35, and 1 person voted
67		The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix (Goodreads Author)  3.53 avg rating — 130,578 ratingsscore: 34, and 1 person voted
68		Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix (Goodreads Author)  3.66 avg rating — 89,109 ratingsscore: 33, and 1 person voted
69		The Year of the Witching (Bethel, #1) by Alexis Henderson (Goodreads Author)  3.81 avg rating — 36,557 ratingsscore: 32, and 1 person voted
70		Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt (Goodreads Author)  3.73 avg rating — 36,368 ratingsscore: 31, and 1 person voted
71		Clown in a Cornfield (Clown in a Cornfield, #1) by Adam Cesare (Goodreads Author)  3.74 avg rating — 23,734 ratingsscore: 30, and 1 person voted
72		The Nightmare Girl by Jonathan Janz (Goodreads Author)  3.98 avg rating — 541 ratingsscore: 29, and 1 person voted
73		Brother by Ania Ahlborn (Goodreads Author)  3.94 avg rating — 38,342 ratingsscore: 28, and 1 person voted
74		The Devil Crept In by Ania Ahlborn (Goodreads Author)  3.66 avg rating — 8,712 ratingsscore: 27, and 1 person voted
75		Seed by Ania Ahlborn (Goodreads Author)  3.79 avg rating — 22,528 ratingsscore: 26, and 1 person voted
76		The Bird Eater by Ania Ahlborn (Goodreads Author)  3.53 avg rating — 10,314 ratingsscore: 25, and 1 person voted
77		Within These Walls by Ania Ahlborn (Goodreads Author)  3.63 avg rating — 6,343 ratingsscore: 24, and 1 person voted
78		Dark Across the Bay by Ania Ahlborn (Goodreads Author)  3.55 avg rating — 3,400 ratingsscore: 23, and 1 person voted
79		Apart in the Dark: Novellas by Ania Ahlborn (Goodreads Author)  3.86 avg rating — 413 ratingsscore: 22, and 1 person voted
80		If You See Her by Ania Ahlborn (Goodreads Author)  3.65 avg rating — 2,430 ratingsscore: 21, and 1 person voted
81		The Neighbors by Ania Ahlborn (Goodreads Author)  3.29 avg rating — 7,408 ratingsscore: 20, and 1 person voted
82		The Shuddering by Ania Ahlborn (Goodreads Author)  3.68 avg rating — 11,840 ratingsscore: 19, and 1 person voted
83		The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle  3.86 avg rating — 27,695 ratingsscore: 18, and 1 person voted
84		The Worm and His Kings (The Worm and His Kings, #1) by Hailey Piper (Goodreads Author)  3.79 avg rating — 1,700 ratingsscore: 17, and 1 person voted
85		The Fisherman by John Langan  3.93 avg rating — 24,710 ratingsscore: 16, and 1 person voted
86		A Lush and Seething Hell: Two Tales of Cosmic Horror by John Hornor Jacobs (Goodreads Author)  3.82 avg rating — 2,574 ratingsscore: 15, and 1 person voted
87		Walk The Darkness Down by John Boden (Goodreads Author)  4.14 avg rating — 147 ratingsscore: 14, and 1 person voted
88		Knock Knock (The Skillute Cycle #1) by S.P. Miskowski (Goodreads Author)  3.83 avg rating — 477 ratingsscore: 13, and 1 person voted
89		The Bottoms by Joe R Lansdale (2010-12-07) by Joe R. Lansdale (Goodreads Author)  4.18 avg rating — 8,492 ratingsscore: 12, and 1 person voted
90		December Park by Ronald Malfi (Goodreads Author)  4.26 avg rating — 2,324 ratingsscore: 11, and 1 person voted
91		Penpal by Dathan Auerbach (Goodreads Author)  3.86 avg rating — 36,185 ratingsscore: 10, and 1 person voted
92		Of Foster Homes and Flies by Chad Lutzke (Goodreads Author)  4.34 avg rating — 1,230 ratingsscore: 9, and 1 person voted
93		The Ghost Tree by Christina Henry (Goodreads Author)  3.83 avg rating — 6,461 ratingsscore: 8, and 1 person voted
94		The Deer Kings by Wendy N. Wagner (Goodreads Author)  4.36 avg rating — 47 ratingsscore: 7, and 1 person voted
95		The Bone Weaver’s Orchard by Sarah Read (Goodreads Author)  3.77 avg rating — 602 ratingsscore: 6, and 1 person voted
96		The Listener by Robert McCammon  4.05 avg rating — 2,475 ratingsscore: 5, and 1 person voted
97		Bird Box (Bird Box, #1) by Josh Malerman (Goodreads Author)  4.04 avg rating — 187,128 ratingsscore: 4, and 1 person voted
98		Pearl by Josh Malerman (Goodreads Author)  3.41 avg rating — 4,012 ratingsscore: 3, and 1 person voted
99		Malorie (Bird Box, #2) by Josh Malerman (Goodreads Author)  3.81 avg rating — 22,675 ratingsscore: 2, and 1 person voted
100		A House at the Bottom of a Lake by Josh Malerman (Goodreads Author)  3.20 avg rating — 16,308 ratings

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

FORWARD By Josh Malerman — 4

INTRODUCTION By Sadie Hartmann — 7

Paranormal. Haunted houses — 11

Ghosts — 22

I grew up with ghosts / by Cassandra Khaw — 38

Creatures & cryptids — 30

Supernatural. Demons & possession — 41

The occult & witchcraft — 50

Cosmic horror — 56

Make horror gay AF / by Hailey Piper — 62

Human monsters — 65

Coming-of-age — 66

Grief, loss & death — 78

Cults — 88

Slashers & serial killers — 98

Body horror — 105

Creepy kids — 110

Crime & investigation — 116

A secret language only we can speak: the comfort of queer horror / by Eric LaRocca — 122

Natural order horror — 125

Apocalyptic, dystopian & sci-fi — 126

Eco horror — 136

From out of the dark came blackness / by RJ Joseph – 142

Short story collections — 145

The Sharpest stake / by Daniel Kraus — 158

You’re a Horror Junkie! Now What? — 160

Book Checklist — 162

Acknowledgements — 164

About the Author — 164

Index — 165

Deb mentioned Sade in her comment last week so I found my copies of The Best of Sade (1994) and Sade Lovers Live (2004) and listened to them again. “Sade is a Nigerian-born British singer, known as the lead vocalist of her band Sade. The band released the album Diamond Life, which became one of the era’s best-selling albums and the best-selling debut by a British female vocalist. The band released their third album (Stronger Than Pride) in 1988, and a fourth album (Love Deluxe) in 1992. The band went on hiatus in 1996 after the birth of Sade’s child.

After eight years without an album, the band reunited in 1999 and released Lovers Rock in 2000. The album departed from the jazz-inspired inflections of their previous work, featuring mellower sounds and pop compositions. The band produced no more music until the release of Soldier of Love, ten years later. Since then, they have released two songs, “Flower of the Universe” for the soundtrack of Disney‘s A Wrinkle in Time, and “The Big Unknown“, part of the soundtrack of Steve McQueen‘s film Widows.”

I played “Smooth Operator” constantly when I first heard it. The same with “The Sweetest Taboo,” and “Hang On To Your Love.” Great music by a great artist. Are you a Sade fan? Do you have a favorite song? GRADE: A (for both)

TRACK LIST:

Your Love Is King	3:41
		Hang On To Your Love	4:29
		Smooth Operator	4:16
		Jezebel	5:23
		The Sweetest Taboo	4:25
		Is It A Crime	6:16
		Never As Good As The First Time	3:58
		Love Is Stronger Than Pride	4:17
		Paradise	3:36
		Nothing Can Come Between Us	3:52
		No Ordinary Love	7:19
		Like A Tattoo	3:36
		Kiss Of Life	4:10
		Please Send Me Someone To Love	3:40
		Cherish The Day	6:17
		Pearls	4:35

TRACK LIST:

A1		Cherish The Day
A2		Somebody Already Broke My Heart
A3		Smooth Operator
A4		Jezebel
A5		Kiss of Life
A6		Slave Song
A7		The Sweetest Gift
B1		The Sweetest Taboo
B2		Paradise
B3		No Ordinary Love
B4		By Your Side
B5		Flow
B6		Is It A Crime

I’m taking Diane to her favorite local restaurant for a Valentine’s Day dinner with friends. Hope your Valentine’s Day plans are just as sweet!

Diane and I drove to the Sheas’s Performing Arts Theatre at 5:00 P.M. and joined 2000+ Jim Gaffigan fans for Gaffigan’s Barely Alive Tour. Gaffigan had five performances in Buffalo–including an 8:00 P.M. show after our 5:00 P.M. show–and all of them sold out. Clearly, Western NY is Jim Gaffigan Country.

For those of you who watched Gaffigan’s 2023 Dark Pale comedy “Special” on AMAZON Prime Video (you can read my review here), some of those routines were recycled on the Barely Alive Tour stand-up comedy.

Gaffigan repeated his jokes about Pat Sajak of Wheel of Fortune and told the story of his family getting a dog…despite his wife’s allergies to dogs. Gaffigan also explained his weight loss. He’s on Mounjaro (“Way better than Ozempic!”). However, people come up to Gaffigan’s wife asking, “Does Jim have cancer? He’s lost so much weight!”

Ted Alexandro, a comic who told us that he’s been doing stand-up for 30 years, 6 of those as the opening act for Jim Gaffigan, had the audience laughing for about 25 minutes. Most of his jokes concerned the life-style of being a 60 year-old comic married to woman who does psychic readings. They also have two toddlers.

Alexandro, followed by Gaffigan, delivered about 90 minutes of humor to an appreciative audience. Are you a Jim Gaffigan fan? GRADE: B

Peter Attia’s Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity focuses on how to live better longer. A long life without quality of life is just existing. Attia explores the recent medical research and advances that give us more control over our long-term health.

Attia believes adjusting your diet can produce positive health effects. The big culprits are sugar and high fructose corn syrup. Research shows how sugar and high fructose corn syrup adversely affect our glucose levels leaving us sluggish and drained of energy.

Heart disease is the biggest killer in America. Attia suggests several strategies to improve heart health. The two easiest strategies to reduce your risk of heart attacks and stokes are daily exercise and a Mediterranean diet.

Check out the graph below. As we age, our immune systems weaken and the chances of contracting cancer increases. Cancer is most deadly to people over 70 years of age. But Attia provides recommendations to reduce cancer risk later in Life. One factor that can help is sleep. As we age, sleep becomes more elusive. Quality sleep recharges our immune system to fight off cancers and other diseases.

Our most powerful tool for preventing cognitive decline is exercise. As we age, our physical capacity erodes. Our cardio respiratory fitness declines, we lose strength and muscle mass over the years, and our bones grow fragile as our joints stiffen and our balance falters. Daily exercise can stave off physical decline and keep our brains healthy. I found Attia’s advice useful. If you want to improve your quality of Life and age more sensibly, I highly recommend Outlive. GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction 1 

Chapter 1 The Long Game: From Fast Death to Slow Death 7 

Chapter 2 Medicine 3.0: Rethinking Medicine for the Age of Chronic Disease 20 

Chapter 3 Objective, Strategy, Tactics: A Road Map for Reading This Book 36 

Chapter 4 Centenarians: The Older You Get, the Healthier You Have Been 59 

Chapter 5 Eat Less, Live Longer: The Science of Hunger and Health 73 

Chapter 6 The Crisis of Abundance: Can Our Ancient Genes Cope with Our Modern Diet? 88 

Chapter 7 The Ticker: Confronting-and Preventing-Heart Disease, the Deadliest Killer on the Planet 111 

Chapter 8 The Runaway Cell: New Ways to Address the Killer That Is Cancer 140 

Chapter 9 Chasing Memory: Understanding Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Neurodegenerative Diseases 177

Chapter 10 Thinking Tactically: Building a Framework of Principles That Work for You 209 

Chapter 11 Exercise: The Most Powerful Longevity Drug 216 

Chapter 12 Training 101: How to Prepare for the Centenarian Decathlon 235 

Chapter 13 The Gospel of Stability: Relearning How to Move to Prevent Injury 263 

Chapter 14 Nutrition 3.0: You Say Potato, I Say “Nutritional Biochemistry” 291 

Chapter 15 Putting Nutritional Biochemistry into Practice: How to Find the Right Eating Pattern for You 307

Chapter 16 The Awakening: How to Learn to Love Sleep, the Best Medicine for Your Brain 349 

Chapter 17 Work in Progress: The High Price of Ignoring Emotional Health 377 

Epilogue 409 

Acknowledgments 413 

Notes 417 

References 431 

Index 471 

The Marvels is the 33rd movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The budget for The Marvels was around $270 million according to a report from Forbes, making it the fourth most-expensive MCU movie and the highest budget for a non-Avengers film. With just an $80 million gross at the domestic box office, “The Marvels” is the only MCU film to fail to cross the $100 million mark—falling more than $50 million behind the $134 million grossed by the domestic box office’s second-worst performer, “The Incredible Hulk.” Now The Marvels is featured on Disney+.

The director of The Marvels, Nia DaCosta (“Little Woods,” “Candyman”), who co-wrote the screenplay with Megan McDonnell and Elissa Karasik is going to find it difficult to direct another MCU movie with the poor showing of this film.

Brie Larson plays Captain Marvel a.k.a. Carol Danvers, a former Air Force pilot who inadvertently picked up superpowers. Marvel should have just stuck with Captain Marvel instead of adding Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau, and Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel,to an over-plotted, overextended, overstuffed movie.

Part of the problem of The Marvels is the necessity of taking a lot of time on the screen to bring the audience up-to-date on all the backstories necessary to explain what the heck is going on. The Kree attack The Skrulls and Captain Marvel and her two buddies need to fix the disaster affects before the Universe is damaged.

Did The Marvels need a dance number? Why do all the fight scenes seem lame? Why does this $270 million movie look like it was made for TV?

As one of those Marvel fans who has seen all 33 MCU movies and watched the Ms Marvel TV series as well as WandaVison, I found The Marvels tedious. Maybe this is one of reasons Disney stock is down. GRADE: C

Fred Chappell, the great writer and teacher, died on January 4, 2024. Chappell wrote in a number of genres, but the one that I was most interested in was Chappell’s stories of Lovecraft pastiches. I’ve mentioned Chappell’s “The Adder” in several posts. It’s one of the most convincing and terrifying Lovecraftean stories I’ve ever read.

Dagon was first published in 1968. Dagon was awarded the Best Foreign Book by the French Academy. In 2009, Boson Books reprinted Dagon and its story of a man who encounters one of Lovecraft’s Gods. Dagon presides over the Deep Ones, a hidden amphibious humanoid race that resides in the Earth’s oceans, and is worshipped by the Esoteric Order of Dagon, a secret cult based in Innsmouth. He is the consort of Mother Hydra.

Peter Leland inherits a farm and discovers he has some very strange neighbors. In a series of chilling scenes, Leland slowly finds himself in the grip of a power that takes over his world. Leland doesn’t realize it, but readers recognize the eerie power of Dagon is at work.

With almost psychedelic intensity Chappell’s prose maps the Fate of Leland as he changes and declines into state that prepares him for a meeting with Dagon. If you’re in the mood for a mysterious and sinister encounter with one of Lovecraft’s fiendish Gods, give Dagon a try. GRADE: B

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, I thought two CDs of love songs would be appropriate for this post. The first is a traditional collection of instrumental love songs, An Arthur Fiedler Valentine (2001) performed by The Boston Pops with Arthur Fiedler conducting. I love “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes,” “Love Me Tender,” and “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”

For those of you who prefer love songs with a little more energy, I’ve included Love Bites: More Romantic Power Ballads (1998). There’s a range of songs with various performers and groups. I’m sure you’ll recognize many of the songs on this CD (but, you may not like them). Do you have any Valentine’s Day plans? GRADE: B (for both)

TRACK LIST:

1		Moonlight Serenade	4:18
2		Smoke Gets In Your Eyes	4:21
3		Love Is A Many Splendored Thing	3:18
4		Michelle	3:40
5		Embraceable You	3:15
6		Love Is Blue	4:16
7		Love Me Tender	4:02
8		Days Of Wine And Roses	3:31
9		A Man And A Woman	3:56
10		Laura	2:54
11		In The Mood	3:24
12		Star Dust	3:09
13		And I Love Her	2:21
14		Love Is Here To Stay	2:47
15		The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face	5:12
16		You Are The Sunshine Of My Life	3:18
17		Moon River	3:42
18		I Want To Hold Your Hand	2:16

TRACK LIST:
1 Poison –Every Rose Has Its Thorn

2 Meat Loaf–Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad

3 Pat Benatar–Fire And Ice

4 Cinderella –Nobody’s Fool

5 Corey Hart–It Ain’t Enough

6 Enuff Z’Nuff–Goodbye

7 Starship –Sara

8 Europe –Carrie

9 Bonnie Tyler–Total Eclipse Of The Heart

10 Toto–I’ll Be Over You

11 Firehouse –Love Of A Lifetime

12 Styx–Lady

13 The Babys–Every Time I Think Of You

14 Kingdom Come –What Love Can Be

15 Mr. Big–To Be With You

16 Night Ranger– Goodbye

Sherlock Homes: The Sign of Seven includes seven longish pastiches. My favorite story is Stuart Douglas’s “Death of a Mudlark.” Holmes and Watson investigate the death of a man who scavenges muddy and stinky tunnels. Holmes, of course, finds some intriguing clues the leads the investigation into some surprising twists and turns.

In the other stories Holmes attends a deadly séance that may prove a man’s guilt; visits a dark carnival with an unusual menu; solves the murder of an Egyptologist’s butler; uncovers the shocking secret of a tobacco dealer; sets sail for America to investigate the death of a cult leader and settles an old score for his famous associate Inspector Lestrade! If you enjoy Holmes pastiches, this anthology will delight you. GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction — Martin Rosenstock — 1

Death of a Mudlark — Stuart Douglas — 5

The Adventure of the Deadly Seance — James Lovegrove — 99

The Adventure of the Heroic Tobacconist — Derrick Belanger — 167

The Dark Carnival — Andrew Lane — 229

The Moncton House Mystery — David Stuart Davies — 295

The Adventure of the Koreshan Unity — Amy Thomas — 365

Our Common Correspondent — Lyndsay Faye — 429

About the Editor — 507

About the Contributors — 509