H.P. Lovecraft, the recognized master of cosmic horror, was actually moved as much by a sense of cosmic wonder.
Year: 2010
Dr. James Schlesinger announces “the peak oil debate is over”
This recent speech by Dr. James Schlesinger constitutes Necessary Viewing/Listening/Reading (depending on whether you prefer to read the text or watch the video). It’s also brief and easily digestible. Schlesinger, in case you’ve forgotten, was the first U.S. Secretary of Energy, from 1977-79. Before that he was Chairman of the US Atomic Energy Commission, U.S….
My new column about religion and philosophy in fantasy, SF, and horror
This month I started writing a new column for SF Signal, the massively popular blog about fantasy, horror, and science fiction. The title is Stained Glass Gothic, and the column is devoted to exploring the mutual meanings and implications of fantasy, horror, science fiction, religion, philosophy, and spirituality. I think it’ll be of considerable interest…
Economic doom redux: REALMS OF FANTASY and DREAMS OF DECADENCE shutting down
It’s official: Realms of Fantasy magazine is now history, as announced by publisher Warren Lapine at the magazine’s website today (“A Farewell Note from the Publisher“) and repeated by Locus (“Realms of Fantasy Folds“). We’ll all recall that ROF previously announced they were folding early last year. Some of you will also recall that I…
Is truly great cinematic science fiction really rare?
In a column at the Guardian today (“Why Hollywood can’t get the hang of science fiction“), Damien Walter, always an astute observer of trends in the speculative genres, claims there are only two truly great SF films, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Blade Runner, because these are the only ones that avoid the Hollywoodistic reduction…
You and Your Need for a Muse
Lateral Action, the very popular and influential (and excellent) creativity-and-productivity website run by writer and career/creativity coach Mark McGuinness, has published an article by me about the role of the muse in creative work. Yes, this complements the work I’m doing at my other blog, Demon Muse. Here’s the upshot, from the article’s conclusion: Weâve…
Jimmy Webb says Ray Bradbury and SF taught him how to write beautiful lyrics
How very unexpected, and how absolutely fascinating: songwriter Jimmy Webb, who’s responsible for a boatload of modern pop classics (and much more; he hates being branded as a “middle-of-the-road pop-music writer”), is a deep-thinking science fiction fan who says he learned a lot of his lyric-writing panache from Ray Bradbury. I’ve long felt like I…
Richard Gavin on Dark Awakenings
My friend Richard Gavin, the talented author of Omens (which I praised in a review for Dead Reckonings) and The Darkly Splendid Realm (which is drawing praise from all quarters), has written an enthusuastic review of my Dark Awakenings. A couple of pertinent excerpts: To be genuinely inspired by a work of Horror is a…
Praise for the music
I’ve just received some excellent praise for my “Curse of the Daimon” album from Sanford Allen. In addition to being a cool-cat Texas author of horror and dark fantasy, Sanford is a long-time guitarist/vocalist for Boxcar Satan, the “three-piece band from San Antonio, Texas, that deconstructs American roots music and pours a particularly venomous brand…
Report: ArmadilloCon 32
Well, I’m back from ArmadilloCon 32, having spent the entire weekend down in Austin at the lovely Renaissance Hotel (which was home to the World Fantasy Convention in 2006). This was my third time to attend ArmadilloCon, and it was, as expected, an excellent event all around. Two themes dominated the weekend for me. The…