It is said that, of five hundred and fifty-five ways to cook a lobster, only two hundred and twenty-five are still known in the city. Older chefs lament the days of their great-grandparents, when more [...]
continue reading »
Once upon a time—we might as well put it that way, why not?—you are bathing, innocently enough, in the bend of the river closest to your home, when bobbing along with the current, out of apparent nowhere, comes the smoothest, ripest, most glowingly golden mango anyone has ever seen.
continue reading »
Jim was spraying black paint on the last of the windows when he saw the cat emerge from the hedge of arbor vitae at the back of the yard—an unusual tortoiseshell cat with a wild mix of reds, blacks, and browns in its fur. All the confusing colors distracted for a moment from the fact that the cat' [...]
continue reading »
Since the night she died, she’s been called beautiful five thousand, two hundred and seven times by five thousand, two hundred and seven different tenientes. Each one has his own, peculiar stiffness as he clings to her, as his veneer of restraint chars and peels back like pages in a burning book.
continue reading »
They shared an apartment where William knew the landlord, where nobody asked questions. Leo learned to ignore the strange bumps and creases of his neighbors' clothes. He was safe among the modified; their crimes, their sins, were so much greater than his own. And in that safety he could forget, as l [...]
continue reading »
Tim Burton and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland sounds like a match made in heaven. Burton’s history of quirky fantasy seems particularly suited to the story of a contrary girl dropped into an even-more-contrary dreamland. Unfortunately, Burton was all out of dark whimsy years ago, and his Alice in Wonderland is little more than a reminder [...]
continue reading » comment on this
The New Dead, edited by Christopher Golden, is an example of the “big tent” theory of zombie fiction. Instead of restricting the content to the classic Romero-esque shamblers, Golden threw the gates wide open and the result is a wildly diverse, inventive batch of stories that will please both hardcore zombie fanatics and more casual dabblers in the subgenre…a look at zombies that reaffirms the elements that allow them to maintain their grip on our imagination while showing how broad the possibilities for them are.
continue reading » comment on this
“Mark Teppo suffers from a mild case of bibliomania, which serves him well in his on-going pursuit of a writing career. He also owns a pink bunny suit. Fascinated with the mystical and the extra-ordinary, he channels this enthusiasm into fictional explorations of magic realism, urban fantasy, and surreal experimentation. Maybe, one day, he’ll write a space opera. With rabbits.” An interview with Teppo, by Jonathan Wood.
continue reading » one comment
What inspired your folk tale “Bearing Fruit”?
This is actually from the notes I’ve written for my upcoming short story collection:
I’m a folklore and fairy tale geek—not in any scholarly way or anything, but I’ve read lotsa shit from lotsa cultures, and it’s an abiding interest of mine. So one day, my friend Andrew Drilon and [...]
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, first published as a children’s book in 1865, has had a particular appeal to moviemakers since they were first able to crank out the film. The story’s vivid images were perfect material for this new medium, and the early movie adaptations especially did an excellent job of preserving the vignette-y, illogical narrative. (It helped that the films were silent, and so the focus was on the special effects and not so much on killer dialogue.) Below, nine adaptations of Alice that are good, bad, or downright curious.
continue reading » one comment
It’s a “chili mac” kind of thing, really. Half zombie movie, half psycho thriller, with a dash of family interest and a pinch of buddy flick, the dish turns out both new and familiar.
continue reading » one comment
It’s tough to compile a definitive anthology, especially when the volume contains only original fiction and lacks most of the genre’s iconic writers, but editor Nick Gevers tackles the challenge in Extraordinary Engines: The Definitive Steampunk Anthology. Overall, it is neither as definitive nor as strong as might be hoped, nor does it achieve “definitive” status. The anthology should, however, please many steampunk devotees, and win it some new fans.
continue reading » comment on this
Donna Jo Napoli has seen more than sixty books in print. In her latest offering, The Wager (Henry Holt, April 2010), a well-bred Don Giovanni squanders away his wealth and is cast into the life of a beggar in the aftermath of a series of natural disasters. Until he meets a mysterious stranger who bets him a magic purse that he cannot go “three years, three months, three days” without washing or shaving or changing his clothes. Ms. Napoli describes her writer’s journey from the book’s conception through publication.
continue reading » comment on this
You often hear it said that when two people collaborate, a third person emerges. I think that is probably right. The assimilation process can be painful, but Scott made it easier with his endless patience. It took quite a long time.
continue reading » one comment
Don't have an account? Sign up!
