Swords, Specters, & Stuff
Welcome to My World
I started this blog in January 2012 for one simple reason: I love to write. I named it “Swords, Specters, & Stuff” because I especially love to write about writing, about books and movies in my favorite genres, about authors that mean a great deal to me. But there’s more to it than that, which is why I included “Stuff” in the title. It is “Stuff” that gives me carte blanche to write about anything, which is why you’ll see stories about special trips to Cooperstown, Sedona, and other places; about getting older; about baseball; about the otherworldly way in which I met my soul mate; about the loss of good friends, and so much more. Enjoy! And feel free to leave a comment.
Throwback Thursday: Even The Most Successful Authors Dealt With The Evil Rejection Slips
You know what they say about “opinions.” I first presented this post in 2022.
Revisited: Thank You, Padres
With the baseball season now underway, I’m running this post from last year. A difficult one for me, to be sure, but necessary.
Throwback Thursday: Updating THE CONJURING Universe
Since I first presented this post in 2022, THE CONJURING Universe has expanded to include THE NUN II in 2023. It will further grow later this year with THE CONJURING: LAST RITES.
Let’s Hear It For Strong Women
In my favorite genres of horror and science fiction of the 1950s, women were great at two things: screaming and fainting. Yeah, the guys were always around to protect them while figuring out how to kill the monster, or prevent the alien invasion, or whatever. Fortunately, there were exceptions to the rule, and some of the best films during that era were ones involving strong, smart women.
Throwback Thursday: WEST SIDE STORY—“el Remake de 2021 es Magnífico”
Can even Spielberg top what was already a beloved classic musical? I first presented this post about WEST SIDE STORY in 2022.
Those 1950s “B” Movies: Hokey, But Fun
As a New York City kid growing up in the 1950s I watched a lot of that era’s science fiction/horror flicks, mostly on WOR Channel 9’s “Million Dollar Movie.” Giant bugs/animals/people, space invaders, experiments gone awry—all of them scared the crap out of me back then. In subsequent years, re-watching them became more about fun and nostalgia.
Throwback Thursday: Bernie Smith Is Back!
Indeed he is, still the reluctant hero in my novel, THE HORRORS OF HARRMEL. Bernie first appeared in my 2016 Sword & Planet spoof, THE WIZARD FROM HARRMEL, where he was zapped up from an Iowa cornfield and deposited on the deadly planet of Persus.
The Write Stuff?
I’m finding it hard to wrap my head around the reality that next month will mark one year since I lost my beloved Jacqueline. Often I find myself floating around my empty house in a daze of denial. Still, she made me promise to take care of myself and to keep on truckin’, and so I am.
Throwback Thursday—A QUIET PLACE: Part II—Not As Quiet, But Still Awesome
The story contained within the remarkable 2018 horror film, A QUIET PLACE, began on “Day 89” and went forward from there. So when A QUIET PLACE: Part II (2020) opens on “Day 1” we are assured of finding out how it all started. But it is not entirely a prequel to the original film.
This Film Might’ve Made Viewers Crabby
I suppose that, given its lurid title, the 1957 sci-fi/horror flick, ATTACK OF THE CRAB MONSTERS, could have been presented as a “Guilty Pleasure.” But surprise, the film garnered some decent reviews, and it grossed a million bucks on a paltry $70,000 budget.
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