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: Guilty Pleasures—THE RELIC
This 1997 horror film is based on the best-selling book, RELIC, by popular authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Fans of these two know that this novel marks the initial appearance of the enigmatic FBI Agent Pendergast, who is totally absent from the movie.
Vampires In…New Mexico?
I could easily have presented the 1998 horror flick, VAMPIRES (aka John Carpenter’s VAMPIRES) as a Guilty Pleasure, since it met all of my parameters. (A D+ rating by audiences, no less!) But I gave it a pass because it was filmed in New Mexico, one of my favorite places, and the film’s scenery was totally cool. Apparently the bloodsuckers liked it too.
Throwback Thursday: I Walk The Line
Okay, I’m not walking as much as I did back in 2017, when this post first ran…but I AM walking. Three to three-and-a-half miles, at least every other day. Not bad for an old (young) fart!
Nightmare On The East River
The 9/11 terrorist attack on New York in 2001 was—and still is—the city’s worst disaster involving loss of life. Prior to that, the dubious record was held by an incident that occurred nearly a century earlier. This is the story of the paddle steamer GENERAL SLOCUM and its ill-fated voyage in 1904.
Throwback Thursday: Films About Writers—THE LAST WORD
It is always a pleasure to see eighty-something Shirley MacLaine on the silver screen. Sadly, not a whole lot of people saw her perform in the 2017 comedy-drama, THE LAST WORD.
Guilty Pleasures: DEAD SILENCE
Horror producer/director James Wan has been associated with a number of successful films, including the INSIDIOUS franchise and the (mostly) awesome “Conjuring” Universe. But his 2007 effort, DEAD SILENCE, is not exactly one of those successes.
Throwback Thursday: Righting Old Wrongs—THE TALISMAN OF OKORRO
By this time I have rewritten and reissued all of my previously published novels, a monumental task. This post first ran in 2017.
Blowing Shit Up: PREDATOR And PREDATOR 2
Each of these two movies, the classic PREDATOR (1987) and the not-so-classic PREDATOR 2 (1990), features a single antagonist—a nasty-looking dude with dreads. So why, one would wonder, does it take an ungodly amount of blowing shit up to bring these alien hunters down?
Throwback Thursday: Guilty Pleasures—C.H.U.D.
When I wrote about the late John Heard last week I mentioned that one of his earliest screen roles was in the 1984 horror movie, C.H.U.D. I would’ve eventually written about this weird film, given that it is one of my Guilty Pleasures—so why not now?
Stop And Smell The Flowers
No great body of text for this week’s post. No haunted houses, hotels, or hovels. No “bad” movies that I love to watch. Just a photo essay about the beauty of the flowers that I get to enjoy on my morning walks…
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