Sherlock Holmes: The Reluctant Ghostbreaker
When one speaks of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, visions of foggy London streets, hansom cabs, the Diogenes Club and the dim-witted bobbies from Scotland Read More
Category: Mystery
The Christmas Ghost Stories of Charles Dickens
Just the name Charles Dickens is enough to fill the ghost-story reader with images of snowy Christmas and Ebenezer Scrooge. Dickens, through his novel A Read More
The Case of Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (1808-1849) is the father of the mystery story, the inventor of psychological horror, and an early writer of science fiction. His works Read More
Jules de Grandin, Pulp Superstar
Who was the most popular author of Weird Tales in its four decades in publication, from 1923 to 1954 ? H. P. Lovecraft, the creator Read More
The Terror of the Totem Poles
The First Nations of the Pacific Coast and Alaska are known for their beautiful art and their spiritual totem poles. For my sister, Sheila and Read More
A Cowboy, A Space Captain, a Private Detective and a Barbarian Walk Into a Bar…
That could be the beginnings of a really lame joke, but it’s something more. All four of these characters, these separate genre icons, share something Read More
Sherlock Holmes Parodies
Every time you turn around someone comes out with their own Sherlock Holmes novel these days. But almost from the very beginning other writers have Read More
Paul Ernst and the Clayton Astounding
Paul Ernst (1899-1983) was the consummate professional writer, one who understood exactly what an editor wanted and provided it. Getting his start in Weird Tales Read More
The Gods of East & West
In a previous article I showed how “The Tomb of Sarah” was the inspiration for one of Seabury Quinn’s Jules de Grandin stories. Quinn wrote Read More
Why I Read & Write Pulp
I’ve been spending a lot of time amongst the Pulps lately. And it begs the question: what is the appeal of these old, flaking, brown Read More