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
Category: Television
Sword & Sorcery versus Sword & Planet
A swordsman, his arms bearing red wounds, limps across a battlefield covered in bodies. His helmet is gone; his shield is broken. The flag of 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
An Elric of Melnibone Gallery
Michael Moorcock’s albino swordsman appeared for the first time in Science Fantasy #47 (1961) in the story “The Dreaming City”. Fifty-eight years later, television finally Read More
William L. Chester’s Kioga
William L. Chester was not the first to “borrow” from Edgar Rive Burroughs but he was one of the better writers to create his own 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
The Night Gawker
Occult detective spoofs date back to the 1940s with Bob Hope and Paullette Goddard in The Ghostbreakers (1940) and the Universal Abbott and Costello pictures Read More
The False Monster Tradition
The notion that a monster should prove to be a fraud is a fairly recent idea. The warriors gathered around the scop reciting Beowulf would Read More
The Ghosts of an Antiquary
M. R. James (1862-1936) is in my mind the greatest of all the ghost story writers. Nobody else can deliver a true shudder of grim Read More
Jungle Jim
As a Tarzan fan you can’t but help notice all the knock offs and also-rans. Edgar Rice Burroughs created a cottage industry in the jungle. Read More