Category Archives: Uncategorized

With 10 days to go until the release of New Year’s Eve, I decided to post every day about an influence on the novel. This is the big one.  Sometimes, a novel can serve as more than just an influence on a project. A novel can go further; it can become a handbook, a bibleContinue reading “Countdown to New Year’s Eve: Rosemary’s Baby”

Run through a list of the most popular novels of the last few years, and the rise of a new kind of thriller is easy to spot. With book sales dominated by the likes of Gone Girl, Before I Go to Sleep and the smash hit Girl on the Train, crime authors have been swapping spiesContinue reading “Suspicion, Marriage and Murder- The History of the Domestic Thriller”

The inhabitants of Summerisle are gathered on the hilltop. They sing and dance with delight, blessed with the certainty that they are earning the favour of their Gods. Before them, the edifice of The Wicker Man is consumed by fire, a human sacrifice trapped within. The victim, and our protagonist, is Sergeant Howie. He praysContinue reading “Evil in the Soil: Folk Horror and the Sublime”

In 2014, director Steven Spielberg famously said: “We were around when the Western died and there will be a time when the superhero movie goes the way of the Western.” He was, of course, referring to the way in which the cowboy genre, so used to strutting into the saloons of our cinemas, became aContinue reading “How Westerns got Weird, and what it means for Comic Book Films”

When I was a child, my mother would have to take us on long car journeys to see family. Queen Greatest Hits II always got an airing. It was full of energy, with enough pop hooks to grab a child’s attention and enough musical bravura to to warrant endless relistens. Often, instead of spending myContinue reading “Bohemian Rhapsody: Review”

Originally published on Nerdscape a few years back, I thought that this article was worth reposting, especially given Ursula LeGuin’s sad passing earlier this year. Ursula K. Le Guin’s output is staggering. From children’s literature to science-fiction classics, from books about writing to impassioned speeches in support of libraries, she has built up the reputationContinue reading “Archive: Four ways in which A Wizard of Earthsea influenced the biggest fantasy novels of today”