Abraham Stoker (1847-1912), better known as Bram, was born on this date, November 8. Of course, you’ve all heard of him. He wrote this little book about a vampire. No, not Varney. Dracula.
Anyway, even if he had never written anything else, (he did write other stuff, you know) he would be remembered for that one novel.
So happy birthday, Bram.
I’m up to my armpits in dayjobbery, so this post almost didn’t get done. But I wanted to point out two birthdays that fall on this date, September 1.
First is Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950). Do I really have to tell you what all he wrote? Tarzan. John Carter. Pellucidar.
Then there’s Harold Lamb (1892-1962). Lamb was a master of historical adventure, arguably the greatest author of that genre ever. He was a major influence on Robert E. Howard.
I doubt we shall see their equals any time soon.
So what are your favorite works by Burroughs and Lamb. Let us know in the comments.
Today, August 28 is the birthday of four creators of the fantastic. Today has been pretty full. Well, the whole week has, actually. I’ve not had a chance to read anything by any of these folks, so this will just be an informational post, similar to the one I did last year. Continue reading
In addition to looking at Bradbury’s short stories “The Illustrated Woman” and “The Illustrated Man” in the previous post, I wanted to look at a pair of stories that might not be familiar to many of you. Those stories are “The Pendulum” and “Pendulum”. The former was written by Bradbury alone; the latter in collaboration with Henry Hasse. These could be a bit of a challenge to track down, although “Pendulum” is currently in print in The Collected Stories of Ray Bradbury. Continue reading
Yes, the title of this post says “woman”, not “man.” No, that’s not a typo. Most people who read this blog are familiar with The Illustrated Man, a short story collection in which the framing device is a tattooed man whose tattoos show the stories. That’s not what this post is about. Bradbury also wrote a short story titled “The Illustrated Man” which probably served as the inspiration for the framing device in the collection of the same name.
Patience, please. We’ll get there. Just not yet. Continue reading
Yeah, I know. Lovecraft’s birthday (August 20) was yesterday. For reasons that are not entirely clear, I missed it.
I’ve not read much Lovecraft in recent years. I’m not sure I’ll be able to work any in this evening, but I’ll give it a try. I’m not sure if I want to reread something or try a story I haven’t read yet.
Regardless of what you think about him as a person, there’s no getting around Lovecraft’s influence on the genre. He’ll always have a spot on my reading list.
I’m up to my armpits in other projects today, so I probably won’t get around to reading anything by today’s featured authors, but I did want to give a shout-out to two of the greatest and one artist who deserves better recognition. So in order of their birth, here are… Continue reading
Today, July 24, marks the birth of three writers and one artist who have not only been major figures in the fields of fantasy and science fiction but also personal favorites of mine. In order of the years of their births, they are Continue reading
Today, July 10, marks the birth of three writers whose works I’ve enjoyed. They are Greye La Spina (1880-1969), John Wyndham (1903-1969), and Carl Jacobi (1908-1997). Continue reading
Today we have another guest post by John Bullard.
Ambrose Bierce
Today, June 24th, is the birthday of writer, reporter, and Civil War veteran, Ambrose Bierce. I originally wrote this piece last year after having thought about Bierce’s influence on some of Robert E. Howard’s stories. Well, I have recently read another Bierce story that Howard may have read, and influenced a story he wrote. At the very least, they both wrote a story on the same idea- the psychological effects of horror on a person’s mind involving snakes. Did Bierce’s story influence Howard in writing his story?
Massive Spoilers follow for both stories.