A slim doorway between Tattoos and The Devil’s Spoke opens to the Institute Library, just off the green in New Haven. The closing event for FORECAST was a blast and a great chance to explore the library as well as get a good last look at the wonders of the exhibition. You can read about…
Forecasting the Future in the Past
Today is the last day of the FORECAST exhibit, which has apparently been very popular. The Institute seems very happy with it. To close out the run, there will be tarot readings, performances, and a talk by me — as well as the last chance to catch all the art. I’ll be talking about the…
PCA is going to be Magic!
I could not be more pleased to let you know, PCA folks, that the 2026 Lynn Bartholome Eminent Scholar Recipient is the fabulous AMY HALE! She will be speaking on ‘Understanding This Golden Age of Magic’ about magic and art and popular culture and this moment in which we find ourselves. I am so delighted…
Recent Viewings
Most of my recent viewings will be television as things have been rather wearying of late, but Bertie was kind enough to get tickets for Death of a Salesman with Laurie Metcalf and Nathan Lane. Rounding out the central cast was Christopher Abbott as Biff (quite impressive) and Ben Ahlers as Hap (whom I knew…
L’Affaire des Poisons (1955)
Content caution for apparently genuine harm of toads, alas. Alas, despite an early appearance by the Tarot deck Marseille there is no more sign of them, but there is pin-sticking magic and black masses, oh yeah. This seems surprisingly dark for the time and in such a lush production. Well, partly: costumes and sets for…
No Other Choice/The Ax
Today is the day my late friend Adrean Darce Brent chose as her birthday; she told me once that the process took long enough that she had more than one day that could be considered so, but having to choose she went with that date. She died before her last birthday which I didn’t find…
Swedenborg House: Elective Affinities
SWEDENBORG HOUSE, LONDON Taking inspiration from the term coined in early chemistry, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s 1809 novel, and a celebrated painting by René Magritte, Elective Affinities explores the mysterious connection between objects, ideas and inner experience. At its core lies the thought of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772), whose philosophy of correspondences proposed a resonance between objects, places…
Þæs ofereode, þisses swa mæg
How to describe the feeling when you see loads of people sharing a meme about how far back can you understand English, which goes all the way back to Old English. People having fun and delighted to realise they can get through Middle English pretty easily, early Middle English somewhat and a bit of Old…
‘Stars & Screen’ Virtual Symposium
I’m pleased to be giving a presentation on the borderline between Gothic and Noir using the films Ivy and Bedelia at the Cinema & Media History Virtual Symposium, 16 May 2026. Good news: it’s online and free to attend this whole day of presentations on a wide variety of films starting at 10am Eastern Time…
Mold, Moss, and Fungus
I am always grateful when Carol Borden of The Cultural Gutter tells me I should check something out. She knows my tastes pretty well and when she said I had to see Rabbit Trap, I knew I would need to do so (see her write up at the link). It hits a lot of my…