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…
Tag: writing
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…
Hallucinations
I received an email requesting an essay I wrote in 2011. Not unusual: while publishers charge lots of money for academic journals, most of us are happy to give away copies for free of our own publications. Print journals used to give (maybe still do?) extra offset copies for precisely that purpose. What was odd,…
Shenanigans, Generally
19 January 1596: Walter Hay, a goldsmith, brought up on charges per the Elgin Kirk sessions for playing bowls and golf (obviously an athletic enthusiast) on a Sunday when he should have been attending to the sermons in the kirk. Five pounds and a promise never to do it again. The eldership of the church…
Noir: Flicka och Hyacinter (1950)
This film was mentioned on #filmsky and did not disappoint. A little Laura and a bit of The Seventh Victim, so like the latter should have cautions about it dealing rather grimly with suicide. We’re thrown in media res with people at a sort of party and then we see Dagmar (Eva Henning) leave to…
Reading into the New Year
I’ve been doing a lot of reading since I got here before Xmas and I wanted to try to keep track of as much as I can. A few books were waiting for me: some because shipping to the US was too much especially for contributor’s copies (why punish the publishers?). So very happily reading…
Out Now: Hobo Camp Review
Hobo Camp Review issue 50 is out, reminding us that in the midst of all the horrors we must create and play and communicate. Even editor James Duncan’s editorial for this issue reminds us. I’m pleased to be in this issue along with a bunch of names I recognise. I have a little story ‘The…
Ten Years Already
I had forgotten all about this piece at Pulp Metal Magazine (hi Jason) until a chance reminder yesterday. Clearly remember that day, waking up here in Dundee and hearing/seeing the news. I am amused by the theory that we have been in an alternate reality since, but it does not change what we must do…
Cosmic Law
Wrapping up the trying year that was 2025, endeavouring to remember what was good amidst the many tragedies and horrors of the year is definitely a challenge. Negotiating many losses, including the practical one of employment, which in its peculiarly American context means also health care [as Lady Catherine would doubtless find reasonable] and yet…
Free Xmas Ghost Stories
Here it is Xmas eve and I have gifts for you: two free ebooks. The first one is the trilogy of ghost stories written in past Xmases for Fox Spirit Books, carrying on the tradition of spooky Victorian tales told on the holiday. This free download is courtesy of me and Fox Spirit — though you can…