Stephen King’s astonishing oeuvre gets raided regularly by Hollywood, resulting in cinematic gems and absolute turkeys. Silver Bullet hits a mark between the two. Our second lycanthropic throwback for this week’s Halloween Review features redneck hero Gary Busey, lost boy Corey Haim, and Canadian icon Megan Follows in a small town that has come to fear the full moon….
Author Archives: JD DeLuzio
October Countdown: 2020
Awoooooo!
We should have had the Best Halloween Ever this year. October 31, 2020 falls on a Saturday with a full moon, a triple convergence that will not happen again for a long, long time. It’s also both a blue moon and a Hunter’s moon, though neither is uncommon when the full moon coincides with All Hallows Eve and Samhain. As a bonus, in many places in the northern hemisphere, the time is changing during the Witching Hours to Daylight Savings, providing everyone with some borrowed time. We’d planned a party, which we’ve had to cancel. I imagined visiting a local haunted attraction or Pumpkin Patch in the afternoon, and then an evening of ghoulishly groovy tunes whilst the costumed kids trampled fallen leaves and begged for candy, and our good-naturedly crazed neighbour ran his charity haunted house, complete with a maniac running after people, chainsaw in hands.
Instead, we have a lingering pandemic, and an American election that is proving scarier than any disease. And where one of the candidates has tested positive for the disease he’s spent a year downplaying.
Since 2020 keeps growing stranger, no one should be especially surprised that some guy dressed like the Incredible Hulk just vandalized Donald Trump’s star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame.
One tradition continues unabated. The Bureau-cats run our annual October Countdown, which this year sees little in the way of new horrors. We will, however, unearth some excellent views (and one read) to chill and delight you….
Raised by Wolves Review: “The Beginning”
Raised by Wolves ends its season by confirming that, yes, [spoiler]the creatures are some version of human being[/spoiler], so Terrans have been to Kepler-22B before, or we’re dealing with a bizarre parallel world, or…. Well, see below.
Raised by Wolves Review: “Mass” and “Umbilical”
“I’m a doctor, I’m not a mechanic!”
Raised by Wolves serves up two of its strongest episodes this week, though they are not for all tastes. The conflict between and within factions grows as Marcus becomes increasingly unhinged, Mother makes some significant discoveries, and we’re reminded again that all the advanced tech in the universe can be foiled by a weak password.
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, slouches towards Kepler-22B to be born?
Raised by Wolves Review: “Lost Paradise” and “Faces”
“Hey, buddy. So we shot your mom and dad, and then we spent 13 years lying to your face about it, but you know what, we sure do love you.”
The power dynamic shifts in Raised by Wolves, while the mystery of the planet deepens, and the show grows increasingly mythic.
In the face of danger and threats to the continued survival of the human race, people continue to act like buttheads. It’s depressing, but entirely plausible.
Novel Review: Tinker’s Plague
This book was first published in 2009, by a small publishing company that went under. It was republished in 2016 by another, more successful small publisher, and the author has since sold a story set in the same world and a sequel, Tinker’s Sea. The setting makes a review timely. A credible future world, recovering from environmental and social collapse, faces a plague.
Dune Trailer Released
Last week saw the release of the trailer for the third adaptation of Frank Herbert’s SF classic, which will be out this December.
Will it do the novel justice? How will it compare to its two predecessors? Does it fill you with more hope and anticipation than any of the recent Star Wars films?
What do the Bureau-cats think?
Raised By Wolves Review: “Nature’s Course” and “Infected Memory”
Raised by Wolves continues, with past influencing the present, shifts to relationships and characters’ allegiances, and clear evidence that the human survivors are not alone.
Big Dumb Object and unsolved mysteries ahead.
The Were-Traveler, Lovecraft, and Bureau42
The Were-Traveler has been running since 2011, with each issue featuring short fiction (usually quite short) related to a particular theme or topic in fantasy, SF, or horror. Their current issue addresses the problematic legacy of H.P. Lovecraft, the imaginative and monumentally influential author whose racism and xenophobia, extreme even for his time, frequently entered his stories. This were-issue’s weird fiction draws upon Lovecraft’s influence and tropes to examine and critique his less savoury side.
Among the contributors you may recognize a writer from our Bureau.
Raised by Wolves Review: “Raised by Wolves,” “Pentagram,” “Virtual Faith”
HBOMax’s new SF series (available in Canada on Space the Sci-Fi Channel) takes us to Kepler 22-B, where Terran survivors and some androids try to keep humanity alive. The planet isn’t overly hospitable– but our own demons may doom us a good deal faster.