A Far Out Fantastic Site

Credit: Wikimedia Commons Warning: May contain spoilers. It's the fourth weekend of the month and so time for another Book-To-Movie review! In a Book-To-Movie, we review a work of prose fiction and its movie adaptation. Last Wednesday, January 19th, was the 213th birthday of Edgar Allan Poe, and so I have another review of one of his stories and its cinematic adaptation. And yes, the movie is another one from American International Pictures' (AIP) series of Vincent Price-Edgar Allan Poe movies. Am I too addicted to films based on Poe’s work and starring Vincent Price? Maybe, but that’s not the reason why I chose this version. The reason I chose it was because it’s the only one I know of that exists. As we've seen in past Book-To-Movies, AIP's Poe film adaptations mostly stay faithful to the original work even though, naturally, the story is expanded in order to fit an hour-and-a-half-long film. Well, that’s hardly the case with 1969’s "The Oblong Box". Yet, a...

Credit: Pixabay Well, we're in a new year and that means for many of us new books to read, new books to publish, and new writing plans. And at this time of year new plans often come through new year’s resolutions. I have my new year's writing resolutions made out, ones that I also recommend to fellow science fiction and fantasy authors for themselves. They’re in no particular order and some are ones any writer, regardless of genre, can use while others are focused more for writers of speculative fiction. However, as they often say, new year’s resolutions often get broken. So, don’t expect me to follow through with all of these (except for number nine) and neither do I expect you to follow through with them all. But the important thing is that they are goals and when we set up goals for our selves we can focus so much better and easier. So, here’s a list of nine writing resolutions I've come up with which I think will help many of you too.  My 9 New Year's Writing Resolu...

It's the first Wednesday of the year but also the first Wednesday of the month. And so the latter means that it’s time for another Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG)  post! In an IWSG post, we writers bring our writing challenges and problems out into the open to share with each other and try to offer solutions. So, Happy New Year everyone! Although I try not to dwell on my failures or shortcomings, especially at the start of a new year, and try concentrating on the now and to look forward, I thought I should answer the IWSG question of the month which is What's the one thing about your writing career you regret the most? Were you able to overcome it?  Before I answer the question, I want to say that when we look back on our regrets it should only be to remember not to make again the mistakes that lead to them. It should help us see how we can do things differently, to make things go by more successfully, including writing. So, when I answer this question I do so attemptin...

Credit: Pixabay I’m doing the Book-To-Movie a week earlier than I normally do each month because next weekend is Christmas and many of us will be busy celebrating with our families and friends. Since this is a Holiday post, we are reviewing a Christmas poem and its movie adaptation. We’re reviewing Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” and the 1963 Roger Corman movie adaptation. Normally we review a book or short story in a Book-To Movie and then compare it with its film adaptation. However, this poem can be considered a short story of a sort since it's a narrative poem. Now, you’re probably saying that "The Raven” isn't a Christmas poem. Okay, it isn’t, strictly speaking, but it does take place during the month of December and because it's a gothic story it can be considered having a tinge of a black Christmas theme. It even has angels in it! There’ve been several film versions of "The Raven", including the 1935 Bela Lugosi version and the more recent 2012 version ...

Credit: Pixabay With production companies such as Paramount and Disney hoarding their properties under their own paid streaming services, it can be tough to watch our favourite sci fi, fantasy and horror films. You may not want to pay several bucks a month for a streaming service just to see one or two movies that you like while you might care less about the others. But still, there are a lot of good flicks online that you can watch for free! And you don’t have to go to a pirate site to see them. The only payment required is the endurance of the commercials like with broadcast television. However, unlike broadcast commercial television, many of these films are uncensored and so play like they did when they were in theatres.  Tubi is the video streaming service that has one of the best variety of movies of this sort, including science fiction and fantasy ones based on books. But also like broadcast television, they don’t stay available forever to watch. With the exception of a “Lea...

It's the first Wednesday of the month and so it’s time for another Insecure Writer’s Support Group (IWSG)  post! In an IWSG post, we writers bring our writing challenges and problems out into the open to share with each other and try to offer solutions. My post for this month’s IWSG mostly consists of the question for the month and my answer to it. The question: In your writing, what stresses you the most? What delights you? My answer to the first part of the question is that what stresses me most in my writing isn't so much the writing itself. It’s more so the promoting and marketing of it. There are many times when I feel like no matter what I do to promote or market my writing, book or blog, no one sees or responds to it. Yet it’s no one person’s fault. It’s the fault of the social media and search engine systems for playing favourites with paying customers who buy their advertisements.  Now I can't say for sure because I'm not a technology expert (only a technology ...

Credit: Pixabay It's the fourth weekend of the month and so time for another Book-To-Movie review! In a Book-To-Movie, we review a work of prose fiction and its movie adaptation.  When he was a kid, Ray Bradbury was greatly inspired by the giant monsters of mythology and science fiction. His stories reflect this inspiration. One of these is his short work, "The Fog Horn". This story was adapted to film in the 1950s which was titled "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms". This was actually the original name of Bradbury’s short story. So why the name changes? I’ll explain that in a bit. First, I want to go over the differences in plot between the short story and the movie, one of the biggest being the degree of sympathy for the monster.  'The Fog Horn' In “The Fog Horn”, an assistant to a lighthouse keeper who is also the story's narrator discovers that a prehistoric sea monster annually comes to the lighthouse mistaking it for one of its own kind. Even thoug...