What’s the connection between heavy metal music, horror and fantasy?
Why are horror and fantasy themes so influential and powerful in rock and metal music? Why do fans love performers who act like zombies, vampires and witches? In 2013, I went to the traveling metal roadshow known the as the Mayhem Festival to find out.
Movie review: Shin Godzilla (Godzilla Resurgence)
I could not miss the limited American showing of Shin Godzilla. I realized this is the first time I’ve seen a proper Toho Godzilla movie in a theater since Godzilla 1985! It was an excellent, albeit very strange kaiju movie….
Mothman: An Exposé
A bizarre creature terrorized a town in West Virginia in 1966 and 1967, leering at locals with glowing red eyes, flying over their cars and causing radiation burns and even the collapse of a major bridge over the Ohio River….
An Alternate Blade Runner Theory
A lot of Blade Runner fans like to contemplate the true meaning of the movie, what the origami means, whether or not Deckard himself was a replicant, all of which changes based on which cut of the movie you’re watching….
Movie Review — Jack Palance in Attack! (1956)
It’s easy to think all 50s movies are bland, conformist, patriotic pap, but this intense World War II drama has a surprising amount of bite, and it stars a young Jack Palance at his seething best. It’s also got one…
We’re Losing One Of America’s Best Dirt Tracks and It’s Heartbreaking
Stewart Friesen stepped onto the winner’s podium at the New York State Fairgrounds last Sunday, taking the checkered flag after 200 laps in a big block modified. He was the last person who ever would. They’re tearing down the mile…
Remember Inside UFO 54-40, the Unwinnable “Choose Your Own Adventure”?
Trapped aboard a huge alien spaceship, you wander the corridors and meet weird aliens for all eternity, endlessly seeking a utopia you can never reach. Kind of heavy stuff for a 1980s Choose Your Own Adventure book. But it was…
How Samurai Work
The samurai are the legendary armored swordsmen of Japan, known to many westerners only as a warrior class, as depicted in countless martial arts movies. While being a warrior was central to a samurai’s life, they were also poets, politicians,…
The Best Motor Oil for the Average Car
Motor oil is a tough subject because of the complex chemistry involved and the difficulty seeing the actual effects of different formulations or brands. To solve this puzzle, I threw out everything I thought I knew about oil and spent…
Film Review — The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014)
I was expecting the usual remake, something with more realistic gore effects and blandly pretty actors than the original, but not as much grit or soul. But this odd meta-sequel surprised me. To begin, this isn’t a remake at all,…
10 Bizarre Ways a Volcano Can Kill You
Obviously, an erupting volcano can kill you in several direct ways — typically via heat and/or explosive force. But there are some rare and weird ways to die near a volcano. Did you know that a volcano can make your…
Controversial RPG Blue Rose Returns With More Intrigue, Psychic Powers
When the first edition of Blue Rose was published 10 years ago, it found a core audience of gamers that loved its unique take on romantic fantasy—and a few who pushed back against the game’s progressive push for inclusiveness. Now…
The ’80s Marvel Super Heroes RPG Was Class 5000 Awesome
The 1980s Marvel Super Heroes RPG was well-designed and was supported by a ton of supplements and adventures. But the greatest thing about it was the FASERIP chart, the one chart that could tell you once and for all who…
Something’s Bugging Me About Tolkien
I’m working on my roughly biennial rereading of the Lord of the Rings — this is my fourth or fifth time through them, but having just finished Fellowship, something’s started to bother me that I hadn’t noticed before. It isn’t…