Warner Holme Review: The Last House on Needless Street

The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward (Nightfire, 2021)

Review by Warner Holme: Catriona Ward’s The Last House on Needless Street represents an interesting variation on the psychological horror story. There are a few viewpoints, interesting ones, as well as an increasing fear as various alarming details are slowly piled atop one another to paint an increasingly disturbing picture.

One of the main viewpoints, and first really sympathetic ones, is Olivia. Olivia is a cat with a fairly strong Christian faith who thinks of every human she encounters as one type of “ted” or another. It is very much the mental image which could be put forth of a cat in a certain type of person.

One ostensible human lead is then known as Ted. The similarity in name to the way Olivia looks at people is no surprise to the reader, as she is the owner who lives in his house. At the same time the chances seemed high that something is desperately wrong with him. There are moments he seems to see a therapist of some sort, and at one point complains that his cat (Olivia) might be gay. He fails to feel pain when he should, and keeps first his cat and then a child indoors against their will.

The child in question is Lauren, a girl who seems to be in the strange position, of finding the situation weird and disturbing, while at the same time having acclimated to it more than a little. It is a strange point of view, yet quite disturbing in its way for the mixture of Stockholm syndrome symptoms and outright terrified moments.

There is also Dee. Dee is a relatively developed woman who suspects Ted of kidnapping her little sister. This is a very delicate line, and the fact that she doesn’t get much help from the police lends understanding to her actions as she moves into Ted’s life in an effort to find her sister.

These and other viewpoints steadily rotate, often repeating the same scene with subtle differences to illustrate the strangeness of the situation. The attempts by Ted to hide a host of details about himself, and the attempts of Dee and Olivia to understand their situations and improve them or right wrongs, each serve to advance respective narratives while moving the overall story forward. 

Following the narrative, afterward, and acknowledgements, the author is good enough to include a bibliography of useful topics related to the bulk of the story. This is, under the circumstances, greatly appreciated. There is, of course, the risk that this material will become dated as research methods evolve and so does knowledge of certain psychological phenomena. It nonetheless speaks well to her that she took the time to research and consider the topic so carefully in writing this piece.

Overall The Last House on Needless Street is a strange and disturbing read. There is, as is often the case, a risk that the psychology in it will become dated, however that cannot be held against a current work which is clearly trying to stay up and accurate. The chills and disgusting moments are quite visceral, and even if a reader successfully determines the nature of some of the biggest “twists” in the book, it remains a cleverly constructed and thought-out piece.

Lis Carey Review: Becoming Terran

Becoming Terran by Mark Roth-Whitworth (Novus Mundi Books, 2024)

Review by Lis Carey: It’s 2077, with climate change hitting hard, trillionaires bent on world control, and ordinary people in many places struggling to survive.

A young woman from Niger is working in a hotel in North Africa, when it is seized by one of those trillionaires, Phillippe Tolliver. She catches his attention, and manages to impress him enough that he decides she worth recruiting as his newest personal aide. Renamed Francoise Trouve, she insists on taking her little sister, renamed Amelie, with her.

She takes advantage of all the education he gives her, by AR and intense study, and her sister is tutored until she’s sent off to an elite private school in England. They both get genetic engineering to soften their curls and lighten their skin, and Francoise works hard at making herself indispensable to him. First as his aide, and later as a skilled business operative he can send into any of his corporations, both to learn more herself and identify and solve problems, she does.

But Tolliver has recruited someone who will be useful only as long as it serves her greater goal, which is no longer just advancing herself and her sister. As she has learned more about Tolliver, and about the 400 trillionaires who don’t believe they’ll have enough power until their control is total. She wants to bring them down.

The story, and the world, are a bit dark, but absorbing, with good worldbuilding and good characters. Francoise is already a strong woman when we meet here, and grows in knowledge, understanding, and judgment. Amelie, a little girl at the start, also grows into a strong woman, with a different temperament entirely, but the same values–and the same ultimate goals, though she pursues them by her own path.

There’s political intrigue, business intrigue, other interesting characters who are varied and important to the beneath the radar struggle in their own ways. This is in the end a thoughtful and hopeful book.

I received this electronic galley as a gift.

Lis Carey Review: Juniper Wiles

Juniper Wiles by Charles de Lint (Triskell Press, 2021) 

Review by Lis Carey: Juniper Wiles played teen detective Nora Constantine on a successful TV show, and then made some movies that weren’t so great. She decided to leave LA and go home to Newford. She’s living on her residuals, and pursuing the art she once set aside for acting. This has included reconnecting with her friend, faerie artist Jilly Coppercorn, and her interesting circle of friends in the artists’ collective, Bramleyhaugh. She’s happy, and doing well.

And then one day she’s sitting in her favorite coffee shop when a young man walks up to her, and asks “Nora Constantine” to take his case. He wants her to find the man who sold him the manuscript of a new Nora Constantine novel.

He thinks Juniper really is Nora Constantine. And he thinks the new novel is responsible for all the terrible things that have happened in Crescent Beach since the end of the TV show.

Juniper does not respond well, and chases this obsessed fan off.

The next day, the newspaper reports that his body has been found. His name was Ethan Law, and he’s been missing for a week, and dead for several days. Juniper spoke to a ghost.

Juniper is very, very reluctant to accept that this means she really has to take his case, but in the end there’s no avoiding it. Particularly after she and others get text messages from Ethan with more information on what’s happening in Crescent Beach, and a conversation with Emma Rohlin, author of the Nora Constantine novels, who had written a character called Ethan Law in an unpublished novel.

Oh, and she also learns that the magic stuff that Jilly talks about is not just talk or Jilly being Jilly. It’s real, and strong enough fictional worlds manifest in the otherworld. The people in them manifest as real people. They matter.

Juniper Wiles is starting to learn about a whole different side of Newford, her friends, and the world itself.

The characters are fascinating and convincing, and as always with de Lint, they’re worth spending the time with. They make me want to believe that Newford is out there, and I might visit sometime. This is a rich, textured, lived-in world.

Highly recommended.

I bought this book.

Warner Holme Review: Light From Uncommon Stars 

Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki (Tor, 2021)

Review by Warner Holme: Ryka Aoki’s Light From Uncommon Stars is a fascinating example of comic science fantasy, and represents a wonderful bit of storytelling in any part of its genre. It is also a massively queer story, and a story, in its way, about baking and music. This is a delightful combination, and the resulting novel is fascinating.

One is a group of refugees, a family with scientists and fleeing something called Endplague and trying to make quality doughnuts. The other is a young trans woman suffering through a great ordeal and offered an opportunity by a legendary woman searching for a way out of a diabolical situation.

The aforementioned trans woman is Katrina Nguyen. When the story starts readers discover her in an extremely difficult situation, learning that she has an abusive father, is likely trans, and is terrified. Paragraphs later they learn she loves the violin. It is a good and very swift introduction to the character, allowing readers the basic in a condensed form. Victims of abuse may find it a little hard to read, and the overall relatively light tone of the book makes this opening scene especially disturbing. Nonetheless it is both necessary and well-written.

Trans issues are a delicate matter. A well-intentioned individual can easily make mistakes while writing such stories, and cause a great deal of unintended offense. This volume deals with problems ranging from outing, to healthcare, to problematic allies extremely well. The idea of a science-fiction transition is brought up at a certain point in the book, which feels fairly appropriate. Were such a matter not mentioned, the fact it would seem entirely possible with the technology would have driven the reader slightly mad. The way it is resolved is interesting as well, feeling appropriate and in character (particularly to those familiar with any artform which requires physicality) and stays appropriate in tone all the same. Such a matter is a very difficult balancing act for any offer, and proves Aoki’s skill.

There is also an entertaining lesbian relationship in the book, featuring two major characters. At least one of them is bisexual, although this fact is downplayed. Bigotry against such relationships comes into play, and serves as an instigating point to a character having a major crisis. The use of a musical analogy in an attempt to explain difficulties with acceptance is unexpected yet beautifully written.

Music and baking are both arts that seem to require an unusual amount of science. The discussion of these very arts within this volume managed to be interesting on a literal as well as a metaphorical level. The ways these words come will make any music fan hear melodies, and a fan of donuts more than a little hungry.

The jacket copy compares this volume to Good Omens and The Long Way To a Small, Angry Planet. While each of those comparisons is appropriate in its way, they also deny Ryka Aoki has such a singular voice as an author. Throughout this volume, the individuality of a violin and the violinist are discussed multiple times. Such is also the case with authors, and Aoki is a rare and unique voice.

Many readers will not be familiar with the work of Ryka Aoki when they first find this volume. This is an excellent way to start looking at her material. It is a wonderful and deeply felt book, the kind that will make a reader laugh and cry without a second thought. Heartily recommended.

Warner Holme Review: Redwood and Wildfire 

Redwood and Wildfire by Andrea Hairston (Tor.com, 2022)

Review by Warner Holme: Andrea Hairston’s Redwood and Wildfire is a fascinating and strange piece of historical fantasy. While the concept of a fantasy relating to the early twentieth century entertainment world is not unusual, nor is the portrayal of the situations of marginalized people, this book represents an excellent mixing of both concepts.

The title refers to two of the lead characters. The first is a strong woman with a family history of magic as well as a burning desire to move beyond her starting place in life. She is literate, indeed a volume by Pauline Hopkins is a recurring point within this tale. There is strength and desire, as well as an ongoing fear of the overall situation, a knowledge of the difficulty of the world around them which does not stop her as she continues to struggle towards what she wants.

The other half of this pair is Wildfire, also called Aiden. He is an alcoholic, from a family that claims its own magic and is white or light skinned, which further complicates matters, especially considering the early 20th century setting and that most of the other characters are dark skinned; the problems of antimiscegenation laws and general bigotry are obvious.

In a simultaneously rough and believable struggle, Redwood moves north while planning to make a living one way or another, perhaps as a performer. After some time Aiden sobers up and follows after her. Hairston subverts the obvious cliché by making this only a sliver of the story, as the tale simultaneously shows Redwood and her living situation. In addition it manages to continue on long after their reunion, with a more effective and heart moving conclusion following as the reader sees them attempt to make a place in the allegedly tolerant Chicago area.

There are many little notes which show great research by the author, particularly related to the movements made into the arts by marginalized peoples. While much of this takes the form of specific namedropping, there is also a delightful feeling of the general situations that they found themselves in. 

While a romance is definitely key to the story, a secondary element involving one of the characters could easily upset the story. Aiden heads to look for Redwood, and throughout the middle portion spends time travelling with Redwood’s younger sister, and she makes semi frequent attempts at romance with him for a while. The reading could be uncomfortable for some, although the fact that Aiden seems more bemused than serious about the situation does a great deal to make it clear that nothing sexual will occur.

There is a delightful afterword that helps to explain the process that led an author known for her Afrofuturism to write a relatively low key historical piece, and how that motivation in turn led to the final product. While not strictly necessary to appreciate the book, this afterword is a delight for anyone who wants to understand the writing process.

Overall, Redwood and Wildfire is easy to recommend. While not perfect to a current sensibility, it nonetheless provides an excellent look at what the world was like for certain people in a certain time and place. At the same time there is a delightful bit of added wonder, a strange and delightful magic that feels entirely appropriate. Heartily recommended.

Catching Up On Reading Nina Kiriki Hoffman

By Daniel Dern: I’d been noodling this piece on “where to find/e-find Nina Kiriki Hoffman’s fiction” for the past few weeks, and, conveniently, Item (1) in the Dec 15, 2023 scroll, noting and excerpting Episode 214 of Scott Edelman’s Eating the Fantastic podcast both motivated me to finish this piece — and saves me some background contextual exposition re Hoffman’s about/career/awards, by letting me simply point to Scott’s. (Thanks, Scott!)

Nina Kiriki Hoffman. Photo by Scott Edelman.

Between some gafiating and other distractions, while I may have read of Nina Kiriki Hoffman’s short fiction, I didn’t really become aware of her work until her 1995 novel, The Silent Strength of Stones (the second in her Chapel Hollow novels), which became (and has stayed) one of my two favorite sf/f novels (tied with John Crowley’s Engine Summer, with Patricia McKillip’s The Riddle of Stars trilogy just below them), and in the core pile of books I re-read more or less yearly.

(Slight digression: Based on the inscription, which includes “Moderator!”, in my autographed Stones paperback, I (briefly) met Hoffman at a ReaderCon. It’s possibly our paths also crossed at Sasquan, 73rd Worldcon, 2015, in Spokane (aka “SmokeCon” due to, well, the at-times oppressive smoke blowing in from major fires).)

But I hadn’t, until a month or so ago, realized that Hoffman has published not only around a dozen-and-a-half-novels, but also 200+ stories (ranging from short through long). That’s my bad: for no clear reason, I hadn’t taken my frequent next step of going to the library and bookstores (new and used) to read everything else a new-to-me-author had written (or, to a lesser extent, an author’s character and/or series). (E.g., as I did with Ross Thomas, Steven Brust’s Vlad Taltos series, Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe.) I did keep up with some of her subsequent books, and stories in F&SF. Some.

Then, a few months ago, I saw Amazon was having another of their periodic Kindle Unlimited deals — here, three months for a buck-ninety-nine per — which I use to explore and enjoy. (I don’t feel the need for the regular KU subscription.)

Something led me to search on her name, within the “Kindleverse” along with Hoffman’s Wikipedia entry.

And, via info/links at the end of Hoffman’s stories on KU, her page on Ofearna.

Hoffman’s Ofearna page lists what looks like most (possibly all? ) of her work (including showing a lot of book cover art on the novels and collections), with links to Amazon/Kindle links, and, in many cases (presumably, where available), legitimate links to specific story text (many from Daily Science Fiction).

It turned out that there’s a fair amount of Hoffman in Kindle Unlimited (also purchasable, ranging from $0.99 to $8.99) — searching Kindle Unlimited on her fullname, 33 hits, including numerous stories I’d not previously heard of nor read.

(Note: At least two of the KU hits look like false positives, meaning not, based on author/title, by Hoffman. This is a problem that, in my annoyed experience, nearly every library, comic and bookstore catalog search is abysmally prone to. I blame a lot of this on incomprehensibly bad search coding/design. I’m still waiting for “only look/match within the specified field” and “only precise matches, please” search options, grumble.

Searching Amazon on Hoffman’s name yielded 171 hits, including novels, stories, collections, and magazine and anthology appearances…and a bunch more false positives.

(Note: Your own searches may yield significantly different results. My own efforts, with a different browser and/or other tweaks, and probably with changes in barometric pressure, burped up lots more bogus hits and other “huh, why’s this here” results. Again, IMHO bad search design. Bleh.)

Searching (my public) library’s (and the 40-library consortium the e-catalog aggregates) physical and e-holdings turns up far fewer Hoffman hits (not surprisingly):

  • The full library (consortium) catalog (includes both books and e-books) shows 21 hits, including about half a dozen of her novels…two of which I recently reserve-requested and are now there waiting for me to pick them up.
  • Libby (the OverDrive library app’s successor, there’s a paltry one hit (of what’s available through my library), of an issue of Uncanny with one of Hoffman’s stories in it. Tsk!

And HooplaDigital.com, which is available via my library, but has its own inventory) yields a modest seven Hoffmans — The Silent Strength of Stones, Ghost Hedgehog, and a few anthologies (Note, I don’t know whether Hoopla’s offerings are uniform to all the libraries and institutions it provides access through, or not — if you know more, please let me know in a comment or directly).

READING HOFFMAN: NOT JUST FANTASY AND PERSONAL MAGIC/POWER, BUT ALSO SF. Back to the original motivating deal: Once I’d done the search within KU I e-borrowed and read pretty much all of Hoffman’s work that was there that I hadn’t previously read, with about a fortnight to spare on the KU deal:

  • Savage Breasts and Other Misbehaving Body Parts: Eight Short Stories
  • Faint Heart, Foul Lady: A Novelette: & Bonus Story: Night Life
  • Meet in Fear and Wonder: Four Science Fiction Stories
  • Wild Talents: Three Short Stories
  • The Skeleton Key & Bright Streets of Air: Two Stories
  • Surreal Estate: A Short Story
  • Short, Sharp Snacks: Fifteen Flash & One Short Story
  • Antiquities: Five Stories Set in Ancient Worlds
  • Escapes: A Short Story
  • The Spirit in the Clay : A novelet in the Chapel Hollow/Silent Strength of Stones universe
  • The Other Side Secret: A Short Young Adult Novel
  • The Dangers of Touch: A Short Story

A lot, unsurprisingly, was fantasy, ranging from contemporary to whatever-we-call-non-contemporary fantasy. Magic powers, abilities, beings/races and artifacts figure strongly in Hoffman’s fantasy; what’s interesting is that while there are some common methods/terms, even within a given book (or series), there’s often a mix, so characters who discover they both have abilities, etc. are often puzzled/impressed/startled.

Until this binge, however, I hadn’t realized how much science fiction Hoffman has written.

Most (possibly all) of Hoffman’s fantasy shows magic, rather than fueling a quest, empire, fight-universe-ending-evil or other large-scale plot, as somewhere between personal and interpersonal, discovering/learning/coming to terms with one’s often-newfound powers, sorting out how they relate to it, and do/don’t use it within the world around them. (The same goes for much of the science fiction.)

What it all has in common is how enjoyable it is.

Now (well, over the weekend and beyond), I’ll be clicking through Hoffman’s Ofearna page/links (to read, etc.).

Paul Weimer Review: Roger Zelazny’s Threshold

Threshold: The Collected Works of Roger Zelazny, Volume One. Edited by David G. Grubbs, Christopher S. Kovacs and Ann Crimmins. Cover art by Michael Whelan. (NESFA Press, 2009)

By Paul Weimer: Roger Zelazny. He came upon the SFF world like a nova, and sadly died too soon at 58. A beacon of the new wave, making a splash immediately with “A Rose for Ecclesiastes” (1964 Hugo finalist) and writing through the 60’s and 70’s, his writing had an intensity about it that leaps off of the page, be in novels, short stories, or poetry.

Threshold is the first in a series of six volumes of collected stories by NESFA Press. As is the wont of NESFA’s organization, the volumes are in chronological order. Thus, this collects the earliest of Zelazny’s work. Thus, in addition to some of his early brilliant work (such as the aforementioned “Rose”) we also get some of the protostar origins of what would build toward his writing achievement and career such as fanzine work and drips and drabs. 

The collection is full of biographical and contextual detail for the works in afterwords and forwards that bookend each of them. There are also a few remembrances at the beginning as well. This doesn’t quite make the book a biography of Zelazny but Threshold could be considered a biography of Zelazny’s work, putting the stories , poems and fragments into perspective and parallel and dialogue with each other. Time and again, the volume shows how a work was clearly in the same vein or mining early fanzine and unfinished work you read earlier in this volume.  This gives the book a richness and a third dimension far beyond a simple cataloging and list of works.

Another quality of life, and one absolutely necessary in dealing with Zelazny and his work, is the untangling and cataloging of the various references. Zelazny’s work was and is rich with allusions, parallels, and borrowings, especially from mythologies and theologies all over the world. While I consider myself a fairly erudite and well read person, I found time and again, in these early works and stories, references that I did not get at all or understand, but the afterword happily lays out for the reader. 

“Nine Starships Waiting”, a Zelazny story I had never read before (first published in Fantastic 1963) is a great example of how this book manages it. While some references like Trotsky, the seals of the apocalypse, Cassiopeia, were clear to me, other references were more obscure and the afternotes illuminated what Kraepelin is referring to (mental disorder classification, or “Tonight in Samarkand”, a Deval melodrama).  But the entire story itself is based on an Elizabethan play, “The Revenger”, a favorite of Zelazny’s, and the end notes go into detail just what Zelazny was borrowing from that work.  

 This all reminds me of a different NESFA volume, and that is John Myers Myers’ Silverlock, where the book goes into detail pulling out all of the references that book is filled with, so that the reader can even more appreciate the subtlety and depth Zelazny brings. 

And his diversity. If you think Zelazny is just Amber fantasy, A Night in the Lonesome October, and not much else, this early first volume puts paid to that notion right away. There is a range and power to these early stories that show (as well as his fanzine stuff collected here) that Zelazny was clearly reading from and thinking about the writers who preceded and then he was writing in parallel with.  Take another new-to-me story, “The Malatesta Collection”. It’s a post-apocalyptic story that feels a bit like Dick, a bit like Leibowitz, and a lot like Zelazny, with the uncovering, after an apocalypse, of a trove of lost literature. I also found out in those aforementioned afternotes, just who the people in Rodin’s statue “The Kiss” are supposed to be (surprise, one of them is named Malatesta…) . “The Stainless Steel Leech”, again, feels a little bit like Dick and perhaps Bester and Sturgeon as well. This story, which pairs an unusual robot with the last Vampire, is all Zelazny, in the end, but one can trace science fiction he read through this and into it and see what Zelazny has alchemically made of it. 

And poetry! It should not surprise that Zelazny wrote poetry, rich and vivid and sometimes experimental from the get go. (His character Galagher in “A Rose for Ecclesiastes” is, perforce, a poet). There is a poem devoted to the aforementioned Rodin sculpture, and many other ones, besides. Most of these are short, Zelazny does not go for the long epic form in any way, but the use of language and imagery is always memorable. There are some textual experiments (in length of lines) and other tricks Zelazny played as well.  

Poetry, as the volume’s thesis seems to make clear, is really the heart of Zelazny’s work, in general and particularly in this volume. Poetry was, in fact, Zelazny’s first love, first desire when it came to writing, but there are precious few ways a poet can make a living as a writer in that day and age (or this one for that matter). Zelazny turned to genre fiction to help pay the bills (as opposed to his mundane day job) but his love of poetry infuses this volume. And once again, see “A Rose for Ecclesiastes”, with its poet main character. A brilliant poet, a genius, someone who lives by his poetry. While people have pointed to Roger the guard in the Amber chronicles as Zelazny, especially because he is a writer, perhaps Gallagher, earlier, is as well. 

There are some curiosities here, as well, in the back portion of this substantial (576 pp) book.  A manuscript he stopped, and abandoned. A joking piece tuckerizing himself and his longtime friend Carl Yoke (who also has a forward piece on him and Zelazny) . Bits and bobs, as is expected for the first volume of this series. I expect these more unusual types of things will be less common as the series of stories progresses. 

My only regret is not diving into this volume sooner. In some ways, though, my delay in not reading this in the last ten years to be to my benefit. You might feel a little differently as to why. It turns out that the ebook edition of this is the 4th edition… Additional early items by Zelazny have been found, and added, to the ebook version of this collection. In many ways, this book was and is more of a living document, record, testimonial and biography of Zelazny’s work. 

But, lest you think that this is unpolished story gems all the way down, remember my comment before about Zelazny coming on the scene like a nova. The three big stories that anchor this book are the aforementioned Rose (his Mars story), “The Doors of his face, the Lamps of his mouth”, his Oceanic Venus story, and “He Who Shapes”, the novella that would eventually be expanded to The Dream Master.  Reading this original again, I am struck once more just how dense and potent the original length story is. It is my favorite of these “big three” in this volume, and it does a lot of what you are looking for in a Zelazny story at moderate length.

The editorial eye, the enunciation and elaboration of the imagery and ideas Zelazny uses, and the stories and poems themselves make me conclude that this is the sort of volume that if you are a Zelazny reader, you should beeline for (now that there are ebooks instead of the uncommon and expensive print versions). If you are just interested in excellent fantasy and science fiction, and seeing where one of the greats started, Threshold is your cup of tea, too. 

As for me, I look forward to finding time to diving into the second volume, Power and Light.

Warner Holme Review: Nightmare Fuel

Nightmare Fuel by Nina Nesseth (Tor Nightfire, 2022)

Review by Warner Holme: Nina Nesseth’s Nightmare Fuel has the tagline “The Science of Horror Films” and it is a very appropriate title. It is a chapter-by-chapter look at the genre indicated from a sociological, psychological, psychiatric, and biological point of view.

Structured very carefully, the book takes eight chapters, in addition to an introduction and afterward, to go from discussing the history of the genre and its effects on the brain in a strictly moment-by-moment way, through visual and audio cues that affect a reader, all the way to sociological arguments related to the genre and beyond. Each chapter makes its argument fairly clearly, although anyone not familiar with or used to reading from the most scientific point of view would do well to take their time.

The chapters are subdivided with segments that include reviews of specific films, discussing their influence on the genre as a whole and connection to the subject matter of that chapter in particular.  This serves as a nice way to zero in on individual films without changing the structure of the book away from the scientific neurological approach that was chosen. Each of these sections tends to be called a “Scare Spotlight” and features among others 2018’s Hereditary, 1974’s Black Christmas, and 1991’s Child’s Play 3 and incorporates them well into the subject matter of each chapter. While genre aficionados are likely to name other films they might find preferable in each chapter as an example, they are not likely to be disappointed with what is discussed about each.  

For the most part this works quite well as a way to separate out long discussions of particular films, ensuring a chapter doesn’t become about them. However verification is where films, even ones that are not horror such as Reservoir Dogs, can be referenced repeatedly in a chapter. This is somewhat justified early in chapter 8, when the author notes that “my main gateway into horror was crime procedurals… and psychological thrillers” helping to explain the references a little, as well as once again reinforcing the personal aspect in an overall somewhat technical book.

Another aspect to that helps to personalize the content of the book comes in the form of occasional back and forth “In Conversation With” sections. These are multipage brief interviews with individuals associated with the genre. Some of them are enthusiastic fans and critics such as Mary Beth McAndrews and Terry Messnard, others are academics and analysts like Alexandra West, and still others are professionals within the industry like Ronen Landa. The interview is very in quality, but managed to stay pretty well on topic and often illuminate the particular subject matter of a chapter further.

There is a very nice list of “Movies Watched” for the book at the end, as well as a detailed bibliography in the form of a “Further Reading” section. Both are very useful to anyone who wishes to dive deeper into the genre, or understand better the ideas that the author puts forth.

Nina Nesseth’s Nightmare Fuel is a fascinating read for the fan of horror films, or a student of the genre as a whole. At times a little technical for those not interested in neuroscience, it remains a consistently interesting examination of the phenomenon. While probably not the only book one should read when studying horror films, it is easy to recommend.

Joseph Thompson Review: Making Whoopies

Making Whoopies: The Official Whoopie Pie Book by Nancy Thompson (Down East, 2010)

Review by Joseph Thompson: Not much riles Mainers more than challenging them on the origin their food pyramid cornerstone: the whoopie pie. One who mentions Pennsylvania’s claim to that chocolate and cream confection risks being run out of town on a lobster boat.

It’s been done before for a whole lot less. With the fight brewing between Maine and Pennsylvania as to who gets to name the whoopie pie as their official state dessert or treat, it’s easy to imagine it’ll happen again soon. All this political williwaw makes Nancy Griffin’s Making Whoopies: The Official Whoopie Pie Book a sweet and timely resource.

As if prescient to the legislative windstorm that blew up only a few months after her book’s publication, Griffin plays fair. A surprising amount of research fills this book’s whoopie pie shaped covers. This includes not only origination claims from the Keystone State and Vacation Land, but also those espoused by fringe cultists who believe whoopie pies are a Bay State invention.

Yeah, right. As if anybody can believe that. It’s like saying Massachusetts would have elected a conservative to fill Ted Kennedy’s seat.

For those who haven’t tried a whoopie pie before, imagine a pair of earmuffs. The ear covering parts are two moist chocolate cakes with a half-inch layer of creamy filling — either cream cheese or fluff based — holding them together. It’s no surprise that wherever they were invented, they come from a place known for long, cold winters. A body needs all the fuel it can get in February.

At first glance, Making Whoopies could be mistakenly dismissed as another regional, novelty cookbook. But Griffin sandwiches the rich filling of sixteen distinctly different recipes between entertaining cakes of history, lore and anecdotes gathered from home kitchens and bakeries across the northeast. Realizing most of the world may not be familiar with this strange dessert, she carefully bust myths, like the whoopie pie being an altered moon-pie, in cute “Whoopie Wisdom” sidebars.

And the recipes themselves? They’re to diet for. An unscientific test of the reprinted “‘Confidential Chat’ Boston Whoopie Pies” by a Maine reviewer got the lobster boat motors running when he mentioned the name of the recipe. Taste testers swore there was no way a whoopie pie that good could have come from anywhere but Down East.

Lis Carey Review: Chaos on CatNet

Chaos on CatNet (CatNet #2) by Naomi Kritzer (author), Casey Turner (narrator), Corey Gagne (narrator) (Audible, 2021)

By Lis Carey: Steph and her mother are no longer on the run. Steph’s father is locked up in Boston, awaiting trial with no bail. They’re living in Minneapolis, and Steph is finally enrolled in a high school she can expect to graduate from. She’s enrolled under her real name, with all the school information that she has, and telling the truth about why it’s so spotty.

She also has a new friend, a classmate named Nell, who has her own interesting history. She’s been homeschooled until now, because her mother joined a cult. Well, a series of cults, but the latest one is especially extreme, and is run by someone called the Elder, whom no one ever sees. 

Nell’s grandparents, devout Christians but not cult members, have allowed Nell and her mother to live with them — until Nell’s mother disappears, and abandons her car not far away. When the police conclude she disappeared under her own power, Nell’s grandmother concludes that maybe Nell is better off with her father, even though her father isn’t exactly grandmother’s idea of a great Christian.

To be clear about that last, her father has a wife, and both he and his wife have girlfriends, and they all live together in a large house in Minneapolis. At first we have only Nell’s impression of them, and Nell doesn’t know what to make of them, beyond being rather judgmental about their lax attitude towards household chores.

Nell and Steph get invited into a new social media site called Mischief Elves, and Nell invites Steph to join a social network popular with cult members — the Catacombs. It’s not long before Steph starts to notice some creepy and disturbing aspects of both sites, and even more disturbing resemblances between them.

The pranks the Mischief Elves organize get more and more dangerous. The Catacombs is also organizing strange activities that don’t seem to fit.

Then they discover the Mischief Elves are organizing supplies of explosives and potential weapons for the Catacombs people to collect. 

Meanwhile, CheshireCat has been receiving messages from what he thinks is another AI like himself, which he hasn’t responded to because he doesn’t trust its approach.

What’s going on? And will Minneapolis survive?

It’s twisty and interesting and a lot of fun.

Recommended.

I bought this audiobook.