(1) EKPEKI ALLEGATIONS. Yesterday File 770 published Erin Cairns’ allegations in the news post “Author Erin Cairns Charges Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki with ‘Unethical Practices’”.

Erin Cairns, a South African-born white woman who moved to the U.S. with her parents when she was young, has published a 78-page memo charging Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki with unethical practices, among them submitting her work under his name to a “Black voices magazine”.

“I am reporting Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki for unethical practices. He submitted a story entirely written by me into a Black voices magazine without my name on the byline. He lied about who he knew and how well he knew them. He obfuscated information about publications and editors and manipulated me to such an extent that I still struggle to trust myself and others.”…

The 770 post also quotes and links to more information about Ekpeki and the status of his projects which has been broadcast in social media in response.

Jason Sanford has also written a summary of “Allegations raised against Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki” which is available as an unlocked post on his Patreon. It includes his personal reaction:

… As someone who helped Ekpeki fundraise to both attend the Chicago Worldcon and to deal with his visa issues, and who also donated my own money to support him, these revelations have left me pissed and gutted. I spent a lot of time helping Ekpeki. I’m glad Cairns went public with her report, but I also wish I’d pressed her for the name of that author when she’d originally approached me. At the time I felt, based on her email, that she was fearful to reveal the name and that it wasn’t appropriate for me to even ask. Now I wish I had done so…

Finally, Steve Davidson of Amazing Stories says they are delaying the release of The Martian Trilogy – a project reported in yesterday’s Scroll which includes a contribution by Ekpeki — owing to the current controversy.

(2) BEWARE OF GARDEN GNOME. Deadline’s Pete Hammond offers praise in “’Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl’ Review: Return Of ‘Toon Duo”.

It has been 19 long years between the first Wallace & Gromit feature in 2005 and now the second in 2024, but it is an understatement to say it was well worth the wait. Nick Park‘s and Aardman‘s delightful buddy movie, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is an animated film noir merged with the dangers of technology running rampant….

(3) LIS CAREY MEDICAL UPDATE. Yesterday Filer Lis Carey was admitted to the hospital. Today she reports feeling a bit better, and reports more tests are being done to diagnose the problem.

(4) GABINO IGLESIAS REVIEWS. In the New York Times,  Gabino Iglesias assesses Laird Barron’s latest collection, Not A Speck Of Light: Stories, Hildur Knutsdottir’s new novella, The Night Guest (translated from the Icelandic by Mary Robinette Kowal), Richard Thomas’ novel Incarnate, and Sinophagia: A Celebration of Chinese Horror, translated and edited by Xueting C. Ni: “4 New Horror Books Filled With Eldritch Terrors and Other Frights” (behind a paywall.)

(5) MEAT LOAF RECIPE? Well, yes, there is one in The Rocky Horror Cookbook by Kim Laidlaw.

From the depths of Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s laboratory comes 50 culinary concoctions to titillate the taste buds of Rocky Horror fans, in this lip-smacking officially licensed cookbook based on the cult classic stage musical.

Never worry about the likes of Brad and Janet crashing your party; there will be plenty of food for everyone with this delightful and delectable cookbook beamed directly from the galaxy Transylvania to your kitchen. Give your guests a little tease with appetizers like Magenta Mash(ed) Potato Cakes and Thrill Me Chill Me Spicy Gazpacho. The main courses—which can be served in either the dining room or bedroom—offer scintillating options like Rocky’s Mussels, Riff Raff Ramen, and Slow-Cooked Thigh Ragu that will have you shivering in antici…

…pation. Wash it all down with a Make You a Man-hattan before biting into Midnight Double Chocolate Feature Brownies for dessert. With a foreword by Rocky Horror creator Richard O’Brien, The Rocky Horror Cookbook will have long-time fans and newly discovered creatures of the night singing in unison, “Don’t dream it. Eat it.”

(6) WAIT – THERE’S MOORE! Sam Thielman reviews two Alan Moore books in the New York Times (link bypasses paywall): “Book Review: ‘The Great When,’ by Alan Moore, and ‘The Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic’”.

“Have you got a name or should I just keep thinking of you as ‘the liability?’” a beautiful young woman named Grace asks the protagonist of Alan Moore’s THE GREAT WHEN (Bloomsbury, 315 pp., $29.99).

He does indeed: Our hero rejoices in the name of Dennis Knuckleyard, and that’s the least of his problems. Dennis, a miserable teenager who works in a bookshop for a phlegmy old crone named Coffin Ada, has been sold a dangerous book — “A London Walk,” which ought not to exist outside the fiction of horror writer Arthur Machen, but has somehow left the world of ideas and entered his possession. He must properly dispose of it or be drawn into a magical world called Long London that exists parallel to the Shoreditch of 1949 where Dennis usually resides. Also, at least some of Long London’s inhabitants possess the ability and possibly the inclination to turn Dennis inside out…

(7) MARC WELLS HAS DIED.  Portland fan Marc Wells passed away October 25 after several months of illness. OryCon’s Bluesky account posted a statement provided by Linda Pilcher:

I am sending this on the behalf of Marc’s family:

With sadness, we share that Marc Wells, a long-time Portland fan, passed away on October 25 after several months of illness. Throughout his life, Marc was an active techie at conventions, served as president of the Portland Science Fiction Society, and President of the Board of Directors of OSFCI fo many years.

Above all, he was a cherished husband, father, grandfather, and friend.

Marc didn’t believe in funerals. Instead, his ashes will be scattered in the Columbia River Gorge. We will hold a wake at a future date, likely at the Rose City Book Pub, with a general invitation to follow.

As many of you know, Marc was a talented musician himself who loved supporting young musicians and all sorts of music, especially Friends of Noise, a non-profit dedicated to helping to support diversity among young musicians. If you wish to make a donation in Marc’s name, you can find the donation link as well as more details about Friends of Noise and their upcoming shows on their website: Friends Of Noise | All Ages. Always. 

The family extends deep gratitude to everyone who supported Marc during his illness.

(8) JERI TAYLOR (1938-2024). Jeri Taylor, the showrunner behind Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager (which she co-created), died October 24 at the age of 86. The Deadline tribute

…In 1990, she began writing for Next Generation Season 4, eventually working her way up to co-executive producer in Season 6. She was the showrunner of the Patrick Stewart vehicle in its seventh and final installment, for which she garnered an Emmy nom for Outstanding Drama Series.

Afterward, Taylor co-created Voyager alongside Next Generation co-EPs Rick Berman and Michael Pillar, serving as showrunner from 1995 through 1998 and later creative consultant for its final three seasons. She pioneered the idea of a female lead captain in the franchise with actress Kate Mulgrew. In a tribute post on X, Mulgrew wrote that Taylor was “responsible, in large part, for changing my life. She was elegant, erudite, and fiercely opinionated. She wanted Kathryn Janeway to be a significant part of her legacy and I think there is no doubt that in that endeavor she succeeded.”…

(9) TODAY’S BIRTHDAY.

[Written by Paul Weimer.]

Born October 27, 1939 — John Cleese, 85.

By Paul Weimer: My first introduction to John Cleese was not, as it turns out, Monty Python.  My older brother was to blame. He was in fact a Python fan, although in those times before we had a VCR I had never gotten to see any of it, and it had not circulated back around to being syndicated again, But he loved it, and loved Cleese’s work in it. And so, in 1986, he and I went to the movies to see…Clockwise.

Clockwise is an absurdist film that defies description and easy plotting. Let us say that a punctual school headmaster played by Cleese, someone bound to schedules and timing and order winds up making a single mistake, and his entire schedule and life go off the deep end. The absurdity and unbelievable vignettes and adventures Cleese gets up to as he tries to get back to normalcy are not just Pythonesque in their comedy, they are sui generis.  It’s a movie you have to be in the mood for, but I was in the mood then, and have often been in the mood since to see a man’s life just go so off kilter, hilariously.

After seeing Clockwise, I finally was able to see Monty Python films…and later, the series itself (I realize just how weird it was to go in that order, but that was the hazards of life before having a VCR or streaming).  I then enjoyed Cleese in other films and works like A Fish Called Wanda (a favorite) and the sometimes frustratingly fun, frustratingly terrible Rat Race (I am also an It’s a Mad Mad Mad World fan, you see). I found some of his later work disappointing (looking at you Fierce Creatures) and some of it surprisingly delightful.  When I played Jade Empire, I was surprised to hear what I thought might be his voice playing an outlander wandering in the Empire. When I found out later that Sir Roderick Ponce von Fontlebottom the Magnificent Bastard was indeed voiced by Cleese, I was *delighted*

Cleese’s rants against “Cancel Culture” are disheartening, and make me sad that an actor and comedian whose work I’ve enjoyed for years could go so very wrong headed.  Alas.

(10) COMICS SECTION.

• The Argyle Sweater has ideas about restroom signs for monsters.
• Carpe Diem knows they better look impressed.
• Wumo overhears complaints about a different infestation.

(11) TIM BURTON EXHIBIT. [Item by Mike Kennedy.] Halloween may not be as big a deal in the UK as in North America, but fans in the London area will now have a chance to celebrate it with one of the modern Patron Saints of the day: Tim Burton.

Continuing a world tour that started in 2014 (albeit with a hiatus in 2019–21), The World of Tim Burton exhibition will opened October 25 and will be open until April 21, 2025 at the Design Museum in London. 

In fact, Burton fans around the world may want to take note since this is said to be the very last time the exhibition will be displayed. “Tim Burton Says He’s ‘Technophobic’ And Jack Skellington Came From Subconsciousness” at Bored Panda.

(12) SUPERCHEAP PC. [Item by Steven French.] Here is “an edited extract from the book Curious Video Game Machines by Lewis Packwood, which explores the stories behind rare and unusual consoles, computers and coin-ops” and which describes how engineer Voja Antonic got around import restrictions in Yugoslavia to build his own computer, which had a major impact on the gaming and computer enthusiast community (I loved the description of an early form of ‘wireless’ tech when software was recorded in tape and transmitted over the radio!). “How one engineer beat restrictions on home computers in socialist Yugoslavia” in the Guardian.

…Antonić was pondering this while on holiday with his wife in Risan in Montenegro in 1983. “I was thinking how would it be possible to make the simplest and cheapest possible computer,” says Antonić. “As a way to amuse myself in my free time. That’s it. Everyone thinks it is an interesting story, but really I was just bored!” He wondered whether it would be possible to make a computer without a graphics chip – or a “video controller” as they were commonly known at the time.Typically, computers and consoles have a CPU – which forms the “brain” of the machine and performs all of the calculations – in addition to a video controller/graphics chip that generates the images you see on the screen. In the Atari 2600 console, for example, the CPU is the MOS Technology 6507 chip, while the video controller is the TIA (Television Interface Adaptor) chip.

Instead of having a separate graphics chip, Antonić thought he could use part of the CPU to generate a video signal, and then replicate some of the other video functions using software. It would mean sacrificing processing power, but in principle it was possible, and it would make the computer much cheaper….

(13) ALL’S WELL. “NASA astronaut is released from the hospital after returning from space” reports WAFF.

A NASA astronaut who was taken to the hospital for an undisclosed medical issue after returning from a nearly eight-month space station stay extended by Boeing’s capsule trouble and Hurricane Milton has been released from the hospital.

A SpaceX capsule carrying three Americans and one Russian parachuted before dawn into the Gulf of Mexico just off the Florida coast after undocking from the International Space Station mid-week. The capsule was hoisted onto the recovery ship where the four astronauts had routine medical checks.

Soon after splashdown, a NASA astronaut had a “medical issue” and the crew was flown to a hospital in Pensacola, Florida, for additional evaluation “out of an abundance of caution” the space agency said in a statement….

(14) THE ORVILLE GUIDEBOOK PUBLISHED. “’The Orville’ executive producer delivers deluxe guidebook to the cult sci-fi series” – Space.com has the details.

… “Dark Horse presents ‘The Guide to The Orville,’ a jam-packed lore book collecting everything a new crew member needs to know about the Planetary Union’s most remarkable ship!”…

…Written by seasoned “The Orville” writer and co-executive producer Andre Bormanis, it’s a beautifully bound 192-page volume immersing followers into every aspect of the show’s world. It features dozens of illustrations, diary entries, and detailed cutaways that serve as an exacting manual for newbie spacefarers familiarizing themselves with the huge vessel and the vast universe it explores….

(15) SATURDAY AND OTHER MORNINGS. CBR.com surprises with these forgotten series: “15 Sci-Fi & Fantasy Movies You Didn’t Know Had Cartoons”.

Sci-fi and fantasy movies often challenge viewers to imagine infinite possibilities, but many forget just how many cartoon spinoffs exist in their wake….

Cinema has long captivated children with its fantastic worlds, and over the years, it became increasingly common for movies to spin off into animated TV series… Today, that tradition continues with titles like Jurassic World: Chaos Theory, Gremlins: The Wild Batch, and an upcoming Ghostbusters project. For pop culture archivists, these animated adaptations often offer a glimpse into how beloved franchises evolve and reimagine themselves for new generations….

Here’s an example:

A Forgotten Cartoon Featured an American Werewolf in High School

Teen Wolf (1986-1987)

The teenage years come with plenty of changes, but for most high school students, those experiences don’t include fangs, claws, or the awkward discovery that they’re a werewolf. Starring Michael J. Fox of Back to the Future fame, this hair-raising comedy takes the term “fantasy sports” to a new level as protagonist Scott Howard becomes a basketball-playing lycanthrope.

The Cartoon Adventures of Teen Wolf, as it was known in the UK, followed the chaotic life of the “all-American werewolf” and his family. Navigating the ups and downs of high school, Scott’s life is less The Wonder Years and more “The Werewolf Years” as he tries to protect his family’s secret while dealing with a world that still sees them as monsters. While overshadowed by the 2011 live-action TV series, hopes were high in 2017 when Shout! Factory announced the release of the Teen Wolf cartoon in its entirety. However, due to legal issues, audiences are still left wondering where this werewolf series will resurface next.

(16) HORROR CLASSIC IN PUBLIC DOMAIN. [Item by Cat Eldridge.] The film is legitimately in the public domain due to some really stupid legal mistakes by the producers. “House on Haunted Hill, 1959 with Vincent Price and Carol Ohmart” – see it at Public Domain Movies.

House on Haunted Hill is a 1959 American horror film directed by William Castle. The film was written by Robb White and stars Vincent Price and Carol Ohmart as eccentric millionaires Frederick Loren and Annabelle Loren, who have invited five people to the house for a “haunted house” party.

Whoever stays in the house for one night will earn $10,000. As the night progresses, all the guests are trapped inside the house with ghosts, murderers, and other terrors….

[Thanks to John King Tarpinian, Chris Barkley, Steve Davidson, Michael J. Walsh, Cat Eldridge, SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie, Steven French, Kathy Sullivan, Teddy Harvia, Mike Kennedy, and Andrew Porter for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Daniel Dern.]