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Annotations to Crap Books II: Son of Crap Book

This post is a bit late, but I got invited back to Podside Picnic to continue my conversation with Pete on what we jokingly call "crap books". This time, we circled back to talk a little bit more about the influence of D&D and the Satanic Panic on what I'm calling my genre (mis)education. Again, the latest episode is free to listen here if you haven't yet, and I also had some follow-up posts with annotations that build upon that first episode. Because the crap books conversations tend to flow, I may misremember stuff, so of course I'd name the wrong title of Leiber's Lankhmar books. I mentioned Swords Against Wizardry or Swords Against Deviltry, when the one I meant is simply called The Swords of Lankhmar. My interest in Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser was spurred by my friend César lending me the books, but I don't remember if this was...

August 15, 2020
Horror, Memoir, Reading, Uncategorized
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To Strike Through The Pasteboard Mask of This World – Reading John Langan’s “The Fisherman”

On the last full day of vacation in Maine, I got "The Fisherman," by John Langan and started reading. Something about the languorous tone of Abe, the story's protagonist, and his tale of grief and loss drew me in. So much so that several hours later, when I put the book down to go swimming, I was 40% through the book. I wouldn't finish it until I got back to Maryland, driving for the better portion of a day, and passing over the Hudson River to get home. By that time, though, I'd already gotten to the story-within-a-story portion of book detailing the background of Dutchman's Creek, running from the Ashokan Reservoir in the Catskills. When we drove over the Tapan Zee Bridge in the early evening, with the last streaks of daylight dancing on the horizon, singing along with Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now," I could see why the Catskills...

August 19, 2018
Horror, Reading
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