James Scott Byrnside's Blog, page 3

Update 01/30/2025

If you’ve read this blog at other times of publishing, you know the story. I get a date in my head. I say it. When the date comes, I find out I need a few more months. Well, in case you don’t know, I’ve been writing a book of short stories. I said that March… Continue reading Update 01/30/2025

Update 11-18

I have a few updates. I spent a while reworking Where There’s Smoke, There’s Pazuzu. I can honestly say that it’s one of my favorite things that I’ve written. I’m glad I went back to it and chipped away until it satisfied me. Then, I went back to The Last Gaze. It was terrible. Nothing… Continue reading Update 11-18

Another Month of Halloween Recommendations

Last year I posted a list of Halloween recommendations which you can read here. It’s that time of year again. This should not be taken as a “the greatest horror movies ever” sort of list. They’re just films I enjoy and recommend. I’ve tried to pick things that aren’t obvious. Some of these films are… Continue reading Another Month of Halloween Recommendations

My favorite Films of the 50s

Johnny Guitar (1954) Truffaut said of Johnny Guitar that the cowboys die like ballerinas. There’s also a lot of animalistic action in the cinema of Ray–check out that v-flock behind Mercedes McCambridge. Sterling Hayden plays the title character, but Joan Crawford is the star. She never had this much sympathy in a performance again. To… Continue reading My favorite Films of the 50s

One more week to read The Silent Steps of Murder

I’m set to edit my short story The Silent Steps of Murder. It will be removed from the website next week. If you still want to read it early and free you have until Saturday, August 24th to do so HERE… I will tighten it up and remove all mentions of the strangler case. Ending… Continue reading One more week to read The Silent Steps of Murder

August Update

I’m working, just a bit slower than before. Cut me some slack. Today I turned 48. I’m fucking old. I’m still working on Where There’s Smoke, There’s Pazuzu. It’s taken longer than planned. I love what it’s become. The problem is that it’s approaching 16,000 words. I feel like that’s dangerously close to novella territory.… Continue reading August Update

The Five Matchboxes

John Russell Fearn’s The Five Matchboxes does a lot of things rather well, but what’s missing from the book are the things that move me from admiration to adoration. You see, TFM is a procedural, a subgenre of mystery fiction that emphasizes the realistic depiction of law enforcement methods and processes in solving a crime.… Continue reading The Five Matchboxes

My favorite films of the 90s

Naked Lunch (1991) Burroughs explained the title Naked Lunch as, “A frozen moment when everyone sees what is on the end of every fork.” The naked lunch served up in Naked Lunch is the moment a man realizes he is homosexual, but married to a woman he half-despises and both of them are hooked to… Continue reading My favorite films of the 90s

May ’24 Update

Here is the current line-up for my collection of short stories: WTSTP involves a demon that appears in mid-air, in a locked room, of course. There’s also a curse. I took a long time figuring out where to enter this story. I almost always start with a case being brought to Manory, but I’ve been… Continue reading May ’24 Update

The Getaway

Jim Thompson is the antidote to all the fetid tastes of modernism. The Getaway is two-thirds detailed fallout from a caper and one-third descent into metaphorical hell. It shows a mastery of cause-and-effect tension for a long while, but then throws it all away for modes of expression that are directly antithetical to plot-based crime.… Continue reading The Getaway