Dave Higgins's Blog, page 19

Higher Order

A joyous 6th 2023 November to you all. In celebration of this auspicious day, I have decided to allow people who are not members of my inner circle to use the most worthy of date and sensible of date formats: Day-Year-Month. That is all.

The Elvish Prophecy by Neil Port

Port blends Grecian history with faded magic, creating a low fantasy epic that echoes the tropes without feeling stale. Eight hundred years ago, the Empire of the Elves collapsed beneath the barbarian hordes. Now only one Elven city and a few scattered settlements remain. With ancient prophecy giving only one slim chance her race can … Continue reading The Elvish Prophecy by Neil Port

Shining a Light

One of the most famous tropes of vampire fiction is the sun: the vampire reeling back in fear from the dawn or igniting at the barest touch of daylight. However, even when the trope is a strong part of a particular tale, how it is portrayed can be wildly different. But is there a way … Continue reading Shining a Light

Jungle Jitters by J. Manfred Weichsel

Weichsel creates a biting satire of human vanity that, while filled with absurdity and transgression, is no more so than the real-world experimentation that inspired it. Jennifer, Stephanie, Jackie, The Action Girls, are three best friends who believe they are film stars. After witnessing the frenzy around a social media personality they decide they can … Continue reading Jungle Jitters by J. Manfred Weichsel

Lively Awfulness

The central attraction of HP Lovecraft’s works can be reduced to two very rough categories: the sense of cosmic dread he evokes and the specific mythos he describes. While the latter of these is potentially as amenable to visual media as any other fantastical world, the former can be lost in the familiarity of the … Continue reading Lively Awfulness

A Vampire’s Guide to Work-Unlife Balance by Matthew S. Cox

After the stalker-horror of a young vampire facing a demonic killer in the woods while on a family holiday, Cox shifts into the psychological horror of a vampire having the pillars of their comfortable life turned against them, without losing the core of character-driven urban fantasy that drives the series. This novel is the seventeenth … Continue reading A Vampire’s Guide to Work-Unlife Balance by Matthew S. Cox

Chocolate Weak

This week is Chocolate Week in the United Kingdom, something in which a number of my acquaintances are most interested. And in which, surprisingly to them, I have but the mildest interest. It didn’t strike me until someone mentioned it, but my interest in coffee (and other ingredient nerdery) does make it not obvious I’m … Continue reading Chocolate Weak

Agro State by K.D. McQuain

McQuain builds his future America from trends very evident in both the present and throughout history, creating a dystopian regime as authoritarian as the most speculative young adult fiction but with a pervasive realism that prevents it seeming safely impossible. When environmental disaster caused the US Government to collapse, corporations came together to save the … Continue reading Agro State by K.D. McQuain

Canon Flaw

One question that comes up in any discussion of something that has existed for many many years is why it isn’t the same as it was. While I suspect pervasive to any fandom, my interests mean one place I most notice this nostalgia and canon-keeping is discussions of vampire tales. However, unlike most of these … Continue reading Canon Flaw

Midnight in the City of the Carrion Kid by James G. Carlson

Carlson interweaves images of inhumanity and weirdness with fast-paced action, creating a horror tale that evokes a sense of evil and the afterlife that avoids both excessive moral angst and ethical lecturing. Lives blighted by drugs, Alistair and Eden seek escape in drugs. However, when Alistair’s trip ends, Eden is missing and the world seems … Continue reading Midnight in the City of the Carrion Kid by James G. Carlson