Dave Higgins's Blog, page 29

Music of the Congruent Spheres

Sometimes alien stars strangely align, raising up things that cannot be put down. Such as this rather fine collaboration on a Lovecraftian dance club by Cibex and Midjourney. Is it better not to speculate what arcane blasphemies might creep forth from that miscegenation of musical samples? Or set sail into the smoke-machine dark voids of … Continue reading Music of the Congruent Spheres

Bona Fides by Ash B Whitley

Whitley blends para-science with modern espionage tropes, creating a novel that is both gritty, street-level superhero action and James-Bondian thriller. One moment Rowan Miller was a young woman looking forward to university, the next she found herself undetectable to other people. Being a living ghost is great for watching lectures, but after four years of … Continue reading Bona Fides by Ash B Whitley

A Verse about Childhood

A reminder that they don’t make nostalgia like they used to. You might wonder if there is some message behind my sharing this poem now… but I couldn’t possibly comment.

Haunting in Fettig by Jordan Elizabeth

Elizabeth blends a classic ghost story with the Covid pandemic and a teenage protagonist, creating a tale that has all the supernatural tension without any dry archaism. When a freak combination of her father’s mistake and snap pandemic restrictions leave Portia stranded at her grandmother’s farm without a change of clothes or the internet, she … Continue reading Haunting in Fettig by Jordan Elizabeth

From That Angle

I recently started playing Pine, which the developers describe as an “open-world action adventure game set in a simulated world that does not belong to humans”. What they don’t describe it is a “third-person adventure game with a lot of platform jumping puzzles”. Which stoked my pondering of what people choose to prioritise, both when … Continue reading From That Angle

Cirsova Magazine of Thrilling Adventure and Daring Suspense, Volume 2 #11, ed. P. Alexander

Alexander offers another collection of modern speculative fiction, united it its echoing of the pulp sensibilities of moral clarity and action over introspection. This magazine contains five short stories, a novelette, and three reasonably sized extracts from longer works, spread across a variety of genres but each firmly echoing the style and substance of classic … Continue reading Cirsova Magazine of Thrilling Adventure and Daring Suspense, Volume 2 #11, ed. P. Alexander

Happy Burpday.

The United Kingdom’s National Health Service was launched seventy-four years ago tomorrow. Nearly three-quarters of a century of free-at-point-of-service healthcare. Which is something worth celebrating. I have many reasons to be grateful to the NHS. But rather than talk about their excellent endeavours to fix things that had gone wrong, I decided to celebrate them … Continue reading Happy Burpday.

Whispering the Darkness

As perspicacious readers might have inferred despite my reticence in openly discussing the matter, I am not unfond of Lovecraft’s work and cosmic dread in general. So, I was most joyous to discover Matt Hundley’s film-length adaptation of The Whisperer in Darkness; while it is not perfect, it inclines strongly toward my preferred approach in … Continue reading Whispering the Darkness

End of Watch by Baileigh Higgins

Higgins blends the horror of a zombie plague with a positive view of human nature, creating an apocalypse story that is centred in cooperation and the drive to serve society. Note: while the author is blessed with a spiffing surname we are unrelated by blood or marriage. This novel is the second in Higgins’ Heroes … Continue reading End of Watch by Baileigh Higgins

Boke Pays for Noodles

During my ongoing research for my Legend of the Five Rings game, I recently discovered the Japanese art of rakugo, a form of humorous storytelling where the performer remains seated but acts out parts of the story using a fan and a small cloth. As part of last week’s session, my character tried to distract … Continue reading Boke Pays for Noodles