Tag: Confluence Science Fiction Convention
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Origins of Body Horror
Did it begin in the 1980s? In the decade before computer-generated animation gave us morphing faces in Michael Jackson’s Black or White and the fluid flesh of James Cameron’s Terminator 2, cinema’s masters of practical effects were busily corrupting the human form. Dick Smith gave us rippling flesh in Altered States (1980); Tom Sullivan, the…
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Wanted: Standalone Novels
Can you find the standalone science-fiction novel? Last week’s post concluded by asking, “Do you have any recent stand-alone sf books to recommend?” Alas, it seems coming up with such recommendations is not as easy as it sounds. Consider, for example, the books pictured above–seven titles I’ve either read or reread in preparation for a…
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Great but Forgotten Films
One of the “great” science fiction films I recall seeing as a kid is World Without End, a post-apocalyptic adventure in which a band of astronauts lands on a primitive planet that turns out to be Earth in the future. That’s not a spoiler. Other films might present similar surprises as twist endings, but World…
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First Impressions:
Discovering FrankensteinA recent episode of Prime Stage Mystery Theatre features responses to the question “Where did you first encounter Frankenstein?” The responses are varied, with listeners referencing Mel Brooks, Boris Karloff, and (appropriately) Mary Shelley. But a response closest to my own experience is from a Facebook friend who reports that she had been aware of…