Today my latest "Looking Back into Genre History" segment is available on the newest episode of StarShipSofa. It's my review of the "Madness: Insanity in the Works of Edgar Allan Poe" temporary exhibit I saw last month at The Poe Museum, a place I always love to visit. I thought this was a very insightful exhibit, and in my segment I try to pass ( Read more... )

On this day in 1849, Edgar Allan Poe died at the age of forty under mysterious circumstances.

For more information, read "Mysterious for Evermore" by Matthew Pearl, an article on Poe's death from The Telegraph. Pearl is the author of a fascinating novel about the subject, The Poe Shadow.


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Because Poe featured in yesterday's post, it seemed fitting to mention Poe-related fiction today. I made an interactive Goodreads list of Fiction Featuring Edgar Allan Poe as a Character, and I invite you to check it out and vote on the titles or add new ones, if you'd like to do so ( Read more... )

Happy October! Let the countdown commence! Thank you for joining me for the tenth year of my blog-a-thon celebration of Halloween.

Let's begin on a classic note. Why not start with the very best?

This photo ("takeoff") is by the amazing lizziebelle.


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Just a quick note to say that my essay "In Search of Fringe's Literary Ancestors" from the book Fringe Science is the spotlight essay today at the Smart Pop Books website. You can read it for free here!

* Here are some Calls for Papers that may be of interest:
1. Ambivalent Ambiguities: Depictions of Race in Young Adult Dystopian and Science Fiction
2. The Once and Future Antiquity: Classical Traditions in Science Fiction and Fantasy
3. Alchemy in Harry Potter

In other news...

* From Tor.com: "This is Why Obi-Wan Lied to Luke Skywalker About ( Read more... )

Happy birthday to Edgar Allan Poe (19 January, 1809 - 7 October, 1849)!


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On this day in 1849, Edgar Allan Poe died at the age of forty under mysterious circumstances.

For more information, read "Mysterious for Evermore" by Matthew Pearl, an article on Poe's death from The Telegraph. Pearl is the author of a fascinating novel about the subject, The Poe Shadow.


( Read more... )

It's official! I'm delighted to say that I'll be giving two hour-long talks at Loncon 3: The 72nd World Science Fiction Convention in London this summer. One will be with the Young Adult Track, "Millennials and Worlds Gone Wrong: Or, Why These Aren't Your Grandparents' YA Dystopias," and one will be with the Academic Track, "Sherlock Holmes and ( Read more... )

Happy birthday to Edgar Allan Poe (19 January, 1809 - 7 October, 1849)!


( Read more... )