Category: Science-Fiction

Heavy Light

One day, as I was flipping through the latest issue of Starlog or Omni or something, I happen to see the cover of a magazine a little bit higher up on the shelves. It was an illustration of a topless woman in a slinky loincloth, doing what I’ve since come to refer to as “the wizard finger.”

Moonbeams and Miniskirts

Some years ago, a trio of colorful, contemplative, and sometimes a little bit absurd science fiction films from East German studio DEFA found their way onto home video in the United States. Of them, The Silent Star was the most beloved thanks to its combination of serious speculation […]

Gods in Wigs

In November of 1989, The Berlin Wall — the second-most potent symbol of the Cold War after Ivan Drago — became a speed bump as the physical, social, and political barriers separating West and East Germany collapsed. As Germans began streaming back and forth across the once imposing […]

On Horizon Zero Dawn and the Heroism of Aloy

Every April is Switcheroo Month at The Cultural Gutter. This month Comics Editor Carol writes about Horizon Zero Dawn. ~~~ Watch out, everyone, I am going to talk a bit about story elements because I enjoyed Horizon Zero Dawn‘s story. Sometime I’d like to discuss it in greater […]

From the Archives: These Lonely, Haunted Places

SF/F Editor Keith Allison is engaged in a top secret mission abroad, so this month we’ll be sharing his meditation on folk horror and Penda’s Fen. ~~~ Mentally unpacking Penda’s Fen, a 1974 entry in the BBC’s “Plays for Today” series of television movies tackling controversial subjects often […]

Science, Fiction, and Science Fiction Hoaxes

Sasquatches, Godzilla-like sea monsters, alien invasions, vampire squid – it’s April switcheroo month once again at the Gutter and I’m about to take you down a rabbit hole of hoaxes and truly strange things inspired by one of my favorite podcasts, Popular Science’s The Weirdest Thing I Learned […]