The Gill-Man in Love
Is it the human or the not-human that terrifies people in The Creature from the Black Lagoon? Frank Wu writes about the Gill-Man, the Uncanny Valley and “the human and inhuman at war within ourselves.” (Thanks, Chuck!)
Year End at Kaiju Shakedown
Hong Kong was winner of the year and Thailand was loser of the year over at Kaiju Shakedown. But in a world with Johnnie To in it, we’re all winners.
The Better To Bite You With
When it come to romance novels, the trend today is for stories with teeth. And I mean teeth: long, white, sharp, and dangerous. Said teeth might belong to a werewolf, or a shapeshifting tiger, but most often, they’re the fangs of a vampire. Just what is the appeal […]
Not Cranking Out the Same Old Thing – Is That Good?
After some quite excellent fantasy novels, Lois McMaster Bujold goes for (mostly) romance: “But with this one, she’s just gone the Lifetime Channel route.”
Gutter Lovers
A spunky site with a similar mandate of taking low culture seriously does romance novel reviews: Come for the Dominican Bitches, Stay for the Man Titty.
Romance Done Right
This week’s piece on a maligned artform is by Chris Szego. I read, on average, ten books a week. Seriously. In fact, I consider reading a physiological necessity like sleep, or chocolate: you can skimp on the proper amount for a while, but sooner or later, you have […]
The Cultural Gutter 