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Tom Adams, James Wedge, and John Fowles' The Magus.
I've recently been re-reading John Fowles' wonderful 1965 novel of mystery and metafictional trickery The Magus. I'll probably blog about the novel itself in the near future, but this post is about...
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The Bird Out of Space and Time (Part 7).
He had watched me silently from the rocking chair and then moved with imperceptible briskness to my shoulder, like the spider that suddenly bolts into motion when his hapless prey has snared itself in...
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Infomercials of the Uncanny: Time-Life's "Mysteries of the Unknown."
"Mysteries of the Unknown" was a highly successful series of books dealing with paranormal subjects which Time-Life Books published from 1987 to 1991. The format and presentation was similar to...
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Michael Mann's Heat (1995).
To mark the 20th Anniversary of Heat, a re-posting of an essay I wrote back in 2009, originally here.)Part 1: Both Sides of the Law.While he was directing his debut Thief, and later producing Miami...
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The Last Will and Testament of Tillinghast Nebula (Part 1).
It would be one of those years where nobody could imagine what was going to happen next. There was a certain eeriness infusing everything, owing to the conjunction of two events, on the surface...
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The Last Will and Testament of Tillinghast Nebula (Part 2).
2.That was how the old year ended, and the new began: with the image of the dead astronaut presiding over everything, its myriad associative meanings reflected in every surface, and every joy an...
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A House is a Machine for Living In: A Warm-up for Ben Wheatley’s High-Rise...
1. Architecture or Revolution?In the new beginning that dates from Le Corbusier’s Vers une architecture, the machine occupied a central place: its austerity, its economy, its geometric cleanness was...
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A House is a Machine for Living In: A Warm-up for Ben Wheatley’s High-Rise...
2. Civilisation and its Discontents.Something in all men profoundly rejoices at seeing a car burn.Jean Baudrillard. When considering this possibility, we come up against a contention that is so...
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Intermundia Airport (Chapter 1).
By a route obscure and lonely, Haunted by ill angels only, Where an Eidolon, named NIGHT, On a black throne reigns upright, I have reached these lands but newlyFrom an ultimate Dim Thule-From a wild...
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The Weird, Haunting Art of Graszka Paulska.
Graszka Paulska is a Polish artist based in Warsaw. Her work is very striking and brilliantly executed:More at EMPTY KINGDOM.
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Intermundia Airport (Chapter 2).
Chapter 1 here Back inside the terminal, he knew his next move would have to be to find a bathroom and take a proper look at his features. He lacked a mental image of his face, and this blank space...
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Intermundia Airport (Chapter 3).
Chapters 1 and 2. They were sitting on a bench in a large plaza adjacent to the platforms.'Did you work out the route last night?' Giacomo asked Eddie. Eddie looked sheepish. 'I thought it was your...
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Intermundia Airport (Chapter 4).
They walked unhurried through the woods in silence, the nameless man at the centre and the quarrelsome security guards at either side. The faces of Eddie and Giacomo were fixed on the path ahead,...
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Intermundia Airport. (Chapter 5).
The office was compact and spare, with white walls, green carpet and a faint, yellowish light which was more apt to a bedside read than clerical work. Renton had a modest desk with a green deco-style...
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Intermundia Airport (Chapter 6).
Chapter 1 , Chapter 2 , Chapter 3 , Chapter 4 , Chapter 5Renton placed a leaflet in Mark's hand. 'This should give you the gist, if you want to consult it tomorrow,' he said, a tinge of impatience...
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Every Kind of Dionysian Thrill: Revisiting the Charles Manson Saga.
(Previous writings about Manson here, here, here, here, and here.)Many hippies are socially almost dead inside. Some require massive emotions to feel any thing at all. They need bizarre, intensive acts...
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Intermundia Airport (Chapter 7).
The foyer of the Overnight, a long, broad corridor that terminated in a pair of elevators and stairwells, was a medley of faded and mismatched patterns. The wallpaper featured a hexagonal motif in pale...
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A Thousand Feet High: Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood (2019).
In Citizen Kane, Charles Foster Kane famously mutters 'Rosebud' on his deathbed. Only the audience is given the solution to the mystery: it refers to a sled which Kane played with a child, long...
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Intermundia Airport. (Chapter 8)
Chapter 8. They emerged into a long, dim and musty hotel corridor. The look of relief on Freddie's face reassured Mark that they were still in the Overnight, and had not been transported to its...
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Things that Will Shatter Your Imagination: The Accidental Genius of Lucio...
Supernatural disgust! No one approaches without revealing to me, despite himself, the stage of his putrefaction, the livid destiny which awaits him. Every sensation is sepulchral, every delight a...
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Prose Poems.
A new blog collecting prose poetry here.1. We pass through innumerable fleeting and unreal places in the course of a lifetime of dreaming. I am haunted by a handful of these locations. Their particular...
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