The Tourist by Paul Park

There’s that wonderful feeling when you try an author for the first time, and as you read you realize you Continue reading →

The Adder by Fred Chappell

In most Lovecraftian fiction the cosmic horror is either played straight – and therefore horrific – or played for laughs, Continue reading →

Yellow Card Man by Paolo Bacigalupi

If you’re not familiar with Bacigalupi’s first novel, The Windup Girl (which won just about every award under the sun), Continue reading →

26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss by Kij Johnson

Aimee has a circus trick. A bathtub is hoisted ten feet above the stage, 26 monkeys climb into it via Continue reading →

The Horror of the Heights by Arthur Conan Doyle

I love this. I remember exactly when I first read this, because I ran downstairs to my pilot housemate and Continue reading →

Winter Dreams by F. Scott Fitzgerald

At one point Fitzgerald described this story as “a sort of first draft for the Gatsby idea.” And while both Continue reading →

The Hated by Frederik Pohl

Early on an astronaut in a bar is asked: “What’s it like to fly to Mars on a rocket?” His Continue reading →

Silly Novels by Lady Novelists by George Eliot

Bad reviews are usually more fun to read than good ones, especially if the reviewer doesn’t mince words and comprehensively Continue reading →