Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for October 19, 2018

It's time for the weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with the new series of Doctor Who, Titans, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, new versions of Halloween and The Haunting of Hill House, First Man, the firing of Chuck Wendig from a Star Wars comic, a whole lot of horror as well as the usual mix of awards news, writing advice, interviews, reviews, con reports, crowdfunding campaigns, science articles, free online fiction and much more. 

Speculative fiction in general:

• Leah Schnelbach shares eight SFF stories written in verse.
• Jason Kehe attempts to explain why so many fantasy novels are obsessed with schools and academia.  
• James Davis Nicoll shares the best Arthurian novels for fans of actual history.
• Ceridwen Christensen shares thirteen essential #ownvoices science fiction and fantasy novels. 
• Sabaa Tahir explains why Katniss Everdeen is her hero. 
• Aliette de Bodard explains why she writes about dragons and scholars.
• Kelly Lagor takes a look at DNA replication, as portrayed in the works of Robert A. Heinlein.
• Camestros Felapton tackles the mystery of Rod Walker, who was once billed as the new new Heinlein.
• Nicole Hill shares ten fantasy books that go with your favourite Halloween movies.
• Mallory O'Meara shares the best horror books for wimps.
• Jeff Somers shares the ten scariest haunted house novels ever written. 
• Laird Hunt shares seven horror classics.
• Seanan McGuire declares that a good horror story must be sincere.
• Jo Zebedee talks about the science fiction and fantasy scene in Northern Ireland.
• Charles Yu profiles George R.R. Martin. 
• Patrick D'Arcy profiles Nnedi Okorafor. 
• Kevin Mims reports about Mount Tsundoku, the stack of unread books every book lover has assembled. 
• The BBC profiles the UK's new comics laureate Hannah Berry.
• Game designer Vale Greg Stafford died aged 70.
• Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has died aged 65.
• Pat Lupoff, the second woman to win a Hugo Award, has died aged 81.
• Anthea Bell OBE, celebrated translator of Franz Kafka, Erich Kästner, Cornelia Funke and Asterix among others, has died aged 82.
  

Film and TV:

• Elahe Izadi tries to differentiate between science fiction and space movies. 
• Katie Rife lists ten female directors of horror films. 
• Cheryl Eddy shares the thirteen most iconic TV witches. 
• Sandy Ferber revisits the 1959 science fiction movie Invisible Invaders.
• Sandy Ferber revisits the 1978 disaster movie The Swarm.
• Emily Asher-Perrin revisits the 1998 fantasy movie Practical Magic on its 20th anniversary. 
• Keith R.A. De Candido revisits the 2011 Thor movie.
• Cheryl Eddy offers a glimpse behind the scenes of the original 1968 Planet of the Apes. 
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Manifest. 
• Carrie Vaughn shares her thoughts on the dystopian movie The Darkest Minds.
• Dave Nemetz reports that the Iron Fist series has been cancelled.
• James Whitbrook offers an overview over the changing portrayal of Mandalorians in Star Wars.
  

Comments on series 11 of Doctor Who:

• Emily Asher-Perrin shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Doctor Who.
• James Whitbrook shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Doctor Who. 
• Dan Martin shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Doctor Who.
• Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Doctor Who. 
• Camestros Felapton also explains the custard cream biscuits seen in the latest episode of Doctor Who.
• Robin George-Andrews explains that the Doctor's home planet of Gallifrey would actually be a pretty nightmarish place to live.
• James Whitbrook shares some images of the new TARDIS control room, as seen in Doctor Who.
• James Whitbrook also shares some photos of the Doctor Who Experience at Madame Tussaud's in Blackpool, UK.
• Watch a video of the Doctor Who panel at New York Comic Con.
• The BBC reports that Jodie Whittaker's debut as the Thirteenth Doctor was the highest rated series launch episode since Doctor Who returned in 2005.
• Ed Power profiles Dave Rudden, author of Doctor Who tie-in fiction.

Comments on Titans: 

• Dominic Patten declares that the overly gritty Titans evolves into being witty and heartfelt. 
• Noel Murray is surprised that the grim and gritty Titans has a sideorder of humor.
• Autumn Noel Kelly declares that Titans sets the standard for DC's original series.
• Joshua Rivera calls Titans a superhero show that's mad at the world. 
• Mike Hale declares that Titans keeps things dark in the DC Universe. 
• Vinnie Mancuso calls Titans the absolute zenith of the era of grim and gritty DC superhero films and TV shows.
• Daniel Fienberg declares that Titans tries too desperately to be edgy and forgets to be entertaining.
• Alan Sepinwall calls Titans a churlish retreat that tries hard to be cool and fails.
• Trey Mangum declares that Titans won't be for everyone and particularly praises Anna Diop's performance as Starfire. 
• Dan Seddon explains why Beast Boy isn't green in Titans yet. 
• Kevin Melrose asks how many people Robin kills in episode 1 of Titans.
  

Comments on The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina:

• Danette Chavez declares that The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina starts slow, but will put a spell on viewers.
• Beth Elderkin declares that The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina is enjoyable, but flawed.
• Beth Elderkin also reports about a visit to the set of The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina in Vancouver, Canada.

Comments on The Haunting of Hill House:

• Cheryl Eddy calls the latest adaptation of The Haunting of Hill House a deeply disturbing modern horror film. 
• Leah Schnelbach declares that the latest adaptation of The Haunting of Hill House finds the beating heart of Shirley Jackson's classic horror novel. 
• Josh Winning calls The Haunting of Hill House a grisly, ghostly soap opera.
• Emily L. Stephens offers an episode by episode review of The Haunting of Hill House.
• William Hughes reports that there are a ton of ghosts hidden in the background of The Haunting of Hill House.
• Brit Mandelo revisits Shirley Jackson's original 1959 novel.
  

Comments on the latest version of Halloween:

• Brian Truitt calls the latest version of Halloween a worthy revamp with depth. 
• Scott Mendelsohn calls the latest version of Halloween just another mediocre Michael Myers movie. 
• A.A. Dowd declares that the new Halloween isn't just a pale imitation of the original, but that it is also an inferior version of H20. 
• Brandon Zachary declares that the ending of Halloween could either revigorate the franchise or kill it.
• Jason Bailey shares the story behind the original 1978 movie Halloween.
  
• Steve McIntosh interviews Jamie Lee Curtis, star of both the original 1978 Halloween and the 2018 reboot. 
• Sam Stone traces the evolution of Michael Myers mask over forty years of Halloween.

Comments on First Man:

• Richard Brody calls the Neil Armstrong biopic First Man an accidental rightwing fetish object.
• Linda Holmes declares that First Man romanticises space travel, but does so effectively.
• Germain Lussier calls First Man a surprisingly intimate biopic that is slightly underhelming.
• Gary Westfahl feels that First Man contains too much family drama and too little moon landing.
• Christian Davenport questions the historical veracity of a scene in First Man.

Comments on the firing of Chuck Wendig from a Marvel Star Wars comic:

• Graeme McMillan reports that Chuck Wendig has been fired from Marvel's Shadow of Vader Star Wars tie-in comic, because he supposedly was too uncivil and too political on social media. 
• Chuck Wendig sums up his comments on Twitter about his firing. 
• Chuck Wendig also offers an FAQ about the situation.
• James Whitbrook also reports about the firing of Chuck Wendig and also reprints a lengthy statement by Wendig on Twitter.
• Abraham Riesman reports about the firing of Chuck Wendig.
• Kate Gardner is outraged about the firing of Chuck Wendig.
• Cora Buhlert talks about the firing of Chuck Wendig and other similar cases in the past months.
• Graeme McMillan reports that the Shadows of Vader comic has been pulled from the schedule following the firing of Chuck Wendig.
  

Awards:

• The winners of the 2018 Sunburst Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the 2018 Copper Cylinder Awards gave been announced. 
• The shortlist for the 2018 BookNest Fantasy Awards has been announced.  
• The 2018 New Academy Prize, replacement for the cancelled Nobel Prize for Literature, has been awarded to Guadeloupean writer Maryse Condé.
• Milkman by Anna Burns has won the 2018 Man Booker Prize.
• Sweet Fruit, Sour Land by Rebecca Ley has won the 2018 Not the Booker Prize.
• The Neukom Institute Literary Arts Award for Speculative Fiction is open for submissions.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Scott Myers explains where to start when developing a story.
• Joanna Nelius shares worldbuilding tips for horror writers.
• Cat Rambo shares some resources for writing diverse steampunk and weird westerns.
• Peter M. Ball talks about writing and shame.
• Joseph Bentz wonders why writing is so hard.
• Aliette de Bodard talks about the inspirations and influences behind In the Vanishers' Palace.
• Hugo-winning editor Liz Gorinsky has launched the new publishing company Erewhon Books.
  

Interviews:

• New York Times staffers interview George R.R. Martin.
• Ardi Alspach interviews Charlaine Harris.
• Locus interviews Kate Elliott.
• The Qwillery interviews Aliette de Bodard.
• Sarah Waites interviews Aliette de Bodard. 
  
• Reuters interviews Robert J. Sawyer.
• Corey Alexander interviews Dax Murray. 
• Ellen Atlanta interviews Smin Smith.
• Ross Johnson interviews Brenden Fletcher and Karl Kerschl. 
• David Marchese interviews Peter Dinklage. 

Reviews:

• Liz Bourke reviews Mutiny at Vesta by R.E. Stearns.
• Liz Bourke reviews The Black God's Drums by P. Djèlí Clark. 
• Liz Bourke reviews Mira's Last Dance by Lois McMaster Bujold and The Bronze Skies by Catherine Asaro. 
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews All Systems Red and Artificial Condition by Martha Wells.
• Bill Capossere reviews The Phoenix Empress by K. Arsenault Rivera.
• Tadiana Jones reviews Magic Triumphs by Ilona Andrews. 
• Jana Nyman reviews A Study in Honor by Claire O'Dell. 
• Alex Brown reviews Treason of Hawks by Lila Bowen. 
• Elizabeth Fitzgerald reviews The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf by Ambelin Kwaymullina.
• Paul Di Filippo reviews By the Pricking of Her Thumb by Adam Roberts.
• Meredith Ritter reviews The Boneless Mercies by April Genevieve Tucholke.
• Feliza Casano reviews The Black Khan by Ausma Zehanat Khan.
• Tadiana Jones reviews Bright Ruin by Vic James.
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews Irontown Blues by John Varley. 
• Emerson Jesseler reviews Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller.  
• Tony Bradman reviews And the Ocean Was Our Sky by Patrick Ness.
• Mark Yon reviews Rejoice by Steven Erickson.
• Ceridwen Christensen reviews Occupy Me by Tricia Sullivan.
• Ana Grilo reviews The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas.
• Mark Yon reviews Harrison Squared by Daryl Gregory.
• Ceridwen Cristensen reviews The Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner.
• Colleen Mondor reviews Half-Witch by John Schoffstall. 
• Rob Bedford reviews Boneyard by Seanan McGuire. 
• Sam Reader reviews I Am Behind You by John Ajvide Lindquist.
• Ross Johnson reviews Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard and the Golden Age of Science Fiction by Alec Nevala-Lee.
  

Classics reviews:

• Anne M. Pillsworth and Ruthanna Emrys revisit the 1912 story The Room in the Tower by E.F. Benson.
• Judith Tarr revisits Andre Norton's 1959 science fiction novel Galactic Derelict. 
• James Davis Nicoll revisits Shirley Jackson's 1962 novel We Have Always Lived in the Castle.
• Joe Kenney revisits Waters of Death, a 1967 science fiction novel by Irving A. Greenfield.
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1970 dystopian thriller Passenger to Frankfurt by Agatha Christie. 
• Joe Kenney revisits The Thirteen Bracelets, a 1974 science fiction novel by Robert Lory.
• Mari Ness revisits the 1976 fantasy collection Kingdoms of Elfin by Sylvia Townsend Warner.
  

Crowdfunding:

• The speculative fiction magazine Strange Horizons is looking for funding. 
• Ada Palmer is looking for funding for a series of lectures and videos on the subject "Censorship and information control in information revolutions". 
  

Con reports:

• Jack Herman shares some photos of the 50th anniversary celebration of the Australian amateur press society ANZAPA in Melbourne, Australia.
• Steve Fjelsted reports about a screening of the 1953 science fiction movie It Came From Outer Space in honour of Ray Bradbury at the South Passadena public library in Passadena, California.
• Mike Glyer shares the schedule for the 5th Annual Philip K. Dick European Science Fiction Film Festival in Lille, France, and Cologne, Germany. 
• John Fleskes reports about the Spectrum 25 Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles, California, and shares some photos. 
• Mike Glyer shares an update regarding the 2018 World Fantasy Convention in Baltimore, Maryland.
• Mike Glyer also shares an update about the court case between San Diego Comic Con and FanX, formerly Salt Lake City Comic Con.
• Mark L. Blackman reports about the latest installment of the Fantastic Fiction Readings series in New York City, featuring Lawrence M. Schoen and Tim Pratt.
• Emily Sherwin reports about a visit to a lightsabre fighting school in Moscow, Russia.
• Amanda Trujillo reports about a visit to Seaview Terrace, the historic mansion in Newport, Rhode Island, which was used for exterior shots of Collinwood, the fictional mansion in the 1960s horror soap opera Dark Shadows. 
• David Lucarelli talks about the history of spook shows and the challenges of recreating one for the modern day. 
• Brigit Katz reports about the exhibition "De Monstris: Monsters and the Wonders of Human Imagination" at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library in Toronto, Canada.
• Jamie Lee Curtis Taete reports about a visit to Ark Encounter, an evangelical theme park in Grant County, Kentucky, and is less then impressed.
  

Science and technology:

• Astronaut Nick Hague recounts his experiences during last week's Soyuz rocket failure.
• Marcia Dunn reports that only a few days after the Hubble Telescope shut down due to a gyroscope failure, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory also shut down. 
• The German Aerospace Center reports about the findings of the asteroid lander MASCOT on the surface of the asteroid Ryusu. 
• People's Daily Online reports that the Chinese city of Chengdu is planning to launch an artificial moon by 2020.
• Emma Woollacott reports about the fight against rogue drones.
• The BBC reports that archaeological discoveries suggest that the destruction of Pompeii may have happened not on August 24, 79 AD, but in October of the same year. 
• Erica Frank revisits the 1963 academic journal The Psychedelic Review.

Free online fiction:

• "Disconnect" by Fran Wilde in Uncanny Magazine.
• "She Still Loves the Dragon" by Elizabeth Bear in Uncanny Magazine.
• "The Emotionless in Love" by Jason Sanford in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. 
• "The Crow Knight" by Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• Part 3 of "Between the Firmaments" by J.Y. Yang in The Book Smugglers.
• "STET" by Sarah Gailey in Fireside Magazine. 
• "AI and the Trolley Problem" by Pat Cadigan at Tor.com.
• "Dearly Departed" by Morgan Broadhead.
• "The Dream Curator" by Alex Irvine in Lightspeed.
• "The Real You (TM)" by Molly Tanzer in Lightspeed.
• "The Standard of Ur" by Hassan Abdulrazzak in Apex Magazine.
• "The Prescription of Doctor Hermippus" by K. Sullivan in Crimson Streets.
• "Cranky Chariots" by Pamela Booker at Akashic Books.
• "Lost at Sea" by John Macini at Akashic Books.
  

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a trailer for High Life.
• Watch a trailer for The Curse of La Llorona.
• Listen to a radio adaptation of Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea.