Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for October 24, 2025

 

It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with Star Wars in general, Masters of the Universe in general  the Marvel Cinematic and TV Universe in general, Talamasca: The Secret Order, season 2 of Gen V, Black Phone 2, Guillermo del Toro's take on Frankenstein, the future of Doctor Who, It: Welcome to Derry and Stephen King adaptations in general and much more.

Speculative fiction in general:

• Alex Brown shares their favourite speculative short fiction from September 2025. 
• Brian Truitt asks several horror writers to recommend the books they consider the scariest. 
• Maddie Martinez talks about medieval revival, romance and resistance  
• Jenny Hamilton discusses the ethics of time loop romances.
• James Davis Nicoll shares five anticipated books and stories that remain unpublished 
• Ratika Deshpande shares five SFF stories featuring blood magic 
• K. Valentin shares seven horror novels featuring demons and possession
• Randee Dawn shares eight SFF books with bear characters. 
• Lorna Wallace ranks her thirteen favourite pumpkin headed characters. 

 

Comics and Art:

• Brian M. Puaca shares a map of confirmed comic book burnings in the US between 1945 and 1955. 
• Camestros Felapton revisits the 1951 manga Tetsuwan Atomu a.k.a. Astro Boy by Osamu Tezuka.
• Tom Gauld shares a cartoon on special editions of books. 
• Locus remembers Drew Struzan. 

 

 

Film and TV: 

• Rai Furniss-Greasley shares his thoughts on Alien: Earth.
• Avery Kaplan shares her thoughts on the Star Trek: Khan audio drama. 
• Jesse Hassenger calls Good Fortune a gentle supernatural comedy. 
• Ann Michelle Harris declares that the anime Gachiakuta features classic story elements reimagined with unique animation, heavy social symbolism, and diverse characters 
• Cath Clarke calls Sketch a fun fantasy film for kids. 
• Catherine Bray calls The Draft! an entertaining Indonesian meta-horror film
• Catherine Bray calls Strange Harvest a lurid horror film expertly disguised as true crime  
• Phil Hoad calls The Last Sacrifice a fascinating documentary that connects true crime and folk horror.  
• Cath Clarke calls It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This an unscary found footage horror film. 
• Jacob Oller declares that Netflix has removed all the pesky Roald Dahl from the Roald Dahl adaptation The Twits
• Diana Keng shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Invasion.  
• Melody McCune shares eight burning questions she hopes will be answered in season 2 of Outlander: Blood of My Blood. 
• Melody McCune shares her favourite moments from season 2 of Peacemaker. 
• Melody McCune shares her favourite lines from season 2 of Wednesday.  
• Avery Kaplan shares her appreciation for the character of Fionna Campbell from Adventure Time. 
• Priya Elan discusses the current popularity of horror movies. 
• Danny Leigh interviews Kathryn Bigelow, director of Strange Days, Point Break, Blue Steel, Near Dark, House of Dynamite and many others. 
• Brian Davids interviews Michael Chaves, director of The Conjuring: Last Rites 
• Rich Pelley interviews Penelope Wilton, best known for her appearances in Shaun of the Dead, Doctor Who, The Borrowers and many others. 
• Cheryl Eddy interviews Tina Romero, director of Queen of the Dead. 
• Nick Romano interviews Jason Fuchs, writer of the live action My Hero Academia.  
• Elaine U. Cho takes a look at the flawed heroes and heroines of the movies of Bong Joon Ho. 
• Leah Schnelbach shares ten horror documentaries to enjoy. 
• Diana Keng visits Predjama Castle in Slovenia, one of the filming locations of The Witcher. 
• Cora Buhlert revisits the 1970 science fiction TV movie The Million Game. 
• Tam Phan revisits the 1970 science fiction film The Mind of Mr. Soames 
• Kali Wallace revisits the 1982 animated science fantasy film The Secret of NIMH 
• Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the 1997 Babylon 5 episode “Epiphanies”
• Camestros Felapton revisits season 2 of Star Trek Enterprise, which aired in 2002/2003. 
• Kenneth Lowe revisits the 2003 horror movie Freddy vs. Jason 
• Cullen Wade revisits the 2005 video game adaptation Doom.  
• Sian Cain revisits the 2014 science fiction film Interstellar. 
• Germain Lussier reports that Tron: Ares is an even bigger bomb than everybody thought  
• Brooks Barnes reports that cancellations of Disney Plus have jumped since the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel  
• Al Pacino remembers his former partner and co-star Diane Keaton. 
• Actress Samantha Eggar, star of The Brood, The Collector, Doctor Doolittle, The Seven Percent Solution, The Uncanny and many others, has died aged 86. 

 

Comments on Masters of the Universe in general:

• Adam McCombs compares the various early Masters of the Universe canons. 
• Adam McCombs and Jukka Issakainen talk about the convulated history of the Goddess from Masters of the Universe.

 

Comments on Star Wars in general: 

• Jack Coyle interviews Adam Driver who played Kylo Ren in the Star Wars sequel trilogy.  
• Ben Travis interviews Rian Johnson, director of The Last Jedi, Knives Out, Glass Onion and Wake Up Dead Man 
• James Whitbrook shares a list of way to cheat death in Star Wars. 

 

Comments on seaosn 2 of Gen V: 

• Manuel Betancourt shares his thoughts on the season finale of season 2 of Gen V.   
• Melody McCune shares her thoughts on the season finale of season 2 of Gen V.
• Isaiah Colbert lists five things he liked and five things he didn’t about season 2 of Gen V.
• Abbey White interviews Eric Kripke, creator of The Boys and Gen V, and Michele Fazekas, showrunner of Gen V. 
• Jennifer Maas interviews Michele Fazekas, showrunner of Gen V.

 

Comments on the Marvel Cinematic and TV Universe in general:

• Leah Schnelbach wonders what superheroes can do in the face of entropy. 
• Hannah J. Davies interviews Letitia Wright who plays Shuri in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
• Ben Child hopes to see Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield as Spider-Man on screen again. 

 

Comments on Talamasca: The Secret Order: 

• Hunter Ingram declares that Talamasca: The Secret Order taps a vein Anne Rice never did 
• Melody McCune shares her thoughts on season 1 of Talamasca: The Secret Order. 
• Sydney Bucksbaum interviews the stars and producers of Talamasca: The Secret Order.
• Lacy Baugher Milas praises the performance of William Fichtner in Talamasca: The Secret Order 

 

Comments on Black Phone 2:  

• Leah Schnelbach declares that Black Phone 2 creates genuine scares despite some static on the line
• Matt Schimkowitz declares that Black Phone 2 builds (and undermines) its sequel by supercharging its villain. 
• Brian Davids interviews Scott Derrickson, director of Black Phone 2.
• Matt Schimkowitz reports that Black Phone 2 sits at the top of the US box office. 

 

Comments on the future of Doctor Who: 

• Jake Kanter reports that Doctor Who producer Jane Tranter has said that the show is far from dead. 
• James Whitbrook talks about the BBC's reticence to discuss the future of Doctor Who. 
• Isobel Lewis interviews Millie Gibson who played Ruby Sunday in Doctor Who. 

 

Comments on Guillermo del Toro's take on Frankenstein: 

• Emmet Asher-Perrin calls Guillermo del Toro’s take on Frankenstein a puzzling affair 
• Germain Lussier declares that Frankenstein finds Guillermo del Toro at the peak of his powers  
• Simon Thompson interviews Guillermo del Toro and Jacob Elordi, director and star of the latest Frankenstein adaptation.

 

Comments on It: Welcome to Derry and Stephen King adaptations in general: 

• Vanessa Armstrong lists what to know before watching It: Welcome to Derry. 
• Cheryl Eddy calls It: Welcome to Derry a harrowing expansion of Stephen King’s story   
• Rory Doherty declares that It: Welcome to Derry sinks like a lead balloon  
• Cheryl Eddy ranks the ten scariest Stephen King adaptations.   
• Stephen King shares his thoughts on adaptations of his works. 

 

Awards:

• The winner of the 2024 Endeavour Award has been announced.
• The winners of the 2025 Galaxy Awards have been announced. 
• The winner of the 2025 New Adult Book Prize has been announced. 
• The winner of the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction has been announced. 
• The winners of the 2025 Ringo Awards have been announced. 
• The shortlist for the 2025 HWA Crown Awards has been announced. 
• Emma Loffhagen reports that a Children's Booker Prize has been launched. 

 

Writing, publishing and promotion: 

• Elizabeth Spiers looks back on the heyday of blogging and what made it different,
• Silvia Moreno-Garcia discusses the currents state of the book market and trends. 
• Brian Keene worries that the indie horror market is contracting. 
• Claire Kirch reports that booksellers are riding the horror wave. 
• Victoria Strauss takes a deeper look at Nigerian marketing scams aimed at writers. 
• Nathalie op de Beek reports that a US Federal Judge has ruled a Texas book ratings law unconstitutional. 

 

Interviews:

• Mike Glyer interviews Kij Johnson
• Scott Edelman interviews Lara Elena Donnelly. 
• John Valeri interviews Ashley Cullins. 

 

Reviews: 

• Kevin Tipple reviews Framed in Death by J.D. Robb   
• Marlene Harris reviews The Heist of Hollow London by Eddie Robson  
• Marlene Harris reviews Queen Demon by Martha Wells 
• Paul Weimer reviews The Nameless Land by Kate Elliott  
• Sarah Crown reviews The Rose Field by Philip Pullman 
• Julia Kitvaria Sarene reviews Heart Blade by Juliana Spink Mills  
• Marlene Harris reviews The Keeper of Magical Things by Julie Leong 
• Marlene Harris reviews The Witching Moon Manor by Stacy Sivinski 
• Alexandra Pierce reviews The Faerie Morgana by Louisa Morgan 
• Nerds of a Feather review The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah  
• Kellie Lasiter reviews The Incandescent by Emily Tesh 
• Krystle Matar reviews The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow
• James Davis Nicoll reviews A Thousand Blues by Cheon Seon-Ran, translated by Chi-Young Kim 
• Paul Weimer reviews Of the Emperor's Kindness by Chaz Brenchley 
• Julia Kitvaria Sarene reviews A Winter’s Mercy by Phil Williams  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Lives of Bitter Rain by Adrian Tchaikovsky 
• Alex Brown reviews The Last Soul Among Wolves by Melissa Caruso 
• Julia Kitvaria Sarene reviews The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French  
• Marion Deeds reviews Shadow Zone by Barbara Cottrell 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Unseen Gods by Justin Holley 
• Julia Kitvaria Sarene reviews A Good Day to Die by G.R. Matthews 
• Blue Book Balloon reviews The Cold House by A.G. Slatter  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Cold House by A.G. Slatter 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Coffin Moon by Keith Rosson 
• Tobias Carroll reviews The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes
• Rob Bedford reviews Small Town Monsters by Diana Rodriguez-Wallach 
• The Quick and the Read reviews Somebody is Walking on Your Grave by Mariana Enriquez 
• Rich Horton reviews Where the Axe Is Buried by Ray Nayler. 
• Rob Bedford reviews The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre by Philip Fracassi  
• Rai Furniss-Greasley reviews The October Film Haunt by Michael Wehunt 
• Ian Mond reviews Midnight Timetable by Bora Chung 
• Beejay Silcox reviews Midnight Timetable by Bora Chung  
• Clara Cohen reviews  Living Memory by David Walton  
• Rai Furniss-Greasley reviews Futility by Nuzo Onoh 
• Mark Yon reviews The Flesh King by Richard Kadrey. 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews The Whistler by Nick Medina 
• Sasha Bonkowsky reviews Audition for the Fox by Martin Cahill. 
• Martin Cahill reviews Spread Me by Sarah Gailey 
• Niall Harrison reviews Everything Will Swallow You by Tom Cox 
• Helen Rhee reviews An Oral History of Atlantis by Ed Park 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Make-Believe And Artifice by Rose Biggin 
• Russell Letson reviews Not What I Intended by Nancy Kress
• James Davis Nicoll reviews As The Earth Dreams: Black Canadian Speculative Stories, edited by Terese Mason Pierre 
• Mark Yon reviews Batmobile: The Complete History by Mark Cotta Vaz and Andrew Farago 
   

 

Classics reviews:

• Randy Money revisits the 1943 horror novel Malperthuis by Jean Ray, translated by Iain White, 
• Brian Collins revisits the 1952 science fiction story “Lost Memory” by Peter Phillips 
• Jonathan Cowie revisits the 1969 post-apocalyptic novel Damnation Alley by Roger Zelazny 
• Sandy Ferber revisits the 1969 horror novel House on Fire by Arch Oboler 
• Gideon Marcus revisits the November 1970 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. 
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1976 science fiction novel Man Plus by Frederik Pohl  
• Randy Money revisits the 1979 horror novel Ghost Story by Peter Straub. 
• Brian Collins revisits the 1984 science fiction story “Bloodchild” by Octavia E. Butler 
• Ainy Cormac revisits the 1985 Black Company dark fantasy novel The White Rose by Glen Cook
• Brian Collins revisits the 1986 horror story “Yellowjacket Summer” by Robert McCammon  
• Kat Hooper revisits the 1988 Pip and Flinx space opera Flinx in Flux by Alan Dean Foster  
• Fantasy Faction revisits the 2009 contemporary fantasy novel The Magicians by Lev Grossman   
      

Crowdfunding:

• The Robert E. Howard Museum in Cross Plains, Texas, needs funds for necessary renovation and restoration work.
• Apex Magazine is looking for funding for 2026. 
• The New England Science Fiction Association is looking for funding for the collection Dubious Pleasures by Greg Cox.  

 

Con and event reports:

• Locus reports about the 2025 DragonCon in Atlanta, Georgia.
• Rich Lynch reports about the 2025 DeepSouthCon in New Orleans, Louisiana. 
• Norbert Fiks reports about the 2025 Hinterm Mond science fiction event in Leer, East Frisia, Germany.  
• Emma Loffhagen reports about the Black British Book Festival in London, UK.  
• Randee Dawn shares some photos of the latest edition of Brooklyn Books & Booze in Brooklyn, New York.
• Locus shares photos of several SFF writing workshops. 
• Justin Carter reports about the "World of Fallout" exhibition at the  National Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada. 
• Dawn Limbu reports about the unveiling of a blue memorial plaque for Reverend Wilbert Awdry, creator of Thomas the Tank Engine, in Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK. 
• Henry Corrigan talks about the origin of haunted houses for Halloween. 

 

Science and technology:

• Andy Tomaswick wonders what we will do if SETI is successful. 
• Meghan Leger talks about the two-dimensional future of starship design
• Joe Hernandez discusses the origins of the word "ghost". 
   

Gaming: 

• Harold Goldberg reviews the video game Pokémon Legends: Z-A. 
• Keith Stuart notes that average but arresting games used to be the backbone of the video game industry, but now every studio is chasing perfection. 

 

Toys and collectibles:

• Pixel Dan reviews the Mattel Masters of the Universe 80th Anniversary He-Man and Skeletor two-pack.
• Germain Lussier wonders why there are so few action figures from the Star Wars sequel trilogy 
• Jin Yu Young reports that the California police have broken up a ring of LEGO thieves and recovered ten thousands of stolen LEGO pieces. 

 

Free online fiction: 

• "A Random Walk Through the Goblin Library" by Chris Willrich in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. 
• "My Sincere Apologies For the Demon" by Adrian Ward in Beneath Ceaseless Skies
• "Crabs Don't Scream" by H.H. Pak in Clarkesworld 
• "Understudies" by Greg Egan in Clarkesworld. 
• "Apprentice" by R. M. Gulaya in Swords and Sorcery Magazine. 
• "Through the Woods, Due West" by Angela Slatter in The Dark.
• "Ghosts of Summer" by Catherine Tavares in Apex Magazine
• "Phantom View" by John Wiswell in Reactor. 
• "Everyone Hates the Auditor" by Megan Chee in Lightspeed. 
• "Dating Fortune" by Sean McMullen in Lightspeed.  
• "Body? Glass" by Osahon Ize-Iyamu in Nightmare Magazine. 

Trailers and videos:

• Watch a trailer for Troll 2.