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, Star Trek in general, Masters of the Universe in general the Marvel Cinematic and TV Universe in general, Talamasca: The Secret Order, season 4 of The Witcher, season 2 of Hazbin Hotel, Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake, Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc, Hell House LLC Lineage, Guillermo del Toro's take on Frankenstein, the future of Doctor Who, It: Welcome to Derry and Stephen King adaptations in general, Daisy May and Charlie Cooper’s NightWatch, tributes to June Lockhart and much
more.
Speculative fiction in general:
- Publishers Weekly share their favourite science fiction and fantasy books of 2025.
- Emily C. Hughes shares her favourite horror novels coming out in October 2025.
- Several horror writers share the scariest stories they ever read,
- Marian Womack shares her favourite horror books in translation.
- Adrian Collins shares buddy cop pairings for dark fantasy fans
- Cindy Fazzi talks about bounty hunters in fiction and life.
- Rachel Ayers ranks the strengths and weaknesses of classic vampires.
- Thomas Olde Heuvelt recommends five books featuring Faustian bargains.
- Lorna Wallace shares five spooky tales based in Celtic folklore
- Tyler Malone talks about body horror.
- Sam Reader shares eight SFF books featuring strange and sprawling cities.
- James Davis Nicoll shares five science fiction stories featuring the sudden appearance of new bodies of water.
- Dave Hook takes a look at science fiction authors who only wrote a single story.
- Jess deCourcy Hinds discusses the evolution of Wednesday Addams over the past eighty-five years.
- Bill Ryan profiles Joyce Carol Oates.
- Black Eye Media profiles Jonathan Carroll.
- Rick Ripatrizone takes a look at the horror stories of Anne Sexton, which were never published during her lifetime.
- Kris Vyas-Myall taks a look at speculative pop music of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Comics and Art:
Film and TV:
- Petrana Radulovic lists all the SFF movies premiering in November.
- Petrana Radulovic lists all the SFF TV shows premiering in November.
- Alasdair Stuart shares four horror movies perfect for Halloween season
- Stuart Heritage ranks the least frightening movies ever.
- Ben Francisco shares his thoughts about the season 2 finale of Gen V.
- Diana Keng shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Invasion.
- Ann Michelle Harris calls The Summer Hikaru Died a creepy, artistic, poignant, coming of age horror anime.
- Jacob Oller calls the animated film Little Amélie Or The Character Of Rain one of the year's best coming-of-age movies
- Haley Zapal shares her thoughts on Queens of the Dead.
- Jim Vorel calls Dream Eater a clunky sleepwalking horror film.
- Jim Vorel calls House of Ashes an unpolished reproductive horror film.
- Jack Seale calls Once Upon a Time in Space a fascinating, intimate documentary about the people who climbed inside the space shuttle
- Anne Billson discusses why horror films keep evolving and keep making money.
- Charles Bramesco lists eight film-makers who are redefining modern horror
- Grady Hendrix explains how to survive a slasher movie.
- Jen A. Miller lists science fiction films that physicist enjoy.
- Stuart Heritage interviews David Duchovny, best known for playing Fox Mulder in The X-Files.
- Saloni Gajjar interviews Vince Gilligan, creator of Pluribus.
- The BBC revisits the 1938 War of the Worlds radio adaptation by Orson Welles.
- Camestros Felapton revisits the 1951 science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still.
- Jason Sacks revisits the 1970 dystopian movie No Blade of Grass.
- Steve Vertlieb revisits the 1982 children's science fiction film E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial
- Kali Wallace revisits the 1984 science fiction movie The Last Starfighter
- Geoffrey Bunting revisits the 1985 horror film Reanimator.
- Sabina Graves revisits the 1993 animated film The Nightmare Before Christmas and shares seven reasons why it is not a Halloween film.
- Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the 1997 Babylon 5 episode “The Illusion of Truth”
- Saloni Gajjar revisits the 2007 Indian Stephen King adaptation No Smoking.
- Catherine Shoard reports that Colin Farrell was so drunk on the set of the 2002 science fiction film Minority Report he needed 46 takes for a single line
- Swedish actor and musician Björn Andrésen, star of Death in Venice, Midsommar and model for dozens of anime characters, has died aged 70.
Tributes to June Lockhart:
Comments on Masters of the Universe in general:
- Dan Zinski interviews Camila Mendes who plays Teela in the upcoming Masters of the Universe live action movie.
- Marc Malkin interviews Morena Baccarin who will play the Sorceress of Grayskull in the upcoming Masters of the Universe live action movie.
- James Eatock reports about some character design reuse in the Filmation He-Man and She-Ra cartoons.
Comments on Star Wars in general:
- Rodrigo Perez reports that the Hunt for Ben Solo movie was actually greenlit before Disney abruptly pulled the plug.
- Ben Child claims that a Hunt for Ben Solo movie is not what Star Wars would have needed.
- Joshua Lapin-Bertone shares the thoughts of John Boyega, who played Finn in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, about Star Wars versus Star Trek.
- Germain Lussier discusses a planned connection between the Stranger from The Acolyte and Kylo Ren from the Star Wars sequel trilogy.
- James Whitbrook declares that volume 3 of Star Wars: Visions is worth it in the end
- James Whitbrook calls the Star Wars Visions installment "Black" Star Wars at its absolute best
- James Whitbrook explaims how the written word evolved in Star Wars.
Comments on Star Trek in general:
Comments on the Marvel Cinematic and TV Universe in general:
Comments on season 4 of The Witcher:
Comments on Talamasca: The Secret Order:
- Melody McCune shares her thoughts on the first episode of Talamasca: The Secret Order.
- Melody McCune shares her thoughts on the second episode of Talamasca: The Secret Order.
- Randall Colburn introduces the cast of Talamasca: The Secret Order.
- Lacy Baugher Milas interviews Nicholas Denton who plays Guy Anatole in Talamasca: The Secret Order.
- Diana Keng visits the Langley Building in Manchester, UK, a filming location for Talamasca: The Secret Order.
Comments on A House of Dynamite:
Comments on the future of Doctor Who:
- The BBC has announced that Doctor Who will return for the 2026 Christmas Special, though without Disney+ as a co-producer.
- Max Goldbart and Jake Kanter discuss possible reasons why Disney+ pulled out of Doctor Who
- Martin Belam wonders about the future of Doctor Who.
- James Whitbrook reports that actress Carole Ann Ford, who played the Doctor's granddaughter Susan in Doctor Who, has said that the finale of the latest season was drastically altered.
- Lacy Baugher also reports about the plans to have Carole Ann Ford return as Susan in the finale of the most recent Doctor Who season.
- James Whitbrook speculates about the Billie Piper reveal at the end of the latest season of Doctor Who.
Comments on Guillermo del Toro's take on Frankenstein:
- Olivia Rutigliano calls Guillermo del Toro's new Frankenstein adaptation life-giving
- Matt Schimkowitz explains why Frankenstein keeps resonating two hundred years after it was first published,
- Terry Gross interviews Guillermo del Toro, director of Frankenstein.
- CBS News Sunday Morning interviews Guillermo del Toro.
- Germain Lussier lists fifteen other Frankenstein adaptations to watch after Guillermo del Toro's
Comments on It: Welcome to Derry and Stephen King adaptations in general:
- William Hughes declares that It: Welcome To Derry opens with a great short film but a pretty lousy hour of TV
- Lucy Mangan calls It: Welcome to Derry solidly entertaining stuff, if not the best ever adaptation of Stephen King's work
- Melody McCune shares her thoughts on the first episode of It: Welcome to Derry.
- Leah Schnelbach shares her thoughts on the first episode of It: Welcome to Derry.
- James Hibberd interviews Andy Muschietti and Barbara Muschietti, creators of It: Welcome to Derry,
- Nick Romano interviews Andy and Barbara Muschietti.
- Vanessa Armstrong interviews Andy and Barbara Muschietti.
Comments on season 2 of Hazbin Hotel:
Comments on Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake:
Comments on Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc:
Comments on Hell House LLC: Lineage:
Comments on Daisy May and Charlie Cooper’s NightWatch:
Awards:
- The winners of the 2025 Pegasus Awards have been announced.
- Klaus N. Frick, editor-in-chief of the Perry Rhodan series, has been given a lifetime achievement award at BuchmesseCon in Dreieich, Germany.
- Olav Rokne discusses his experiences as part of the Sidewise Award jury.
- Locus reports that the 2023 Worldcon in Chengdu, China, has revoked the authority of Hugo administrator Dave McCarty for failing to deliver Hugo trophies to winners two years after the con.
- Mike Glyer shares a summary of Dave McCarty's repeated failures to deliver the Hugo trophies to the 2023 winners.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- Laurence Raphael Brothers shares some tips for submitting short stories.
- J.B. Abbott explains how assembling jigsaw puzzles can help writers craft mysteries
- Stephen Kelman talks about how the British conservative politician James Farquharson tried to have his book Pigeon English banned from British schools.
- R. Nassor explains that the US and UK are in a book affordability crisis due to the demise of the mass market paperback.
- Martin Edwards talks about the AI scam e-mails he has recently found in his inbox.
- Jim Milliot shares an update from the class action lawsuit against Open AI.
- Winston Cho also shares an update from the class action lawsuit against Open AI.
- DNYUZ reports that Simon & Schuster is sueing the estate of crime fiction writer Nelson DeMille for 1.275 million US-dollar.
Interviews:
Reviews:
- Clara Cohen reviews Stars Uncharted and Stars Beyond, by S. K. Dunstall
- Mark Yon reviews Halcyon Years by Alastair Reynolds.
- Marlene Harris reviews Hole in the Sky by Daniel H. Wilson
- Paul Di Filippo reviews An Unbreakable World by Ren Hutchings
- Gayle Surrette reviews Framed in Death by J.D. Robb
- Martin Cahill reviews Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz
- Niall Harrison reviews The First Thousand Trees by Premee Mohamed
- Niall Harrison reviews Saltcrop by Yume Kitasei
- Liz Bourke reviews The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri
- Paul Di Filippo reviews Extremity by Nicholas Binge
- Gayle Surrette reviews Blind Date with a Werewolf by Patricia Briggs
- Abigail Nussbaum reviews Vampires at Sea by Lindsay Merbaum
- Marlene Harris reviews Slayers of Old by Jim C. Hines
- Ainy Cormac reviews The Kinslayer by S.K. Putt
- Fiona Denton reviews Kill the Beast by Serra Swift
- Julia Kitvaria Sarene reviews The Tale of Gurion Thricebound by Angela Holder
- Mark Yon reviews The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow.
- Clara Cohen reviews The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow.
- Runalong the Shelves reviews The Green Man’s Holiday by Juliet E McKenna
- Chris Kluwe reviews The Lost Reliquary by Lyndsay Ely
- Julia Kitvaria Sarene reviews The Ashen Orb Bounty by Patrick Dugan
- Blue Book Balloon reviews The Space Between the Trees by Norm Konyu
- Julia Kitvaria Sarene reviews Where Loyalties Lie by Rob J. Hayes.
- Liz Bourke reviews A Philosophy of Thieves by Fran Wilde
- Ian Mond reviews Helen of Nowhere by Makenna Goodman
- Mahvesh Murad reviews We Love You, Bunny by Mona Awad
- Blue Book Balloon reviews Secrets of the First School by T.L. Huchu
- Runalong the Shelves reviews Cities Are Forests Waiting To Happen by Cecile Cristofari
- Tobias Carroll reviews A Ruin, Great and Free by Cadwell Turnbull
- Marion Deeds reviews What Stalks the Deep by T. Kingfisher
- Fiona Denton reviews What Stalks the Deep by T. Kingfisher
- Fantasy Faction reviews What Moves the Dead by T Kingfisher
- Joseph B. Hoyos reviews What the Dead Can Do by Peter Rosch
- Alex Brown reviews Make Me a Monster by Kalynn Byron.
- Paul Weimer reviews The Witch of Prague by J.M. Sidorova
- James Davis Nicoll reviews Girl in the Creek by Wendy N. Wagner
- Jen Lucas reviews The Hungry Dark by Jen Williams
- Maura Krause reviews This Vicious Hunger by Francesca May
- Mahvesh Murad reviews The Hunger We Pass Down by Jen Sookfong Lee
- Gary K. Wolfe reviews A Mouthful of Dust by Nghi Vo
- Runalong the Shelves reviews The Sound of the Dark by Daniel Church
- Ed Crocker reviews The Sound of the Dark by Daniel Church
- Rob Bedford reviews Senseless by Ronald Malfi.
- Randy Money reviews The Cold House by A.G. Slatter.
- Runalong the Shelves reviews Futures To Live By by Ana Sun
- Runalong the Shelves reviews The Cloud Enchanters by N.S. Ford
- Runalong the Shelves reviews Unquiet Guests, edited by Dan Coxon
- Runalong the Shelves reviews Blood In The Bricks, edited by Neil Williamson
- Gary K. Wolfe reviews Space Ships! Ray Guns! Martian Octopods! Interviews with Science Fiction Legends, edited by Richard Wolinsky
- Alec Nevala-Lee reviews The Ultimate Cosmos: How A 1933 Serial Novel Reshaped Science Fiction by Daniel Ritter and David Ritter
Classics reviews:
- Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings revisits the 1925 science fiction novel Metropolis by Thea von Harbou.
- Alan Brown revisits the 1952 science fiction crime novel The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester
- Winona Menezes revisits the 1970 science fiction novel Ringworld by Larry Niven and Maureen Hogan revisits the 1970 sword and sorcery novel Sorcerer's World by Damien Broderick
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1979 science fiction anthology Starry Messenger, edited by Charles C. Ryan
- Randy Money revisits the 1982 horror collection Dark Companions by Ramsey Campbell.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1988 historical fantasy novel The Fairy of Ku-She by M. Lucie Chin
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1991 science fiction crime novel Days of Atonement by Walter Jon Williams
- Alissa Burger revisits the 1999 horror story "Pumpkinhead" by R.L. Stine.
Crowdfunding:
Con and event reports:
Science and technology:
- Kenneth Chang reports that since SpaceX is behind schedule, NASA is soliciting other companies to develop a Moon lander for them.
- Richard Speed wonders how the proposed move of the decommissioned Space Shuttle Discovery from Washington DC to Houston could even be managed.
- Jason Farago explains how lunar photography brought the heavens down to Earth
- Dr Kristi Charish explains why space travel and living in space will probably kill us.
- Aisha Down worries about scenarios which could bring the entire internet down.
- Ken Liu discusses what the history of cinema from its humble beginnings in 1895 can tell us about the potential future of AI.
- Olivia de Poidevin reports that AI assistants have been found to make widespread errors about the news
- Joe Wilkins reports that a robotic vaccuum cleaner has been found to create and transmit a map of its owner's home.
- John Blair wonders why countless cultures believe the dead walk among us?
- Jamie Ballard reports that most Americans say they have experienced at least one paranormal event
Gaming:
- Keza MacDonald reviews the video game Baby Steps.
- Dominik Diamond wonders whether digital boardgames are as much fun as the real thing and finds they are not.
- Keza MacDonald explains how playing in front of a live crowd turns video games into performance art
- John Dale Beety talks about creating a game writing portfolio.
- Andy Robinson reports that more than 1200 games journalists have lost their jobs in the last two years.
Toys and collectibles:
- Michael Crawford reviews the EXO-6 General Chang Star Trek Undiscovered Country action figure
- James Whitbrook shares a look at the Hasbro Star Wars Black Series Kyle Katarn action figure.
- Germain Lussier shares a look at the latest Goonies Lego set.
- James Whitbrook shares a look at the Lego Power Rangers Megazord set.
- Keith Braithewaite takes a look at the Aurora Monster Model kits from the 1960s.
- Tony Maglio explains why KPop Demon Hunters toys won’t be on shelves for the holidays
- He-Mania reports that Mattel has reported 6% lower sales overall in 2025 compared to the previous years, but that sales of action figures are rising.
Free online fiction:
- "A Librarian’s Resolution In The Land Of Demons" by Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "The Angel Azrael Visits the Trading Post at the End of the World a Final Time" by Peter Darbyshire in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "The Ring of Azra Kyrn" by Jeffery Sergent in Swords and Sorcery Magazine.
- "The Fate You Choose" by Nadia Radovich in Apex Magazine.
- "The Versions of Yourself That You’re Better Off Without" by Aimee Ogden in Nightmare Magazine.
- "Giant Grandmother" by Liu Maijia, translated by Blake Stone-Banks in Clarkesworld.
- "The Job Interview" by Carrie Vaughn in Clarkesworld.
- "In Luck's Panoply Clad, I Stand" by Phoebe Barton in Clarkesworld.
- "Down to the Roots" by Neil Williamson in The Dark.
- "Enselfening" by N.M. Whitley in The Dark.
- "Timelike Curves, Spacelike Curves" by P.H. Lee in Reactor.
- "Thaw" by An Owomoyela in Lightspeed.
- "Drosera regina" by A.L. Goldfuss in Lightspeed.
Trailers and videos:
No comments:
Post a Comment