Horror mashup of the gods

When two masters of the macabre collide:

 

Toasting Charles Addams and Edgar Allan Poe on this fine autumn evening.

 

No Kings! Bad Kings!

Seriously, will this team ever be good again? Just look at this abysmal start:

Click on the image to biggify and see how awful the Kings have been so far this season. And it probably isn't going to get any better on Saturday because that game is against the Carolina Hurricanes, a team that actually knows how to hockey:

Also, seriously:

 

 

Although I do think we have some career politicians, at both national and more local levels, that definitely think it's their divine right to lord it over us little people. 

 

Given the way the Kings are playing, it's too bad Saturday really isn't a "no Kings" day. In fact, if the Canes play to their ability it will be like the Kings don't exist, so same thing really. 

 

As for me I will be spending Saturday avoiding Los Angeles freeways and any other places where mostly peaceful protests are likely to occur, as I've seen enough of these to know how ugly they can get. 

 

Have a great weekend! Unless you're a Kings fan, and in that case best of luck to you.

Update: Called it.

 

Tied it up in the third only to lose in OT. That's so Kings.

 

This is going to be a sad but true season.

 

We have...no Kings.

 

Updated 11/16/25: A month later I'm eating these words. The Kings are currently on a brutally scheduled but so far undefeated road trip. They are 7-2-1 in their last ten games and have won four in a row. The result? First place in the division:

 

 

Not only that, they have one of the best records in the NHL all of a sudden. Only four teams have more points: Colorado (29), Dallas (27), New Jersey (27), and Carolina (25). Crazyness. But of course the Kings can't have good news without bad: Drew Doughty was injured in the latest win (ankle) and is probably out as much as six weeks.

 

Punctuation humor

 

File this under Funny Cuz It's True.

 

H/T to The Heinlein Files on FB.

 

Recent Reading: "The End of the World As We Know It"

The End of the World As We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King's The Stand

Edited by Christopher Golden and Brian Keene

Editors Golden and Keene assembled a large, talented group of writers to create stories set in the universe of Stephen King's classic plague novel The Stand. Some of the stories take place as the superflu is emerging and decimating the world's population, some as dream and nightmare-plagued characters are compelled to head to where they've been called by either good (Mother Abagail in Nebraska) or evil (Randall Flagg in Las Vegas). There are also a few stories set well into the post-Captain Trips future.

 

The good news: the authors did a uniformly great job of creating well-developed characters who come to life vividly and who mesh seamlessly into the world of Captain Trips. In fact, I'd say the book's strongest suit is how well the authors were able to recreate the world and the feel of The Stand.

The bad news was neatly explained by a YouTube video review of this book that I stumbled upon early in my reading. Unfortunately, I didn't bookmark it and I can't remember the account name so I can't link to it, but the YouTuber's overall assessment was that while a lot of the stories in this book are good,  none are really great, and that was exactly my experience. Maybe it's the sheer number of stories, but while some were interesting, there isn't one that is haunting me the way the source material did. I'm hard-pressed to remember more than the most recent ones as I write this. 

 

This is a massive book - 765 pages, 34 stories, forwards by Golden and King, and an afterword by Keene, plus an About the Authors section. I started it in late August and finally finished it last night. 

 

Fun factoid: With the exception of Randall Flagg and Mother Abagail (who appear repeatedly) of all the original characters in The Stand it was Larry Underwood - and his apparently immortal song "Baby Can You Dig Your Man" - who is name-checked the most in this collection. Wasn't expecting that, but Larry and his lone hit record pop up a lot.

NOTE: I bought this book prior to King's comment on X/Twitter about Charlie Kirk following his murder - an accusation that was false, acknowledged as incorrect, deleted, and apologized for. I had already started the book and since King already got my money, I wanted to finish it partly because I was curious as to how the authors responded to the assignment, and also because as a published short story author I was intrigued by the thought of what kind of story I would have come up with had I been a participating author.

 

85 Candles

Yup, the big guy would be 85 years young if he was still around.

 

The older I get, and the longer it's been since everyone was around, the more I miss everyone. Not just Mom and Dad, but my Grandma and uncles too. Wish I'd spent more time with them. Feel free to learn from my mistake.

 

 

Happy Birthday, Dad!
 

Recent reading: Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine

 

Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine (July/August 2025)

 

My favorite stories in this issue:

• "The Violent Season" by  Jessica Van Dessel: Set in the 1950's when cause was needed for divorce, a man allows himself to be set up for "adultery" photos, but is drawn into a murder. His wife is the unlikely hero in this story.
• "Slow Burn" by Mark Thielman: A man poisons his wife, but she still gets her post-mortem revenge.
•  "Penalty for Early Withdrawal" by Michael Bracken: A broke, unemployed aspiring actress gets caught up in a bank robbery and attempts to use her acting skills to help herself to the loot. 
• "Heartsick" by Marcelle Dube: A young woman has poisoned her husband, but the case isn't that cut and dried.
• "Horseshoe Pies and Hand Grenade Hushpuppies" by Roger Johns: A former grifter attempts to atone for past sins by helping a former mark who has been victimized again, this time by a small-town gigolo.
• "Double Take" by T.M. Bradshaw: A New York detective works the murder of a man who is part of a group of golden-age Hollywood look-alikes, including a Lauren Bacall who steals, then breaks his heart. This story was published as the winner of the Black Orchid Novella Award. 

 

September Words of Wisdom

Rough month.

Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. --Isaac Asimov

You can kill a man but you can't kill an idea. --Sophocles

When a hero stumbles, well, the cowards rejoice. Nothing feels better to a coward than to watch a brave guy fall. These cowards rejoice, for they don't know what greatness looks like. --Dave Chappelle

You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad. --Aldous Huxley

 

It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters. --Epictetus

 

Life did its best to break you, now didn't it? But all it did was awaken a beast it should have left sleeping. --Lisa M. Lilith 

 

Nope...not today. No one is fucking with her positive vibes. She's vibrating on a higher frequency. --Rosalyn (Her Soul Unraveled on FB) 

  

Memorieeeeesss...

Pictures from Kona, when I was there in 2011 when my Dad died. Gorgeous place. Doesn't seem that long ago. The years have really flown by.

 

 

Recent reading: Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine

Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine (July/August 2025)

 

My favorite stories in this issue:

• "Advantage: Lily" by Sara Paretsky: According to the introduction and author's notes this story introduces a new series character whose first novel is in-progress. Lily Arima is a seventy-something retired CIA agent, and here she uses her professional skills to straighten out an insurance company that is rejecting massive medical bills incurred by a neighbor who suffered a stroke. Based on this reading, Lily's further adventures are something to look forward to.
• "How It Happened" by Billie Kay Fern: A beautifully told tale of justice served on abusive and cheating spouses, as told by a sweet but knowing young farmgirl. Really fantastic job on the girl's voice. 4/30/26: This story just won the Robert L. Fish Memorial Award for best first mystery short story by an American author at the Edgars last night.
• "Me and Extra and Those Piercing Green Eyes" by Peter Turnbull: Its cumbersome title notwithstanding (Extra is a dog and the green eyes belong to a detective) this is a terrific story told by a serial killer as to how he's gotten away with it for so long, and how he's finally tripped up by a crooked cop and the cop's equally vicious wife.
•  "The Tower at Coffin Rock" by Dennis McFadden: A sheriff investigates the suspicious death of a young woman who had accused his estranged brother of rape. A nice twist at the end indicating that the victim may not have been the victimized.
• "Cold" by Robin Castle: Another fun twist ending for the story of a young woman who discovers the body of a murder victim while jogging on the beach. 
• "Cur Non" by Shelly Eisenhautchen: A ruthless, ambitious literary agent hires a young woman who seems to be the perfect assistant, not realizing the new hire has a tie to a writer the agent once publicly humiliated.

 

Never forget

Twenty-four years.

Pics snicked from around the nets. Let me know if I need to give credit where credit is due.

Who's 20 years old today? That would be Sophie!!!

She made it! The big TWO-OH.

Her Highness on her throne.

Sophie, Day 1, Aged 1:

Recent reading: Alfred Hitchcock's and Ellery Queen Mystery Magazines

Trying to catch up on my short story reading. Not doing very well - I'm still a couple issues behind. Add in the fact that I'm working my way through the new short story anthology inspired by Stephen King's The Stand and I'll probably fall even further behind on the magazines. Me and my first world problems.

   

 Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine (March/April 2025)

Favorites from this issue: 

• "Bent, Bent & Duckworth" by Alexis Stefanovich-Thomson: A well-plotted story with a put-upon PI protagonist whose mother and step-father attempt to take over his business.
  
• "I Ain't Got No Home" by Steve Liskow: A missing homeless man prompts an investigation that leads to the exposure of human trafficking and political corruption.
• "Admissions" by Ken Linn: High-level academic shenanigans. 
• "Quick Turnaround" by Gabriela Stiteler: A professional downsizer gets involved in a local mystery that doesn't concern him.
  
• "Boogie Shoes" by Jeff Marks: A locked-room mystery set in a mall shoe store circa late 1970's - bonus points for the Waldenbooks shoutout.
  

 

 Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine (May/June 2025)

 

Favorites from this issue (one of the best overall I've seen in recent memory):

• "The Portrait of Adrian Whyte" by David Dead: My favorite short story so far this year,  an imaginative tale that suggests the inspiration for Oscar Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Gray might have involved a real-life murder.
  
•  "The Witch's Ball" by Elizabeth Elwood: A lively story of a celebrity murder during Halloween festivities at a witch museum in Salem.
• "Tarzan Must Die!" by Loren D. Estleman: A UCLA film archivist gets mixed up in the murder of an actor whose career has seen better days.
• "Nighthawks" by James Hazelton: A terrific flash fiction story inspired by Edward Hopper's famous painting, in which the author gives his take on the patrons at the counter. Spoiler alert - no one is innocent. You'll see this painting a whole different way after reading this story.
  

• "Blues in the Night" by Persia Walker: In 1940's New Orleans, a young nightclub singer takes on corruption in the police force and local politics to clear her name in the murder of her boyfriend. This read like something that could be expanded into a novel. The fact that I should have been in NOLA for Bouchercon this week just added to the reading experience.
  
• "Shamus and Buster" by Paul Ryan O'Connor: A P.I. is murdered and the investigation is told from the point of view of his aged cat.
  
• "A Short Madness" by Josh Pachter: The story of how a psychologist solves a "locked-cell" murder mystery set in an 1850's era mental institution, as told years later by his assistant.
  

 

Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine (May/June 2025)

 

Favorites from this issue:

• "The Twenty-Fourth Canterbury" by Richard Helms: A successful author wants to end his hit series but is being pressured for just one more installment of his legendary sleuth.
• "Shane on the Scene" by James A. Hearn: A fun story about a young mystery fan who gets to help his detective uncle solve a case and thwart his mother's marriage to a crook at the same time.
  
• "Buds" by Kevin Egan: A play on words title and a fun story about a trial between a star and her former manager, and how a trio of court guards are drawn into the case.
• "Nobody Cares" by Michael A. Black: A dead homeless guy who is more than he seems leads a pair of detectives into local politics and corruption.
• "The Tell-Tale Hearts" by S. Frederic Liss: Detective Poe relates to the mysterious case of how he channeled Sherlock Holmes to solve the case of involuntary heart donors/murder victims.