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News Roundup W/E 2022-08-28

Personal / Website News

Sylvia Kristel Book Review

My book review of Sylvia Kristel: From Emmanuelle to Chabrol by Jeremy Richey is online.

Personal Copy

My write up can be read here. I really loved this book, so I hope yall check it out.

Fan2Fan Podcast Apperances

The folks at Fan2Fan Postcast have two new episodes online with me as a guest!

The first is on Conan and Beastmaster and the second is on Deathstalker 2, Ator, and Yor: The Hunter from the Future. Click the links and have a listen! Consider giving Fan2Fan a follow on Twitter.

CoKoCon Next Weekend

Scifi/Fantasy/Fan convention, CoKoCon, is next weekend!

The PDF of the program book is online and can be read here.

Michele and I will be on two panels over the course of the event:

Horror & Sci-Fi from Pre-Code Films
Saturday, Sept. 3rd
10:00 am – 11:00 am
Fiesta Ballroom 2

Swords, Sandals, Sorcery, and Other Planets
Monday, Sept. 5th
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Fiesta Ballroom 1

We hope to see yall there!

Scholars from the Edge of Time

Michele and I are prepping for the Pre-Code Horror Panel at CoKoCon so we are mad dash revisiting some pre-1934 films. One of them was King Kong. For our Scholars from the Edge of Time appearance this month we focused our episode on that. That episode is on YouTube and can be watched here.

For September we will be discussing Son of Samson on the show.

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News Roundup W/E 2022-08-21

Personal / Website News

New Episode of H. P. Lovecast Podcast

We are running a little off kilter this month for podcasting (getting prepped for CoKoCon, other projects popping up). We are a week late, but our monthly episode is now online!

In the newest episode, Michele and I discuss two short stories from Douglas Wynne’s new collection, Something in the Water and Other Stories: “The Enigma Code” and “Tracking the Black Book.”

Ep 53 – Douglas Wynne's Something in the Water – H. P. Lovecast Podcast

The episode can be streamed via our Buzzsprout website, via the embedded player above, or through your podcast app of preference.

General Neo-Peplum News

Recent Acquisitions

This past week has been great for loot being delivered.

First, issue #2 of Band of Warriors, which was Kickstarted earlier this year, arrived. It came with a poster signed by Samuel George London, a copy of the issue proper, and a bookmark.

An ICYMI, I interviewed London twice about his Band of Warriors comic. Those interviews can be found here and here.

Next my preorder of the new Kino release of Samson and the 7 Miracles of the World arrived. It contains a reversible wraparound, so pictured here is the sleeve and the alternative cover art.

Finally, a copy of 1313: Hercules Unbound! also arrived. This is a David Decoteau film, and his modus operandi is young shirtless guys in their undies walking around (see Bigfoot vs. D.B. Cooper). I’m intrigued by his dabble in neo-peplum fare – we will see how campy it might get (Meet the Spartans campy?).

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News Roundup W/E 2022-08-14

Personal / Website News

Review Republished: Awen’s The Hollow in the Stone

Last week I re-published another older piece of mine, a look at the album The Hollow in the Stone by Texas neofolk outfit Awen.

I originally published this on my neofolk blog back in 2020. It’s new home can be found here.

General Neo-Peplum News

Weird Tales #366 Cover Reveal

Issue #366 of the resurrected Weird Tales magazine will be devoted to all things sword and sorcery. The Weird Tales Facebook page revealed the cover art by Bob Eggleton:

The list of authors on the front looks epic. Keep an eye out at the Weird Tales official website when the issue becomes available to pre-order.

Gladiator 2 News

Article over at MSN/MovieWeb has a write up on all things known so far about Gladiator 2.

New Warkings Music Video

Austrian neo-peplum power metal outfit Warkings has a brand new music video online.

The song is called “Monsters” and has a guest appearance from Morgana le Fay. The video can be watched on YouTube or in the embedded player above. The song will be appearing on Warking’s next album, Morgana, slated to be released November 11th.

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News Roundup W/E 2022-08-07

Personal / Website News

Exotica Moderne 16 Is Out

Issue 16 of the tiki magazine Exotica Moderne has been published!

Cover art by James Owens.

This issue contains my review of the forthcoming coming bizarro novel Dead Monkey Rum by Robert Guffy. This issue can be ordered at its product page at the House of Tabu website.

Republishing Zeena Schreck Interview/Review

I am working on consolidating my writing I’ve done for other websites and my old neofolk blog into one location. This also gives me an opportunity to edit or remove content as well.

The first article I’ve brought over is from 2020 and it is my interview with Zeena Schreck about her debut EP, Bring Me the Head of F. W. Murnau, that also has a review as well.

The interview/review can be read at this page.

Current Projects

Back in June (on my birthday!) I did a recap of all the projects I’m juggling. Almost all those projects got completed/released, so it’s time to show what I am working on currently:

  • CoKoCon Prep – CoKoCon will be over Labour Day Weekend. Michele and I were asked to be on a panel about pre-code horror films. That means through August we are going to [re]watch some classic films to get some refreshers. We are also going to double stack and use one of the films we watch as a topic for this month’s Scholars From the Edge of Time episode.
  • H. P. Lovecast – New episode will drop this upcoming weekend and an interview episode at the end of the month. Our August focus is on Douglas Wynne’s new collection, Something in the Water and Other Stories.
  • Acylum/Vikings Sampling Essay – Still working on this presentation to turn it into journal format.
  • Exotica Moderne – My next submission for the tiki magazine will be a write up on the video game Call of the Sea. Michele and I will also use this as a subject for a future H. P. Lovecast episode.
  • Writing Consolidation – I’ll be moving my Awen interview/review over to this website this Wednesday.
  • Sylvia Kristel Book Review – This will be the next book review I’ll published here. I’m 2/3s done reading it, I’ve been reading a chapter a night.

General Neo-Peplum News

Those About to Die Series

Roland Emmerich is working on a series for the Peacock streaming service called Those About To Die, which is about gladiators. Deadline has a full article about it.

Recent Acquisitions

Went to Zia’s over the weekend which is always a fun get away that also turns up interesting treasures. My haul on music and movies was really light this time, despite being prepared with an actual list!

Aside from plucking up an MCD single (remember those?) of [:SITD;]’s Laughingstock (side note: check out my write up of the music projects that sample the original Candyman movie, which [:SITD;} is one of), I found a vinyl release of the original Hercules soundtrack and a budget DVD of Demetrius and the Gladiators (I believe Twilight Time put out a nice edition a while back, but it is way OOP).

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News Roundup W/E 2022-07-31

Personal / Website News

Art Boozel Book Review

Jennifer Croll has done some unique and inventive takes on cocktails and cocktail culture, with Free the Tipple: Kickass Cocktails Inspired by Iconic Women in 2018 and her recently published this past spring, Dressed to Swill: Runway-Ready Cocktails Inspired by Fashion Icons.

Personal copy of Art Boozel

Art Boozel is Croll’s book from 2021, and it’s fantastic. I’ve done a few cocktails from the book and enjoyed them so I though I’d do a book review. The write up can be read here.

New Episode of H. P. Lovecast

August has just ended so that means a new Transmissions episode of the H. P. Lovecast Podcast.

Thumbnail by Michele Brittany

For August we focused on the recently published horror anthology, Even in the Grave. For our normal episode we discussed Trevor Firetog’s “What’s Your Secret?” and Steven Van Patten’s “Blind Spot.” That episode can be found at our Buzzsprout website.

HPLCP Transmissions – Ep 14 – Carol Gyzander, Trevor Firetog, and Steven Van Patten – H. P. Lovecast Podcast

We conclude the month by not only interviewing Firetog and Van Patten about their stories, but also returning guest Carol Gyzander who co-edited the book. This episode can also be found at our Buzzsprout website, at the embedded player above, or streamed via your podcast app of preference.

CoKoCon 2022 Panel Appearances

Michele and I will make an appearance at CoKoCon 2022 over Labour Day weekend.

CoKoCon is a local (Phoenix) sci-fi/fantasy fan con. More info on the con can be found at CoKoCon website, along with ticket and guest news.

Michele and I will be appearing on three panels over the course of the con. The schedule is below, but I also have the information on my Conference Appearances page:

Horror & Sci-Fi from Pre-Code Films
Saturday, Sept. 3rd
10:00 am – 11:00 am
Fiesta Ballroom 2

Your Mom is Lovecraftian: Why Cosmic Horror is So Hard to Get Right
Sunday, Sept.4th
9:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Coronado room

Swords, Sandals, Sorcery, and Other Planets
Monday, Sept. 5th
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Fiesta Ballroom 1

Scholars from the Edge of Time

New episode of Scholars from the Edge of Time is now online! This one is on YouTube, so you get to see my acting like a doof. In this episode I talk about the sword and sorcery film, DragonHeart, but also bring up Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire and Troma films.

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News Roundup W/E 2022-07-24

Personal / Website News

CoKoCon 2022 Panel Appearances

Michele and I will make an appearance at CoKoCon 2022 over Labour Day weekend.

CoKoCon is a local (Phoenix) sci-fi/fantasy fan con. More info on the con can be found at CoKoCon website, along with ticket and guest news.

Michele and I will be appearing on three panels over the course of the con. The schedule is below, but I also have the information on my Conference Appearances page:

Horror & Sci-Fi from Pre-Code Films
Saturday, Sept. 3rd
10:00 am – 11:00 am
Fiesta Ballroom 2

Your Mom is Lovecraftian: Why Cosmic Horror is So Hard to Get Right
Sunday, Sept.4th
9:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Coronado room

Swords, Sandals, Sorcery, and Other Planets
Monday, Sept. 5th
1:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Fiesta Ballroom 1

Scholars from the Edge of Time

Michele and I will be appearing on our month Scholars from the Edge of Time show later this week. We will be talking about the 1996 film Dragon Heart. Keep an eye out for link to stream.

General Neo-Peplum News

Wind Rose Review

Hal C. F. Astell has a new review of a neo-peplum release.

This is on Warfront by the Italian power/folk/Viking metal band Wind Rose. The review can be read at Apocalypse Later.

Recent Acquisitions

Arrived last week was my pre-order of the Kino Blu-ray Maria Montez & Jon Hall Collection.

Personal Copy.

This collection contains a toga and sandal film, Sudan, and a tiki film, White Savage (also known as South of Tahiti). Excited to check out all three, hopefully even do a write up on them here at my website. DVD Beaver did a review with screen caps at everything, so check that out.

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News

News Roundup W/E 2022-07-17

Personal / Website News

Ben-Hur Boxset

Brand new article here at my website!

Folks seem to like unboxing articles, so I did one for the 50th anniversary Blu-ray boxset for Ben-Hur. Check it out!

McFarland Pop Culture Book Sale

Michele’s and my publisher, McFarland, is having a sale on their pop culture line of books. If you use the code “POPCULT22” during check out, you’ll get 25% off pop culture titles. The promotion ends July 31st.

The New Peplum

A few books I am in/edited are pare of this sale. Here are the direct product page links:

CoKoCon 2022 Panel Appearances

Michele and I will make an appearance at CoKoCon 2022 this labour day weekend!

CoKoCon is a local (Phoenix) sci-fi/fantasy fan con. Michele and I will be appearing on a few panels. More info to come, but for now, check out the CoKoCon website for ticket information and guest news.

General Neo-Peplum News

Viking Article at Inverse

Neat article about Viking women at Inverse called “A Maiden King? Dust and Bones Mat Reveal the True Power of Viking Women” by Sarah Sloat.

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News Roundup W/E 2022-07-10

Personal / Website News

Holy smokes, this was a prolific and active week!

I Am a Barbarian Writer and Illustrator Interview

I had the honor to interview Tom Simmons and Mike Dubisch, the creative team behind the comic book adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ novel I Am a Barbarian.

Personal copy.

The interview can be read here.

New Episode of HP Lovecast

New episode of HP Lovecast is online!

Ep 52 – Even in the Grave: Trevor Firetog and Steven Van Patten – H. P. Lovecast Podcast

This is the first episode of our themed month on the anthology, Even in the Grave. In this episode we take a look at “What’s Your Secret?” by Trevor Firetog and “Blind Spot” by Steven Van Patten. The episode can be streamed at our Buzzsprout website, via the embedded player above, or at your podcast app of preference.

For our transmissions episode this month we will be interviewing editor Carol Gyzander, and contributors Firetog and Van Patten. Stay tuned!

Short Film: Dinosaur Joke

I made a short film and put it on YouTube!

I bought a box of Trix cereal this past week, and on the back, to promote the new Jurassic Park film, there were cutout dinosaurs and pop up trees, inviting you to make a movie with the back of the box. I don’t know how many kids actually do these things, but I decided I would! So, give it a watch, and maybe a like or a comment. It was silly, but a fun thing to do.

Fan2Fan Podcast Appearances

The folks at Fan2Fan had me back on their podcast for two (2!!) new episodes that dropped this past week!

The first episode is about sword and sorcery cartoons of the 80s, which can be heard at the Fan2Fan Libsyn page (or via your podcast app of preference).

A chance to show off my autographed animation cell of Teegra from Fire and Ice!

The second episode is an entry in their series where they ask folks about their dream Saturday morning cartoon lineup. You can hear mine here.

Here’s four of my dream line up! Gotta listen in to hear the rest.

Sincere thank you to Pete and Bernie for having me on their show. It has been a wonderful experience and I always appreciate their support.

CoKoCon 2022 Panel Appearances

Michele and I will make an appearance at CoKoCon 2022 this labour day weekend!

CoKoCon is a local (Phoenix) sci-fi/fantasy fan con. Michele and I will be appearing on a few panels. More info to come, but for now, check out the CoKoCon website for ticket information and guest news.

General Neo-Peplum News

Blog Entries at DMR Books

Here a listing of genre relevant blog articles at DMR Books this past week:

Red Sonja Blu-ray/4K

Red Sonja is getting a nice, steenbok, Blu-ray/4K release! Article at Collider.

Categories
News

News Roundup W/E 2022-07-03

Personal / Website News

New episode of H. P. Lovecast Podcast

Our monthly end of the month Transmissions episode is now online!

Thumbnail made by Michele Brittany

This is a middle grade/young adult focused episode. We interview Lora Senf about her debut, The Clackity, and Robert P. Ottone about The Triangle, the first book in his The Rise Trilogy.

HPLCP Transmissions – Ep 13 – Lora Senf and Robert P. Ottone – H. P. Lovecast Podcast

The episode can be streamed at our Buzzsprout page, the embedded player above, or via your podcast app of preference.

CoKoCon 2022 Appearance

CoKoCon is a Phoenix speculative fiction conference that is being held over Labour Day weekend.

Michele and I will be in attendance as panelists. Programming is still being solidified, but keep an eye out at the CoKoCon website or Twitter as news comes in.

The New Peplum Citation

The New Peplum appears in the bibliography of the edited collection La Strada: The Cinema and Cinematographers of Italy, edited by Alexander A. Sinitsyn.

I’m not sure which specific essay(s) in the collection cites The New Peplum, or what specifically from The New Peplum has been cited, but you can see the bibliographic entry in the uploaded paper “Antiquity in the Cinema of Italy in the 1910s – 1930s” by Alexandra Solovyeva, which happens to include the bib for the entire book.

Very cool. I’m always humbled and honored to see other academics referencing The New Peplum.

Exotica Moderne Book Review

Turned in a book review to be published in an upcoming issue of Exotica Moderne (hopefully the next one!). In the meantime, check out the publisher, House of Tabu, who has various mugs, pins, and the latest issue, #15 with the Shag cover, still for sale.

General Neo-Peplum News

Blog Entries at DMR Books

Here a listing of genre relevant blog articles at DMR Books this past week, both are author interviews:

Recent Acquisitions

My autographed copy of Matt Page‘s 100 Bible Films has arrived from across the sea!

Personal copy now in the peplum library.

Copies can be procured from Bloomsbury or via Amazon. Also, be sure to check out my interview with Page.

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News Roundup W/E 2022-06-26

Personal / Website News

Scholars From the Edge of Time

Brand new episode of Scholars from the Edge of Time on Hercules Invictus’ Mount Olympus programming is now online.

Personal Copy.

In this episode Michele and I talk about the 80s sword and sorcery film, The Sword and the Sorcerer, which was legit good! The episode can be streamed at BlogTalkRadio.

Next month we will be talking about DragonHeart (1996).

New H.P. Lovecast This Thursday

Our monthly Transmissions program will be published this upcoming Thursday, June 30th. We will be interviewing Lora Senf and Robert Ottone.

General Neo-Peplum News

“Temm the Riven” by Brian Matthews

Dark fiction writer Brian W. Matthews, author of The Conveyance (read my review over at Goodreads), Forever Man (which just got a re-release earlier this month) and its sequels Revelation and Dark Rescue, takes a plunge into the sword and sorcery genre with a new short story titled “Temm the Riven.” The story will be published in an upcoming issue of the recently revived Weird Tales magazine.

Amplifying Antiquity with Heavy Metal Music

Dr. Jeremy Swiss was recently interviewed Brandeis University in their BrandeisNow online news. The interview is called, “Amplifying Antiquity with Heavy Metal Music” and can be read here.

DMR Blog Entries

DMR Books is a publisher of sword and sorcery, pulp, and horror books that are in an old school pulp vein. In addition to their publishing endeavors they maintain a very active blog of contributors doing essays, interviews, and reviews. This past week saw: