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H. P. Lovecast Podcast

New episode of H. P. Lovecast Podcast is online! We had a bit of a modified schedule these past two months due to the holidays and other obligations, but we will be back to a regular schedule in January.

For our latest episode we take a look at the new Raw Dog Screaming Press anthology, Attack from the ’80s. Edited by Eugene Johnson, we dive into “Permanent Damage” by Lee Murray and “The White Room” by Rena Mason. The episode can be streamed at our Buzzsprout website or via your podcast app of preference.

Scholars from the Edge of Time

Michele and I had an episode of Scholars from the Edge of Time drop last Thursday.

Our episode was on the film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. You can stream the episode at BlogTalkRadio.

AnnRadCon CFP December Deadline

The CFP for the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference closes at the end of the month.

AnnRadCon Logo by Greg Chapman

Details of the CFP can be found at the StokerCon website.

General Neo-Peplum News

MCU and Pepla

George Chrysostomou has an opinion piece at SreenRant called “10 Genres That Have Been Underutilized By The MCU.” The last genre Chrysostomou suggests in the article that the Marvel universe should dive into is the sword and sandal genre. From the article:

The sword-and-sandal genre fits perfectly with characters like Thor and Loki. It really hasn’t been used properly, though, with fantasy elements and sci-fi features becoming a mainstay of those movies instead. The genre itself has really died, but Marvel can be the company to renew it.
Hercules is a natural fit for this genre, as a film surrounding the early life of the Olympian before moving across time to the modern-day would be a fantastic introduction to the character. It could play into the mythology of Ancient Greece in a way Thor’s Norse history did not get featured.
George Chrysostomou

Yes, I agree! Bring forth Marvel’s Hercules!

New Hrossharsgrani Release

My friend Alex Wieser has a Viking metal project called Hrossharsgrani (which I have written extensively his Pro Liberate Dimicandum Est album in my essay in the forthcoming Gladiator book). After around a decade hiatus, his project is back in action with a new release.

It is a split album with German Viking/black metal Nachtfalke called Journey’s End. The album can be bought at Christhunt Productions.

Personal / Website News

Podcast News – H. P. Lovecast

Brand new episode of H. P. Lovecast Presents: Fragments is online. In this episode Michele and I talk about the film The Vast of Night. The episode can be streamed at our Buzzsprout website or via your podcast application of preference.

We’ve also finished conducting interviews for our first episode of H. P. Lovecast: Transmissions. This week, Michele will be editing the episode and publishing it the final day of April. Guests on the debut are Candace Robinson and Howard David Ingham.

Podcast News – Scaredy Cats

Recently I was a guest on the Scaredy Cats Podcast talking about the film The Slumber Party Massacre. That episode has been published and it can be listened to at Buzzsprout or any other podcast platform.

Podcast News – Scholars from the Edge of Time

New episode of The Scholar from the Edge of Time is online at BlogTalkRadio. In this episode I discuss the video game Story of a Gladiator. Stay tuned as I do a write up on this neo-peplum game for my website here.

This upcoming Tuesday I’ll also be making another appearance on the Voice of Olympus program.

General Neo-Peplum News

Thor: Love and Thunder

Gladiator star Russell Crowe has revealed he will be playing Zeus in the upcoming Thor film.

Rest in Peplum

Felix Silla passed away at the age of 84. He was in numerous sci-fi and fantasy products (such as playing an Ewok in Return of the Jedi) but for the sword and sorcery genre, he was a voice actor in Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings film.

Polish actress Wiesława Mazurkiewicz passed away at the age of of 95. She was in a Polish peplum film called Pharaoh (1966).

Rest in Peplum To Physical Media?

Animation historian Jerry Beck has posited that Warner Brothers is transitioning away from physical media and devoting more to streaming content and HBO Max. Come 2022, it sounds like Warner will shutter their physical line of DVDs and Blu-Rays being produced (but they could possibly be outsourced to another company). Regardless, there’s a few peplum films under the Warner Achives Banner at risk. Fans may want to consider plucking them up. Some titles include Hercules, Samson And Ulysses, The Colossus of Rhodes, and The Slave.

Hercules and the Captive Women

Hercules and the Captive Women recently got a nice re-release on Blu-Ray. Previously only available as a DVD in the long out of print Hercules Collection published by Retro-Media years ago, the new Film Detective release has many bells and whistles, including the MST3K version of the film. Specs can be found at DVDBeaver.