Writer/Home of MYOPIA
With Halloween near, with longer and darker nights the standard, it’s easy to think of those things that frightened us as children. So I wish to share something a bit more personal this time around. I grew up in a house with ghosts. Could I prove this? Probably not. Did other family members see, hear, or feel things, yes, but...
There is a concept that permeates some fantasy stories, though not all, where some magical creatures, but again not all, have an aversion or weakness to iron. The idea is often stated as a blatant fact within fantasy worlds and more recent examples include The Name of the Wind, The Witcher, and many of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books. Over and...
When Jackie Chan swept into the US mainstream in the mid-1990s, I not only got caught up in the wave of his popularity, I saw Jackie as an idol I’d needed for a long time. He had a big impact on my life, and not just in how I watched movies. I tried to emulate Jackie in many ways, sometimes...
VHS tapes were a staple of the 80s and 90s. Back in the age of photographic film, projectors in school, even rewinding our audio cassettes with a pencil, I don’t think many of us could imagine anything better for bringing movies into our home than what those bulky plastic rectangles offered. VHS tapes didn’t just capture theatrical movies, they broadened...
I recently had a short story published in the Main Street Rag, (Fall 2024). I’ve been meaning to promote this issue for a while. I’m really pleased to have this story featured here, as it’s printed alongside some other really great stories and writing. “Unknown Remainder” explores the boundaries of loneliness and perception. This particular story holds a dear place...
To read part one, click here. Last time I wrote about the history of animation in Japan and left off at the early 80s. This decade was huge for anime. Movies proved theatrically successful. TV shows often became better looking, and series maintained popularity over several years. All this, plus the VCR became common. VHS tapes allowed for niche anime...
Anime is a mainstream form of entertainment throughout the world today. The word “anime” likely even evokes a distinguishable style of drawing, allegorical storytelling, or fantastical settings. Maybe the ideas of monsters, martial arts, or giant robots come to mind. Anime hit the western world like a tidal wave in the 90s, and its popularity never faded. As a teenager...
I was born in the early 80s. I loved the movies, the music, the optimism of the decade. I recently found myself curious about famous books that inspired some of my childhood’s biggest movies. All movies on the following list share three things in common: they are live-action (primarily), they have traits of fantastical elements, and they all have lasting...
The reunion show has been part of the TV viewing experience since the 60s. In many ways, a reunion is an encore, a last hurrah that lets old fans see their favorite characters one last time. Reunion shows continue to take place today, but these shows once seemed like far bigger events. Television, of course, became common in households during...
The Heimat Review publishes work focused around the idea of home, of centering, and of belonging. I’m happy to have a short creative nonfiction essay in the summer issue. You can read online and for free by clicking the title of “A Big Quarry in a Small Place Named Genoa.” Check out some of the other work while you are...
Were I to ask you to name your favorite fantasy-genre hero, the answer might come easily. If not, there are many choices to contemplate: Frodo, Arthur, Harry Potter, Atreyu, Willow. What might soon become evident is the lack of women who occupy the main hero’s role in the fantasy genre. There have been some exceptions though, and that’s especially where...
By sheer volume alone, zombies have become popular culture’s dominant monster over the last few decades—of course there is admirable irony that the monster known for overwhelming through volume has also saturated the market. Zombies are everywhere, and though it may seem like the story of surviving amidst zombies would have become cliché long ago, creators still manage to tell...