Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Yukon, and Nunavat are some of the most colorful names in North America, with origins in the languages of the Native peoples of Canada. They, along with the names of certain cities (Saskatoon, Athabasca) are easy for those in the U.S. to make fun of and for years served as comedy shorthand to …
Cocktail parties still haven’t come back yet. But here’s some that have yet to be concocted, culled from my Twitter feed. Cocktails Smashing Sheila (this originated in Sydney, Australia) Guinness Lemonade Golden Mickey Goose Sucker Glass Slipper Ballbuster Orange Slum Muddy John Juicy Jackson Vengeance from Hong Kong Rocky Surf Sleepy Cobra Pumpkin Nipple …
Wherever there’s a fantasy world, there’s probably some sort of fantasy drug. Robert E. Howard’s Conan had Black Lotus, and inhabitants of Phillip Jose Farmer’s Riverworld had Dream Gum to chew. Tolkien gave the Hobbits and Gandalf pipe-weed, or tabac, to smoke, which was likely tobacco and NOT marijuana. If you’re wondering why I included …
Undead are some of the most terrifying creatures in the AD&D universe. Yet, there doesn’t seem to be much magic that deals with them. So here’s a few randomgenned spells created on the fly. Undead Magic Hair of the Skeleton: Strands of hair still existing on the skull of an otherwise defleshed skeleton can …
In Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain series, one of the main characters is Gurgi, a sort of apelike wild man who Taran, the protagonist of the series, first encounters living in the forest. Though a pest at first, Gurgi later grows into his own as a hero and participant in Taran’s quest. Though Gurgi struck …
Miskatonik University may be the most beloved of Lovecraft’s imaginary locations. This Ivy League college, known for its library of occult books and daring expeditions, lies near a river of the same name which runs through imaginary Arkham, Massachusetts, * which Lovecraft based on Salem. He even drew his own map of the city to …
Humans in Lovecraft’s universe did not fare very well. They were transformed into monsters or disembodied brains, driven mad by forbidden knowledge, or became cannon fodder against ancient gods. That’s for the male humans. Female humans fared better. Mostly, by keeping out of his stories. But when they appeared they were witches, or the mothers …
Lovecraft’s Great Old Ones were powerful, immortal godlike beings who were worshipped, and in some cases are still being worshipped, on planet Earth. They are present, for the most part, in spirit not body. Certain rites, times of year, or sacrifices are required to manifest them. Their physical forms may live deep in the …
It was Lovecraft who wrote the book on the magic book… the insanity-causing occult book trope that is. The Necronomicon, entirely an invention of his despite the listings on Amazon, first appeared in 1922 in his short story “The Hound.” It was a treatise on dark magic and the Old Ones, written by the “Mad …
In the 2000s and 2010s, that purveyor of quality entertainment, the SyFy channel, released over 200 original made-for-TV movies, which, given the network’s name, could only peripherally be called science fiction. Most were what was once called B-movies, variations on disasters, monsters both mythic and human-created, and horror… and often all three, with the addition …