by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

You know how last week, I reviewed V while I was on painkillers? Well, this week, I thought the painkillers had induced a massive hallucination and I had imagined episode three of the series. I was upset, mostly because I thought I had an imagination that could string a better plot together. Maybe my mom was right years ago when she said if I played too much Super Mario Bros., my brain was going to rot and all I could imagine, when drugged up…

By Carla Lee

I am tired of this rollercoaster ride of appreciation and exasperation toward The Vampire Diaries. It seems like every few episodes, just as I start to love the show, it kills off another supernatural powerful sexual woman and I am back to strongly disliking it, and then the process begins all over again, as it starts doing things which are slightly ridiculous but still pretty wonderful and my love begins to grow again. This episode, after one which infuriated me and one which…

By Paula R. Stiles

Banks, L.A. The Thirteenth. New York: St. Martin’s Paperbacks, 2010 (originally published in 2009). 309pp. $7.99 USD, $9.99 CDN. ISBN: 978-0-312-94916.

The Thirteenth is apocalyptic dark fantasy set in the End Times. The African-American and Hispanic heroes are the Neteru Guardian team, a strike force that works directly for Heaven. In this book, they’re on the run after their enemies in Hell successfully put the blame for a battle with demons in the previous book on their heads. The entire world is at stake when Lucifer…

By Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Dunwich, MA - Callie Hansen is keeping an old tradition alive in Dunwich: matchmaking. She is a fifth-generation matchmaker, helping single people meet and marry. Of course, things are not the same as a hundred years ago when Callie’s great-grandmother introduced young couples to each other after extensive interviews and research, but in many senses, the art of matchmaking has not changed.

“It’s still about finding that special someone, and I still use many of the methods my great-grandmother used. Looking into a potential suitor’s…

Paula R. Stiles

Glass, Seressia. Shadow Blade. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2010. $7.99 USD, $9.99 CDN. ISBN: 978-1-4391-5679-7.

February is Black History Month and we’re also celebrating Valentine’s Day all week, starting today. So, we’re going to kick off with some African-American paranormal romance. Today, tomorrow and Tuesday, I’ll be reviewing two novels and a short story by three different authors, including some links to other authors. There isn’t a whole lot of African-American paranormal romance out there, but the subgenre is growing and it’s even being…

by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

The Hunger is a bizarre anthology series which bears no resemblance to the cult vampire movie with the same title. It’s just a shameless attempt at profiting from association by name.

The series is not very good, but featured some great talent and several nifty ideas. For example, it was hosted by Terence Stamp and later, David Bowie. Isn’t that enough to pique your interest? It broadcasted adaptations of top-notch stories (Robert Aickman’s “The Swords” or Brian Lumley’s “Necros”), had a bizarre, interesting premise and…