GeekyDomain Round-Up: The Witcher, Green Gifts 4 Geeks, and Sci-Fi Novels That Need An Adaptation

It’s come to this: I’m so busy working for other people’s sites that I can’t get the chance to blog on my own, so I have to do digests. Probably for the best. I’m on three posts per week at Geeky Domain now, so the pace is getting spunky.

If You Liked The Witcher, You Might Also Like…” explores the genre of the occult detective. Revisit Kolchak, The X-Files, and a cameo from Vincent Price because I’ll take any opportunity to insert him.

You see in the banner on that image that for a goof, I compared the “Toss a Coin to Your Witcher” song to “Bravely Bold Sir Robin…” from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Right after that, we lost Terry Jones, who co-directed same for the Python troupe. Sad loss, and another Python down.

Gifts for Green Geeks” is a gift list for responsible geeks who want to carry on their geekery while adhering to a new standard of reducing their carbon footprint. Gives me a chance to continue my contrarian climate-advocacy views from old classics like “If Anybody Cared About Climate Change, We Could Have Solved It By Now.”

Five Sci-Fi Novels Just Waiting To Be Adapted To Film” is a nerdrage rant about how Hollywood isn’t adapting anything quality anymore, get off ma’ lawn and all. But each of those five sci-fi classics I picked are all works with a strong argument for being potential box-office champions. We can do that or we can try to retread Spider-Man for another Uncle Ben death scene. Your call, Hollywood!

“Time is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans!” — John Lennon

 

New at Spookwire: Exploring the Denver Airport’s Wacky Conspiracies

Ah, Denver International Airport! Nothing adds spice to the most controversial – and most expensive – public works project in history like decorating it with Nazi murals, demonic horses, grimacing gargoyles, and Freemason symbols. Join me on a tour of DIA, as we delve into the mysteries surrounding this nexus of nuttiness.

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New at Spookwire: What’s in Area 51 worth storming?

Aliens, you say? That’s not confirmed, but there’s plenty of other weird stuff going on at Area 51 in Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, even without aliens. Join me as I get to the bottom of what’s hiding at Area 51 and why – the answers may surprise you!

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New at 123ish: Spotlight on Junji Ito, Legendary Horror Mangaka

In my continuing self-indulgence as a soapboxing manga fan, I got the opportunity to rave about the works of Junji Ito, the horror mangaka behind The Enigma of Amigara Fault, Uzumaki, and many other groundbreaking horror manga classic works.

I capture video interviews with Ito himself, links to discussions of his work, and much more. Some say Junji Ito is more silly than scary, but I actually see a balance in the man’s work. It really is like a far-east capture of the spirit of western horror anthology comics, such as EC Comics (Tales from the Crypt, The Vault of Horror, The Haunt of Fear) & company.

“This is my hole! It was made for me!”

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New at 123ish: Items of Devotion for Alternative Religion + Join My Cult!

So this was a weird experimental post based on my starting an argument in which I held the position that you can make an Amazon product list out of anything. “Anything?” they said. “Anything, just pick something,” I said. So they said “something for the spiritual category.” And then I was naming the Flying Spaghetti Monster and Bob J.R. Dobbs and they went “Wait a minute, maybe this isn’t such a good idea.” But I said “Too late! Things have been set in motion which cannot be undone!”

And that’s how we got a list of Best Devotional Items For Alternative Religions. With a bonus section where I introduce my own alternative religion: the Cult of the Temponaut! I hope one day to have my cult grow to a world-wide viral phenomenon, just like all the wacky cults we deal with already. I mean, mine is mostly benevolent and nobody can get hurt in it, right? Ah well, we’ll find out, omelets and eggs.

Just remember, physicists have reversed time already using a quantum computer. That’s how you get Temponauts! Start showing them respect before you have to deal with them all at once.

New at Spookwire: History of Witch Torture

For your leery-eyed, lurid entertainment, we round up some of the historic ways kinky Catholics used to torture random women accused of witchcraft.

Since it didn’t make the cut in the article, I HAVE to rave about this TV commercial from the 1980s, Time-Life Books’ Enchanted World series, narrated by the Prince of Horror himself:

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New at Suggested Reads: HP Lovecraft Books That’ll Give You Nightmares

So apparently, the late H.P. Lovecraft has gained new-found popularity with younger generations, even though he was about as politically correct as Archie Bunker. Over at Suggested Reads, a new site for discovering quality literature, I had the opportunity to at last dive into the works of Lovecraft and ink out a map for the first-time Arkham tourist.

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New at Spookwire: Five Horror Movies Inspired By True Events

I’m sure my steady readers will be familiar with my taste for horror movies. My latest shingle is hung over at Spookwire, a site dedicated to the paranormal and eerie events of all kinds.

Join us this time for 5 Terrifying Horror Movies Inspired By True Events! You were expecting the Winchester Mystery House or the Dyatlov Pass Incident… but what is Freddy Kruger doing there?

Click on for bonus buck content…

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Spookwire: The Eerie Mystery Of Phantom Social Workers

Hold onto your prayer beads, late-night browsers, because I’ve got a new gig that’s destined to scare the wits out of you! I’ll be blogging for Spookwire, a new site dedicated to the creepy, unexplained, and paranormal. From horror movies to conspiracy theories and every real-life intrigue in between, if it’s spooky, we do it!

So to one of our opening posts: The Eerie Mystery Of Phantom Social Workers. This has been a real-life event in the UK and US, and was related to a media circus on both sides of the pond. I touch on the US Satanic Panic of the 1980s and 1990s, with the McMartin Preschool “trial,” and the gigantic Scotland Yard investigation over in the UK.

In brief, parents have reported home visits from people claiming to be social workers, who examine the home and threaten to take away the kids. But later calls to the government reveal no such persons worked there and no social welfare visits scheduled. So where do they come from, and what do they want? It’s a chilling question with some alarming theories to answer it.

 

New at 366Weird: The Manitou!

Over at 366 Weird, my latest cinematic safari is a special treat: The Manitou (1978). A serious contender for the campiest Exorcist ripoff ever made, it’s a thrill ride of one “WTF?” moment piled onto another.

Whose idea was it to cast Tony Curtis in the lead? Who decided “native American medicine man” is a close-enough substitute for Catholic demons? Why did the 400-year-old medicine man pick this woman out of the blue to incubate his neck-rupturing reincarnation? Why did they go with a frozen hospital with meat-popsicle nurses frozen mid-wave? Why is this suddenly turning into 2001: A Space Odyssey? And why is it always black magic or white magic, doesn’t magic come in any other colors? We will never know, but even the late, great Roger Ebert had to warn people to set down their coffee before continuing the review.

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