Poe: The Fall of the House of Usher
Several times in this survey of Edgar Allan Poe, I alluded to a nonexistent list of my favorite short stories. The list doesn’t exist, because how can it? I’m distrustful of claims of favorites. Such […]
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Poe: The Tell-Tale Heart
One afternoon in 6th grade, Miss Chapman sat us down and opened a book. From it, she read “The Tell-Tale Heart.” I don’t remember much else from 6th grade; I’m not even sure that Miss […]
Coffee Sunday: The Boys, Friday, The Amazing Spider-Man 2
My screen entertainment this past week was The Boys. This is an Amazon Prime series based on a comic book by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. Eric Kripke adapted it for Amazon. It stars Karl […]
Poe: The Murders in the Rue Morgue
Of all the stories by Edgar Allan Poe that I’ve been reading during these past few weeks, I considered “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” my least favorite. Please do not read too much into […]
Poe: The Masque of the Red Death
“The Masque of the Red Death” reads like a fable. One could imagine it beginning with the stock line, Once upon a time… It’s loaded with irony, symbolism, and poetic justice; in fact, I think […]
Coffee Sunday: Friday, Sylvia Plath, Spider-Man, Upcoming Posts
The current novel I’m reading is Friday by Robert R. Heinlein. It’s a 1982 science-fiction novel about an android—or artificial person as she’s called in the novel—who’s a trained assassin and spy. At least that’s […]
Poe: The Pit and the Pendulum
The Spanish Inquisition began in 1478, under the reign of Ferdinand II and Isabella I. It started with the mundane but morally questionable goal of identifying heretics. That was a slippery slope that eventually led […]
Poe: The Raven
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary/Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—so reads, arguably, the most famous couplet in American poetry. It’s surely is the most famous […]
Coffee Sunday: August 4
This last week, I rewatched The Amazing Spider-Man (2012). I’ve heard it said that Toby Mcguire understood Peter Parker but not Spider-Man, but Andrew Garfield understood Spider-Man but not Peter Parker. Tom Hollands understands both […]
Feature Writer: Edgar Allan Poe
On December 26, 1811, the Richmond Theatre in Richmond, Virginia burned down. Since seventy-two people died, it was the worst disaster to date in American history. To commemorate it, they built the Monumental Church on […]