The Stone Tape (1972) – Peter Sasdy

The Stone Tape is an interesting exercise, though trapped by the confines of its production, working on stages and studio cameras, and the actors delivering their lines as if they are performing on stage instead of more restrained performances for film and television. Written by Nigel Kneale who wrote the Quatermass series/films the story follows…

The Andromeda Strain (1969) – Micheal Crichton

I’ve read lots of horror novels, and enjoy Stephen King’s stories but nothing I’ve read in the genre has ever gotten under my skin and unnerve me. Michael Crichton’s The Andromeda Strain got me. I think the story got wrapped up too quickly, but the essence of the story really got to me, and seemed…

Star Trek: Picard (2020) – Remembrance, and Maps and Legends

Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) returned to the screen on 23 January, 2020 with the launch of Star Trek: Picard. Set some twenty years after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis, the pilot episode, Remembrance, was written by Akiva Goldsman and James Duff from a story by Goldsman, Micheal Chabon, Kirsten Beyer, Alex Kurtzman and Duff….

Batman (1967) – The Joker’s Last Laugh, and The Joker’s Epitaph

The Joker (Cesar Romero) is back, and he’s ready to cause more problems for Batman (Adam West) and Robin (Burt Ward) in this two-part episode. The first one, The Joker’s Last Laugh, first aired on 15 February, 1967 and was written by Lorenzo Semple Jr. from a story by Peter Rabe. It seems the wealthy…

Star Trek: The Next Generation – The Peacekeepers (1988) – Gene DeWeese

The second original novel in The Next Generation book series came out om September of 1988, two months before the premiere of season two. The crew of the Enterprise comes across a strange derelict starship and when Data and LaForge investigate they are transported away, leaving Captain Picard and the rest struggling to find out…

Star Trek: Mudd In Your Eye (1997) – Jerry Oltion

Harcourt ‘Harry’ Fenton Mudd is back to cause trouble for Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise in Jerry Oltion’s Mudd In Your Eye, set during the original five-year mission, the tale ties into the previous Mudd episode, “I, Mudd” and arguably before (?) the animated series episode “Mudd’s Passion”. The Enterprise is requested…

Star Trek: The Joy Machine (1996) – James E. Gunn

James E. Gunn takes the original story treatment for The Joy Machine by Theodore Sturgeon, who gave us the TOS episodes Shore Leave and Amok Time, and turns it into a novel that feels very much like an Original Series episode. When a couple of Federation investigators disappear on a planet, one that Captain James…

Hidden Pictures (2022) – Jason Rekulak

Jason Rekulak delivers a wonderfully creepy ghost story with Hidden Pictures. Filled with familiar ideas and tropes, Rekulak keeps it fresh with his engaging story, delightfully layered characters and the drawings that fill the novel. Mallory is fresh from rehab, she’s trying to get her life together, and with some help she lands a summer…

Fringe (2012) – A Better Human Being, and The End of All Things

A Better Human Being first aired on 17 February, 2012 and was written by Alison Schapker and Monica Owusu-Breen from a story by Glen Whitman and Robert Chiappetta. The team gets called in to investigate a young man’s connection to a series of murders, he can hear their voices in his head, and it leads…

The Puppet Masters (1994) – Stuart Orme

Somewhere in The Puppet Masters, despite its continuity errors, its plot holes and poor performance by its lead actor (who is surrounded by some fantastic character actors and recognizable faces) is probably a decent film, I mean it’s based on Heinlein’s novel, so it had a great starting point. When something comes down in the…