Steveawiggins

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4167 )

• International Standard

  

  Probably nobody gives them much of a thought.  ISBNs, that is.  International Standard Book Numbers.  An ISBN is a book’s unique identifier.  And they cost... Read more

  Posted on 15 June 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Revisiting Witch Mountain

  

  Suspension of disbelief is essential for many movies. When a friend pointed out that Disney had rebooted Witch Mountain, of course I suspended. Read more

  Posted on 14 June 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Number Six

  

  Signing a book contract always makes me happy.  There’s a validation to it.  Someone thinks my thoughts are worthwhile.  And now I can reveal what it’s about. Read more

  Posted on 13 June 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Camp Tingler

  

  I don’t remember in which magazine where I saw the still, but I was immediately intrigued. I didn’t know the movie it was from and in the days before the... Read more

  Posted on 12 June 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Personal History

  

  Being an historian by disposition has its own rewards.  I relate to the chronicling monks of the Middle Ages and their eagerness to record things. Read more

  Posted on 11 June 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Campus Monster

  

  Universal was the studio that gave America its monsters. Well, it wasn’t Universal alone, but the initial—almost canonical—line-up of monsters were Universal... Read more

  Posted on 10 June 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Life Course

  

  Curriculum vita.  The course of a life.  I see quite a few CVs, although I’m not on any search committees.  As I was examining one the other day I recollected... Read more

  Posted on 09 June 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Stalking the Stalker

  

  You had to’ve seen this coming. The Night Stalker introduced how Carl Kolchak, hard-nosed reporter, became a believer in the supernatural. Read more

  Posted on 08 June 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Mystic Thoughts

  

  Those who know me primarily from my writings on horror are perhaps whiplashed when I muse about spiritual matters.  I don’t mean just religion, but... Read more

  Posted on 07 June 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• An Interesting Prize

  

  If you’re born without it, you get by any way that you can. Capital, that is. Those of us who inherit nothing but active minds don’t stand a chance, really. Read more

  Posted on 06 June 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Horror History

  

  Trying to make sense of life has perhaps been my only real vocation.  As I continue to work on horror-themed books, reasonable people ask why I keep doing this.... Read more

  Posted on 05 June 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Digging Again

  

  It’s one of those movies that I know I’ve watched before—probably on a sleepy Saturday afternoon—but couldn’t believe I had already seen. Read more

  Posted on 04 June 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Fear of Big Books

  

  I have to get over my fear of big books (I can’t find an official name for this and so I’ll coin machrysbibliophobia—and why did my autocorrect replace this wit... Read more

  Posted on 03 June 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Have It All

  

  You can’t have it all.  I know, I know.  People are all the time saying, “I want it all.”  But you can’t have it.  This is where my Buddhist side kicks in, I... Read more

  Posted on 02 June 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Who’s Stalking?

  

  Television is a hungry beast. Back before the internet it was probably less hungry, but still the desire for content was constant. A few individuals worked the... Read more

  Posted on 01 June 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Going Once, Going Twice

  

  Do you ever get that feeling that you’ve been sold?  One thing I learned early on in academic publishing is that buyouts aren’t that unusual. Read more

  Posted on 31 May 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Unidentified

  

  Some topics are subject to ridicule. The poster child for this is UFOs. What’s so remarkable about Leslie Kean’s book is that she began as a skeptic. Read more

  Posted on 30 May 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Leopard Spots

  

  There’s always a dilemma involved. Rent or buy? Libraries face this when deciding on a subscription or perpetual access deal—is this something you’ll need for... Read more

  Posted on 29 May 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• Free Cookies

  

  The principle is a simple one.  People, being what they are, want more than just a nibble of something good.  Bakers know that giving away a free cookie... Read more

  Posted on 28 May 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY

• No Demons

  

  There’s a connoisseurship about it. Making bad films, that is. It’s a wonder that Night of the Demon—I should specify 1980 as the year—hasn’t really become a... Read more

  Posted on 27 May 2024 POLITICS, RELIGION, SOCIETY