Helloooo! So I’ve had a week(ish) off and have to admit some rest did me the world of good. Took a while for me to fully recover. But the bright side was I got to break up some routine and actually that was exactly what I needed.

Underground Overground

So I finally after 18 years got to go and see the mysterious Williamson tunnels in Liverpool. In the early 19th century a wealthy man named Jospeh Williamson bought a patch of at the time unusued land on the edge of my fair city. It was also a source of sandstone so riddled with little quarry tunnels. He hired people to dig and dig and dig and did so for forty years. Some of these are triple stacked and a lot are filled in now with a few decades of Victorian rubbish. Three of these chambers have now been excavated, and they have huge rooms; tunnels that appear to go no where; huge sandstone arches; brick arches and it’s oddly facsinatign as to why these are here.

Partly the most popular theory is simply practical. The old quarry tunnels made it tricky to build upon so opening them up and making them arches helped put the the land able for what would be very good housing. But as this continued for decades past the houses construction it’s also thought to be an early case of philanthropy – Williamson who himself had workled his way up in business was happy to hire people just to work. But I like fantasy and horror so obviously one day those archeologists will find secret treasure or a trapped demon. Worth a visit if you come to my realm.

Time to let zombies finally die?

Caught a theatrical take on a classic horror movie in Night of the Living Dead Remix this week – wasn’t quite my cup of tea but as this sort of involved me watching the orginal as part of the experience I decided to try the rest of the Romero trilogy. They’re all very good films. Night is still a pretty revolutionary horror movie in terms of both the genre and also the casting of a black actor in such a key role (and an ending that is a true gut punch); Dawn though is probably the best both moving up to an truly epic scale and a very smart take on comumerism while Day of is very much a pressure cooker drama (and shows zombies can be secondary to humans as monsters).

But…

There were a few things I found more disconcerting and while its always important to show us the fragility of society I do wonder if there is a flaw in the genre. Towns are always bad urban areas are cool; science/rationalism is futile and self-destructive; while people rarely work together. The films often appear in times of some form of turmoil; the US riots; 70’s oil crisis and 80s reganism/cold war tensions. Notably the TV show for Walking Dead appears in 2010 a few years after the financial crash. Hard not see why fears about the world ending help the genre blossom but you rarely in the genre feel it has any solutions. Which I accept that isn’t horror’s role in culture I do find it seems to sometimes celebrate a little too much survivalism and violence (ooh those zombie kills) and is that enough in current times? Or perhaps I’m just fed up of living in a growing dystopia at the moment. I’d like to see something a bit more hopeful/more progressive in its next re-incarnation. Lets hope we get a long utopia phase in the meantime

What have I been watching?

The Untamed – episodes 3 and 4 now a flashback from epsiodes 1 and 2; we are meeting various magical factiosn and there is starting to be some tension between the male leads. It’s both gorgeous to look and intriguing.

Next Generation – as I get ready for finally watching Picard I caught an episode of Next Generation that really stands out I its not so good second season – Measure of A Man is a legal drama about Data’s status as a sentient being. I think it’s a great use of Patrick Stewart’s skills and shows he’s more than just a gruff leader. A glimpse of what this show could end up being.

What Did Jack Do? – This is 17 minute David Lynch film on Netflix. Lych plays a detective who is interviewing a suspect for murder. Oh and the suspect is a talking monkey and there is a musical moment. Its fascinating if you enjoy Twin Peaks style strangeness.

What have I been listening to?

I’ve leaped up to episode 94 on Magnus Archibes and the show is now morphing into a multi-character led huge arc threatening the world. Its sooo good. The various connections are now getting shown and explained and I’m worried about all the archivist’s team bar HIM

What have I been reading?

Runalong Readalongs

Nada – so I have to admit that trying five at once is a bit much. So I’m going to put my Farseer on hold for a few months

Next week should therefore cover

Discworld – Wyrd Sisters

Deverry – Darkspell

Octavia Butler – Mind of My Matter (nearly finished this and it’s again fascinating but also disturbing)

Subjective Chaos

This week expect full reviews of the new stories (and recaps on the rest).

Bubbling under I have on my to do list All City by Alex Difranco and Godhunter by David Mogo)

Reviews and Reading

The Wolf of Oren-yaro by K S Villaso – time to meet the Bitch Queen with a new fantasy series that I think did some very impressive things

Conviction by Denise Mina – I loved how this thriller used podcasts as a key part of the plot. Its also set up a very clever mystery with a lot of interesting and topical reveals.

The Golden Key by Marian Womack 1 loved this gothic fantasy thriller set in early twentieth century Norfolk Fens with a lot of mysteries and ambiguity.

What Am I Reading?

Legacy of Ash by Matthew Ward – a week off is the perfect time to finish this not so wee fantasy epic

American Monsters Part 2 edited by Margret Helgadottir - time to read the rest of the entries in one of my favourite series

The Library of the Unwritten by A J Hackwith – ever wondered what happens to unfinished books?

Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes - SF with kidnappers, emperors and psychic cats

The Unspoken Name by A K Larkwood – absolutely thrilled to get into this tale of magic, assassins and treachery

Finally, I WILL have some reading stats on influences when we grew up to show you!