Books: The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (2024)

“In Daretana’s most opulent mansion, a high Imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a tree spontaneously erupted from his body. Even in this canton at the borders of the Empire, where contagions abound and the blood of the Leviathans works strange magical changes, it’s a death at once terrifying and impossible. Called in to investigate this mystery is Ana Dolabra, an investigator whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities. At her side is her new assistant, Dinios Kol. Din is an engraver, magically altered to possess a perfect memory. His job is to observe and report, and act as his superior’s eyes and ears--quite literally, in this case, as among Ana’s quirks are her insistence on wearing a blindfold at all times (like Sandra Bullock in 2018’s Bird Box), and her refusal to step outside the walls of her home. Din is most perplexed by Ana’s ravenous appetite for information and her mind’s frenzied leaps—not to mention her cheerful disregard for propriety and the apparent joy she takes in scandalizing her young counterpart. Yet as the case unfolds and Ana makes one startling deduction after the next, he finds it hard to deny that she is, indeed, the Empire’s greatest detective. As the two close in on a mastermind and uncover a scheme that threatens the safety of the Empire itself, Din realizes he’s barely begun to assemble the puzzle that is Ana Dolabra—and wonders how long he’ll be able to keep his own secrets safe from her piercing intellect.” 

Over the decades, the whodunit genre is always looking for a unique ways to tell a familiar tale. There have been multiple series and standalone medieval mysteries, but here Bennett as a sort-of-magical aspect to it. So we have our Holmes (who must be a Virgo, which is probably why I understand Ana) and her talented, but equally secretive Watson that is Din. 

While The Tainted Cup rightfully belongs in the high fantasy genre due to its setting and world-building, it also takes the form of standard whodunits. But this fresh approach should appeal to fans of both genres, with an eccentric detective and her trained assistant (who use, I guess, DNA altering drugs which could mean a bit of sci-fi has been added to everything else). It’s like Knives Out but if Knives Out was set in a fantasy world and Benoit Blanc was an old woman who had hired the most disaster bisexual to be her eyes and ears. So the book works because Ana is compelling and often hilarious (in foul-mouthed sort of way) and the magic system is intriguing and well thought out. There are your typical red herrings, and new avenues of an investigation that goes nowhere, but that is the bread and butter of this genre. And it works. 

All of it comes together, making it a win-win in my book. The blending of mystery and fantasy, with great doses of humor and an interesting female detective…you could not ask for more. Well, maybe a second and third book…

Books: The Mills of the Gods by Tim Powers (2025)

“PARIS 1925. Harry Nolan is an expatriate American, making a meager living as an illustrator for a low-paying magazine, but his life is upended when he is assigned to illustrate an anonymous article about the death of a god—because a centuries-old French brotherhood, the Sauteurs, are determined to suppress the story the article tells. The Sauteurs have burned the magazine’s office and killed the editor, and Nolan has the only surviving copy of the article. The author turns out to be a local writer named Ernest Hemingway, who—at first—tries to distance himself from the article and its lethal consequences. Vivi Chastain is a rootless 19-year-old orphan who sustains herself by betting on horse races—aided by the spirit of the man she was in a previous life. But now that old identity is crowding her consciousness, threatening to push her own precarious identity into oblivion. It was her alcoholic occasional “stepfather” who told Hemingway the story about killing a god, and the Sauteurs are now aware of the story—and of her” 

Unlike a lot Tim Powers books, this tale seems a bit rushed and not as complex as his usual work. Which is fine, as he has the tendency to get bogged down in world building, but here I was expecting his usual deep dive into past filled with ghosts, medieval gods and those everyday people who get caught up in the underbelly of (usually his beloved Los Angeles) a city like Paris –which has its own unique past to draw on. Harry is a illustrator, yet there is no real deep dive into who Harry really is, besides, maybe, a wannabe Indiana Jones (which is what the feels like from the start). Even Genevieve comes off a bit paper thin in the development department. 

The Sauteurs sort of reminded me of Claire North’s 2015 novel The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. In that book, we learn Harry August is a ouroboran, a person who lives and dies and then reborn and at around age five, they begin to realize they’ve lived before. Here in The Mills of the Gods, it’s a bit different, it’s just a variation. That the Sauteurs use kids, starting around five and imbued them with the “souls” of fellow Sauteurs then eventually take over the child’s body and live again. Creepy and because it’s 1925, the police cannot connect any dots. 

Beyond Hemingway, Gertrude Stein and Alice Tolkas are part of narrative (and now that I think about it, probably the template –maybe- that Doctor Who writers Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss used for Madame Vastra and Jenny Flint, though their adventures happen late in 19^th Century). And Powers is not above using real people, as witnessed by 2022 novel My Brother’s Keeper, which featured the Bronte sisters. 

The Mills of the Gods was definitely one of Tim Powers' more accessible novels and one I might suggest as a starting point for new readers (My Brother’s Keeper, as well). But to each their own.

Books: Other World Than These by Stephen King and Peter Straub (2026)

“Other Worlds Than These is the story of Jack Sawyer, whom readers first met when he was twelve, crossing America and “the territories” to save his mother’s life, and met again in Black House, where Jack faces a child killer and the Crimson King (among other evils). In Other Worlds Than These, Jack must stop a rampaging gang of infected teenagers from America-side, and the forces of the mysterious Gullet at the edge of Mid-World, before it destroys our world and all worlds. Jack is older now; his Ka-tet (echoing the world of Roland) is fraying; and his task, nearly impossible.” 

Much like Black House, there is lot going on here. Jack Sawyer, 57 a widow, living his life in the Territories –Mid-World by another name- who can still “flip” to the America he was born and grew up, but because of the events in book two, he can’t stay forever. He must find a missing friend, then has to battle the tribe of evil, violent, red-headed teenagers - as well as bad Wolfs and slow mutants along the way - before then embarking on a final mission to effectively save Mid-World and *all* worlds. The book also, once again, uses a real-life spree killers to set everything in motion. But, for a book that had a lot going on, it was sort missing the urgency of that made the last three Dark Towers work so well. 

There is a great idea here, neat hook the late Peter Straub offered years before his death in 2022, was for a third book to feature a murderous teenage couple who gets sucked into Mid-World and starts a cult. But King, known for creating compelling villains, keeps them out ahead of the ka-tet, so all we see is there destructive path. I was surprised when it eventually petered out as the book progressed. 

King also spends an a lot time explaining how the Dark Tower of Mid-World and The Territories are same thing, with return references, like the dialect, and revisiting locations previously seen: Mejis and the Blasted Lands, along with a deep cut nod to certain Army experiment from one of King’s more well-known novella (The Mist). Again, I don’t think the original idea was to tie these two universes together, but now it sort of makes more sense; King does a good job clearing up any confusion. 

In the meantime, we see a more likable Jack here than ever before, one who tired, intelligent and commanding –the reluctant leader he’s always ran away from. He denies he’s a gunslinger, but its clear King is setting him up to be one. 

In the end, a nice capstone to the previous two books along with the many Easter Eggs for Dark Tower fans – and that ending? He’s ended this journey and closed the circle, but Ka is still a wheel. Long days and pleasant nights, as they say. 

A quick addendum: King references the French film The Wages of Fear (1953, based on the 1950’s novel Le Salaire de la peur) and its 1977 remake Sorcerer which starred Roy Scheider. In both films (and here in this novel) there is a bridge-crossing sequence, wherein the two trucks have to separately cross an old wooden suspension bridge that appears completely unstable. In a recent posting I did for Jaws 2, I talk about Scheider’s dilemma of being stuck in a three picture deal with Universal and how they were pressuring him to do a sequel, but ended up doing the William Friedkin remake that ultimately suffered a poor reception and was a financial disaster for the studio. Scheider decided Jaws 2 not a bad idea after all.  

Books: What is Stopping Disney from Remaking Something Wicked This Way Comes?

I’ve been curious for years wondering what rights Disney owns to Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes that is preventing a remake of the film. I can assume some elements of the book – the ones that made it on screen, as well as scenes that they created wholesale during the near one-year delay after tossing director Jack Clayton’s cut out (also gone was the original editor –though he does get a screen credit- and the movies score, done by French composer Georges Delerue) are part of the reason. 

During filming, it became clear two differing visions emerged for the film, one where Bradbury and Clayton were trying to stay as faithful to the novel as possible, while Disney wanted to make a more accessible and family friendly film. Furthermore, Bradbury and Clayton fell out during production after Bradbury discovered that Clayton had hired writer/novelist John Mortimer (Rumpole of the Bailey) to do an uncredited revision of Bradbury's screenplay - but this was done at the studio's insistence. 

Disney spent an additional $5 million on re-filming, re-editing, and re-scoring the picture, and new editor Barry Gordon was required to make a number of changes to Clayton and Nelson's original cut, removing several major special-effects scenes (including a very early-effort CGI effect that opened the film, one that showed Dark's Carnival arriving in the town and magically unfolding itself into place -this sequence was covered in great detail in 1982 edition of Cinefantastique magazine), and incorporating the new material (the whole spider sequence, directed by Leo Dyer), including a new spoken prologue, narrated by Arthur Hill. 

The original themes of Bradbury's novel, the suggestion of menace, the autumn atmosphere of an American Midwest township and the human relationships between characters that attracted Clayton escaped preview audiences under this new cut, with Clayton being heavily criticized. New special effects sequences were shot and a hastily composed new score by composer James Horner replaced Delerue's original music (which finally was released on CD by Intrada). More test screenings did not fare well with audiences and the film made about $8 million on what now was a $20 million budgeted film. 

Not knowing how copyright really works, I’m guessing Disney could remake the film, but it would have to be one that hews closer to the novel, if only because there are probably certain elements, such as character traits and other situations in the re-worked screenplay that can be credited to John Mortimer. For Disney, probably, dealing with his Estate is not worth the time, effort, or costs. The same could be said of the Bradbury Estate, depending on what was put in the original contacts.

Which means keeping with the dark fantasy themes Bradbury wrote about – because, understand this, the book was never written for kids, but for adults who remember their youths a certain way, especially when the autumn people came. Maybe that’s why it’s been twelve years since it was announced a remake was in the works with Seth Grahame-Smith writing the script and to make his feature film debut as director. His take would need to adhere to the book, and not the mish-mash that became the 1983 version. Still, that version has its fans and adore it, including Horner's rather predictable score.

Disney is Disney. It’s seen mostly as manufacturer of kids and other family-friendly programming. And while between 1984 and 2016, they did have Touchstone Pictures, their more adult wing, it still found controversy with the content from certain conservative groups who were critical that a family-friendly studio should be releasing PG-13 and R rated films,

 

TV's Golden Age of Made-for-TV Horror Movies V: 'Salem's Lot

 

Another example of classic 1970s TV movie-of-the-week was ‘Salem’s Lot, which aired as a two-part film on November 17th and 24th 1979. 

After Warner Bros. acquired the rights to the Stephen King book, the studio sought to turn the 400+page novel into a feature film, while still remaining faithful to the source material. However, producer Stirling Silliphant, screenwriter Robert Getchell, and writer/director Larry Cohen all contributed screenplays, but all found it difficult to keep a screenplay at reasonable length. 

Eventually, the project was turned over to Warner Bros. Television and producer Richard Kobritz. He decided that the best way to keep the spirit of the book without losing too much was to turn it into miniseries. Writer Paul Monash was contracted to write the teleplay. Monash was familiar with writing about small towns (he worked on the 1960s soap Peyton Place), and he previously produced the 1976 adaptation of King's novel Carrie. 

Meanwhile, Tobe Hooper leapt to fame with The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). He combined elements from a story he wrote about isolation and darkness with the inspiration of graphic news coverage of violence, with his belief that people were the true monsters being a key element for the film. It was a screening of Massacre that led producer Richard Kobritz to hire him as a director – the biggest budget Hooper had yet had at $4 million. The film differed from the source material (particularly with the violence and graphic scenes) in order to meet broadcast standards of the era. Hooper described it as 'very spooky - it suggests things and always has the overtone of the grave. It affects you differently than my other horror films. It's more soft-shelled...it has atmosphere which creates something you cannot escape - the reminder that our time is limited and all the accoutrements that go with it, such as the visuals.' 

The original broadcast reviews for ‘Salem's Lot were largely positive, with critics praising the miniseries’ atmosphere, cinematography, Hooper's direction, and excellent scares. The casting was spot on, especially with a charismatic performance from James Mason. But David Soul, Bonnie Bedelia, young Lance Kerwin, some familiar character actors like Lew Ayers Elisha Cook, Jr., George Dzundza, Julie Cobb, Ed Flanders, Kenneth McMillian, and Geoffrey Lewis fill out a great cast for a horror movie. 

A loose sequel called Return to ‘Salem’s Lot was released in 1987. In 2004, TNT released a remake, also a three-hour, two-part miniseries, starring Rob Lowe as Ben Mears. Then in 2021 Epix launched the series Chapelwaite, starring Adrien Brody and Emily Hampshire and is loosely based on the short story Jerusalem’s Lot (from the King short-story collection Night Shift) and serves as a sort of prequel to ‘Salem’s Lot set in the 19th century. Finally, a new theatrical version from New Line Cinema, was announced in April 2019, with Gary Dauberman set to write and direct, and James Wan attached to produce. Filming began in September 2021 and starred Lewis Pullman and Alfre Woodard. The film was originally scheduled to be released in cinemas in September 2022, but was pushed back to April 2023, before being pulled from Warner Bros. release schedule indefinitely. The original 3-hour version was edited down to less than two hours and premiered directly on Max in October 2024. 

Maybe because King’s book was released in 1975, and this adaptation came only four years later, in the last months of what was a tumultuous decade, the movie unintentially tapped into (along with the rest of the Made For TV horror films that came out of the era) some sort of the uneasiness of that chaotic period. It was forcing people to always be looking over their shoulder, perhaps looking for something sinister. I think the later productions are all missing that something that made the 1979 production –even if it is a bit dated- such a masterclass in terror. It brought more fresh blood and lingering frights that is missing from those newer takes. I mean who cannot forget watching child vampire Danny Click scratching and floating outside his brothers’ window demanding to be let in. 

The stuff of nightmares there.