David Lee Summers's Blog

When I first heard about Guillermo del Toro’s adaptation of Frankenstein, I made a mental note to see where it would be playing in case the opportunity arose to watch the film. A short time after that, I read an article which pointed out that his adaptation was made for Netflix and it was only getting a limited theatrical run before it would be available exclusively on the streaming service. Unfortunately, Netflix is not one of the services I subscribe to and I know much of their content is neve...

Over the last couple of years, I’ve been reading and enjoying the various incarnations of the comic book Vampirella. In short, the comic book tells the adventures of a vampire from another world who fights the forces of evil here on Earth. The character was created to be the “host” of a horror comic anthology magazine created by Warren Publishing. The company had success with two similar magazines hosted by the monstrous Uncle Creepy and Cousin Eerie. The difference is that Warren asked writer F...

Almost a year ago, my daughter gave me three Oz books for Christmas 2024. I have read and discussed two of them: Eric Shanower’s The Giant Garden of Oz and John R. Neill’s A Runaway in Oz. Since then, I’ve been trying to decide whether or not to read the third book or save it. The reason for the conundrum is that the final book of this set is Merry Go Round in Oz, the final Oz book published by Reilly and Lee and thus the final book in the so-called “Famous Forty” original Oz novels. Other Oz no...

While sharing a booth with Tyree Campbell at R2-Doso Comicon recently, he told me about reading N.K. Sandars’ introduction to the Penguin Classics Edition of the Epic of Gilgamesh. In it, Sandars claims that according to Sumerian tradition, Gilgamesh’s father was a “lillu.” Sandars further explains that a lillu can mean a fool or a buffoon. However, it can also refer a demon with vampire-like properties. Several sources I found on the web agree that lillu is the masculine form of the word that b...

I often gravitate to songs and music that either tell stories through their lyrics or help me envision stories through their rhythms. So, when I first learned about the genre of Victorian-inspired retrofuturism known as steampunk and began to explore all its possibilities it should come as no surprise that I would soon begin to follow the band Abney Park. Lead singer and songwriter “Captain” Robert Brown has a strong narrative sense in his lyrics and it was clear from the outset that he’d envisi...

I recently read and enjoyed David Niall Wilson’s novel To Sift through Bitter Ashes. In the novel, he imagines the vampire Montrovant recruiting the knight Hughes de Payan to form the Knights Templar so they can occupy the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and facilitate his quest for the Holy Grail. Given that this was the first book in a trilogy, it’s probably only a minor spoiler that Montravant is unsuccessful and the quest will continue in book two of the Grail Covenant Series. That second book is ...

This weekend, I’m at TusCon in Tucson, Arizona. We’re really excited to have some new and unique items at this year’s show. First and foremost, we’re unveiling a special collector’s edition of The Museum of the Omniverse: Dragon Exhibit collectible USB with the complete audio drama. What’s more, we’re selling Blu-Ray copies of the three movie set: Writing Fren-Zee, The Revenge of Zoe, and The Love Song of William H. Shaw. I have walk-on parts in the last two films, and my daughter appears in Lov...

TusCon is an annual science fiction convention sponsored by the Baja Arizona Science Fiction Association (BASFA) and held in Tucson, Arizona at the Tucson Doubletree Airport Hotel. The primary focus of TusCon is literary science fiction, fantasy, and horror, but the convention also embraces art, animation, science, media and gaming to provide a well-rounded experience. The author guest of honor is renowned steampunk author Gail Carriger. The artist guest of honor is Liz Danforth. The filk guests...

I’ve been using social media for a long time. I started out on Usenet during my college days in the 1980s, long before Facebook, Twitter, or even web browsers. I’ve seen a lot of services come and go. Yes, I even had a MySpace account at one time. I have long been grateful for how these services have put me in contact with people who share my interests, fellow professionals, and friends who live in different parts of the country. In short, I see it as something powerful, informative, fun, and so...

Halloween arrives on Friday night. For the first time in a long time, I’m neither working nor on the road for the day. My wife and I haven’t made specific plans for the day, though we do tend to celebrate both because we love the day and because it’s the anniversary of our first date. At the very least, I suspect we’ll dress up, have a nice dinner to celebrate the anniversary and possibly play a round of Vampire: The Masquerade – Chapters while seeing if any trick-or-treaters come by the house. ...