The Thing PT. 2

Troy and David return with Carolyn Clink and Sandra Kasturi, to look at The Thing. First and foremost, the 1982 film, but also the 1951 film, and the 2011 film.

They also do a Dream Cast and Schrodinger’s Cast, of six of the main characters in the 1982 movie.

They choose another actor or actress to fill the role, one the best actor (living or dead) which is the Dream Cast, and one unusual choice, for the Schrodinger’s Cast.

This episode is being broadcast on Saturday, June 10, 2023.

Carolyn Clink is a poet living in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

She won the Aurora Award for Best Poem/Song in 2022 for “Cat People Café” and in 2011 for “The ABCs of the End of the World.”

Her genre poetry publications include: Weird Tales, Analog, Imaginarium 2012: the Best Canadian Speculative Writing, Polar Starlight, Polar Borealis, On-Spec, Tesseracts, Frost Zone Zine, Eye to the Telescope, Tales of the Unanticipated, Room, and all 5 volumes of Northern Frights.

Sandra Kasturi is an award-winning poet, writer, and editor, with work appearing in many places including ON SPEC, several Tesseracts anthologies, and 80! Memories & Reflections on Ursula K. Le Guin.

Her two poetry collections are: The Animal Bridegroom (with an introduction by Neil Gaiman) and Come Late to the Love of Birds (both from Tightrope Books).

Sandra recently won second prize in The New Quarterly’s Nick Blatchford Occasional Verse Contest. She is also the winner of the Sunburst Award for her story “The Beautiful Gears of Dying” and ARC Magazine‘s Poem of the Year Award for “Old Men, Smoking.”

We are celebrating the 75th birthday of Stephen King with Bev Vincent’s wonderful new book from Epic Ink, Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences. 

Our three part series splits up Bev’s six chapters, so we will look at two chapters in each episode.

PT 1 covers 1950 – 1979:

CHAPTER 1: The Future Artist as a Young Man (1950-1969)
CHAPTER 2: The Doubleday Years (1970s)

PT 2 covers 1980 – 1999:

CHAPTER 3: Midas Touch (1980s)
CHAPTER 4: Experimentation and Change (1990s)

PT 3 covers 2000 – 2022:

CHAPTER 5: After the Accident (2000s)
CHAPTER 6: King of Crime (2010 and beyond)

Bev Vincent’s latest work is: Stephen King: A Complete Exploration of His Work, Life, and Influences. 

Bev is also the author of The Dark Tower Companion, The Road to the Dark Tower, and the Stephen King Illustrated Companion.

In 2018 he co-edited the anthology Flight or Fright with Stephen King. He is the author of the Ogilvie Affair and co-author of Dissonant Harmonies.

His short fiction has appeared in places such as Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, Borderlands 5, Ice Cold, and The Blue Religion.

With this appearance Bev joins the Three Timers Club, if you will. The Hat Trick Union. 

Bev was our season one, episode seven podcast guest on: The Dead Zone;
and our season two, episode four podcast on:
On Writing.

Top Ten Sci-Fi Films

Troy Harkin and David Clink each come up with their own top ten science fiction films, and the reasons for their selections. How many films will appear on both lists?

Will 2001: A Space Odyssey and Star Wars crack the top ten?
How about…

The Terminator?
E.T.?
The Day the Earth Stood Still?
Blade Runner?
Logan’s Run?
Star Wars?
Alien?
Close Encounters of the Third Kind?

Listen to Troy and David go over their lists, compare and contrast. Maybe you have some of the same films on your own top ten list?

Back to School. Just the thought of it strikes fear into the hearts of children everywhere. But for some, it is something to look forward to.

It is September, and we have bought our school supplies, and are ready for the next grade.

What’s the connection between schools and science fiction, fantasy, and horror?

Troy Harkin and David Clink will look at the linkages, the places we wish we had gone, like Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; Sunnydale High School; Brakebills University for Magical Pedagogy; Starfleet Academy; The Jedi Praxeum. Perhaps the greatest question of all – do you want to attend a school that is on top of a Hellmouth?

Our special guest is Maaja Wentz. See author photo and bio below..

Maaja Wentz is a Toronto teacher-librarian who writes mystery and speculative fiction. School closures inspired Maaja to write the Saltwater Spy School series. Imagine Sponge Bob Squarepants meets James Bond featuring a wannabe spy hermit crab overcoming childhood fears.

Feeding Frenzy: Curse of the Necromancer won a Watty award. In the sequel, a rival magic faction has taken control of Loon Lake, cursing Tonya’s allies with amnesia and framing her mother for murdering a man who was already dead. To free her mother, Tonya must find the real killer while navigating secret university magic classes surrounded by her worst enemies.