“They peered in at the merry-go-round which lay under a dry rattle and roar of wind-tumbled oak trees. Its horses, goats, antelopes, zebras, speared through their spines with brass javelins, hung contorted as in a death rictus, asking mercy with their fright-colored eyes, seeking revenge with their panic-colored teeth.”

Chapter 18, page 73, Something Wicked This Way Comes,
this selection is from ISBN 0-380-97727-3. Avon Books, Hardcover, June 1999.
copyright (c) 1962, 1997 by Ray Bradbury.

Why do so many people who have read Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury consider it a classic, and one of their favorite novels? What is it about this tale of good vs. evil, carnivals and side shows, that stays with us?

This is the story of two children, Will Halloway, and Jim Nightshade. They are both thirteen years old, born minutes apart, living across the street from each other, best friends. This is their adventure, an adventure that will take them to a carnival with a Ferris wheel, a mirror maze, an illustrated man, and the most beautiful woman in the world, an adventure that will forever change them and the town they live in.

The cast of characters include:
A lightning-rod salesman.
A dust witch.
A father working as a janitor working in a library who feels that he failed his son when he needed him most.
And the two men who run the carnival, Mr. Dark and Mr. Cooger.

Some characters in the novel long for the past.
Others have an eye to the future.
And the ever-pressing present rolling forward that no one can avoid.

And wishes do come with a price.

Troy Harkin and David Clink will look at the novel, the movie, the comic book, the short story it was all based on, and try to provide the answers.

We are introducing a new segment with this episode:
“These are a few of our favorite words”
This is where Troy, David and their special guest will read short excerpts from their favorite passages in the novel.

Our special guest is Sandra Kasturi. See author photo and bio below..

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.”

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.

“Shrinkage” could not be held to one episode. The smaller something becomes, we guess, the more you need to to talk about it.

For those who missed part 1, Shrinkage is another term for miniaturization. making things small. Imagine if you are an inch tall, and you have to fight off a spider, or a cat.

Troy Harkin and David Clink are at the cottage, but this time they are at a campfire, as they continue to talk about shrinkage, while being eaten alive by insects.

Troy Harkin will sing an original song about shrinkage. Not to be missed.

Our special guest is Cam P. Fire. See author photo and bio below..

Cam P. Fire is hot right now.

His favorite MASH character is major Burns.

Why “Shrinkage”?
Miniaturization by any other name wouldn’t smell so sweet.

Troy Harkin and David Clink are at the cottage, on the dock, in this installment of Two Old Farts Talk Sci-Fi, discussing Shrinkage. From Alice in Wonderland and The Borrowers, The Master from Doctor Who, Irwin Allen’s Land of the Giants, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, and Richard Matheson’s The Incredible Shrinking Man, why is there such a fascination with the shrink ray? Does size matter?

Our special guest this week is Cott Age-Country. See bio and author photo below.

Cott Age-Country is the son of Ravine the Impossibilist, and Rand E. Bush. Cott can be found in the Muskoka region, near Huntsville, where he keeps company with fireflies and mosquitos, and enjoys the sounds of loons and moose in heat. Cott likes to barbecue, and then relax later by sunning himself on an inflatable floating island, while drinking a brewski. He is a self-proclaimed expert on everything about shrinkage, and likes to shrink-wrap things. In his youth he was an Olympic diver, known for his tuck position.

Shakespeare. Star Trek. The combination seems a bit odd.

From Wikipedia: William Shakespeare (bapt. 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world’s greatest dramatist.

Star Trek, the original series, was set in the 23rd century, created by Gene Roddenberry. From Wikipedia: In creating Star Trek, Roddenberry was inspired by C. S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower series of novels, Jonathan Swift’s 1726 novel Gulliver’s Travels, the 1956 film Forbidden Planet, and television westerns such as Wagon Train.

But, the writers of Star Trek were also influenced by Shakespeare.

Troy Harkin and David Clink will do a deep dive on Bard Trek, and will also look at how theatre, plays, and drama became a part of Trek, with special guest Trevor Rines (see author photo & bio below).

Also, on this podcast, Dream Casting and The OOTB (outside-of-the-box) Casting, for Star Trek and Shakespeare.

Trevor Rines is an actor, musician, writer, notorious punster, & boardgame designer & developer, with a background in Astrophysics, who is quoted on DNA in The Dictionary of Canadian Quotations.

Since the start of the pandemic, he’s performed (online, of course) in every single one of Shakespeare’s plays with The Quarantine Players.

As a composer, he’s written music for many theatrical productions, including the incidental music & songs for two Shakespeare productions.

As a voice actor, his low, rumbling voice has been heard onstage with orchestras, as well as on TV, radio, film, documentaries, audio dramas, radio plays, & even on other podcasts…

Plan 9 from Outer Space is considered by many to be one of the worst films of all time. Is it, though? Does it really deserve that distinction? It is not in the list of the 100 lowest rated films in the IMDB database. So why do people think that? It is not listed in the Medved’s The 50 Worst Films of All Time, that was published in 1978, but it is listed as their choice of worst film in their book, The Golden Turkey Awards, published in 1980. Why not in the 1978 book, but then in the 1980 book? Sadly, that is not discussed in this podcast.

Ed Wood, the director (not the film) is listed as the Worst Director of All Time.

Troy Harkin and David Clink will do a deep dive on Plan 9 from Outer Space, and will also look at the film Ed Wood, with special guest Shaindle Minuk (see author photo & bio below).

Troy and David have also uncovered the first 8 plans, and will reveal these in this podcast, and Shaindle will let us know what Plan 10 was.

Also, on this podcast, Dream Casting and OOTB (Out-of-the-box) Casting, for 9 of the Plan 9 cast.

Shaindle Minuk is a Builds Artist for animation and has been working in the TV and film industries for decades in various capacities, such as Described Video scriptwriter and Continuity and Spotting Lists (CCSL), to name just a few.

Shaindle is also the editor and co-founder of misterkitty.org, which hosts some of the many comics and graphic novels Shaindle has created over the years, alongside humourous features such as “Found Objects” (in which Shain showcases her vast collection of creepy, unappealing ceramic animal figurines and toys) and the popular “Stupid Comics”, which provides in-depth commentary on, well, stupid comics.

The Dead Zone was a 1979 book by Stephen King. It was his first book to rank among the top ten best-selling novels in the United States, and the first story that he set in the fictional town of Castle Rock. The Dead Zone then became a 1983 movie with a deep Canadian connection, directed by David Cronenberg and starring, in order of billing, Christopher Walken; Brooke Adams; Tom Skerritt; Herbert Lom; Anthony Zerbe; Colleen Dewhurst; Martin Sheen; Nicholas Campbell; Sean Sullivan; and, Jackie Burroughs.

Johnny Smith is a psychic, the character based loosely on Peter Hurkos and Edgar Cayce, a man who can glimpse the future by touch. But what if the future is too terrible to contemplate? What is he willing to risk to change it?

Troy Harkin and David Clink will do a deep dive on The Dead Zone, with special guest Bev Vincent (see author photo & bio below).

Bev Vincent is the author of several books, including The Road to the Dark Tower and The Stephen King Illustrated Companion, as well as over 100 short stories, including appearances in Ellery Queen’s, Alfred Hitchcock’s and Black Cat Mystery magazines. and Cemetery Dance magazine.

He has been writing News from the Dead Zone for Cemetery Dance for two decades.

His work has been nominated for the Stoker (twice), Edgar, Ignotus and ITW Thriller Awards.

In 2018, he co-edited the anthology Flight or Fright with Stephen King, and his recent collaboration with Brian Keene is called Dissonant Harmonies. 

To learn more, visit bevvincent.com

Blade Runner is considered an SF classic, one of the best films of the last 50 years. Why is that? What is it about it that makes it endure? The setting, the soundtrack, the story, the acting? Was 2019 close to what was predicted?

Have you ever thought of yourself as a replicant?
Have you taken the Voight-Kampff test?

Troy Harkin and David Clink will do a deep dive on Blade Runner, with special guest Charlene Challenger (see author bio below).

Troy and David introduce a new segment on their podcast: Dream Casting. Which all-time actors and actresses would you have in the roles? Which current actors would you want? And just how far outside the box are you willing to go?

Charlene Challenger is the author of two young adult fantasy novels: The Voices in Between, for which she was nominated for the 2015 Aurora Award for Best Young Adult Novel and long-listed for the 2015 Sunburst Award Young Adult Novel category; and its sequel, The Myth in Distance.

Her work is also featured in Stone Skin Press’s Gods, Memes and Monsters.

She is represented by Kelvin Kong of K2 Literary (https://k2literary.com/authors/charlene-challenger/).

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is many things, but most of all, it is Douglas Adams. It was a radio play, a book, a series of books, a stage show, a TV series, a comic book series, a video game, and a movie, among other things. This international multi-media phenomenon has sparked legions of fans to devour all things Hitchhiker, fans who are aware of the importance of the number forty-two, and the phrase: “DON’T PANIC.” Fans also celebrate National Towel Day, which occurs on the 25th of May, each year.

https://nationaltoday.com/towel-day/

Troy Harkin and David Clink will do a deep dive on The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, with special guest Ira Nayman (see author bio below).

Ira Nayman

Ira Nayman writes speculative humour. His seventh novel, Bad Actors: The Alien Refugees Trilogy: Second Pi in the Face, will be published later in 2021 by Elsewhen Press. He will also be self-publishing his 12th original Alternate Reality News Service collection, Welcome to the Insurrection (The Inconvenience IS the Point), and the second ARNS omnibus, Advanced Idiotocracy for Dummies. For two and a half years, Ira was the editor of Amazing Stories magazine. Yes, that Amazing Stories magazine.

The Prisoner series from 1967-68, is the topic of this episode.

The Prisoner series ran 17 episodes, and is considered one of the greatest series of all time. Its star, Patrick McGoohan, came up with the concept: a secret agent, not unlike John Drake, the character McGoohan played in “Danger Man” (1960 – 1968) retires, and those in charge want to know why he retired. He is drugged and wakes up in a place known as “The Village” and he is assigned a number: No. 6. He wants to escape, but can he?

Troy Harkin and David Clink will do a deep dive on The Prisoner, with special guest Mark Askwith (see author bio below).

Mark Askwith

Mark Askwith is a writer, Producer, and interviewer.

He is one of the Founding Producers of SPACE, Canada’s National Science Fiction and Fantasy Channel, where he co-created in-house shows including InnerSpace. He produced dozens of movie and television specials, including The Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special; Watchmen; and, Orphan Black.

Prior to SPACE he was the creator of the award-winning Prisoners of Gravity, a consultant on the Genie Award-winning documentary Comic Book Confidential, and the manager of the Silver Snail.

His comic book stories have been published by Caliber Press, Spiderbaby Grafix, DC Comics, and Image Comics. Mark co-plotted and dialogued DC’s authorized sequel to The Prisoner.