Fantastic Metropolis

Nonfiction

The Phantom World (a.k.a. Dissertations sur les apparitions des anges, des démons et des espirits, et sur les revenans et vampires de Hongrie, de Bohême, de Moravie et de Silésie), Augustin Calmet

If you like to read the struggles of a skeptical clergyman to try and reconcile his rationality, his religion and various reports of vampires, ghosts and monsters written in the 16^th century, I can recommend no finer book.

Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia, Jeremy Black and Anthony Green

A good, concise and informative resource about the mythologies that thrived between the two rivers.

Food for the Dead: On the Trail of New England’s Vampires, Michael E. Bell

The story begins with Bell being told about Mercy Brown, a young girl in 1892 who was believed to have become a vampire, and it expands like kudzu from there. Highly recommended.

The Other God, Yuri Stoyanov

If there’s a single better resource for the traditions and trends of religious dualism, mythology and occultism of the double god phenomenon, or the way each has influenced mainstream religions, then I can’t think of it. Readable and lucid while still packed with information, this is a great introduction into topics such as Seth worship, Zoroastrianism, the Bogomils or Orphism.

The Field Guide to Lake Monsters and Sea Serpents, Loren Coleman and Patrick Huygens

Do I even need to explain why I recommend this book? It’s got a 30 foot long otter in it.

The Beast Within, Adam Douglas

This one can be hard to find (I found it buried in a used book store) but it’s as good a source on werewolves in popular culture and folklore as I’ve ever found.

Geek Confidential, Rick Klaw

I get more out of Rick’s essays every time I read them. His interview style is first rate, his essays consistently entertaining and at times profound, and he likes apes.

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Thomas S. Kuhn

A simply wonderful explanation of, as an example, two different scientists can run the exact same experiment, get the exact same findings, and only one of them will realize that the whole world has changed. From the death of the phlogiston to the birth of quantum theories of light, this one’s great to explain why what we often deride today as superstition was, for the time, actually good science.

Fiction

The Troika, Stepan Chapman (excerpt)

Okay, I need to reread this book before I even try and sum it up for you, but trust me, it’s good.

The Savage Tales of Solomon Kane, Robert E. Howard

I’m a sucker for Howard, and outside of Kull, Kane is my favorite of his creations, a badass Puritan with a vengeful streak a mile wide.

The Best of C. L. Moore, edited by Lester Del Rey

Some really good stuff in here, which I’m embarrased to admit I had not read.

Lost Pages, Paul Di Filippo

I reread this one all the time for inspiration purposes.

Declare, Tim Powers

It’s got British spies, Biblical-themed weirdness, and it’s actually really good.

Cronopios and Famas, Julio Cortázar

Worth it for “The Instruction Manual.”

Mother London, Michael Moorcock

One of my favorite books ever, finding this in my local used bookstore was an omen.

The Worm Ouroboros, E. R. Eddison

It reminds me of Edgar Rice Burroughs meets J. R. R. Tolkien with maybe a hint of Dunsany here and there.

Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice, James Branch Cabell

You should all read James Branch Cabell. Here’s a reason why, from Chapter 41:

“One thing I did not understand, sir: and that was when you spoke just now of the War Roof.”

“It is a stone roof, made of the two tablets handed down at Sinai, which God fits over Earth whenever men go to war. For He is merciful: and many of us here remember that once upon a time we were men and women. So when men go to war God screens the sight of what they do, because He wishes to be merciful to us.”

“That must prevent, however, the ascent of all prayers that are made in war-time.”

“Why, but, of course, that is the roof’s secondary purpose,” replied St. Peter. “What else would you expect when the Master’s teachings are being flouted? Rumours get through, though, somehow, and horribly preposterous rumours. For instance, I have actually heard that in war-time prayers are put up to the Lord God to back His favourites and take part in the murdering. Not,” said the good Saint, in haste, “that I would believe even a Christian bishop to be capable of such blasphemy: I merely want to show you, Jurgen, what wild stories get about.”

That would explain a lot.

Other

Superman: Birthright, Mark Waid, Leinil Francis Yu and Gerry Alanguilan

If you’re looking for a detailed, colorful, interestingly illustrated origin story for the Man of Steel, you can do a lot worse than Birthright.

Eberron Campaign Setting, Keith Baker, Bill Slavicsek and James Wyatt

All the Howard and Moore I was reading dovetailed well into this setting for the Dungeons & Dragons RPG, a stylish pulp/noir take on killing monsters and taking their stuff that elevates the game.

Futurama, Matt Groening et al

I collected the entire series this year on DVD. It is one of the few television shows I actually enjoy watching.

Hellboy (the movie by Guillermo del Toro or the comic by Mike Mignola)

The film was great up until the very end, when it becomes only good, but I still recommend it. Mignola’s work on the comic is even better.

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Matthew Rossi is the author of Things That Never Were (MonkeyBrain, 2003). Forthcoming work is scheduled to appear in Postscripts and in a new collection, Bottled Demons.