Episode 41: On Speculative Fiction, with Matt Cardin

Episode 41: On Speculative Fiction, with Matt Cardin

Author: SpectreVision Radio February 27, 2019 Duration: 1:00:22
Neil Gaiman wrote, "If literature is the world, then fantasy and horror are twin cities, divided by a river of black water." Flame Tree Publishing underwrites this claim with their recent publication, The Astounding Illustrated History of Fantasy and Horror. The book is a veritable gazetteer of these two cities in the heartland of the imaginal world. Writer and scholar Matt Cardin, founding editor of the marvellous [Teeming Brain](www.teemingbrain.com), wrote a chapter for the book focusing on the books and films of the Sixties and Seventies. In this episode, he joins JF and Phil to discuss the kinship of horror and fantasy, the modern ghettoization of mythopoeic art, the prophetic reach of speculative fiction, and the "cauldron of cultural transformation" that was the Sixties and Seventies. Header Image by Moralist, Wikimedia Commons REFERENCES The Astounding Illustrated History of Fantasy and Horror Matt Cardin's website The Teeming Brain American literary critic S. T. Joshi British writer and scholar Roger Luckhurst Neil Gaiman, introduction to The Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft: Dreams of Terror and Death The concept of "folk psychology" H. P. Lovecraft, "The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath" H. P. Lovecraft, "Through the Gates of the Silver Key" James Curcio, Masks: Bowie and the Artists of Artifice (forthcoming) American author Thomas Ligotti British author Arthur Machen Mary Shelley, Frankenstein Ian McEwen, Enduring Love Weird Studies, Episode 36: On Hyperstition J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion Terry Brooks, The Sword of Shannara Stephen R. Donaldson, The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever Night of the Living Dead (George A. Romero, 1968) The Lord of the Rings animated film (Ralph Bakshi, 1978) Lloyd Alexander, The Chronicles of Prydain Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time The Call of Cthulhu Role-Playing Game (Chaosium) Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Philip Kaufman, 1978) William Irwin Thompson, At the Edge of History Interview with Twilight Zone luminary George Clayton Johnson The Wicker Man (Robin Hardy, 1973) The Omen (Richard Donner, 1976) Stephen King, Salem's Lot Special Guest: Matt Cardin. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At the heart of Weird Studies, a podcast from SpectreVision Radio, you’ll find long-form conversations between Professor Phil Ford and writer J. F. Martel. Their discussions aren’t simple reviews or straightforward analyses; instead, they wander through the tangled undergrowth where art and philosophy meet, giving generous time to concepts that resist easy understanding and to creative works that fracture our ordinary sense of the world. This podcast deliberately lingers in that ambiguous space, treating the “weird” not as a genre but as a particular mode of experience-one that reveals the cracks in what we comfortably assume is real. Each episode feels like joining a deep, meandering dialogue between two friends who are both deeply knowledgeable and endlessly curious, covering a vast terrain that includes literature, film, music, and esoteric thought. It’s a show for anyone who suspects that the most profound truths are often found in the shadows, the anomalies, and the strangely beautiful. As part of the SpectreVision Radio network, which specializes in content that explores the uncanny edges of creativity, Weird Studies builds a unique community of listeners who are eager to think differently. You won’t find pat answers here, but you will encounter compelling questions and a shared sense of exploration that makes each installment a distinctive journey.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 230

Weird Studies
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Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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