Short Sorcery: C.L. Moore’s “Shambleau”
Oct15

Short Sorcery: C.L. Moore’s “Shambleau”

Short Sorcery: C.L. Moore’s “Shambleau”by Bill Ward“And this conflict and knowledge, this mingling of rapture and revulsion all took place in the flashing of a moment while the scarlet worms coiled and crawled upon him, sending deep, obscene tremors of that infinite pleasure into every atom . . . And he could not stir in that slimy, ecstatic embrace—and a weakness was flooding that grew deeper after each succeeding wave of intense...

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Short Sorcery: Fritz Leiber’s “Thieves’ House”
Sep28

Short Sorcery: Fritz Leiber’s “Thieves’ House”

Short Sorcery: Fritz Leiber’s “Thieves’ House”by Bill WardMore than any other classic sword-and-sorcery series, Fritz Leiber’s Lankhmar tales of Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser are associated with thievery. It isn’t just that the twain, the dynamic duo of tall Northerner Fafhrd and shifty little Mouser, are themselves consummate rogues of wild daring and tremendous fame, but that the world they usually inhabit, the crazy mazey...

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Short Sorcery: Clark Ashton Smith’s “The Seven Geases”
Aug13

Short Sorcery: Clark Ashton Smith’s “The Seven Geases”

Short Sorcery: Clark Ashton Smith’s “The Seven Geases”by Bill WardHearken back to one fine day in prehistoric Hyperborea as the proud hunting party of Lord Ralibar Vooz, “high magistrate of Commoriom and third cousin to King Homquat,” scours the flanks of Mount Voormithadreth in the Eiglophian Range for rare quarry. Lesser sportsman might content themselves with the sabertooth cats that stalk the jungle girding the great...

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