World War II is often the go-to historical moment for alternate history novels. But in Jake Arnott's novel House of Rumour it becomes the focal point for a secret history that's stranger and more elaborate than just "What if the Nazis won?" Arnott weaves figures like L. Ron Hubbard and Virginia Woolf into a…
The Croods is a movie that teaches your children to play in traffic
If you have too many children, and want to get rid of a few of them, then you should definitely consider taking them to see The Croods. A movie whose message is: "Run towards danger! Any danger! Preferably without looking first!" Spoilers ahead...
An Alternate History of Doctor Who, in which the Doctor has always…
We've wondered if one of the Doctor's future incarnations might be female, but what would Doctor Who have been like if the Doctor had always been played by a woman? Alasdair Stuart of SciFind has cooked up an alternate history of Doctor Who, positing which actresses might be a match for each of the eleven Doctors, the…
More Famous Historical and Cultural Figures Who Could Become Monster…
This weekend, the grown-up versions of Hansel and Gretel become witch-hunters. They join Abraham Lincoln, who hunted vampires on the big screen a while back. But why stop there? Our historical and cultural landscape is crammed with amazing figures, who could be out there getting some monster fighting done.
In which a Steampunk pioneer returns to the genre for the first time…
James P. Blaylock is recognized as one of the pioneers of the Steampunk literary genre, thanks to novels like Homunculus and Lord Kelvin's Machine. Now at last, he's returning to his Steampunk Langdon St. Ives series with his first full-length novel in two decades: The Aylesford Skull, which comes out tomorrow. And…
Rococopunk is not only sillier than Steampunk, it's also more punk
Where has Rococopunk been all my life? This obstinately silly new trend imagines a world where "the Rococo period never ended, and it had a lovechild with Sid Vicious," according to WonderHowTo's Austin Sirkin. The face makeup looks like something out of Liquid Sky and the costumes have a wonderfully decadant pallette.…
The Finishing School on the Airship, Where They Teach Young Ladies to…
Gail Carriger has won a huge following for her Parasol Protectorate novels — and now she's venturing into young adult fiction, with the highly amusing Finishing School series. Check out an exclusive excerpt from the first book, Etiquette & Espionage, in which young Sophronia learns that her finishing school is teaching…
Tarantino's third alternate history movie will be a much bloodier…
If you didn't get enough cathartic revenge for historical wrongs from Django Unchained, then rejoice. Quentin Tarantino isn't done showing the victims of racial abuse rising up and killing the oppressors. His third alt-history movie, Killer Crow, tells the story of African American soldiers during World War II who go…
Django Unchained: What Kind of Fantasy Is This?
Two years before the Civil War, a freed slave named Django becomes a bounty hunter because he can't think of any job more awesome than killing white guys for money. Wearing anachronistic sunglasses, accompanied by his preternaturally anti-racist white partner Schultz, he shoots his way through the South with one…
Asterix: The Great Unsung Fantasy Hero
When people in the United States talk about great fantasy heroes, it's all Conan, Bilbo, and Harry Potter. Nobody ever talks about the little French dude with the wings on his head. Asterix the Gaul has a huge following in Europe, thanks to decades of adventures in the Roman Empire and the rest of the world. But he's…
