Author: thomasstigwikman

My name is Thomas Wikman. I am a software/robotics engineer with a background in physics. I am currently retired. I took early retirement. I am a dog lover, and especially a Leonberger lover, a home brewer, craft beer enthusiast, I’m learning French, and I am an avid reader. I live in Dallas, Texas, but I am originally from Sweden. I am married to Claudia, and we have three children. I have two blogs. The first feature the crazy adventures of our Leonberger Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle as well as information on Leonbergers. The second blog, superfactful, feature information and facts I think are very interesting. With this blog I would like to create a list of facts that are accepted as true among the experts of the field and yet disputed amongst the public or highly surprising. These facts are special and in lieu of a better word I call them super-facts.

Horror at the Observatory

The focus of this blog is Leonbergers but sometimes I post about books that are not about Leonbergers but that I want to promote. Halloween is over but I would like to promote a great thriller or horror story taking place at an astronomical observatory in New Mexico, The Astronomer’s Crypt by David Lee Summers. It is an action packed and fun story that is not as heavy as the previous book I reviewed (Mr. B. Gone).

  • Paperback –  Publisher : Hadrosaur Press (June 2, 2020), ISBN-10 : 1885093918, ISBN-13 : 978-1885093912, 256 pages, Item Weight : 11.7 ounces, Dimensions : 5.5 x 0.64 x 8.5 inches, it cost  $12.95 on US Amazon. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.
  • Kindle –  Publisher : Hadrosaur Press; 2nd edition (June 2, 2020), ASIN : B089LRV6BC, 258 pages, it costs $3.99 on US Amazon. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.
Complex machinery, a telescope, and a creature looking like a cross between an owl and a velociraptor.
Front cover of The Astronomer’s Crypt. Click on the image to go to the Amazon page for the paperback version of the book.

Amazon’s description of the book

Two years ago on a stormy night, in the dead of winter, Mike Teter experienced something that would change his life forever. Mike was a telescope operator at the world renowned Carson Peak Observatory in New Mexico. We won’t tell you what he saw that night on the mountain nor what happened afterward on a dark stretch of highway, because it would haunt you just as it has haunted Mike. But what we will tell you is that Mike is back at Carson Peak. And what he witnessed that night two years ago is about to become a reality…

This is my Amazon five-star review for The Astronomer’s Crypt by David Lee Summers

An Intense and Fun Horror Thriller Taking Place in an Astronomical Observatory

The protagonist Mike Teter is a telescope operator at a fictitious observatory in New Mexico, the Carson Peak observatory. The Carson Peak observatory features two large buildings hosting a 5-meter and a 2.5-meter telescope. It is located on sacred land adjacent to an Apache reservation. There are caves nearby that host ancient sacred artifacts that should not be removed from the caves. The observatory is a labyrinthine and dangerous place that appears to be haunted. There are long corridors and hidden rooms. The observatory has a history of deadly accidents. For example, a Dr. Burroughs and a graduate student had been killed there.

One day Mike has what seems to be hallucinations. A large ancient evil creature looking like a mix of a dinosaur and a bird appears before him, and he encounters a talking coyote that gives him a warning about the sacred portals, he sees the ghost of Dr. Burroughs, and he witnesses the gruesome death of his friend the Astronomer Dr. Wallerstein. He’s had enough and he quit his job only to return to it at a later time. He thought that the things he saw were just nerves. However, this time things really go amiss. A creepy but wealthy lawyer by name of Mr. Vassago is trying to acquire sacred artifacts. There are drug cartel thugs, greedy adventurers, freak accidents, severe storms, hostage situations, ghosts, and ancient evil monsters. Mike Teter is faced with a very complicated and nightmarish situation.

The story is action packed, suspenseful and features a lot of plot twists. The characters are well-developed, relatable and multi-layered. The observatory is realistically described, and it is obvious that the author is very familiar with astronomical observatories. As you read this book you will learn something about observatories as well as the job of telescope operators. The author skillfully creates a chilling scenery of a dark haunted observatory, which brought my imagination to the spaceship in the movie Alien. It is obvious that the author is highly intelligent. A lot of things happened in just a few pages, and it was difficult to put the book down. It is one of the most intense and fun horror thrillers I’ve ever read, and I highly recommend it.

The back cover is black and red and has a description of the book.
Back cover of The Astronomer’s Crypt. Click on the image to go to the Amazon page for the kindle version of the book.

About the Author

David Lee Summers is an author, editor and astronomer living somewhere between the western and final frontiers in Southern New Mexico. He is the author of twelve novels. His short stories and poems have appeared in numerous magazines including Cemetery Dance, Realms of Fantasy, Star*Line, and The Santa Clara Review.

David also edited Tales of the Talisman Magazine for ten years. When he’s not writing, he operates telescopes at Kitt Peak National Observatory.

Click here to visit his website

Click here to visit his blog

Warning Danger the Memoirs of a Demon

The focus of this blog is Leonbergers but sometimes I post about books that are not about Leonbergers but that I want to promote. Since it is Halloween, I decided to post a review for one of the most disturbing horror books that I’ve ever read. The book is Mister B Gone by Clive Barker, and it is the memoirs of a Demon. If “Clive Barker” does not ring a bell, his novel Hellbound Heart was the foundation for the Hellraiser series of eleven movies (with Pinhead). Clive Barker’s books have spawned dozens of movies.

Warning

First a warning. As you read this book a demon from hell will start speaking to you inside your head. It happens to everybody reading this book. The book also contains information about good and evil not meant for humans. Ask yourself, do you really want to know? In fact, the first words of the book are “Burn this book. Go on. Quickly, while there’s still time. Don’t look at another word. Did you hear me? Not. One. More. Word.”

Unlike many other books by Clive Barker, this book is not about gore and the macabre. It is not disgusting. However, it is very creepy. The narrator of the story is a demon from hell by the name of Jakabok Botch. He is evil and he eats babies, but he’s got a lot of interesting things to say. The question is whether you can stomach it. I should say I got the hardcover version.

  • Paperback –  Harper Perennial; Reprint edition (October 21, 2008), ISBN-10 : 0061562491, ISBN-13 : 978-0061562495, 248 pages, Item Weight : 10.4 ounces, Dimensions : 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches, it cost  $ 14.39 on US Amazon. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.
  • Hardcover –  HarperCollins; First Edition (October 30, 2007), ISBN-10 : 0060182989, ISBN-13 : 978-0060182984, 256 pages, Item Weight : 1.1 pounds, Dimensions : 5.5 x 0.95 x 8.25 inches, it costs $17.03 on US Amazon. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.
  • Kindle –  Publisher : HarperCollins e-books; Reprint edition (October 13, 2009), ASIN : B000W9661Q, 258 pages, it costs $1.99 on US Amazon. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.
  • Audio –  ASIN : B000Y4RRZ8, Narrator : Doug Bradley, Listening Length : 6 hours 28 minutes, it costs $0.99 on US Amazon. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.
Black background, title and author with a small demon face in the middle.
Front cover of Mister B. Gone. Click on the image to go to the Amazon page for the paperback version of the book.

Amazon’s description of the book

From Clive Barker, the great master of horror and the macabre, comes a brilliant and truly unsettling tour de force of the supernatural—a terrifying work that escorts the reader on an intimate and revelatory journey to uncover the shocking truth of the battle between Good and Evil.

“Burn this book!”

So warns Jakerbok, the spellbinding narrator of this fabulously original “memoir,” a tale of good and evil deliberately “lost” for nearly six hundred years. Jakerbok is no ordinary soul; he is a minion of hell with a terrifying plan to cast the world into darkness and despair—a plan thwarted by a young apprentice of Johannes Gutenberg who buried the one and only copy of this damnable manuscript that his master printed in 1438.

Compelling and direct, Jakerbok shares the secrets of his life, going back centuries to recall the events that shaped his childhood, including the traumas he suffered at the hands of his parents, super demons themselves. He explains how he rose from “minor” to “major” demon status, and gleefully reveals his nefarious plot to “invade” the minds and hearts of unwitting humans everywhere thanks to the ingenious Gutenberg and his invention. “Burn this book!” he advises throughout—a taunt, a warning, and a command that will actually unleash the evil with which he has hidden in every word and every page, infusing the very ink and paper upon which they are printed.

Inventive and irresistible, Mister B. Good reaffirms Clive Barker is one of our most brilliant and original voices, an artist with a keen insight into mysteries deep within the human heart.

Below is my review written for this blog post. I have not yet written a review for Amazon.

This is a quite unique book. It is both a story about a demon and a disturbing conversation with that demon. The demon,  Jakabok Botch, escaped the ninth circle of Hell in the 14th century. He has been with us ever since and if you buy this book and read it, he will be with you too. Clive Barker has made sure, through his writing style, that you will hear the demon’s voice. He will be much closer to you than you could guess. Jakabok Botch is ugly, severely burned, he has two tails, he hates mankind, and he likes to take warm baths in the fresh blood of infants. He had a hellish childhood so despite him raising hell on earth and being so cruel, you also feel sorry for the demon, and you sort of start liking him too, like a beast you feel close too.

In the book there are several requests to stop reading the book and burn it instead. This may seem odd, but it sets the tone for the book. The book tells a strange and disturbing  but good story. It is creepy as well as philosophical. The demon, Jakabok Botch, asks the reader at some point why demons are condemned to hell, but humans are given a chance to escape hell, when humans can be just as evil. The demon had just witnessed people in the 14th century lustfully murder and torture each other, including burning pregnant women as witches. He thinks he can’t do any worse himself, so why shouldn’t all humans be with him in hell. No wonder he hates humans. What choices do we have, and what choices do demons have?

An episode in the book that I found to be quite intriguing was the war and the subsequent negotiation between the angels of heaven and the demons of hell over the written word at the time and place of Gutenberg’s invention. This event determined our future, and this book also has a in this history.

I found the book to be interesting and creative. Clive Barker’s imagination is amazing. The comparisons between the heartless barbarism of people in less enlightened times, as well as today, and that of demons in hell were enlightening. Is earth just like another circle of hell in which we are our own demons? I think this book was an attempt by Clive Barker to reach a wider audience. A lot of people cannot stomach his gory, macabre and often disgusting stories. This book did not have much of that. Instead, it focused on maximizing the creepiness factor. Therefore, I highly recommend this book to horror fans, even those who are turned off by the gore in Clive Barkers more typical stories. However, be aware, it is very creepy, and you will hear the voice of a demon in your head.

The back cover is black with a small demon face.
Back cover of Mister B. Gone. Click on the image to go to the Amazon page for the hardcover version of the book.

Happy Halloween

Describe a Family Member

Today’s writing prompt is “Describe a Family Member”. This family member is good looking, fun to be around, and he is a loving character. He loves to play ball, he is very curious, and he loves to eat. However, he is anxious and easily frightened and he can also be a bit of an a-hole, and he hates dogs and cats. Can you guess which family member he is?

Daily writing prompt
Describe a family member.
View all responses
The picture shows a woman (mother) and a man (father) and their daughter. Planet Hollywood is in the background.
Three family members, but there are more of us.
Rollo as a puppy peering out from behind a sofa chair.
The answer is Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd.

You may ask yourself, but he is a dog, how can he hate dogs and cats? Good question, but I don’t think he knows he is a dog. I think he thinks he is a little person. He prefers human company. He got along well with our late Leonberger Bronco and our pug Daisy, but he hates every other dog and all cats.

Rollo holding a soccer ball with his paw.
Rollo loves rolling and chasing balls.
Rollo biting and pulling our Leonberger Bronco’s tail.
As I mentioned, he can be a bit of an a-hole.
Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd is sitting in a pink stroller.
As mentioned, Rollo is anxious and easily frightened. Daisy’s stroller is a good thing to sit in for such occasions.
Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd is sitting on the floor. He is wearing a big blue cone.
Today and the last few days Rollo has been wearing a cone. He had to extract a tooth on Thursday.

Screams Waxahachie

Last Saturday my wife and I and our daughter visited Screams. It is something we tend to do around every Halloween. Screams is the world’s largest Halloween theme park. It is located half an hour south of Dallas in a small town called Waxahachie. The park features a haunted cemetery, five haunted houses, a horror museum, games, live shows, horror movies, dozens of eateries, restaurants and pubs, and other entertainment. There are a lot of dressed up actors walking around and scaring people. You are not allowed to dress up yourself as that can cause confusion. The actors will never touch you, but you can’t guarantee that there will not be problems if visitors are allowed to be dressed up as well.

Claudia dressed in black and blue jeans on my right. I am wearing dark blue and blue jeans. We are sitting in front of dozens of Jack’O Lanterns
My wife Claudia and me at Screams. I am holding a milk stout from Left Hand Brewing in my left hand (where else).
Claudia and our daughter is standing inside a long tunnel lit my colorful lights.
My wife Claudia and our daughter in the spooky tunnel.

At Screams, there are several places to buy a drink or get something to eat. However, in the middle of the park there is a dedicated area with restaurants and several places where you can buy Mexican food, Greek food, corn dogs, turkey legs, sausages, hot dogs, hamburgers, funnel cake, desserts, beers of various kinds including craft beer, German beer, cocktails and other drinks. On each side of this area there are covered seating areas. The restaurant naturally has its own indoor seating area.

The photos show two spooky props lit up by colorful lights. They are standing in the corner of the playground.
A portion of a children’s playground. It had a large inflatable (not shown). In the background is an eating area for several restaurants and bars.
The image shows a female zombie dressed in brown.
A portion of the haunted cemetery. It was dark and it was very difficult to take photos with my phone camera unless the objects were nearby.
A dimly lit castle that looks like the Bran castle in Transylvania.
The haunted castle is one of the five haunted houses. It is very big and features several floors. It might be the biggest haunted house I’ve been to.

It is a fun place to visit even if you don’t like haunted houses. There are a lot of less extreme entertainment to choose from.

Another spooky thing happened this evening. I took a swim in my in-law’s swimming pool (not heated so a bit cool). As I was swimming, an owl flew right above my head and sat down in a nearby palm tree and just sat there and stared at me. As I continued swimming I was attacked by this big black thing. I thought it was maybe a big insect or a black bird, and I thought it tried to bite me. Then I realized it was a leaf. I decided to take a photo of the owl who was still staring at me. So, I went inside the house to get my phone. As I came back out and approached the owl, he kept staring at me. In should have taken a photo at this point but I kept getting closer to the owl and unfortunately it flew off before I could take a photo. The photo below from pexels will do.

The incidence was a little bit creepy because according to Scandinavian folklore an owl that flies right above you or in front of you is a bad omen. Typically, someone will die. My grandmother died the day an owl flew in front of my dad. Anyway, if I’ll make another post tomorrow, you’ll know that I am still alive.

Close up of owl with bright yellow eyes.
Owl from pexels pixabay.

Happy Halloween

NBC Interviewed Me

Last Friday I got a few phone calls from NBC Universal. NBC Universal is a large media company that is a merger between NBC news and Universal Studios. I did not expect a phone call from them and since I am getting a lot of spam calls, I assumed it was bogus, so I ignored them. However, unlike most spammers they eventually left a message, which I listened to during the weekend. They said that they had been reading my Leonberger blog and were interested in a post that I had made about the tornado that ripped through Dallas on October 20, 2019. They wanted to interview me and asked for permission to use a few of my photos. I can add it was not my latest tornado post but a previous one.

A photo of my TV above the fireplace. I am on the TV screen.
Seeing myself on the TV was a bit surreal. Click on the image to see the interview. My interview starts at 1 minute and 11 seconds.
A photo of my TV above the fireplace. I am on the TV screen.
Here I am with NBC journalist Katie Blake. Click on the image to see the interview. My interview starts at 1 minute and 11 seconds.

I would like to stress that there are thousands of people whom they could have interviewed. Thousands of people who probably would have been better candidates. What made all the difference was the post I made on my blog. Therefore, fellow bloggers, perhaps this is an example of the fact that blogs bring attention. By the way, the photos below were taken with my old Samsung Galaxy S8+ phone.

A neighbor’s house with the roof ripped off.
NBC used this photo. A neighbor’s house the morning of October 21st, 2019. Again, click on the image to see the interview.
My wife Claudia is walking among the debris in my in-law’s house.
NBC used this photo as well. Inside Claudia’s (my wife) parents’ house. This was the morning after. In the photo we are walking into their house to check on them (that’s my wife). Again, click on the image to see the interview.

Five Years After the Dallas Tornado of October 20 2019

Today, October 20, 2024, is the 5-year anniversary of the EF3 Tornado that ravaged our neighborhood. Our chimney was smashed by a piece of concrete flying off a neighbor’s house, our roof was damaged and needed to be replaced, our garage door was destroyed, and the wiring and pipes in the attic were destroyed. In addition, our fence was damaged, and my grill flew across the yard. The cost of the repairs was $50,000.00. However, we were lucky compared to many of our neighbors whose houses were destroyed.

A neighbor’s house with the roof ripped off.
A neighbor’s house the morning of October 21st, 2019.
Debris on the street from a neighbor’s destroyed house.
Another neighbor’s house. This house was about 100 yards from our house. It took a direct hit from the tornado.

The house of my wife’s parents was more severely damaged than our house. The wind from the Tornado lifted my 89-year-old father-in-law up in the air and he was hit by a broken marble table that injured his back. He had a sore that was about one foot long. He did not go to the hospital. The school where our boys used to go, St. Marks School of Texas, was badly damaged and the walls of the gymnasium blew away. The neighborhood looked terrible afterwards.

My wife Claudia is walking among the debris in my in-laws house.
Inside Claudia’s parents’ house. This was the morning after. We are walking into their house to check on them (that’s my wife).

It was also a tough time for our Leonberger dog Bronco. He was more than 12 years old, which is old for a Leonberger, and he had various age-related illnesses. Earlier in October he had amputated a toe due to a type of cancer called squamous cell carcinoma. One week after that we discovered a large deep ulcerous sore on the same paw a few inches above the surgical scar. Fortunately, it was not cancerous, as we first thought, but we would have to treat this sore in addition to nursing him back from his amputation. In addition, he also had the first signs of geriatric-onset laryngeal paralysis polyneuropathy (or GOLPP).

Our Leonberger Bronco is in the background. Our pug Daisy is sitting on a chair in the kitchen.
Bronco our Leonberger and Daisy our Pug the evening before the big storm. None of us suspected what was about to happen.

We lost power for four days due to the tornado and about one week after the tornado Bronco had a congestive heart failure. He eventually recovered but October 2019 was a very difficult month for him.

Bronco is laying on the ground facing the broken fence. He has a plastic bag around his bandage.
Bronco had just had a toe amputation. He did not blow down our fence.
Mini-Australian Shepherd standing guard over medical equipment next to his big brother the large Leonberger Bronco.
We had to change Bronco’s bandages every now and then but Rollo, our mini–Australian Shepherd made sure we did it right.
Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd is on the left and Bronco our Leonberger is on the right. He is wearing a bandage on his back leg.
Bronco and Rollo a few days after the Tornado.

I remember October 20, 2019, as if it was yesterday. I was sitting outside in my backyard drinking my favorite SMASH IPA, Yellow Rose, from Lone Pint, Texas, ABV 6.8%. IPA stands for India Pale Ale, a type of beer that contains a lot of hops. SMASH IPA is an IPA brewed with one type of Malts and one type of Hops (Single Malt, Single Hop). The single hop in this case is Mosaic. My phone started making a loud sound. It was an alarm announcing a tornado warning and, in the distance, I could hear a faint tornado siren. At first, I thought it was nothing but when I saw the lightning approaching, I decided to go inside. Two minutes later a hailstorm made things very loud, the wind was strong, and the house shook, and then we heard a loud explosion. That was a concrete block that had smashed our chimney.

A photo of a beer glass next to a can of Yellow Rose IPA. The beer label shows a young woman in a yellow and green outfit.
I was sitting in my backyard drinking Yellow Rose my favorite SMASH IPA, not knowing that a tornado was advancing down the street nearby.

After the wind had died down a bit, I opened the door to the backyard, and what I saw shocked me. My gas grill had flown across the patio. There were bricks and pieces of concrete all over the patio and the lawn. There was a big sheet of metal lying on the patio. Big tree branches covered the lawn. There was debris everywhere. We had also lost power. It turns out that the EF3 tornado had gone through our neighborhood and passed within fifty to one hundred yards of our house.

This house is totally destroyed.
Another neighbor’s house (a bit further away from us).

My wife Claudia asked me to go check on her parents. I drove about 50-100 yards when a neighbor’s roof lying across the road stopped me. I turned around but this time I was stopped by a large pile of trees lying across the street. So, I started walking, but this time I was stopped by a group of firemen telling me that it was too dangerous to be outside. They told me to go back home, and I did.

The entire top of this house is gone.
This is the next-door neighbor of Claudia’s (my wife) parents.

I can add that we got some unexpected help from our congressman at the time, Colin Allred, congressional district 32. My wife left the neighborhood in her car, but the police would not let anyone back in. This made it difficult to, for example, go shopping. I complained about this on Colin Allred’s Facebook page and within hours I received an email from Colin Allred’s legislative director (Judith). They had contacted city hall and the police and now the police would allow residents back in the neighborhood as long as they could show ID. Colin Allred’s office had my email from a previous communication. I did not leave that with my Facebook comment. My wife was happy since she now could go shopping.

Below are some additional photos that I took, showing the carnage in the neighborhood.

The Gap is a big store, but it had the entire backside ripped off.
The remains of the Gap, a store at a nearby shopping center.
The house is completely flattened. A large tree is destroyed. It has no branches.
Destroyed house in the neighborhood.
Crashed cars and destroyed stores.
View of the shopping center in our neighborhood.
The yellow school bus is wrapped around a tree.
This was a school bus belonging to the school where my boys went.
Trees are ripped up, vehicles are crushed.
Streetview from the neighborhood.
A big nice-looking house destroyed by a tornado.
Another house in the neighborhood.
A photo taken from the inside of a destroyed office.
The remains of the veterinary clinic where we used to take our dogs. Luckily there were no animals staying overnight at this time.
A photo of severely damaged house. The roof is lying in the street.
Our street, just two/three houses down from us.

Featured on Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

I am so happy to announce that Sally Cronin is kindly featuring my book on her smorgasbord blog. You can read the excerpt from my book on her blog. I invite you all visit Smorgasbord Book Promotions 2024. Comments will be closed here. Leave all comments over there. Thank you so much.

Smorgasbord Book Promotions 2024 – Share an Excerpt – #Doglovers – The Life and Times of Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle: Stories and Tips from Thirteen Years with a Leonberger by Thomas Wikman

A Review Of Books of Blood Volume 1 to 3

The focus of this blog is Leonbergers but sometimes I post about books that are not about Leonbergers but that I want to promote. Since Halloween is coming up, I decided to post a review for one of the most disturbing horror books that I’ve ever read, Books of Blood. Books of Blood is an anthology divided into six volumes. This book is volume one to three. If “Clive Barker” does not ring a bell, his novel Hellbound Heart was the foundation for the Hellraiser series of eleven movies (with Pinhead). Books of Blood spawned seven movies. I read the paperback version.

I should mention that the stories in Books of Blood are very imaginative but disturbing and macabre and should not be read by children, and perhaps not even by young adults. There are bizarre depictions of violent deaths as well as some sexual themes. Other than demons, Clive Barker’s books do not include many standard horror characters such as vampires or zombies, and his stories also tend to be unique.

  • Paperback –  Published October 1, 1998, by Berkley, ISBN-10 : 0425165582, ISBN-13 : 978-0425165584, 507 pages, Item Weight : 1.1 pounds, Dimensions : 6 x 1.1 x 9 inches, it cost  $13.13 on US Amazon. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.
  • Hardcover –  Published January 1, 1999, by Little, Brown, ISBN-10 : 0316853674, ISBN-13 : 978-0316853675, 512 pages, Item Weight : 1.26 pounds, it costs $32.10 on US Amazon. Click here to order it from Amazon.com.
Dark grey cover with demons and humans in a hellish mix.
Front cover of Books of Blood Volume 1-3. Click on the image to go to the Amazon page for the paperback version of the book.

Amazon’s description of the book

Rediscover the true meaning of fear in this collection of horror stories from New York Times bestselling author Clive Barker.

“The most provocative tales of terror ever published.”—The Washington Post

Everybody is a book of blood; wherever we’re opened, we’re red…

With the publication of Books of Blood, Clive Barker became an overnight literary sensation. His tour de force collection of brilliantly disturbing tales demonstrated a genius for dark invention that rivaled Poe and Sade. He was hailed by Stephen King as “the future of horror,” and won both the British and World Fantasy Awards.

Now, with his numerous bestsellers, graphic novels, and hit movies like the Hellraiser films, Clive Barker has become an industry unto himself. It is his powerful writing style and arresting imagery that have made Books of Blood a classic—and Clive Barker a cult phenomenon.

Below is my review written for this blog post. I have not yet written a review for Amazon.

Simon McNeal is a quack pretending to be a medium. He is pretending to channel the spirits in a house that he claims is haunted. Unbeknownst to Simon, the house is haunted for real, and it is located on the highway of the dead and haunted by thousands of spirits. His fakery angers the spirits of the dead who have real stories to tell, horrific stories. They capture him and carve their stories into his skin using sharp little needles. These stories constitute the rest of the book. The concept of the Books of Blood brings to mind Ray Bradbury’s the Illustrated Man whose skin also told stories but in the form of pictures.

This book features 16 stories, and as I mentioned, are the foundation for several movies including Candyman, Lord of Illusions, Dread, Rawhead Rex, and Midnight Meat Train. The stories are disturbing and sometimes gross and they are gloomy and sad. In one story “Son of Celluloid”, a cancer tumor survives its host and gains sentience as well as psychic powers. It attacks people and implants bizarre hallucinations in people’s minds, leading to some very strange and gruesome deaths.

In another story “Jacqueline Ess: Her Will and Testament”, a woman acquires extremely powerful telekinetic powers after a suicide attempt. After Jacqueline’s husband admits to an affair, which he blames on her gloomy personality in the same breath, she gets so upset that she screams at him to “shut up”, which causes him to bite his own tongue off. This gives her ideas, and she decides to take revenge on bad men. Working as a prostitute she lures men to their own death. Let’s just say there is not much left of them when she is done with them, thus no crime to investigate.

Clive Barker mixes the gory, the disgusting and the brutal with good story telling. His imagination is macabre but amazing. Clive Barker uses vivid depictions and our fear of pain and death, and the fear of abandonment, and the losing of our humanity, to create dread and fear as we read these short stories. Books of Blood is a collection of stories for real horror fans, and it may not be for those looking for more lighthearted horror. For that we have Stephen King. They are both great story tellers, but Clive Barker pushes the macabre further than Stephen King does, and his stories are darker and less hopeful. I highly recommend Books of Blood to real horror fans but maybe not to everyone.

The back cover has the Amazon description of the book and a photo of Clive Barker.
Back cover of Books of Blood Volume 1-3. Click on the image to go to the Amazon page for the hardcover version of the book.

Rollo Six Years Old

Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd turned six years old on October 12, 2024. However, we were at a wedding in Chicago, so we had to miss his birthday. We celebrated when we came home. In the past we’ve put a funny birthday hat on him. Unfortunately, he hates hats so this time I took pictures without a hat. To celebrate Rollo’s birthday, I am posting 20 photos I took of Rollo through the years, including some with our late Leonberger Bronco. If you’ve been following my blog, you will have seen many of these photos already but not all of them, certainly not the ones I just took.

The photo shows a mini-Australian Shepherd eating a small cupcake from someone’s hand.
Rollo eating a pupcake from our daughter’s hand. A pupcake is a cupcake for dogs.
The photo shows a mini-Australian Shepherd with his mouth close to a piece of bread.
Rollo reaching for a piece of a pupcake on the sofa.
A mini-Australian Shepherd wearing a blue party hat. He is not looking happy.
This is an old photo from his fourth birthday. He is unhappy with the hat.
On the left there is a big Leonberger dog bending his head down to sniff a small mini-Australian Shepherd lying on the grass.
Rollo almost six years ago. He had just arrived at our house. Our Leonberger Bronco is welcoming Rollo.
Our mini-Australian Shepherd is lying on the grass and looking into the camera.
Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd puppy.
A Leonberger dog is standing behind a small mini-Australian Shepherd puppy. The photo is taken from a kitchen.
Our Leonberger Bronco with little Rollo.
A mini-Australian Shepherd puppy lying on a blanket and looking into the camera.
Close up of Rollo as a puppy.
The photo shows a mini-Australian Shepherd puppy biting his harness. He is being held by our daughter and he is looking straight into the camera.
Rollo on his first walk. It wasn’t really a walk. More like carrying him around the neighborhood.
The photo shows a mini-Australian Shepherd puppy peeking out behind a red sofa and looking straight into the camera.
Rollo peeking out behind the sofa.
The photo shows a mini-Australian Shepherd puppy biting an orange volleyball.
Rollo playing with a volleyball.
The photo shows a mini-Australian Shepherd rolling a soccer ball.
Rollo rolling a soccer ball.
The photo shows a mini-Australian Shepherd biting a Leonberger’s tail.
Rollo frequently bit our Leonberger Bronco’s tail, and he even swung in it like a swing. He climbed all over Bronco. Bronco was very patient with him.
The photo shows a mini-Australian Shepherd looking into the camera. He is next to a chewed-up shoe.
When Rollo was young, he loved chewing shoes. Here the artist is posing with his art.
The photo shows a mini-Australian Shepherd in a playpen with water and toys.
When we left the house we put Rollo in his baby jail for his own protection. We were afraid he would bother Bronco so much that Bronco lost his patience. Rollo ended up loving his baby jail. It was his own special house and no one else was allowed in.
The photo shows a mini-Australian Shepherd standing next to medical equipment and a paw covered by bandage.
When Bronco had a toe amputation and we had to change his bandage every day, Rollo helped out. He was a dog nurse.
The photo shows a mini-Australian Shepherd showing his belly to a large confused Leonberger dog looking into the camera.
Rollo liked to play with Bronco. Here he is asking for a belly rub.
The photo shows a mini-Australian Shepherd and a Pug and young woman in between them petting them both.
Our daughter with our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo and Pug Daisy.
The photo shows a mini-Australian Shepherd sitting in a stroller.
Sometimes there are scary sounds and Rollo wanted to sit in the stroller we bought for our Pug Daisy.
The photo shows a mini-Australian Shepherd on the left and a Leonberger dog on the right.
Two friends.
Daisy tells Rollo : ”On the left is our Pug Daisy and, on the right, our mini-Australian Shepherd Rollo. They are both looking out the window. Rollo do you want to hear a joke?”. Rollo says “OK”. Daisy says “Knock! Knock!”. They both says “Woof! Woof! Woof!”
Daisy our Pug and Rollo are watching something from the window.

Updates to my new Superfactful Blog

Some of you who follow this, my Leonberger blog, know that I have launched a second blog. The goal of my second blog is to create a list of facts or insights that are important and not trivia, known to be true, and yet highly surprising, shocking, amazing, or widely disputed amongst the public but not disputed among the scientists or experts in the relevant fields. I refer to these facts as super-facts, because they are kind of special. However, on this new blog I will also post other fact related posts that I find interesting including non-fiction book reviews.

Image showing a disintegrating brain
Smash your old beliefs with new surprising facts, super facts. Expand your mind. Click on the image to visit the superfactful blog. Shutterstock ID: 1685660680 by MattL_Images

With this post I wanted to highlight some updates I’ve made to my other blog<<Link-1>>. First of all, I am including a short summary in bold at the beginning of all my super-fact posts. That way people who may just want to know what the fact is can read just this summary without having to read all the explanations, background and the evidence for it. Unfortunately, the full posts can get long and complicated sometimes. Below I am giving a couple of examples starting with my latest post “The Strange Worlds of Exo Planets”.

Superfact 13:

Our sun is a star, and it has 8 planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune (as well as comets, asteroids, dwarf planets, etc.). The stars you see when you look up in the sky also have planets. We have identified 5,765 exoplanets (as of July 24th, 2024) but there are billions more in our galaxy. Some exoplanets are similar to Earth, and some are very different from any of the planets in our solar system.

An astronaut is standing on the surface of an alien planet. He is surrounded by giant mushrooms and in the sky, there is a large moon or a planet.
Exoplanet with life Stock Illustration ID: 1524001694 by Dotted Yeti. Click on the image to visit my exoplanet post.

Another example is my second from last post “The United States is a Republic and a Democracy”

Superfact 12:

The United States is both a Republic and a Democracy

My third example is “The Speed of Light In Vacuum Is a Universal Constant”

Superfact 4 :

The speed of light in vacuum is the same for all observers regardless of their speed and the direction in which they are going. It is always c = 299,792,458 meters per second. If you try to catch up to a light beam and travel close to the speed of light the speed of the light beam will still be c = 299,792,458 meters per second compared to you. This is possible because time and space don’t behave like we expect.

Another change that I made is that I improved my list of upcoming super-facts. I made the list the first 50 super-facts list instead of 40 and I changed the list a little bit. This is the new list.

Below is a list of the first 50 super-fact posts

  • (1) We Know That the Earth is Billions of Years Old – click to visit
  • (2) Some Things Cannot be Known – click to visit
  • (3) Economic Externalities Are Spoilers of Free Markets – click to visit
  • (4) The Speed of Light In Vacuum Is a Universal Constant – click to visit
  • (5) Two events may be simultaneous for some but not for others – click to visit
  • (6) Radon Represents our Largest Exposure to Ionizing Radiation – click to visit
  • (7) Poverty and child mortality has been sharply reduced worldwide – click to visit
  • (8) US violent crime nearly cut in half since 1990 – click to visit
  • (9) We are living in relatively peaceful times – click to visit
  • (10) We are Star Dust – click to visit
  • (11) United States Europe and the Pacific Ocean Are Bigger Than You Might Think – click to visit
  • (12) The United States is a Republic and a Democracy – click to visit
  • (13) The Strange Worlds of Exo Planets – click to visit
  • (14) The vastness of space and the beginning of infinity – click to visit
  • (15) The Bizarre Reality of Black Holes – click to visit
  • (16) Wind power is providing more than a quarter of Texas Power – click to visit
  • (17) Wind power is not a major cause of bird death – click to visit
  • (18) We know that global warming is real and is caused by us – click to visit
  • (19) The hockey stick curve is accurate – click to visit
  • (20) EV Cars Indeed Emit Less Carbon Pollution – click to visit
  • (21) Eating local is not necessarily ecological – click to visit
  • (22) Many Popular Actions for the Environment Are Useless – click to visit
  • (23) 10 Times more people died from natural disasters a hundred years ago – click to visit
  • (24) By 2018 the emissions of ozone-depleting gases had fallen by 99.7% – click to visit
  • (25) The United States and Europe are minor contributors to the plastic waste problem – click to visit
  • (26) Developed nations has successfully reduced carbon emissions since 1990’s – click to visit
  • (27) The US is the largest cumulative emitter of carbon – click to visit
  • (28) There are many environmental success stories – click to visit
  • (29) Human behavior initiating a sixth extinction – click to visit
  • (30) Sulphur dioxide pollution has fallen by 95% in the US since the 1970’s – click to visit
  • (31) Entropy Always Increasing Does Not Contradict Evolution – click to visit
  • (32) Early homo sapiens lived at the same time as many other human species – click to visit
  • (33) Evidence for evolution is strong and evidence against it is weak – click to visit
  • (34) We know something about the evolution of whales – click to visit
  • (35) Evolution is a fact – click to visit
  • (36) Modern farming techniques have greatly increased cereal yield per acre – click to visit
  • (37) Animal Biomass has increased Wild Animal Biomass has decreased – click to visit
  • (38) Industrial Farming has condemned billions of animals to brutal and often short lives – click to visit
  • (39) You Choose Before You Know You Do – click to visit
  • (40) GPS uses relativity for accuracy – click to visit
  • (41) An account impersonating you on Facebook does not mean you have been hacked – click to visit
  • (42) Animals display compassion – click to visit
  • (43) We know that homeopathy does not work – click to visit
  • (44) Astrology is not science and lack predictive power – click to visit
  • (45) Vaccines do not cause autism – click to visit
  • (46) Smallpox killed 300 million people in the 20th Century But No One Now – click to visit
  • (47) The Average Lifespan More Than Doubled Since 1800 – click to visit
  • (48) The Butterfly effect – click to visit
  • (49) The Surprising Monty Hall Problem – click to visit
  • (50) The Surprising Double slit experiment – click to visit

I have to admit I don’t have a lot of followers yet on my new blog so feel free to follow. I will divide my time and posts equally between the two blogs, which means that my Leonberger blog will have about half as many posts as usual. I will place book reviews for Leonberger books, poetry, and fiction on my Leonberger blog and anything (fiction and non-fiction) that touches interesting facts on my superfactful blog. I am open to any suggestions for further improvements.