September 30, 2020
There are two ways to consider Chris Carter’s Millennium, according to most people. One is to see it as an unofficial spin-off from The X-Files that ended up cancelled after it was never quite able either to find or to maintain its stylistic “feet” through its increasingly unpopular three seasons; the other is to see it as a show which…
September 15, 2020
Editor’s Note: content warning for violence, abuse, and potentially triggering subject matter. Marrying a vampire is a terrible idea. Just ask Dracula’s brides. As much as I love Bram Stoker’s novel, most of Dracula’s “romantic” encounters are nonconsensual. He uses mesmerism or some other form of mind control to seduce his prey and then he uses the bodies of his…
August 25, 2020
After the jam-packed twisty delight that was season two of Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal, complicated as a Moebius strip ourobouros, season three — the climax of this luxuriant and decadent meal — can seem, at first glance, almost schizophrenic. On revisitation, the best way to approach it may be as two mini-seasons shoved into a single package, stuck together by Fuller’s…
July 28, 2020
Season Two of Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal begins with Will Graham (Hugh Dancy) — framed as the Copycat Killer by Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen), thus driving a wedge between Will and everyone (else) who loves him — imprisoned under the watch of Dr. Frederick Chilton (Raúl Esparza) in the Baltimore State Asylum for the Criminally Insane. There he stands either…
June 30, 2020
This month, all three seasons of Bryan Fuller’s Hannibal re-appeared on Netflix, roughly five years after the show’s cancellation. To say it’s been one of the few uplifting moments for me thus far in 2020 probably says a lot about what sort of person I am, but then again, I’ve lived with Thomas Harris’s creations for longer than I’ve lived…
May 14, 2020
Here at Speculative Chic, we talk a lot about different speculative genres, often science fiction, fantasy, and horror. Within these genres, there are many different permutations. Consider epic fantasy, urban fantasy, historical fantasy. Also, military science fiction, space opera, along with hard and soft science fiction. Psychological horror, hack and slash, ghost stories, and haunted house stories. There are probably…
May 12, 2020
How is everyone’s quarantine going? Mine’s been fine. I’ve played three video games straight through, read nine books, and watched at least 10 seasons of tv shows. So at least I’ve been kind of productive? If we call media consumption such. A lot of what I’ve mentally ingested these past couple of months has been comfort food, things I know…
May 6, 2020
So I’m spending more time hanging out at home these days, and more time seeking serious distraction from real-world worries, as one does. Just before the shelter-in-place order came down, I had (thankfully) stopped by the library and picked up a slew of (frankly disappointing!) books, and one wildcard TV choice: season 1 of Killjoys. Why Killjoys? Hannah John-Kamen. I’ve…
April 14, 2020
Here’s the long and short of what you need to know about this new Star Trek series: I put the title of this article at the top of the page, thought about the finale I just finished watching last night, and started crying again a little bit. Is it a little bit fan service? Yes. Does the fan service sometimes…
March 26, 2020
Editor’s Note: content warning for violence, abuse, and potentially triggering subject matter. Dating isn’t easy. Anyone who tells you that it is, is either insane or simply not self-aware enough to see all of the potential pitfalls. Seeking a suitable mate for long-term monogamy isn’t nearly as simple a task as the romance novels and movies make it out to…