The Ricochet Reviewer: Books, Movies, and Comics

The Best American Short Stories 1988 edited by Mark Helprin series editor: Shannon Ravenel I can't agree with guest editor Mark Helprin on all of his choices in this edition of the venerable anthology series (such as Robert Lacy's "The Natural Father"), but there is certainly some excellent reading here.  Mark Helprin For my money, the highlights are "Entrechat," by Edith Milton and "The Water-Faucet Vision," by Gish Jen. Gish Jen

by Stephen King This is a fine collection of four novellas from Stephen King.  Stephen King The best, "Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption" and "The Body," have both been adapted as films that can justifiably be regarded as modern classics ("The Shawshank Redemption" and "Stand by Me," respectively).  These two stories are also early examples of King stepping outside the genre boundaries within which he had become such a literary megastar.  Stephen King promoting Creepshow on The David Letterman Show Of the remaining stories, "Apt Pupil" is also a good tale and much more in line with King's usual frightening fare.  "The Breathing Method" is an odd duck, an interesting misfire.  The meat of the story makes for a suitably creepy episode, and the framing story, which features a group of old men who tell each other scary stories in an otherworldly mansion, whetted my appetite for more information about this setting.  Howeve...

by Eric Ambler A writer of detective fiction becomes fascinated by the sketchy details surrounding the life of a real criminal and decides to learn the truth for himself as a professional, intellectual exercise.  He will learn far more than he bargained for.  Though it builds slowly, lacking a real sense of danger for much of its length, Eric Ambler's fine writing and deft character work held my interest, as did his abilities as a guide through Europe on the eve of World War II. Eric Ambler "Dimitrios' Mask" (Korean) "Double-Faced Devil" (Chinese) "Mask for Dimitrios" (Serbian) "The Mask of Dimitrios" (Dutch) "Dimitrios' Mask" (Danish) "Coffin for Dimitrios" (Persian) "Dimitrios Mask" (Polish) "In the Coffin for Dimitrios" (Romanian) "The Masks of Dimitrios" (German) "A Coffin for Dimitrios of Izmir" (Turkish) "The Mask of Dimitrios" (Greek) "The Mask of Dimitr...

by Robert E. Howard, L. Sprague de Camp, and Lin Carter Robert E. Howard's famous barbarian hero journeys among the nations of the Hyborian Age in this anthology of stories, seeking his fortune and reveling in bloody adventure.  "Conan" (French) I devoured several of these anthologies back when I was in junior high school and was pleasantly surprised to see how well they hold up now.  "Conan: Origin of a Legend" (Spanish) Howard's prose is muscular and direct, his characters brutal and equally direct, as befits the world in which they live.  Robert E. Howard I was surprised that Conan is actually a secondary character in some of the original stories, such as "The God in the Bowl," a Sherlockian tale with the Cimmerian as one of the suspects.  "Conan" (Swedish) Although all of the tales written by Howard, either whole or in part, are strong, the pastiches produced by Lin Carter and L. Sprague de Camp are weak.  Lin Carter The lengthy ...

Director: Henry Selick  Writers: Tim Burton, Michael McDowell, Caroline Thompson Stars: Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara, William Hickey, Glenn Shadix, Paul Reubens, Ken Page Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloweentown, dissatisfied with his lot in life, decides to take over Christmas in order to bring shrieks of joy rather than terror to the people of the world. He enlists the twisted denizens of his domain in his cause and it is rather touching to see their inadequate but sincere attempts to understand what brings delight to ordinary people. As part of the plan, Santa is kidnapped, and the evil Oogie Boogie takes advantage of the situation to attempt a take-over of Halloweentown for himself. This is a very amusing story told through the art of stop-motion animation.  The visuals are eye-popping, and I am glad that artists like director Henry Selick are keeping the form alive in the face of the onslaught of computer animation. Danny Elfman's music is ...