A BRAVE ODDITY

Golem (Piotr Szulkin) 1979. Second Run. Blu Ray.

My usual complaint about mainstream SF cinema is its dearth of ideas, whether they been politically satiric, philosophical or genuinely scientific. Very few films hit you with the power of their imaginative speculation to make you think and doubt. 

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PAGANISM PERSISTING

Robin Douglas and Francis Young. Paganism Persisting. A History of European Paganism Since Antiquity. University of Exeter Press, 2024.

The first question of course, is 'what is Paganism?' The word 'pagan' arose amongst Christians in the fourth century to describe their unconverted neighbours. It was derived from the Latin paganus, which has a number of possible translations, including 'civilian' and 'villager'. It is not clear why this term was used, but it is clear that it was meant to have negative overtones. 

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STATISTICAL REVIEW

As I wind down Magonia Review, I thought it might be interesting to see what were the reviews that attracted the most readers over the past fifteen years. Of course the older reviews will have had a longer time to attract readers, but some more recent entries feature in the Top Ten as well. I don't really know what it says about the value of the books, the acuity of the reviewers or the tastes of Magonia readers. 

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THE VERY GREEN PARTY

John Clark. The Green Children of Woolpit: Chronicles, Fairies and Facts in Medieval England. University of Exeter Press, 2023.

The story of the Green Children, a boy and girl, coloured green and in green clothing, who appeared mysteriously in the Suffolk village of Woolpit some time in the mid twelfth century has been around for centuries, hovering between folklore, fairy-tale, Forteanism, and most recently ufology. 

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"A PLACE TO LINGER IN STRANGENESS"

Greg Eghigian. After the Flying Saucers Came. A Global History of the UFO Phenomenon. Oxford University Press, 2023.

As I sign off from Magonia, this book seems to have arrived just in time. It is the definitive study of ufology from its exciting birth in the craziness of post WWII euphoria, the dreams of space travel, and the hope of encountering new worlds. But also there came the fears of the Cold War and possible nuclear annihilation, which might be avoided by the promise of new societies and new technologies the saucers might bring. 

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LA VIE PARISIENNE

Tobias Churton. Aleister Crowley In Paris: Sex, Art, And Magick in the City of Light. Inner Traditions, 2023.

Aleister Crowley, ‘the wickedest man in the world’, a label attached to him by his strait-laced God-fearing mother, remains to this day a magnet for readers with an interest in the esoteric or the occult. Such readers will find in this book a mass of detail about Crowley’s life in Paris from his first glimpse of the city in 1883 until his involuntary removal from France by the French immigration authorities in 1929. 

SET IN STONE

The Stone Tape (1972) Peter Sasdy (Director) 101 Films – Blu Ray (To be released on 9th December 2024)

Nigel Kneale is a master at fusing the genres of horror and science fiction. He often claimed he wasn’t writing genre TV and film drama but simply good drama. At one level he’s right. Although he does employ generic tropes what’s far more interesting is his engagement with speculative ideas (both paranormal and ‘normal’) and the psychological conflict of characters observed with great empathy, satire and irony.

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HOLD THE BOILING OIL!

James Wright. Historic Building Mythbusting; Uncovering Folklore, History and Archaeology. History Press, 2024

There's always a hidden tunnel, isn't there? Whenever you are being shown round some old mansion, castle, church or even there will be someone who tells you about the hidden tunnel.

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A CASE OF DEJA VU

Starve Acre (2023) Dir Daniel Kokotajlo BFI Blu Ray.

At the beginning of Starve Acre a young boy named Owen cannot sleep. When his mother speaks to him he says that the whistling has gone now. The next day, when his parents are resting, under a tree, near a cricket pitch, they’re disturbed by a young girl’s scream followed by the cry of a distressed horse that’s just had one of its eyes injured. The attacker is Owen holding a bloodstained twig.

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LITERARY CRITICISM

Joshua Blu Buhs. Think to New Worlds; the Cultural History of Charles Fort and his Followers. University of Chicago Press, 2024.

In the days of the long forgotten UFO UpDates Internet discussion group, ufologist and Fortean Jerome Clark described much of Magonia's output as 'literary criticism'. He felt that, rather than studying the 'actual existing phenomena', we were more concerned about the manner in which they were described and written about and their influence on society, rather on examining what it is 'up there'.

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