What was the first physical time travel short story?

"Edge of Tomorrow," the new Tom Cruise flick, has the protagonist waking up over and over to get a chance to destroy the sci-fi monsters he failed to kill the previous day. Think of it as "Ground Hog's Day" for science fiction minus the Bill Murray comedy and with a lot more explosions. This well-tread idea of going back in time to right one's wrongs harkens all the way back to Charles Dickens's novella, A Christmas Carol, of 1843.

But was the first science fiction short story that involved physical time travel? Well, as usual, we have Edgar Allan Poe to throw into the mix. In 1844 he published A Tale of the Ragged Mountains that is now contained in Edgar Allan Poe's Complete Works Annotated. In the short story the protagonist, Bedloe, claims to have been transported back to the 1780s. While we can debate whether this is really a science fiction story due to the lack of "science" in it, many believe this to be the first short story involving physical time travel.

Score Book #1 of the Infernal Trilogy for $0.99

$0.99

"[A] lively and good natured work." -- Publisher's Weekly Reviewer

To celebrate the pre-sale of The Divine Dantes: Paella in Purgatory (Infernal Trilogy #2), I have dropped the price of The Divine Dantes: Squirt Guns in Hades (Infernal Trilogy #1) to only $0.99. Now is the time to get caught up in the series before book #2 launches on June 27th.

Divine Dantes at Apple iBookstore
Divine Dantes at Barnes & Noble Nook
Divine Dantes at Amazon Kindle
Divine Dantes on Google Books

The Best Gothic Songs by The Cure and Videos

What are the top 10 Gothic songs by The Cure? The answer is open to much debate. The Cure have no shortage of darkly atmospheric and brooding songs, just as Edgar Allan Poe had no shortage of Goth poems. The band captures the essence of Gothic like no other and their back catalogue continues to grow with an entirely new album to be launched this year. In no particular order, here are my picks for the band's top Gothic songs and their associated Cure videos.

1. A Forest - Seventeen Seconds - "Running to What's Nothing . . .."

2. The Hanging Garden - Pornography - "Creatures kissing in the rain . . .."

3. The Figurehead - Pornography - "And sleeping less every night . . .."

4. Fear of Ghosts - Disintegration (Deluxe) - "The further I get from the things that I care about, the less I care about how much further away I get . . .."

5. Fascination Street - Disintegration - "To kick the last nail in . . .."

6. Charlotte Sometimes - Faith (Deluxe) - "All the face, all the voices blur . . .."

7. The Wailing Wall - The Top - "And I circle, like a vulture . . .."

8. Prayers for Rain - Disintegration - "I deteriorate, live in dirt . . .."

9. Edge of the Deep Green Sea - Wish - "Watched the sun come up from the edge of the deep green sea . . .."

10. The Same Deep Water as You - Disintegration - "Kiss me goodbye . . .."

The Divine Dantes: Paella in Purgatory (Infernal Trilogy #2) Can be Pre-Ordered Now

Big news for fans of The Divine Dantes trilogy! Book #2, The Divine Dantes: Paella in Purgatory, will go live on June 27, 2014 for $3.98. It is available for preorder now on:

Divine Dantes on iTunes

Divine Dantes on Barnes & Noble (Nook)


Book 2 of The Divine Dantes's Infernal Trilogy finds Eddie and Virgil in Barcelona, Spain. Eddie, the young rocker with an active mind, thinks they are there to get on a cruise. Virgil, however, has tricked Eddie and arranged for Bea to secretly meet them. Meantime, Virg and Eddie visit famous Barcelona landmarks (La Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, La Rambla Street, etc) as Eddie adds his trademark commentary. Will Eddie speak to Bea when she arrives? And if he will, does their two-person band get back together?

It's time to rock on again.

Score 15% Off My Books at Barnes & Noble This Weekend Using My Coupon Code

Score 15% off my books at Barnes & Noble through Sunday, May 4th by using coupon code: MJ64ACYYD36YS at checkout.

A best bet is the best ghost stories book, Phantasmal: The Best Ghost Stories 1800-1849, the classic ghost short story collection I edited.

Or, if you are not in the mood to be scared, try out Tolstoy's short stories book, Leo Tolstoy's 20 Greatest Short Stories Annotated. You can't miss.

Sweet Short Film Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe

Check out this artistic interpretation of ?Goth? that was inspired by Edgar Allan Poe and created by Saskia Kretzschmann.

Cool Review of Tolstoy's Short Stories Anthology

A cool review of Tolstoy's short stories anthology that was posted this week on Amazon. Here's a bit about  the book:

"Anna Karenina" and "War and Peace" branded Tolstoy as one of the greatest writers in modern history. Few, however, have read his wonderful short stories. Now, in one collection, are the 20 greatest short stories of Leo Tolstoy, which give a snapshot of Russia and its people in the late nineteenth century. A fine introduction is given by Andrew Barger. Annotations are included of difficult Russian terms. There is also a Tolstoy biography at the start of the book with photos of Tolstoy's relatives.

New Poe Statue in Boston

Any attention brought to Poe is much needed in this country, over two hundred years after the birth of one of its greatest and most mysterious authors. That's why I was glad to hear about a new Poe statue.

The Edgar Allan Poe Foundation of Boston has commissioned a statue of Poe that is shown in their photo above. It features poe in his trademark cravat, carrying his valise that oddly has a heart spilling out the back of it in remembrance of "his most famous short story" The Tell-Tale Heart. In my view The Fall of the House of Usher is Poe's finest short story, but hey. In the foreground of the statue is, of course, a raven modeled after his famous poem that is still read today in schools throughout the world.

Read more about it in the Boston Magazine.

Coldplay's New Album--Ghost Stories--Drops in May

Coldplay's new album is called "Ghost Stories"and it drops in May. Let's hope some of the yet to be released songs draw from some of the best ghost stories in the English language. The first song is called "Magic" and you can watch the first video from the album below.

First Vampire Short Story Set in France - Pepopukin in Corsica

Arthur Young (1741-1820)

What was the first vampire short story set in France? In the English language it appears to be "Pepopukin in Corsica," published in 1826. It was in a British rag called The Stanley Tales. The author was only attributed to A.Y. and in The Best Vampire Stories anthology I edited, I give reasons why I think the author was Arthur Young who was an English writer that travelled extensively in France. He died in 1820, so it had to be published posthumously.

"Pepopukin in Corsica," was published for the first time in 175 years in BlooDeath: The Best Vampire Short Stories 1800-1849. It tells of malevolent vampires having claws and crushing bones. There is a nice review of the vampire tale over at the Taliesiin Vampire Blog.