‘The City of Doom’ by Maxwell Grant
“Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?” — The Shadow knows!
A Maxwell Grant (aka Walter B Gibson) tale of The Shadow.
One by one, the industries around the town of Hampsted have suffered impossible accidents, and each apparently at the hands of their most trusted employees. The toll in human lives is frightful, and the psychic toll on the citizens of Hampsted is even more oppressive. Such an implausible array of accidents draws the attention of The Shadow, especially when one of his most valued agents, Harry Vincent, has disappeared investigating the scene.
Io9 — A Mind Control Double Whammy or Double Miss
Happy Anniversary Star Trek!
The Hypnotic Tarot — Part I: The Suits
I have quite an interest in the Tarot, largely from a symbolic and possibly even a Jungian perspective and certainly from an artistic standpoint. As an art collector, I have several pieces of art that are based on the Tarot, including “The Star” by Frank Kelly Freas 1 that is one of the “stars” of my entire collection.
I also know that it is common for Tarot enthusiasts to create their own Tarot deck: doing so not only personalizes it, it deepens the connection with the Tarot symbology and imagery for the individual. Therefore, its only natural to combine this interest with my interest in hypnosis to want to create the Hypnotic Tarot deck. Of course, one caveat: everything surrounding the Tarot is open (and quite fervently) to discussion and argument, from the history of the Tarot to the individual meanings of each symbol. What follows is my own interpretation which has about as much (or as little) validity as any one else’s.
This first part will discuss the basic elements of the Tarot, the suits and their accompanying symbols. The Suits order the Minor Arcana, the 52 cards that eventually became the playing cards in use today. The Suits and their symbols also appear regularly in the Major Arcana. Subsequent parts will cover the Major Arcana and the individual Suits of the Minor Arcana.
“Jane Annie” by J M Barrie and Arthur Conan Doyle
Given the people behind it, it should have been a success.
It wasn’t.
“Jane Annie, or The Good Conduct Award” was an opera written by J M Barrie (of “Peter Pan” fame) and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (of Sherlock Holmes fame) with music by Ernest Ford, for the Savoy Theatre by Richard D’Oyly Carte. Four of the biggest names (Doyle, Barrie, D’Oyly Carte and the Savoy Theater) in the London literary and theatrical circles couldn’t save what would turn out to be the theater’s first true flop.
GenCon Findings — 2011
This past weekend I attended GenCon, the major gaming convention in the US. As usual, I am looking for interesting and unusual roleplaying games, especially ones that have elements of hypnosis or mind control as part of the character designs or in the opposition. This year, I found three such games.
“Dungeons & Dragons” — The Hypnotic Side
When Dave Arneson showed Gary Gygax the new game he and his friends were playing, it probably didn’t occurr to either that they were on the brink of creating not only a new game but an entirely new type of game, resulting in a revolutionary new gaming industry.
Dave Arneson took the traditional miniature game, where miniatures represented groups of individuals and started using them to represent individuals. He also added the elements of character classes and experience levels, allowing for character specialization and growith. This was a revolution, in that players could project themselves into the character, developing them over time and play. Since both he and Gary Gygax were avid minature ship game players, he shjowed Gary his game and together they created Dungeons & Dragons.

