
I got my first professional writing job in 1996, but I’ve gotten better at it since then.
In 1998, I launched Teleport City, one of the earliest sites dedicated to global cult entertainment.
These days, you can find me on my newest site, Suburban Pagans, launched in April of 2022.
Books and Home Video | Entertainment | Academic, Technical and Research | Food and Drink
Books and Home Video
- Cocktails and Capers: Cult Cinema, Cocktails, Crime, & Cool. September 2018, Teleport City Press.
- “Invisible Man in Japan.” Essay included in Blu-Ray release of The Invisible Man Appears/The Invisible Man vs. the Human Fly. Arrow Video, July 2021.
- The New Single Malt Whiskey: More Than 325 Bottles, From 197 Distilleries, in More Than 25 Countries. Clay Risen, Editor. Contributing essayist. Cider Mill Press, October 2016.
- Sex and Zen & A Bullet in the Head: The Essential Guide to Hong Kong’s Mind-bending Films. Stefan Hammond and Milke Wilkens, Editors. Contributing reviewer. Touchstone Press, August 1996.
Entertainment
- “New Wave Noir: Wayne Wang’s Slam Dance.” Diabolique, April 19, 2022.
- “Esper the Exploiter: Maniac and Early Sleaze Cinema.” Diabolique, April 15, 2022.
- “The Merry Frolics of Pinhead: A Journey through the frequently weird, sometimes great, and often nightmarish world of Hellraiser sequels.” Diabolique, April 1, 2022.
- “Diments Are Forever: A Tale of Spies in Swinging London.” Diabolique, March 16, 2022.
- “The Red Red Range: Four Splatter Western Novels from Death’s Head Press.” Diabolique, March 2, 2022.
- “Noir & B: The Sultry Sound of Slow Grind Fever (Vols. 1-4).” Diabolique, January 18, 2022.
- “La Dolce Vida con Omicidio: Mario Bava’s The Girl Who Knew Too Much.” Diabolique, January 4, 2022.
- “Bubblegum Ninjas: Camp, Kobayashi, and the Psychedelic Grandeur of Black Tight Killers.” Diabolique, December 22, 2021.
- “Let the Revels Begin, Let the Fires Be Started: The American Mythology of Streets of Fire.” Diabolique, ASeptember 20, 2021.
- “All the Colors of the Rainbow Man: A Trippy Trip into the Early Days of Japanese Science Fiction.” Diabolique, March 6, 2021.
- “Catch a Shooting Hustler: Yakuza, Borderless Action, and Velvet Hustler.” Diabolique, August 28, 2020.
- “Funhouse Madhouse: Nazis, Stalin, and the Hourglass Sanatorium.” Diabolique, February 13, 2020.
- “Defiant Fairytales: The Prague Spring and Valerie and Her Week of Wonders.” Diabolique, Februar 7, 2020.
- “A European Vampire in Japan: Japanese Vampire Fiction and Nobuo Nakagawa’s Lady Vampire.” Diabolique, January 15, 2020.
- “Gogol and the Christmas Goblin: Frolicking through the Winter Wonderland of Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka.” Diabolique, December 23, 2019.
- “The Fabulous World of Karel Zeman.” Diabolique, November 25, 2019.
- “The Old Dark Haveli: The Mad Dancing, Murder, and Mystery of Gumnaam.” September 5, 2019.
- “Of Harlots, Hays, and Harlow: Sex and Class Warfare in Red-Headed Woman.” Diabolique, May 19, 2019.
- “Machine Made Dirt: Beat Girl and the Birth of the British Teenager.” Diabolique, March 6, 2019.
- “I Am the American Cool: The Afrofuturism of Janelle Monae, Suite 1, Suite 2, Suite 3.” The Cultural Gutter, August-November 2018.
- “We Travel the Spaceways: The Space-Age Jazz of Sun Ra.” The Cultural Gutter, June 7, 2018.
- “I’d Like to Be Under the Sea: Libertarian Utopias, Seasteading, and BioShock.” The Cultural Gutter, June 8, 2017.
- “These Lonely, Haunted Places: The Pagan Mystery of Penda’s Fen.” The Cultural Gutter, October 27, 2016.
- “Neuromancin’ with Myself: When Billy Idol Reads William Gibson.” The Cultural Gutter, May 12, 2016.
- “The Cosmic Crooner: The Story of Trilogy, Frank Sinatra’s Strangest Album.” The Cultural Gutter, February 18, 2016.
- “Whatever Happened to Saturday Night? Personal Identity and the Rocky Horror Picture Show.” The Cultural Gutter, September 3, 2015.
- “Where Is All You Angels? From William S. Burroughs to Duran Duran.” The Cultural Gutter, May 15, 2014.
Food and Drink: Alcohol Professor
- “Boo-oozy Tales of Monsters: Drinking with mythological creatures from around the world.” October 30, 2019.
- “That Dandy, Randy, Brandy Alexander: A tale of cocktails, lobsters, Ziegfeld girls, and gossip columnists.” March 29, 2019.
- “La Mariana Sailing Club: Honolulu’s Last Old School Tiki Bar.” January 18, 2019.
- “Those Old Christmas Spirits: Christmas ghost stories to chill you on a midwinter night, and spirits to warm you back up.” December 21, 2018.
- “Booooozy Tales of a Traveler: Spirits and Spirits in New York’s Hudson Valley.” October 30, 2017.
- “I Love This Dirty Town: Toots Shor, the 21 Club, New York Bar History, and Sweet Smell of Success. Part 1, Part 2.” August 2017.
- “Night of the Booooozy Tales: Pairing Classic Works of Horror with Classic Drinks.” October 26, 2016.
- “Spies At the Savoy: Cocktail HIstory, Hotel Bars, and James Bond. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.” October 2016.
- “Martini & Myth: James Bond and the Muddled History of an Iconic Cocktail. Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.” August 2016.
- “Bride of Boooo-zy Tales: Dublin’s Haunted Pubs.” October 30, 2015.
- “Lady Day on Swing Street: Billie Holiday, the Harlem Renaissance, and Swing Street. Part 1, Part 2.” August 2015.
- “The Chairman, the Poet and the Dancer: How Frank Sinatra’s favorite haunt became a haven for Soviet dissidents. Part 1, Part 2.” June 2015.
- “Son of Booooozy Tales: Haunted Bars Go International.” October 28, 2014.
- “Booo-zy Tales of Spirited New York.” October 28, 2013.
Academic, Technical, and Research: The Download
- “From Astrophysics to the Ancient World: Research Tech in Science, Art, and the Humanities.” November 17, 2021.
- “NYU Greene Supercomputer: Celebrating a Year of Breakthrough Research.” November 16, 2021.
- “3D Printing for a Face and Bilateral Arm Transplant: LaGuardia Studio Helps Restore the Identity of the Donor in Groundbreaking Surgery Performed at NYU Langone Health.” March 16, 2021.
- “Black Lives Matter, Racism, and Data: NYU Data Services Provides Research Resources for Analyzing and Confronting Racism.” November 16, 2020.
- “3D Printing Critical Medical Equipment Remotely: NYU LaGuardia Studio and Stratasys Partner to Make Personal Protective Equipment.” April 27, 2020.
- “A Visit to the Barcelona Supercomputing Facility: A Supercomputer Inside a Former Barcelona Chapel.” July 5, 2019.
- “Learning How We Learn: Online Courses and the Potential of Adaptive Learning.” February 19, 2019.
- “Meet HackNYU 2019 Student Co-Chair Srishti Sanya: From HackNYU Volunteer to Executive Co-Chair.” February 13, 2019.
- “Rain, Sleet, or Snow: LaGuardia Studio Staff Contend With a Blizzard and Sleeplessness to Contribute to a Face Transplant Operation.” December 4, 2018.
- “Digital Humanities + Data: NYU’s DH+Data Day Celebrates Data Science and Visualization in the Service of the Humanities.” November 9, 2018.
- “A Tiara Fit for Wonder Woman: LaGuardia Studio Makes Its Red Carpet Debut at the 2018 Met Gala.” May 30, 2018.
- “A Photographic History of Washington Square: Explore 190 Years of NYU, West Village, and New York History with Digital Library Technology Services.” May 9, 2018.
- “Digital Dérive: Exploring the World of Off-Peak, the Norwood Suite, and the NYU Game Center.” May 10, 2017
- “Capturing a Face: Bjork, Masks, and 3D Scanning at LaGuardia Studio.” January 17, 2017.