Fantasy

Excalibur (1981): The Weird Wisdom of Epic Fantasy

Still a masterclass in movie mythmaking, knowing when to print the legend, and why the lessons of fantasy can only be learned by letting go

Mar 7 • Alec Worley

Saving the Writer’s Soul from Work-for-Hire Hell

What creative ownership really means, writing a sword and sorcery tale I can finally call my own, and how it all went wrong when I wasn’t writing for…

Jan 28 • Alec Worley

Audio of Weird: A Clutch of Christmas Ghost Stories

Snuggle down, drink up and listen in to a read-aloud of ‘Rats’ by M.R. James and ‘Over Before Christmas’ by Alec Worley

Dec 16, 2025 • Alec Worley

Who Dies First? Conan the Barbarian vs. The Bloody Nine

Fantasy writers, learn how to keep your fight scenes sharp with two classic examples of sword and sorcery

Dec 2, 2025 • Alec Worley

Cronos (1992): Vampires Don't Have to Be Horrible

How Guillermo del Toro subverted the bloodsucking genre

Feb 20, 2025 • Alec Worley

Fantastic Beasts and How to Write Them

Some Jurassic examples of great monster-writing

Jan 28, 2025 • Alec Worley

The Green Knight (2021): Make Camelot Weird Again

How David Lowery brings strange new meaning to an antique fantasy text. And, yes, it’s a Christmas movie. Fight me.

Dec 13, 2024 • Alec Worley

The Furry Folk Horror of Watership Down (1978)

How the animated adaptation of Richard Adams’s novel terrified a generation and builds a non-human epic fantasy that casts a dark and enthralling spell

Nov 11, 2024 • Alec Worley

What Hawk the Slayer Got Right

Defending a sword and sorcery kinda-classic

Oct 25, 2024 • Alec Worley

Lessons From Earthsea

Ursula K. Le Guin’s 'A Wizard of Earthsea' may be a classic, but does anyone still care? Writers and creators of fantasy, neglect this book at your…

Jul 24, 2024 • Alec Worley

Evolve or Die: Is this the End for Sword and Sorcery?

Can the genre ever move on from Robert E. Howard's Conan? How can writers possibly innovate within this narrow fantasy subgenre? Is the sword and…

Jun 5, 2024 • Alec Worley

Old Sorcery, New Edge: Q&A with Molly Tanzer

The award-winning author of 'The Diabolist's Library' trilogy on her route to writing, taming research and penning the official resurrection of Jirel of…

Feb 12, 2024 • Alec Worley

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