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Savage Heroes (Star, February 1977). Cover by Les Edwards

A couple more Sword & Sorcery anthology reviews: first up is Savage Heroes (Subtitled Tales of Sorcery & Black Magic) (1977), from British Publisher Star, edited by Eric Pendragon and illustrated by the great Jim Pitts, who is still working today. The cover looks to have been done by Les Edwards, however.

It contains stories by C. L. Moore (Jirel), Henry Kuttner (Elak), Clark Ashton Smith, Clifford Ball, Ramsey Campbell, Daphne Castell, Karl Edward Wagner (Kane), David Drake, and Robert E. Howard. The REH tale is “The Temple of the Abomination,” a Cormac Mac Art tale.

[Click the images for savage versions.]

A solid collection, though probably not the absolute best stories by these authors. Drake’s “The Barrow Troll” is one of his better ones. I remember being disappointed a little in this collection because I had almost all these stories already in other collections.

Second up, Heroic Fantasy (1979), from DAW with a cover by Jad. Edited by Gerald W. Page and Hank Reinhardt. A much thicker collection than Savage Heroes and it scratched an itch the other didn’t because it was all new heroic fantasy stories (at the time).

Inside cover and introduction for Savage Heroes. Illustration by Jim Pitts

It contains:

“Sand Sister” by Andre Norton (Witch World)
“The Valley of the Sorrows” by Galad Elflandsson
“Ghoul’s-Head” by Donald J. Walsh, Jr.
“Astral Stray” by Adrian Cole (Voidal Tale)
“Blood in the Mist” by E. C. Tubb
“The Murderous Dove” by Tanith Lee
“Death in Jukun” by Charles R. Saunders (Imaro)
“The De Pertriche Ring” by H. Warner Munn
“The Hero Who Returned” by Gerald W. Page
“The Riddle of the Horn” by Darrell Schweitzer
“The Age of the Warrior” by Hank Reinhardt
“The Mistaken Oracle” by A. E. Silas
“Demonsong” by F. Paul Wilson
“The Seeker in the Fortress” by Manly Wade Wellman (Kardios tale)

It also contained three nonfiction essays, which I liked: Commentary on Swords and Swordplay, Commentary on Armor, and Commentary on Courage and Heroism, all by Hank Reinhardt.

Heroic Fantasy (DAW Books, April 1979). Cover by Jad

This was my first introduction to Charles Saunders’ Imaro character and it was a dynamite story that made me an instant fan. I also particularly enjoyed the Gerald Page and Adrian Cole stories, but my favorite was E. C. Tubb’s tale. I’d read a lot of his Dumarest stories but this was Sword & Sorcery and I loved it. It was third in a series Tubb did about this character, “Malkar.”

The Malkar stories seem to have been gathered in print in 1999 in two volumes, Death God’s Doom and The Sleeping City, but the prices are pretty outrageous so I haven’t bought them. BTW, I thought the weakest story in the book was the ending tale by Manly Wade Wellman.

Charles Gramlich administers The Swords & Planet League group on Facebook, where this post first appeared. His last article for us was A Sword and Planet Quiz. See all of his recent posts for Black Gate here.

Good afterevenmorn, Readers!

Since the release of Iron Lung, the independent film adaptation of the equally independent video game of the same name, I have been awash in articles, interviews and reviews about the piece. The algorithm has decided that that’s all I’ll get for now until the end of time. Well, that and general tarot readings, for some reason. I must admit, I have been following the story for a while, so it’s partially my fault. And it has also let me down the wonderful warren that is upcoming video game adaptations. And I want to talk about it.

Some of these are from games might all recognise – video games by the big studios that are or have been part of the cultural milieu for a while now – Mortal Kombat, Sonic the Hedgehog, Street Fighter, Silent Hill (the return to which released early this year and was not well-received. I did not watch it, so I can’t comment). The list goes on.

With the exception of Mortal Kombat (the most recent movie was meh, but I am absolutely going to go see this next one, due out in May. I think attaching Karl Urban to the lead role, and following Johnny Cage will make for a fun, if ultimately frivolous movie-going experience), I’m  not particularly excited about any of these releases. I am incredibly excited for others, though. Ghost of Tsushima was an excellent game, with a brilliant story that I cannot wait to share with my non-gaming father. I will be at the cinema when it is released. And I will be dragging him with me. I am equally excited about God of War. The original games were fun nonsense, but the reworking of Kratos and his story in the 2018 game (and on) was a brilliant piece of storytelling as well as being a fantastic game. I will be there will bells on whenever that series is released (2027 is the projected year, with filming to begin in March of this year).

Both of those games rank among my top five games I’ve played.

I have to admit, my excitement is a little tempered. Not all video game adaptations have been much good. In fact, very few of them are, I feel. But that is changing. The Last of Us has proven that video games can become really brilliant television shows, giving me hope of God of War. While not for everyone, I thought Iron Lung was excellent, and with the director attached to Ghost of Tsushima (Chad Stahelski of John Wick fame), I’m optimistic about that film being something as special as the game was.

The point is, good adaptations of video games are possible. They key here, I think, is to respect the original games and their stories. Not all film makers can or will. But I’m certain that as long as they do, the adaptations will be good.

That’s not really why I’m here, though. I’m here to cheer on the independents. A surprising number of these promised adaptations are of independently produced video games; passionate work by passionate people who don’t have the benefit of recognisable studios or distributors behind them. This is glad tidings for me; not because I’ve played these games, necessarily, but because it proves that if people are left alone to craft what they want to, and not what some suit relying on sterile numbers demands, excellent stories can and will be produced. There is hope for story-telling out there; in every medium.

So, here is a couple of independent video games (other than Five Nights at Freddie’s, which is another independent success story) that have been or will be given adaptations that I am thrilled to see, even if I may not check them out:

First up is The Exit 8 (also sometimes just called Exit 8). Developed and published by Kotake Create/Kotakenotokeke, this game is essentially a spooky spot the difference. Seen through the player’s perspective (first person), the player is given simple instructions: If everything looks normal or is the same as before, continue to the next level/exit. Otherwise, turn back. The differences can range between jump scares to just the extremely creepy. The game is simple enough, but very atmospheric. I did not think it would be enough for an adaptation, but I was mistaken. It was given one. Directed and co-written by Genki Kawamura, the film released in Japan August of last year. And it is coming to cinemas this year. Distributed by Neon, it will be released in April.

I think I will make this one my April date-for-one movie. I’m not a horror girly by any stretch, but this looks to be more psychological, and I’m keenly interested in seeing how they managed to make this simple game into a film.

Phasmaphobia is another independent game (by British independent studio Kinetic Games) that has rumours of an adaptation surrounding it. I say rumours because although it’s been reported that Blumhouse has acquired the rights for adaptation, development hell exists, so until it starts filming, I will remain hopeful but realistic. Designed to be a multi-player co-op game, the team is hired to investigate haunted locations and, depending on the evidence they accrue, identify the thing that is haunting the place. Presumably so that someone else can go in to perform the correct exorcism? I don’t know. The players are not expected to exorcise the thing, just identify it.

I have not played this game, but is has given rise to one of my favourite gaming moments that I have ever had the pleasure of watching:

It still makes me laugh. Really hard.

While a fun game to play, there really isn’t a defined story in this one; just a bunch of missions/jobs. Still, it is easier is see how it would be adapted into a film; provided that the writers are good (there has been a writing problem in films of late. Perhaps I’ll rant about that in a later post, if I’m feeling cranky enough about it). It is also a much more traditional horror, so I might give this one a miss when it comes out. This is the kind of thing that would give me nightmares. If the story can manage to be compelling enough, however, maybe I’ll just suck it up. I’m undecided. The script will be everything here.

Perhaps the biggest independent title being given an adaptation is the 2025 smash hit RPG game Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 .

Developed by French studio Sandfall Interactive, this game made waves in the scene. It won nine awards, including Game of the Year in the Game Awards 2025, was nominated for a slew of others in other awards, winning five of their eight nominations, including Game of the Year again for the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences. This is one I have not yet played (though I really want to), but I have heard nothing but exceptional things from the gamers I have in my life. I don’t know much about the plot of this one. I have been trying very hard not to learn too much about it, because I want to discover it for myself when I finally do get to play it. You know, when I can finally afford a PS5.

Anyway, I’m really excited about this one, just because I’ve heard so many good things about the game.

This is just a few examples of video game adaptations that are in the works. Granted, that list is still dominated by the big name games from the big game studios, but the prevalence of independent games getting seen and (dare I hope) respected by those who are adapting the stories from video games. While the opportunity to make bank is still the biggest deciding factor, I feel, I am also seeing an openness to those stories that capture the imagination, and a willingness to listen to voices that don’t have the biggest budgets behind them. This lets me hope that some people do still care about craft and story, and not just their wallets.

It’s heartening.

Are there any adaptations you’re particularly looking forward to? I’d be interested to hear. I know I’ve missed many.

When S.M. Carrière isn’t brutally killing your favorite characters, she spends her time teaching martial arts, live streaming video games, and sometimes painting. In other words, she spends her time teaching others to kill, streaming her digital kills… and sometimes relaxing. Her most recent titles include Daughters of Britain, Skylark and Human. The Timbercreek Incident is free to read on Wattpad.

I have not been active in the John D. MacDonald world for awhile. Time is limited, and interests are many. I recently jumped down the Columbo rabbit hole (I wrote about him back in 2016, and I’ve got a big project in the works for 2027). And I’ve been watching that seventies show, Emergency!. That holds up way better than you might expect!

Which is all to say, I actually exclaimed in joy last week when I discovered a new ten-episode streaming series of Cape Fear is coming!! (You can see I’m still excited!). It will air on Apple TV, every Friday from June 5 through July 26.

Hopefully you’ve read some of my John MacD writings here at Black Gate. I even have a landing page where I collected my writings on him. I was late to the Robert E. Howard party, and Two-Gun Bob has risen to number two on my all-time favorite writers list. But John D. MacDonald is the one author he hasn’t passed. And I don’t think he ever will.

THE EXECUTIONERS

There was a writers community in Sarasota, Florida, in the fifties. MacDonald moved there in 1951, and the dean of the group was MacKinley Kantor, who wrote the Pulitzer Prize winner, Andersonville. He became JDM’s friend, and mentor. In 1957, at one of the gatherings, Kantor was needling MacDonald about the quality of his writing. All he wrote were mysteries and other paperback trash. Why didn’t he write a real book?

MacDonald got mad. He bet Kantor $50 that he would write a book within thirty days. A book that would be serialized in magazines, be a book club selection, and be turned into a movie. Kantor accepted.

MacDonald had written almost two dozen books, mostly paperback originals. MacDonald was popular, but the books were of a type. British critic and novelist Julian Symons later called his books “…production line efficient fast-moving American thrillers.” But he also said, “..there are interesting ideas about the nature of corruption and the increasingly mechanical form of life in America.”

Kantor saw that MacDonald had more in him. Something that would stand out from the good but similar book after book (I like what he was writing, but I’m also not a Pulitzer Prize winner, either).

There were a a few notable thriller writers, like Dorothy B. Hughes (In a Lonely Place), David Goodis (Dark Passage), and of course, Cornell Woolrich. I think of it as these works as the transition from Hardboiled to Noir (this isn’t the place for THAT deep discussion).

MacDonald took the noir thriller and moved it from urban streets to the suburbs. And he did it with The Executioners. It’s a quick, absorbing, scary read. Thrillers use suspense, not horror, to induce fear. Alfred Hitchcock was the master of this. The building fear and suspense in The Executioners bears witness to MacDonald growing as a writer. Kantor was correct.

The book is readily available in paperback, digital, and audio form. Though, under the title Cape Fear.

CAPE FEAR (1962)

That’s right – it became a movie, which was part of JDM winning his bet with Kantor. Gregory Peck (Sam Bowden) and Robert Mitchum (Max Cady) starred in a 1962 big screen effort (88% on Rotten Tomatoes). I’ve seen this once, and it’s a good movie. Director J. Lee Thompson directed The Guns of Navarone, and two of the Planet of the Apes movies. He masterfully builds up the tension and the suspense, step-by-step.

And Robert Mitchum is a dastardly villain. If you like black and white thrillers, this is one that you should check out. When you’ve got Peck and Mitchum at the top the bill, you’re going to see some damn good acting. Peck was a huge star, and he co-produced it through is own production company. He was a fan and wanted this movie to be made.

I’m on record as a HUGE JDM fan. But I’m not a fanboy, and I’ve called him out in writing for his ‘bitter old man’ intro to Norbert Davis’ works. Likewise, he was snobbish towards this movie.

MacDonald was like many writers who disapprove of adaptations of their works. “…a dreary moving, I mean unmoving picture.” And “…Artistically, the movie warped the concept of the novel.”

In fact, he holds forth rather obnoxiously in a 1965 letter about ‘artistic control in other mediums.’ He’s not the first nor the last author to look down on what other people did with his work. Clive Cussler (who I love) was another. Whatever.

CAPE FEAR (1991)

Martin Scorsese is one of the legends of our lifetime. 1990 saw the release of Good Fellas. The following year, he directed the remake of a 29 year-old black and white movie (Steven Spielberg was an uncredited executive producer).

And in a brilliant casting decision, Robert DeNiro was selected for the Mitchum role. Nick Nolte was perfect to succeed Peck. But few who have seen this movie can forget DeNiro’s masterpiece of evil.

And an 18 year-old Juliette Lewis launched her career to star level.

Scorsese included Peck, Mitchum, and also Martin Balsam, from the prior version, which was a wonderful move. If you’ve never seen this movie, you’re missing out on a classic thriller. Proving that box office results don’t tell the whole story, it finished #18 in domestic gross, about $2 million behind Kindergarten Cop (ugh). But with Silence of the Lambs, and Sleeping With the Enemy, it was a good year for the suspense thriller.

If you’ve seen Cape Fear, you know what a standout this is. I’m not gonna reveal spoilers. Other than to point out that there is one significant difference between the book and the two movies. In the novel, the final confrontation takes place at a farmhouse. It works fine in the book. And I wouldn’t think about it being anywhere else.

Except I do think about it being elsewhere. Because the 1962 movie moved it to a houseboat. The remake adds a terrific storm to that. And visually, the houseboat is a better choice than the farmhouse. The finale of the DeNiro movie is absolutely spellbinding to watch.

SUMMER 2026

Scorsese and Steven Spielberg are executive producers of the new Apple+ series. That is a high-level title. Think a creative and fiscal role. And sometimes it’s a financial incentive or reward. It’s not uncommon for someone who was involved in a movie to be given that credit when it is remade.

The Producer actually manages the movie day-to-day. So, this isn’t Scorsese and Spielberg making a movie together, one directing on set. But having said that, it’s from Amblin Television, which Spielberg founded as part of his movie-making empire. Given their history with the 1991 film, I think it’s safe to say they were involved in how this project was developed, and what we’re gonna see on screen.

Amy Adams is touted as the star, which is interesting. Anna Bowden is Tom Bowden’s wife. That’s at best the third main character. Jessica Lange had the part in 1991. Javier Bardem is Max Cady. It’s been nineteen years, but the bad guy from No Country for Old Men, certainly qualifies him for this part. Interesting she’s the lead over him. Patrick Wilson is Tom (not Sam) Bowden. I’ve seen him in things like Aquaman, but I had to look him up. No clue on name alone. It’s not Gregory Peck, or Nick Nolte, star power.

I don’t know much about the new production. But I’m sure as heck looking forward to it. Good book, good movie, great movie. That’s a pretty good pedigree – though no guarantee of success of course.

There have been quite a few MacDonald adaptations over the years, but none since 1993. That was Linda, based on Border Town Girl, and starring a sultry Virginia Madsen. For a guy who reportedly sold 75 million books before he died (in the pre-Internet age), he’s been forgotten. I am really excited to see this project.

Christian Bale was cast as Travis McGee for The Deep Blue Goodbye, when he tore his ACL. By the time things shook out, he couldn’t do the Leonardo DiCaprio project, and it was scrapped. They had even made a Busted Flush and shipped it to Florida for filming.

You can read this link to see what I think about MacDonald’s writing. I SO hope this is a good version.

And all of my JDM-related posts are here at this page.

And one more note: The Simpsons did a brilliant homage, Cape Feare, with Sideshow Bob after Bart. I will NEVER forget Bob explaining away his ‘Die, Bart, Die’ chest tattoo as just German for ‘The, Bart, The.’

Bob Byrne’s ‘A (Black) Gat in the Hand’ made its Black Gate debut in 2018 and has returned every summer since.

His ‘The Public Life of Sherlock Holmes’ column ran every Monday morning at Black Gate from March, 2014 through March, 2017. And he irregularly posts on Rex Stout’s gargantuan detective in ‘Nero Wolfe’s Brownstone.’ He is a member of the Praed Street Irregulars, and founded www.SolarPons.com (the only website dedicated to the ‘Sherlock Holmes of Praed Street’).

He organized Black Gate’s award-nominated ‘Discovering Robert E. Howard’ series, as well as the award-winning ‘Hither Came Conan’ series. Which is now part of THE Definitive guide to Conan. He also organized 2023’s ‘Talking Tolkien.’

He has contributed stories to The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories — Parts III, IV, V, VI, XXI, and XXXIII.

He has written introductions for Steeger Books, and appeared in several magazines, including Black Mask, Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine, The Strand Magazine, and Sherlock Magazine.

You can definitely ‘experience the Bobness’ at Jason Waltz’s ’24? in 42′ podcast.