The Silver Key

"Wonder had gone away, and he had forgotten that all life is only a set of pictures in the brain, among which there is no difference betwixt those born of real things and those born of inward dreamings, and no cause to value the one above the other." --H.P. Lovecraft, The Silver Key

Thursday, November 5, 2026

The Case for Criticism and "Yucking" the Rings of Power

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Confession: I don’t like black licorice. In fact, I can’t stand it.* But, other people enjoy it.  Am I therefore not supposed to say I don’t...
Friday, October 30, 2026

Run With The Wolf, Rainbow

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This Metal Friday called powerfully for Rainbow. I just finished listening to the audiobook of Rainbow in the Dark: The Autobiography , the ...
2 comments:
Friday, October 16, 2026

Sword & Sorcery's Affinity with Heavy Metal (Rogues in the House podcast)

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A couple weeks ago I got the opportunity to join the Rogues in the House podcast to talk about the intersection of heavy metal and sword-and...
2 comments:
Thursday, October 8, 2026

Horror Hunters, a review

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The 70s paperback tour continues with Horror Hunters , a 1971 anthology edited by Roger Elwood and Vic Ghidalia.  I own the 1975 Manor Books...
6 comments:
Wednesday, October 7, 2026

A book that inspired Growing Up Metal--and another that didn't

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Note: This is an excerpt from this week's Arcane Arts, my weekly email newsletter. Sign up, its free.  When I first heard of Chuck Klost...
Friday, October 2, 2026

To Walk on Worlds, a review

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I dig this nostalgic cover art (Mike Hoffman). Sword-and-sorcery occupies a small space in writing and publishing and so you probably alread...
Friday, September 25, 2026

Killing The Dragon, Ronnie James Dio

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“People who deny the existence of dragons are often eaten by dragons. From within.” --Ursula K. Le Guin Dragons are fire-breathing lizards, ...
7 comments:
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Brian Murphy
Marketing professional by day; skald in the Hall of Fire by night. Author of Flame and Crimson: A History of Sword-and-Sorcery (2020, Pulp Hero Press) and Growing Up Metal: The Story Of A Fan Who (Kind Of) Rocked (2026). Essayist and reviewer for numerous web and print-based fantasy and sword-and-sorcery publications, including The Cimmerian, Black Gate, Tales from the Magician's Skull, Mythprint, REH: Two-Gun Raconteur, The Dark Man, DMR Blog, Skelos, and SFFaudio.com. Two-time Robert E. Howard Foundation award winner: The Atlantean (Outstanding Achievement/Book for Flame and Crimson) and The Venarium (emerging scholar in REH studies).
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