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

Wednesday, January 28, 2026

A heavy metal rant: Stop the Di’Anno v. Dickinson, Ozzy v. Dio forever wars. Forever.

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"Never, this is the end" ... of tired internet arguments. So sayeth Dio. Every so often I need to let out a good rant. It gets my ...
6 comments:
Saturday, January 24, 2026

Understanding The Lord of the Rings

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Ambush by Justin Gerard. Right now (with a brief diversion into REH for his 120th) it's all Lord of the Rings, all the time. Last weeken...
Friday, January 23, 2026

Judas Be My Guide, Iron Maiden

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I'm old enough to have bought Iron Maiden's Fear of the Dark on tape, very close to the day of its release  in May 1992. If I'm...
4 comments:
Thursday, January 22, 2026

Happy 120th, REH!

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I live in the northeast. We’re in the middle of a cold snap in the dead of a rougher than usual New England winter and are expecting a huge ...
4 comments:
Tuesday, January 20, 2026

Happy early birthday, REH: Watch the Foundation video Jan. 21

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Frazetta's frosty take, also a masterpiece. Thursday marks the 120th birthday of Robert E. Howard. For the occasion the Robert E. Howard...
2 comments:
Sunday, January 18, 2026

JRR Tolkien, "On Fairy Stories"

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"For my part, I cannot convince myself that the roof of Bletchley station is more 'real' than the clouds. And as an artefact I ...
Wednesday, January 14, 2026

Tom Barber memoir, LOTR 25th, and more

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A self-portrait from Tom's wild days in the west... Tom Barber’s Artists, Outlaws & Old Timers My friend Tom Barber has a memoir on ...
2 comments:
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About Me

Brian Murphy
Marketing professional by day; skald in the Hall of Fire by night; and member of the S.H.I.E.L.D.W.A.L.L. Author of Flame and Crimson: A History of Sword-and-Sorcery (2020, Pulp Hero Press). 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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