Ansible® 452, March 2025
From David Langford, 94 London Road, Reading, Berks, RG1 5AU, UK. Website news.ansible.uk. ISSN 0265-9816 (print); 1740-942X (e). Logo: Dan Steffan. Cartoon: Ian Gunn, from 1990. Available for SAE, Chinese obelisks, epiplectic bicycles or fatal lozenges.
The Raging Tide
Isabel Allende, noted magical realist, was honoured by Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries with a 2025 Bodley Medal for services to literature. [L]
Ramsey Campbell has not as far I know written a horror story which opens when a woman sees every day a lonely writing man at a top-floor window and decides he desperately needs a bar of chocolate. Now the chocolate (Cadbury’s caramel) has arrived through the Campbell letter-box, with a note advising Ramsey to ‘enjoy with a cup of tea’, and perhaps inspiration will soon strike. (Liverpool Echo, 9 February) [TM]
John Clute and your editor breathed huge sighs of relief at the news that Science Fiction Encyclopedia Ltd was dissolved by Companies House on 3 December. Don’t worry: the SFE continues, but without expensive accountancy fees for rubber-stamping our very modest balance sheet.
Michael Dirda, after 47 years with Washington Post Book World – where his hospitality to genre work was much appreciated – has stepped down from his weekly column that ran for more than 30 years, though irregular reviews may yet follow. (Washington Post, 8 February) [IM]
Edward Gorey would have been 100 on 22 February. I was pleased that my favourite crossword had an erudite Gorey theme that day.
Coniacian
Click here for longlist • London • Overseas
1 Mar • Picocon 42, Imperial College, London. £10 reg; students £8 (ID required); ICSF members £6. See tinyurl.com/Picocon42.
6-8 Mar • Frightfest (film), Glasgow Film Theatre, Rose Street. £88; single films £12, concessions £9.60. See frightfest.co.uk/filmsandevents/.
SOLD OUT 7-9 Mar • MinamiCon (anime), Novotel Hotel, Southampton. £70 reg; there’s a waiting list at www.minamicon.org.uk.
15-16 Mar • Dublin Comic Con, Convention Centre, Dublin. Various ticket prices (extra for early entry, etc.) at dublincomiccon.com.
SOLD OUT 20-23 Mar • Camp SFW, Vauxhall Holiday Park, Great Yarmouth. Weekend pass currently £95 at www.scifiweekender.com.
23 Mar • Darkness in the Fields (folk horror films), QUAD, Derby. £35 reg; £25 concessions. See derbyquad.co.uk/events/ditf2025/.
29 Mar-14 Jun • The Magic of Middle-earth (exhibition), Shire Hall Museum, Dorchester.10am-4pm. £10.50; concessions £9, under-18s £5.50. See shirehalldorset.org/events/the-magic-of-middle-earth/.
30 Mar • Bloomsbury Ephemera Fair, Holiday Inn Bloomsbury, Coram St, London. 9:30am-3pm. £3 entry. Apparently not including Paperback & Pulp Book Fair. See etcfairs.com/ephemera-fairs/.
5 Apr • Bedford Who Charity Con (Doctor Who), King’s House, Ampthill Road, Bedford, MK42 9AZ. 10am-5:30pm. Tickets £49.50; under-14s £20. See bedfordwhocharitycon.co.uk.
12-13 Apr • Conpulsion (games), The Pleasance, Edinburgh, EH8 9TJ. Tickets £20 or £10 each day, at the door only. See conpulsion.org.
2-4 May • Paracinema Cult Film Festival, QUAD Centre, Derby. Weekend passes £30 (£25 concessions) at paracinema.co.uk.
17-18 May • Steam Trains and Fairytales (steampunk), Midland Railway Trust, Butterley. See www.ministryofsteampunk.com.
5-6 Jul • The Town That Never Was (steampunk), Blists Hill, Telford. Further details awaited at www.ministryofsteampunk.com.
25-28 Jul • Continuum (RPG), Cranfield University CMDC . £50 reg or day passes £20 for any day – rising to £60 and £25 on 1 April. Under-17s free. See continuumconvention.co.uk.
13-17 Aug • Seattle Worldcon 2025, Seattle, WA, USA. Now $250 full adult registration, rising to $280 on 1 March 2025 and $300 on 1 May 2025. For other rates see seattlein2025.org. Hugo nominations opened on 10 February and will close on 14 March.
16-17 Aug • For the Love of Fantasy, ExCel, London. Tickets £53.90; under-10s £24.20; under-5s free. See fortheloveoffantasy.com.
22-25 Aug • Asylum XIV (steampunk), The Lawns and other Lincoln venues. Tickets awaited at www.ministryofsteampunk.com.
30 Aug • Whooverville 16 (Doctor Who), QUAD Centre, Derby. From 10am. Tickets £60 ; concessions £40; accompanied under-13s £15. Guests and other details at derbyquad.co.uk/events/whooverville16/.
13-14 Sep • Middle-earth Festival, Norton Lane, Wythall, B47 6HA (new field venue). See middleearthfestival.wordpress.com.
9-12 Oct • Grimmfest (film), Odeon Great Northern, Manchester. Screening schedule and ticket sales awaited at grimmfest.com.
24-26 Oct • Festival of Fantastic Films, Pendulum Hotel, Manchester. £110 reg, rising to £120 on 1 March. Day rates: £30 Friday, £55 Saturday, £45 Sunday. See fantastic-films.uk.
15-16 Nov • Thought Bubble Comic Convention, Harrogate Convention Centre, as part of comics festival. £36 weekend; £27/day; under-12s, over-65s and carers free. See thoughtbubblefestival.com.
22 Nov • Stars of Time (comics), Weston-super-Mare. Adult tickets £11.55; other rates at www.starsoftime.co.uk/weston-s-mare-winter.
29 Nov • Dragonmeet (gaming), London Excel (new venue). 9am-11pm. Tickets available from early June at www.dragonmeet.co.uk.
30 Jan - 1 Feb 2026 • Contabile 36 (filk), Wensum Valley Hotel, Norwich. £45 reg; £35 concessions. See www.contabile.org.uk/c36/.
8-19 Feb 2026 • Scotiacon (furry), Crowne Plaza Hotel, Glasgow. Western theme. Registration awaited at www.scotiacon.org.uk.
19-22 Mar 2026 • Camp SFW, Vauxhall Holiday Park, Great Yarmouth. £99 Fri+Sat or £130 Fri-Sun at www.scifiweekender.com.
22-24 May 2026 • Satellite 9, Clayton Hotel, Glasgow. GoH Liz Williams. £70 reg rising to £75 on 2 March 2025; under-25s £60; under-18s £20; under-12s £5; under-5s £2. See nine.satellitex.org.uk.
Rumblings. Octocon 2025 is happening, in October and presumably in Dublin: other details and prices are awaited at 2025.octocon.com.
Infinitely Improbable
As We Saw Us. Looking forward to the 1974 New York Worldcon: ‘... a multimedia experience coming from the simultaneous showing of twenty-five famous horror films of the past. It is a marathon event, planned to run through the first three days of the convention, but already, on the first morning, a certain debilitation has set in; people are staggering around the room with glazed expressions and many on the chairs appear to be somnolent or in a drug-induced coma. A few couples towards the fringes seem to be copulating with great difficulty ...’ (K.M. O’Donnell [Barry N. Malzberg], Gather in the Hall of the Planets, 1971)
Awards. Compton Crook (debut genre novel) shortlist: The Book of Love by Kelly Link, Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell, The Stars Too Fondly by Emily Hamilton, Sun of Blood and Ruin by Mariely Lares, The Wings Upon Her Back by Samantha Mills.
• Will Eisner Comics Hall of Fame: 2025 inductees include Philippe Druillet.
• Jack Gaughan Award (emerging artist): Eleonor Piteira. [AIP]
• Robert A. Heinlein Award: Sharon Lee.
• Skylark: Ian Randal Strock. [AIP]
R.I.P. Nike Arrighi (1947-2025), French actress who co-starred in Hammer’s The Devil Rides Out (1968) and was in the same studio’s Countess Dracula (1971) plus genre tv series, died on 12 February aged 77. [SJ]
• R.I. (Richard Ignatius) Barycz (1951-2024), UK fan whose late-1970s fanzine was Ycz, died on 6 April 2024 aged 73. [PC] He was an Ansible correspondent 1981-2021 and a subscriber via SAE until the end.
• David Edward Byrd (1941-2025), US artist and designer who created the poster for Little Shop of Horrors and others, worked for Warner Bros 1991-2002 on Looney Tunes and Hanna-Barbera cartoons plus early Harry Potter films, and much more, died on 3 February aged 83. [F770]
• KC Carlson (Patric Alan Carlson, 1956-2025), DC comics editor 1989-1990 and 1992-1997, who worked on Legion of Super-Heroes (for which he wrote stories) and Superman, plus collections of the Vertigo titles Sandman and V for Vendetta, died on 8 February aged 68. [SH]
• Anthony Dileo Jr, US actor in Day of the Dead (1985) and Monkey Shines (1988), died on 7 February. [SJ]
• John Erwin (1936-2024), US voice actor in Sabrina the Teenage Witch (47 episodes 1969-1972), He-Man and the Masters of the Universe (130 episodes 1983-1985, plus many spinoffs), Back to the Future II (1989) and others, died in December. [F770]
• Bruce French (1945-2025), US actor whose many genre credits include Man on a Swing (1974), Curse of the Black Widow (1977), Christine (1983), Martians Go Home (1989), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), Jurassic Park III (2001) and tv series, died on 7 February aged 79. [SJ]
• Gene Hackman (1930-2025), Oscar-winning US actor in Marooned (1969), Young Frankenstein (1974), Superman (1978 plus sequels) and others, was found dead on 26 February; he was 95.
• Frank Hildebrand (1950-2024), US producer whose credits include Project: Metalbeast (1995), They Nest (2000) and Fear the Walking Dead (98 episodes 2016-2023), died on 21 November aged 73. [AIP]
• Julian Holloway (1944-2025), UK actor in Captain Zed and the Zee Zone (1991-1992), Dan Dare (2001, 2002), Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2012-2020) and others, died on 16 February aged 80. [AIP]
• Barbie Hsu (1976-2025), Taiwanese singer and actress in Eternity: A Chinese Ghost Story (2003), Silk (2006), Future X-Cops (2010), Croczilla (2012) and others, died on 2 February aged 48. [SJ]
• Angélica Infante (1976-2025), Mexican actress in the low-budget horror comedies Ataca el chupacabras (1996) and El vampiro enamorado (1996), died on 5 February aged 48. [SJ]
• Tony Isbert (1950-2025), Spanish actor in The Dracula Saga (1973), The Rift (1990), Immortal Sins (1991) and others, died on 19 February aged 74. [SJ]
• Peter Jason (1944-2025), US actor in Dreamscape (1984), They Live (1988), Congo (1995), Mortal Kombat (1995), Escape from L.A. (1996) and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018), died on 20 February aged 80. [LP]
• Kim Sae-ron (2000-2025), South Korean actress in Mirror of the Witch (2016) and Kiss Sixth Sense (2022), committed suicide on 16 February aged 24. [SJ]
• Yevgeny Konstantinov (1959-2025), Russian angler and author of 11 fishing-themed fantasy novels (2002-2020), died on 17 February. [AM]
• Mort Künstler (1927-2025), noted US historical painter who in the 1960s/1970s produced some genre book covers (including Richard Matheson’s The Omega Man) and contributed to Mad, died on 2 February aged 97. [PDF]
• Lee Joo Shil [or Joo-Sil] (1944-2025), South Korean actress in Train to Busan (2016), The Uncanny Counter (2020) and Squid Game (2021), died on 2 February aged 80. [AIP]
• Mark R. Leeper (1950-2025), US fan and prolific film reviewer who with his wife Evelyn published more than 2300 issues of the weekly fanzine The MT Void, died on 22 February. [ECL]
• Tony (Anthony R.) Lewis (1941-2025), long-time US fan – active from 1957 – bibliographer, publisher and author who was a founder member of NESFA in 1967, chaired Noreascon (the 1971 Boston Worldcon) and worked on its three successors, was the long-time ‘Press Czar’ of NESFA Press, where he edited many indexes to sf and compiled An Annotated Bibliography of Recursive Science Fiction (1990), died on 11 February aged 84. He received the 2021 Skylark Award. [GED]
• Juan Mariné (1920-2025), Spanish cinematographer for Island of the Doomed (1967), El astronauta (1967), Supersonic Man (1979), The Rift (1990) and others, died on 17 February aged 104. [SJ]
• Chris Moore (1947-2025), versatile and prolific UK sf artist whose work is collected in Journeyman: The Art of Chris Moore (2000, text by Stephen Gallagher), died on 7 February aged 77. [CB] His cover art for the 1993 SF Encyclopedia became (with permission) the logo of the online version, still in use.
• Norma Mora (1943-2025), Mexican actress in Santo in the Wax Museum (1963) and the sf comedy Los astronautas (1964) died on 11 February aged 81. [SJ]
• P.H. Moriarty (1939-2025), UK actor in Outland (1981), Jaws 3 (1983), Dune (2000), Children of Dune (2003) and Evil Never Dies (2014), died on 2 February aged 85. [SJ]
• Brian Murphy (1932-2025), UK tv sitcom actor whose occasional genre credits include Cinderella: The Shoe Must Go On (1986) and Grave Tales (2011), died on 2 February aged 92. [SJ]
• Roberto Orci (1973-2025), Mexican-American writer/producer whose credits include the rebooted Star Trek (2009 plus sequels), Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) and Ender’s Game (2013), died on 25 February aged 51. [F770]
• Emma Popik (1949-2025), Polish author of the sf novel Cyclop (2023) and 5 sf collections, died on 4 February aged 75. [AM]
• Tom Robbins (1932-2025), US author whose extravagantly comic novels beginning with Another Roadside Attraction (1971) often include fantasy elements, as in Jitterbug Perfume (1984), died on 9 February aged 92.
• Tony Roberts (1939-2025), US actor in The Million Dollar Duck (1971), Amityville 3-D (1983), 18 Again! (1988) and Switch (1991), died on 7 February aged 85. [SJ]
• James R. Silke (1931-2025), US author who co-scripted King Solomon’s Mines (1985) and The Barbarians (1987), and wrote the four ‘Frank Frazetta’s Death Dealer’ heroic-fantasy novels (1988-1990) plus the sf comic Rascals in Paradise (1994), died on 16 February aged 93. [SH]
• Lynne Marie Stewart (1946-2025), US actress in The Running Man (1987), Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988) and genre tv series, died on 21 February aged 78. [AIP]
• Oleg Strizhenov (1929-2025), Russian actor who starred in the sf film Yego zvali Robert (His Name Was Robert, 1967) died on 9 February aged 95. [AM]
• Tongolele (1932-2025), Mexican-US dancer/actress in The Panther Women (1967) and Snake People (1971), died on 16 February aged 93. [SJ]
• Michelle Trachtenberg (1985-2025), US actress in Inspector Gadget (1999), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (66 episodes 2003-2003), Dragonlance (2008), 17 Again (2009) and others, died on 26 February aged 39. [LP/AIP]
The Weakest Link. Alexander Armstrong: ‘Writer, director and star of the 1941 film Citizen Kane. Initials OW.’ Celebrity: ‘Oprah Winfrey.’ (BBC1, Celebrity Pointless) [PE]
• Romesh Ranganathan: ‘In mythology, the west African trickster god is generally depicted as which eight-legged creature?’ Celebrity: ‘Goat.’ (BBC1, Celebrity Weakest Link) [PE]
Court Circular. The estate of Joe Shuster, co-creator of Superman, is suing Warner Bros Discovery and DC Comics on the basis that although Siegel and Shuster sold world copyright to the character in 1938, such assignments revert to the creator 25 years after death (Shuster died in 1992) in various countries including Australia, Canada, Ireland and the UK – where WBD expects to release its new Superman film this summer without any extra copyright payment. According to a WBD spokesman, ‘We fundamentally disagree with the merits of the lawsuit’. (Deadline, 31 January) [AIP] Well, they would say that, wouldn’t they?
Magazine Scene. Analog and Asimov’s are no longer published by Penny Press: the websites now say, ‘Must Read Magazines is a division of Must Read Books Publishing ...’ [RH] The new owners, Steven Salpeter of Assemble Media plus investors, also acquired the ailing F&SF from former publisher Gordon Van Gelder. [JS] The Astounding Award for new writers, traditionally sponsored by Analog’s publisher, will continue. [F770]
Random Fandom. The Corflu 42 Fanzine of Honour is Energumen (1970-1981) ed. Mike Glicksohn and Susan Wood, to be discussed at Corflu in April.
• Ella Parker, prominent 1950s/1960s UK fan who chaired the 1965 London Worldcon, had a secret at last confirmed by ancestry research and a surviving nephew: the ‘brother’ Fred with whom she lived was in fact her husband (since 1941). [MP] Rob Hansen has added a biographical afterword by said nephew to her fanwriting collection The Compact Ella Parker: see taff.org.uk/ebooks.php?x=Compact.
• Peter Mabey, long-time UK fan whose first convention was the 1957 London Worldcon, celebrates his 99th birthday on 21 March. Raise a glass! [RR]
Court Circular II. Will Smith and various production companies involved in the Ang Lee flop Gemini Man (2019) were sued for $1.7m by sf author Ken Sibanda (aka Kissinger Sibanda), who claims the film plagiarized his 2011 novel The Return to Gibraltar by featuring a black hero who is cloned. A US judge dismissed the claim against Smith on 31 January, but litigation apparently continues. (In Touch, 14 February)
The Dead Past. 40 Years Ago: ‘Monthly BSFA pub meetings developed a hiccup when the formerly hospitable King of Diamonds pub announced without prior warning that the society was to be banned for filthy practices, such as mentioning CND. Mighty organizer Judith Hanna issued a “shocked” press release, spurring City Limits mag to interview the KoD landlord: “It’s not political,” he wailed, “they don't spend enough. And they have things from Greenpeace and Save the Seals which isn’t science fiction.” (Ansible 42, March 1985)
• 30 Years Ago, from Brighton’s equivalent of Time Out: ‘Interzone, which has actually been going since 1982, this month celebrates the 100th anniversary of Jules Verne’s portentous novel, The War of the Worlds.’ (Ansible 92, March 1995)
Fanfundery. TransAtlantic Fan Fund. Voting continues in the 2025 westbound TAFF race to the Seattle Worldcon, and will close on 23 April. See taff.org.uk for the ballot, candidates, and online voting form.
BSFA Latest. At an online EGM on 23 February, the BSFA voted to apply for charitable status. It seems this proposal was earlier misinterpreted as implying a ban on ‘uncharitable’ negative book reviews, leading to a brief teapot tempest since resolved behind the scenes.
Editorial. The TAFF ebook library has two new titles. Watto’s Wisdom by Ian Watson (taff.org.uk/ebooks.php?x=Watto) is a fat collection of the great man’s nonfiction, also released as a trade paperback which we hope will be on sale at Eastercon with Ian there to sign copies. Meanwhile GUFF: The Incomplete Chronicles (taff.org.uk/ebooks.php?x=guffanth) brings together the published chapters of abandoned GUFF reports.
Thog’s Masterclass. Melodramatic Naughtiness. ‘Deaf as yesterday to all representation of right, he proposed further perfidy, once more pawning his honour to obtain his lust. Deaf as yesterday to all remonstrances of reason, he purposed to sell himself over again to buy venery’s disappearing dross.’ (James Gould Cozzens, By Love Possessed, 1957)
• Timeless True Romance. ‘This was a prelude to several hours of endless sex.’ (Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee, Rama Revealed, 1993) [AR]
• Neat Tricks. ‘... making way for me, drawing the others back, all, as if with his pineal gland.’ (‘Meeting Mr. Millar’ in Robert Aickman’s Cold Hand in Mine,1975) [CG]
• Space Turbulence. ‘You have to expect strange things on a ship like this. Eight hundred G’s will throw many a good man out of sync.’ (Silas Water [Noel Loomis], The Man with Absolute Motion, 1955)
Geeks’ Corner
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Convention and Event Links
• British Isles – https://news.ansible.uk
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• Overseas – https://news.ansible.uk/conlisti.html [no longer updated]
Endnotes
PayPal Tip Jar Thingy. Donate to support Ansible, cover website costs and keep the editor happy! Or just buy his books.
https://ansible.uk/paypal.html
https://ae.ansible.uk/
https://ansible.uk/books/index.html
Group Theory.
• 20 March 2025, evening: London Zoom meeting, third Thursday of each month. ‘Please share this with people who you know typically come to the Bishop’s Finger, but aren’t on Facebook.’
https://bohemiancoast.medium.com/first-thursday-london-sf-fan-virtual-drinks-5232021e961f
Late News. Lawrence Person is thrilled by a recent discovery of the power of F&SF reviewers. There were plans in Dursley, Gloucestershire, to name a street in a new development Smallcreep Rise in honour of the local author Peter Currel Brown and his 1965 sf allegory Smallcreep’s Day. But researchers came across a 2009 F&SF ‘Curiosities’ piece by Mr Person revealing that the book has a rhetorical mention of necrophilia, which would never do. The street was given another name. (Gazette, May 2022)
The Relentless Publishing Programme. Work in progress at Ansible Editions includes a paperback edition of Rob Hansen's THEN Again: A UK Fanhistory Reader 1930-1979 (2019 ebook), a companion to his massive UK history THEN which collects many relevant source texts.
https://taff.org.uk/ebooks.php?x=ThenAgain
Some Links from the Ansible home page.
• Bram Stoker Awards finalists
https://www.thebramstokerawards.com/front-page/the-2024-bram-stoker-awards-final-ballot/
• BSFA Awards longlist
https://bsfa.co.uk/bsfa-awards-longlist/
• Locus Recommended Reading List
https://locusmag.com/2025/02/2024-recommended-reading-list/
• SF Encyclopedia Ltd dissolved!
https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/07582200
Thog’s Golden Oldies from Ansible 212, March 2005. Dept of Ancient-Mariner Astronomy. ‘... she could see nothing but the old moon with a lost star drifting between its horns.’ (Patricia A. McKillip, Heir of Sea and Fire, 1980)
• Relativity Dept. ‘The Rim Star ... went too fast. If starlight had glittered on her travelling at the speed she’d attained ... she would have been invisible. No one light-wave was fast enough to strike her and be reflected ...’ (Murray Leinster, The Other Side of Nowhere, 1955)
• Straight On ’Til Morning Dept. ‘You simply head your space ship toward your sun for about three million miles, take a sharp turn left and go about five or six million miles and there we will be. Please do come visit us when you build your space ship.’ (Sara Cavanaugh, A Woman in Space, 1981)
• Dept of Mainstream Cephalopods. ‘“Adams won't like this,” she said, and turned with a smile which was for him alone to let him take her, and helped his heart find hers by fastening her mouth on his as though she were an octopus that had lost its arms to the propellers of a tug, and had only its mouth now with which, in a world of the hunted, to hang on to wrecked spars.’ (Henry Green, Concluding, 1948)
Ansible® 452 © David Langford, 2025. Thanks to Chris Barlow, Pat Charnock, Gay Ellen Dennett, Paul Di Filippo, File 770, Carl Glover, Steve Holland, Rich Horton, Steve Jones, Evelyn C. Leeper, Locus, Todd Mason, Ira Matetsky, Andrey Meshavkin, Lawrence Person, Mark Plummer, Andrew I. Porter, Private Eye, Adam Roberts, Roger Robinson, Jason Sanford, and as always our Hero Distributors: Durdles Books (Birmingham SF Group), SCIS/Prophecy and Alan Stewart (Australia). 28 February 2025