From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.fandom
THE MT VOID
04/24/26 -- Vol. 44, No. 43, Whole Number 2429
Editor: Evelyn Leeper,
evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com
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Topics:
Middletown (NJ) Public Library Science Fiction Discussion
Group
Picks for Turner Classic Movies in May (comments
by Evelyn C. Leeper)
Roger Corman, THE BEAST WITH A MILLION EYES, PIRANHA,
PIRANHA 3D, and MEGA PIRANHA (film comments
by Evelyn C. Leeper)
THE SUBJECTS (letter of comment by Scott Dorsey)
Clu Gulager (letter of comment by Peter Rubinstein)
THERE IS NO ANTIMEMETIC DIVISION (letter of comment
by Paul S. R. Chisholm)
OUTLAND, CAST A DEADLY SPELL, and THE HIDDEN (letter
of comment by Steve Coltrin)
This Week's Reading (BROTHERHOOD OF THE REVOLUTION
and PHYSICS IN YOUR LIFE) (course comments
by Evelyn C. Leeper)
Hugo Award Finalists
===================================================================
TOPIC: Middletown (NJ) Public Library Science Fiction Discussion
Group
May 7, 2026: YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (1974) & "Frankenstein"
by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
<
https://www.hoopladigital.com/search?q=frankenstein>
<
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/84>
OR: "Young Frankenstein: The Story of the Making of the Film" by
Mel Brooks, with Rebecca Keegan:
<
https://www.hoopladigital.com/ebook/ young-frankenstein-a-mel-brooks-book-mel-brooks/13769145>
===================================================================
TOPIC: Picks for Turner Classic Movies in May (comments by Evelyn
C. Leeper)
As I mentioned last month, it's getting harder to do this, because
Turner isn't posting its upcoming films as early in the previous
month as they used to. And this month it's the worst, because this
goes out a full week before the new month starts. So the listings
I could access went up only through May 21.]
I'm going to recommend two films this month. The first is CROSSING
DELANCEY, which I recommended a few months ago. (At the time I
said it was "woefully understated"; what I meant was "woefully under-appreciated".) This is a rom-com set where the uptown
literary world and the downtown modern Orthodox world meet, with a
great performance by Reizl Bozyk, and I'll recommended it again.
CROSSING DELANCEY (1988), Sunday, May 3, 2:00 AM
SOUTH PACIFIC needs to be watched almost as an artifact. Someone
on Usenet talked about watching SOUTH PACIFIC when she was a
teenager in the 1980s and not understanding what everyone in the
film was getting so agitated about--eventually she twigged to it
being that the European Emile de Becque had married a Polynesian,
and his children were therefore mixed-race. At the time the
musical was first written (1927), this was shocking, and even at
the time of the movie (1958) it was at least somewhat disapproved
of by many. Nowadays, it can be understood only as a period
piece, similar to GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER or SHOW BOAT. (Yes,
I understand there are still those who feel that way, but the
general attitude is very different now from a hundred years ago.)
SOUTH PACIFIC (1958), Sunday, May 17, 5:15 PM
Other films of interest:
FRIDAY, May 1
10:15 PM Spellbound (1945)
SATURDAY, May 2
6:45 AM Miracles for Sale (1939)
8:15 AM Mark of the Vampire (1935)
10:00 AM Tarzan, the Ape Man (1959)
4:30 PM Oh, God! (1977)
SUNDAY, May 3
6:00 AM Hercules, Samson & Ulysses (1963)
7:45 AM Helen of Troy (1956)
MONDAY, May 4
6:00 AM Queen of Outer Space (1958)
7:30 AM Satellite in the Sky (1956)
9:00 AM The Black Scorpion (1957)
10:30 AM The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953)
12:00 PM Forbidden Planet (1956)
1:45 PM The Invisible Boy (1957)
3:15 PM The Killer Shrews (1959)
4:30 PM Them! (1954)
6:30 PM Invaders from Mars (1953)
TUESDAY, May 5
6:00 AM Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages (1922)
8:00 AM White Zombie (1932)
10:30 AM From Beyond the Grave (1973)
12:15 PM Night of Dark Shadows (1971)
2:00 PM Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972)
3:45 PM Eye of the Devil (1966)
5:30 PM I Walked with a Zombie (1943)
6:45 PM The Seventh Victim (1943)
FRIDAY, May 8
6:45 AM The Devil-Doll (1936)
8:15 AM Doctor X (1932)
9:45 AM The Walking Dead (1936)
11:00 AM Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932)
2:30 PM Things to Come (1936)
4:15 PM Transatlantic Tunnel (1935)
SATURDAY, May 9
10:00 AM Tarzan the Magnificent (1960)
MONDAY, May 11
8:00 PM All of Me (1984)
WEDNESDAY, May 13
8:00 PM Ed Wood (1994)
SATURDAY, May 16
10:00 AM Tarzan Goes to India (1962)
3:30 PM The Crimson Pirate (1952)
SUNDAY, May 17
6:30 AM Forbidden Planet (1956)
MONDAY, May 18
11:30 PM Pennies from Heaven (1981)
THURSDAY, May 21
7:15 AM One Million B.C. (1940)
[-ecl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: Roger Corman, PIRANHA, PIRNHA 3D, and MEGA PIRANHA (film
comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
This started as a review of ROGER CORMAN: THE POPE OF POP CINEMA
(2021), a documentary about Roger Corman, but it turned into more
than just that.
Let me start by saying that Roger Corman didn't make great films,
but Roger Corman made great filmmakers.
This is not to say that his films aren't enjoyable, but he didn't
make films like THE GODFATHER, or TAXI DRIVER, or APOLLO 13, or
THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, or TITANIC. Those were done by Francis
Ford Coppola, and Martin Scorsese, and Ron Howard, and Jonathan
Demme, and James Cameron--all of whom got their start as directors
under Roger Corman.
If you want to see their directorial debuts under Corman, these
are DEMENTIA 13 (Francis Ford Coppola), BOXCAR BERTHA (Martin
Scorsese), GRAND THEFT AUTO (Ron Howard), CAGED HEAT (Jonathan
Demme), and PIRANHA II (James Cameron).
Not to mention John Sayles, Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern, Gale Ann
Hurd, Robert Towne, and Talia Shire, who got starts as writers,
actors, and producers.
And Ron Howard relates what Corman told them (or at least him):
"If you do a good job you'll never have to work for me again."
One well-known director (I cannot recall which one) noted that a
big difference in a Corman set and a Hollywood studio set of the
time was that on a Hollywood studio set you might see two or three
women working "behind the camera" (as crew or staff rather than as
actors). On a Corman set it was closer to half-and-half (although
the crew was much smaller than a Hollywood studio film would have.
(I'm not sure that's entirely accurate. Some study seemed to show
that when presented with a large group of people, an observer
tended to see their "group"--men, whites, short people, etc.--as
being a smaller percentage than they actually were. This was true
the one time I tested it. Someone (male) at a computer conference
said that about half the attendees were women. I went back and
counted through the list of attendees; if I recall correctly, it
was closer to a third, or perhaps less. Well, it was thirty years
ago; my memory isn't perfect.)
Anyway, back to Corman. The stories of how he made such films as
THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (shot in two days with sets left over
from A BUCKET OF BLOOD), DEMENTIA 13 (shot using cast and sets
left over from THE YOUNG RACERS), TARGETS (using stock footage
from THE TERROR and two days of shooting with Boris Karloff, who
owed Corman another two days on his contract from THE TERROR), and
HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD (which used footage from many previous Corman
films) are both amusing and enlightening. (Robert Rodriguez didn't
work with Corman, but his "10-Minute Film School" extras on his
DVDs give an idea of how Corman worked.)
If you get the impression that Corman believed in "Use it up, wear
it out, make it do, or do without," you're on the money. One of
the jokes in an episode of "Mystery Science 3000" for a Roger
Corman was that the fur piece on one of the actresses was Corman's
poodle that had died: "He re-uses everything!" But it was to a
great extent true. When mark and I were first in California, we
went over the Christmas holidays to a Roger Corman/Edgar Allan Poe
quintuple feature in an old San Jose theater. I can't recall
exactly the films; they were five of the non-anthology Poe films
(HOUSE OF USHER, THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM, THE PREMATURE BURIAL,
THE RAVEN, THE HAUNTED PALACE, THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH, and
THE TOMB OF LIGEIA). At any rate two things stick out. First, at
least four of them had the same wine glasses and wall
sconces--hence why I say Corman did re-use everything. And second,
in between the films they played Jose Feliciano singing "Feliz
Navidad" over the speakers. That song is indelibly linked with
Corman-Poe films in my mind.
(One of the IMDb's trivia points for THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS
was: "Howard R. Cohen learned from Charles B. Griffith that when
the film was being edited, 'there was a point where two scenes
would not cut together. It was just a visual jolt, and it didn't
work. And they needed something to bridge that moment. They found,
in the editing room, a nice shot of the moon, they cut it in, and
it worked. Twenty years go by. I'm at the studio one day. Chuck
comes running up to me and says, "You've got to see this!" It was
a magazine article--eight pages on the symbolism of the moon in
THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS.")
Corman's films were also successful; THE WILD ANGELS made $23,000
in one day at one drive-in, breaking all records there, even of
major Hollywood films. THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS became a stage
musical and was later re-made. Corman also made money from selling
THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS and DEATH RACE 2000 names to what became
successful franchises. And Vincent Canby of the New York Times
said in his review of JAWS, "What is JAWS but a big-budget Roger
Corman film?" Alas, Corman didn't make any money off that one, but
he did make a low-budget rip-off, PIRANHA, which had a sequel and
a remake, which in turn had two more sequels. See my comments
below.
ROGER CORMAN: THE POPE OF POP CINEMA is highly recommended, as is
Corman's memoir HOW I MADE 100 MOVIES AND NEVER LOST A DIME,
although in the documentary he does admit to losing money on THE
INTRUDER, a 1962 film about race relations shot in southeastern
Mississippi. The crew had been getting death threats and the last
scene, a KKK rally, was shot at night after the crew had checked
out of the motel and loaded everything on their cars and trucks.
As soon as they finished shooting, they jumped in the cars, and
drove straight through to St. Louis without stopping. What Corman
didn't mention was who the star was: William Shatner.
Released in France 19 January 2021.
Film Credits:
<
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14046398/reference>
THE BEAST WITH A MILLION EYES (1955): THE BEAST WITH A MILLION
EYES has a great credit sequence artwork and fantastic music. So
far as I can tell from various sites, Paul Julian did the artwork,
but was uncredited. The music was by Shostakovich, Prokofiev,
Verdi, Wagner, and other notables, and is far too high quality,
not to say too over-dramatic, for this film. The art direction was
by Albert S. Ruddy, who went on to win two Academy Awards (for
producing THE GODFATHER and MILLION DOLLAR BABY). There's a lot of
voice-over, and of dialogue from off-screen characters or those
facing away from the screen.
What's the explanation?
Corman had a contract to do four films for $100,000 each, but by
the time he got to THE BEAST WITH A MILLION EYES, he had only
$29,000 left. So the music was all public domain record library
cues of classical music. The film was shot non-union. This was
Ruddy's only film as art director. The dialogue was done in such a
way that for a lot of the post-production looping, they didn't
have to worry about matching the lips.
It gets a 3.8/10 in the IMDb, which puts it ahead of MEGA PIRANHA
(see below).
Released theatrically 15 June 1955.
Film Credits:
<
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048991/reference>
What others are saying: <
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_beast_with_a_million_eyes>
And then I watched PIRANHA (1978) twice, once with commentary,
PIRANHA (2010) twice, again once with commentary, and MEGA PIRANHA
(2010). PIRANHA (2010) was originally called PIRANHA 3D, was shot
in 3D, and was a reboot of PIRANHA (1978), while MEGA PIRANHA
(2010) was an Asylum film. For those unfamiliar with Asylum Films,
they are an independent studio who makes low-budget "mockbusters"
that copy major studio releases, and beat them to the theaters.
MEGA PIRANHA was released four months before PIRANHA (2010). Other
examples are in 2005 when Steven Spielberg released his version of
WAR OF THE WORLDS, they released H. G. WELLS' WAR OF THE WORLDS,
and they also did SNAKES ON A TRAIN and THE DA VINCI TREASURE in
the appropriate years.
(The DVD release of PIRANHA 3D was not in 3D, and was labeled just
"PIRANHA" on the case, the physical DVD, and the film itself.)
Anyway, Corman's 1978 PIRANHA was a lot of fun, along with being
very gory--although the gore was tempered by the low budget, so it
was mostly red bubbly water, or rather fuzzy shots of carnage. The
2010 authorized remake took itself more seriously and had a bigger
budget, so the gore was more graphic, but the humor just wasn't
there. Instead there were a lot of mammary glands and buttocks in
motion to fill the time. (And I'm sure in 3D they were
impressive.) It was the first to postulate a giant piranha. MEGA
PIRANHA picked up on this idea and ran (or swam) with it. As an
example of their production values, the geographic coordinates one
character gives for the piranha in Venezuela actually point to
Quebec. And as evidence of the quality of the film, it gets a
2.4/10 in the IMDb.
My recommendation is to watch the Corman classic and skip the
remakes, sequels, and rip-offs.
PIRANHA (1978):
Released theatrically 03 August 1978.
Film Credits:
<
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078087/reference>
PIRANHA 3D (2010):
Released theatrically 20 August 2010.
Film Credits:
<
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0464154/reference>
What others are saying:
<
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/piranha_3d>
MEGA PIRANHA (2011):
Released theatrically 10 April 2010.
Film Credits:
<
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1587807/reference>
What others are saying:
<
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mega_piranha>
[-ecl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: THE SUBJECTS (letter of comment by Scott Dorsey)
In response to Dale Skran's review of THE SUBJECTS in the 04/17/26
issue of the MT VOID, Scott Dorsey writes:
I think the Grateful Dead did this back before Pigpen died. There
is definitely prior experience with this. (Pigpen definitely
developed a super-power, that of Hammond playing.) [-sd]
===================================================================
TOPIC: Clu Gulager (letter of comment by Peter Rubinstein)
In response to Evelyn's comments on THE HIDDEN in the 04/17/26
issue of the MT VOID, Peter Rubinstein writes:
[Evelyn wrote,] "THE HIDDEN (1987): THE HIDDEN stars Kyle
McLaughlin (after DUNE and BLUE VELVET, but before TWIN PEAKS),
Claudia Christian (pre-BABYLON 5), and Clu Gallagher (whose career
spanned a third of a century before and a third of a century after
THE HIDDEN)." [-ecl]
I think your spell corrector must have switched out Clu Gulager.
[-pr]
Evelyn responds:
Or it could be that I just assumed his last name was the most
common spelling. I have switched off auto-correct everywhere I
could find it--it creates more problems than it solves. I do use
the "auto-correct lite" (hover over the word and see what it
thinks is the right spelling). [-ecl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: THERE IS NO ANTIMEMETIC DIVISION (letter of comment by Paul
S. R. Chisholm)
In response to Evelyn's comments on THERE IS NO ANTIMEMETIC
DIVISION in the 04/17/26 issue of the MT VOID, Paul S. R. Chisholm
writes:
The YouTube video Evelyn linked to was uploaded on 2026-02-02.
(Groundhog Day! See also the Harold Ramis movie of the same name.)
The video credits the short story "We Need To Talk About
Fifty-Five" on the SCP Foundation website:
<
https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/we-need-to-talk-about-fifty-five>
and covers Part I, Chapter 1 of the book.
qntm, the book's author, uploaded the original version of that
short story on 2015-01-30.
A video uploaded to YouTube on 2024-03-27:
<
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-IiVeGAydE>
has the same title and a subtitle of "Ep 1 - SCP Horror Short
Series." It's a combination of Chapters 1 and 2 of the book's Part
I.
FYI, I thought the book's first chapter was the tightest writing
in the whole novel. [-psrc]
===================================================================
TOPIC: OUTLAND, CAST A DEADLY SPELL, and THE HIDDEN (letter of
comment by Steve Coltrin)
In response to Evelyn's comments on various films in the 04/17/26
issue of the MT VOID, Steve Coltrin writes:
[Evelyn writes,] "OUTLAND (1981): Sometimes you just watch to
watch a trashy science fiction movie" [-ecl]
[snip much, including well-warranted criticisms]
What I like best about OUTLAND is the look and feel, and if I had
to give a one-liner of my personal L&F of the TRAVELLER setting,
it would be "like OUTLAND and ALIEN, except the lights work and
it's not *all* carnivorous monsters and drug dealers". [-sc]
[Evelyn writes,] "(Later on, it turns out that the one year on Io
is apparently in addition to one year deep sleep each way...)"
[-ecl]
One-year transit is interesting: much less than a Hohmann orbit
from Earth to Jupiter (assuming we're talking about transit from
Earth, but Mars isn't much different), much more than some kind of
magic torch drive. So, something like ion propulsion? [-sc]
(And at this point I have thought *far* more about this than the
movie did.) [-sc]
[Evelyn writes,] "CAST A DEADLY SPELL (1991) ... has Fred Ward,
who is always good." [-ecl]
And Clancy Brown, who is also always good.
CAST A DEADLY SPELL is available on HBO Plus/Prime/Max/whatever
it's called this week, for those who subscribe. I keep
contemplating a rewatch.
[Evelyn writes,] "The only problem is what to watch following
this." [-ecl]
Perhaps A DARK SONG, a 2016 Irish-British indie fantasy horror
fairly faithfully based on the ritual in THE BOOK OF ABRAMELIN.
(Mini-review: Don't attempt the Abramelin ritual. Seriously,
don't.) [-sc]
[Evelyn writes,] "THE HIDDEN" [-ecl]
Has been on my list for literally decades. Someday I'll plunk down
the few bucks to rent it. [-sc]
===================================================================
TOPIC: This Week's Reading (book comments by Evelyn C. Leeper)
BROTHERHOOD OF THE REVOLUTION by Prof. Joseph Ellis is not a Great Courses/Teaching Company course, but rather a course from Modern
Scholar, a similar company. For whatever reason, all the GC/TTC
courses (at least until very recently) had the number of lectures
a multiple of six. All the MS courses I've seen have fourteen
lectures each. Both GC/TTC and MS have booklets as well.
This is a really good course, which I'mm saying up front, because
I have a few nitpicks. Most of them have to do with Ellis
misspeaking, for example saying that Washington rushed to New York
to join the committee on independence when he meant Philadelphia.
Or that the American Revolution was the second oldest American
war, when he means the second longest (since he then says that
Vietnam was the longest). Or that he talks about the yellow light
in THE GREAT GATSBY when the light was actually green.
All the lectures are good, but the one about the Declaration of
Independence is spectacular in its detailed explanation of the
timeline, and its analysis of where some of the phrasing came from
and what they actually meant, and several of the subsequent ones
about the Constitution and about slavery are also excellent.
Ellis has definite opinions, and one is that Washington's most
important strategic decision was to insist that the Continental
Army be inoculated against smallpox in 1777.
(Ellis is probably best known for the Pulitzer-Prize-winning book,
FOUNDING BROTHERS.)
PHYSICS IN YOUR LIFE (with Richard Wolfson) is a Great
Courses/Teaching Company course that is interesting in content,
but annoying in presentation, at least at the beginning. Wolfson
looks at the camera less than half the time; the rest of the time
he is looking down at his notes, presumably for some sort of
reminder of what to say. (He looks at the camera for long enough
periods that he is not just reading off the papers.) After a few
lectures he starts doing demonstrations, and for those he is more
engaged with the audience. [-ecl]
===================================================================
TOPIC: Hugo Award Finalists
[This has been converted to ASCII and diacritical marks have been
dropped, and the letters not in the English alphabet have been
rendered (incorrectly) as letters that are in the English
alphabet.
I have also stripped some of the credits for various works,
especially when, such as in the Semi-Prozine category, they would
be close to ten lines long. I dread the day when someone decides
that Dramatic Presentations must list every single person involved
in their creation and production.
If you want a version with all the correct diacritical marks and
letters, and the entire list of people involved in the various
finalists, it is at <
https://www.lacon.org/hugofinalists/>.]
2026 Hugo, Lodestar, and Astounding Award Finalists
1,488 valid nominating ballots, including 6 paper ballots
23,543 nominations for 4,299 works and individuals across 21
categories.
Best Novel
A DROP OF CORRUPTION by Robert Jackson Bennett (Del Rey;
Hodderscape)
DEATH OF THE AUTHOR by Nnedi Okorafor (William Morrow; Gollancz)
SHROUD by Adrian Tchaikovsky (Tor UK; Orbit US)
THE EVERLASTING by Alix E. Harrow (Tor US; Tor UK)
THE INCANDESCENT by Emily Tesh (Tor US; Orbit UK)
THE RAVEN SCHOLAR by Antonia Hodgson (Orbit US; Hodderscape)
1,153 ballots cast for 555 nominees. Finalists range 126-210.
Best Novella
AUTOMATIC NOODLE by Annalee Newitz (Tordotcom)
CINDER HOUSE by Freya Marske (Tordotcom; Tor UK)
MURDER BY MEMORY by Olivia Waite (Tordotcom)
THE RIVER HAS ROOTS by Amal El-Mohtar (Tordotcom; Arcadia UK)
THE SUMMER WAR by Naomi Novik (Del Rey US; Del Rey UK)
WHAT STALKS THE DEEP by T. Kingfisher (Nightfire; Titan UK)
807 ballots cast for 172 nominees. Finalists range 90-241.
Best Novelette
"Kaiju Agonistes" by Scott Lynch (Uncanny Magazine, Issue 62)
"Never Eaten Vegetables" by H.H. Pak (Clarkesworld, Issue 220)
"Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy"
by Martha Wells (Reactor, July 10, 2025)
"The Girl That My Mother Is Leaving Me For" by Cameron Reed
(Reactor, April 2, 2025)
"The Millay Illusion" by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny Magazine, Issue 67)
"When He Calls Your Name" by Catherynne M. Valente
(Uncanny Magazine, Issue 65)
414 ballots cast for 144 nominees. Finalists range 36-64.
Best Short Story
"10 Visions of the Future; or, Self-Care for the End of Days"
by Samantha Mills (Uncanny Magazine, Issue 63)
"In My Country" by Thomas Ha (Clarkesworld, Issue 223)
"Laser Eyes Ain't Everything" by Effie Seiberg (Diabolical Plots,
May 16, 2025)
"Missing Helen" by Tia Tashiro (Clarkesworld, Issue 226)
"Six People to Revise You" by J.R. Dawson (Uncanny Magazine,
Issue 62)
"Wire Mother" by Isabel J. Kim (Clarkesworld, Issue 229)
507 ballots cast for 549 nominees. Finalists range 26-60.
Best Series
"Emily Wilde" by Heather Fawcett (Del Rey US; Orbit UK)
"October Daye" by Seanan McGuire (Tor US; DAW)
"Old ManrCOs War" by John Scalzi (Tor US; Tor UK)
"The Chronicles" of Osreth by Katherine Addison (Tor US;
Solaris UK; Subterranean)
"The Craft Wars" by Max Gladstone (Tor; Tordotcom)
"White Space" by Elizabeth Bear (Saga Press; Gollancz)
687 ballots cast for 185 nominees. Finalists range 52-136.
Best Graphic Story or Comic
Absolute Wonder Woman Vol. 1: The Last Amazon
A Girl and Her Fed
A Wizard of Earthsea: A Graphic Novel
The Invisible Parade
The Power Fantasy Volume 1: The Superpowers
The Space Cat
362 ballots cast for 243 nominees. Finalists range 19-42.
Best Related Work
Colourfields: Writing About Writing About Science Fiction
by Paul Kincaid (Briardene Books)
Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer (University of Chicago
Press US, Head of Zeus UK)
Last War in Albion: rCLThe Cuddled Little Vice (Sandman)rCY by
Elizabeth Sandifer (Eruditorum Press)
Positive Obsession: The Life and Times of Octavia E. Butler
by Susana M. Morris (Amistad)
rCLRagnarok vs the Long NightrCY by Ashaya and Aziz (History of
Westeros Podcast, August 10, 2025)
The Hugo Spreadsheet of Doom, maintained by Renay
(Google Spreadsheet)
479 ballots cast for 250 nominees. Finalists range 31-70.
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
Andor (Season 2)
Frankenstein
KPop Demon Hunters
Appelhans
Sinners
Superman
650 ballots cast for 149 nominees. Finalists range 85-313.
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
Doctor Who: "The Story & the Engine"
Murderbot: "All Systems Red"
Murderbot: "The Perimeter"
Pluribus: "We Is Us"
Severance: "Cold Harbor"
The Wheel of Time: "The Road to the Spear"
471 ballots cast for 249 nominees. Finalists range 40-98.
Best Game or Interactive Work
Blue Prince
Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector
Age
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Dispatch
Hades II
Hollow Knight: Silksong
357 ballots cast for 159 nominees. Finalists range 29-110. (924
raw noms)
Best Editor Short Form
Scott H. Andrews
Jennifer Brozek
Neil Clarke
Lee Harris
Michael Damian Thomas
Sheila Williams
305 ballots cast for 128 nominees. Finalists range 30-84.
Best Editor Long Form
Carl Engle-Laird
Jaymee Goh
Lee Harris
Jenni Hill
Joe Monti
Diana M. Pho
234 ballots cast for 95 nominees. Finalists range 27-74.
Best Professional Artist
Lulu Chen
Kelly Chong
Dave Kellett
Tran Nguyen
John Picacio
Tom Roberts
228 ballots cast for 220 nominees. Finalists range 10-28.
Best Semiprozine
Escape Pod
khoreo magazine
On Spec: The Canadian Magazine of the Fantastic
Strange Horizons
The Deadlands
Uncanny Magazine
324 ballots cast for 93 nominees. Finalists range 34-100.
Best Fanzine
Ancillary Review of Books
An Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog
Galactic Journey
Intergalactic Mixtape
Journey Planet
nerds of a feather, flock together
224 ballots cast for 61 nominees. Finalists range 33-66.
Best Fancast
A Meal of Thorns
Eating the Fantastic
Hugo, Girl!
Octothorpe
The Coode Street Podcast
Worldbuilding for Masochists
370 ballots cast for 198 nominees. Finalists range 31-69.
Best Fan Writer
Jay Brantner for "Tar Vol"
Alex Brown
James Davis Nicoll
Roseanna Pendlebury
Jason Sanford
Orjan Westin
308 ballots cast for 158 nominees. Finalists range 22-54.
Best Fan Artist
Terri Ash
Geneva Bowers
Sara Felix
Richard Man
Espana Sheriff
Yuumei
176 ballots cast for 137 nominees. Finalists range 12-22.
Best Poem
"Care for Lightning" by Mari Ness (Uncanny Magazine, Issue 62)
"Hex Supply Customer Support Log" by Elis Montgomery
(Strange Horizons, Issue 25 August 2025)
"How to Become a Sea Witch" by Theodora Goss (The Orange & Bee,
Issue 5)
"Landing: Seattle" by Brandon O'Brien (Seattle Worldcon 2025
Opening Ceremony)
"The Mourning Robot" by Angela Liu (Uncanny Magazine, Issue 66)
"The World to Come" by Jennifer Hudak (Strange Horizons,
Issue 22 December 2025)
202 ballots cast for 229 nominees. Finalists range 12-35.
Lodestar Award for Best YA Book
Among Ghosts by Rachel Hartman (Random House Books for
Young Readers)
Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe by C.B. Lee (Feiwel & Friends)
Holy Terrors by Margaret Owen (Henry Holt; Hodderscape UK)
Oathbound by Tracy Deonn (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic Press)
They Bloom at Night by Trang Thanh Tran (Bloomsbury US;
Bloomsbury UK)
244 ballots cast for 169 nominees. Finalists range 12-48.
Astounding Award for Best New Writer (sponsored by Dell Magazines)
Sophie Burnham (2nd year of eligibility)
Kamilah Cole (2nd year of eligibility)
Antonia Hodgson (1st year of eligibility)
Molly O'Neill (1st year of eligibility)
H.H. Pak (2nd year of eligibility)
Jared Pechacek (2nd year of eligibility)
290 ballots cast for 156 nominees. Finalists range 17-76.
Disqualifications and Withdrawls
The following nominees received enough votes to qualify for the
final ballot, but were found to be ineligible:
Best Series:
Lady Astronaut, by Mary Robinette Kowal (fewer than 240,000 new
words since last appearance on the ballot)
The Singing Hills Cycle, by Nghi Vo (fewer than 240,000 words
in total)
Astounding Award:
Silvia Park (had qualifying publication prior to 2024)
Barbara Truelove (had qualifying publication prior to 2024)
The following nominees received enough votes to qualify for the
final ballot, but declined nominations:
Best Editor, Long Form: Lindsey Hall
Best Semiprozine: Beneath Ceaseless Skies
The following nominee received enough votes to qualify for the
final ballot, but was withdrawn by the showrunners to abide by the
limitation on number of episodes of the same show allowed in the
category.
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form: Murderbot: "Free Commerce"
===================================================================
Evelyn C. Leeper
evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com
There are two hard problems in computer science:
cache invalidation, naming things, and off-by-one errors.
--via Dave Josephsen
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