Cinema Spec: Tales of Hollywood and Fantasy

Edited by Karen A. Romanko

Cinema Spec: Tales of Hollywood and Fantasy views moving pictures in all their forms, real and imaginary, from shadow plays to classic films, from videocassettes to animated tattoos. 32 authors have contributed flash fiction, short stories, and poetry to the anthology, transporting readers back to a time when flames flickered and paintings waltzed on cave walls, and forward to possible futures when the heavens themselves might serve as vidscreens. Along the way, the anthology makes multiple stops in Hollywood, the one we know and the one that could never exist, from 30s noir to extraterrestrial infiltration, from a magical "gangland" to destruction after "the big one." Cinema Spec is published in trade paperback by Raven Electrick Ink, publisher of Sporty Spec: Games of the Fantastic.

Read a sample story from Cinema Spec, "Screening of a Silent Film" by J.S. Bangs.

Below is the table of contents for the anthology, with brief annotations noting form/genre/theme.
  • Connor Moran, "Lori," fiction/fantasy-noir/gossip in old Hollywood.
  • J. E. Stanley, "The Precinct of Night," poem/sf-noir/detective movies.
  • Simon Logan, "Nuclear Shadows," fiction/science fiction/paparazzi.
  • Gregory L. Norris, "Creature Double-Feature," fiction/horror/classic films.
  • G. O. Clark, "The Discovery in Roger Corman's Trunk," poem/sf-horror/Vincent Price.
  • Robert Borski, "War at the Bijou," fiction/science fiction/transmissions into space.
  • Rodello Santos, "Oracle in Chains," fiction/high fantasy/movies as prophecy.
  • Ruth Berman, "TV Tea," poem/speculative/TV shows.
  • Daniel R. Robichaud, "Bootleg Images," fiction/science fiction/banned movies.
  • Justin Howe, "Nightmare's Daughter," fiction/suspense/cult movies.
  • Greg Beatty, "eventual, i," poem/speculative/video stores.
  • Sarah Brandel, "A Life in Pictures," fiction/fantasy/movies as memoir.
  • Marlo Dianne, "Chiaroscuro," fiction/fantasy/pre-technology.
  • J. S. Bangs, "Screening of a Silent Film," fiction/high fantasy/silent movies.
  • Paul Abbamondi, "Obmutescence," fiction/dark fantasy/Los Angeles. 
  • Robert Borski, "Reel People: The Extra's Lament," poem/science fiction/CGI.
  • Paul Milliken, "Sundowner," fiction/suspense/Hollywood ghosts.
  • Deborah P Kolodji, "Camera Obscura," poem/science fiction/life in Hollywood.
  • Martha J. Allard, "End of an Era," fiction/dark fantasy/Hollywood earthquake. 
  • Vylar Kaftan, "Starshow," fiction/science fiction/future technology.
  • Robert A. Desharnais, "Shadowdancer," fiction/speculative/pre-technology.
  • Lisa Morton, "The End," fiction/horror/cult movies.
  • Donald Jacob Uitvlugt, "Cineraku," fiction/science fiction/future-hybrid technology.
  • Tony Pi, "The Shadow-Witch," fiction/dark fantasy/shadow plays.
  • Bill Ward, "After Sundown," fiction/science fiction/movie theaters.
  • J. C. Runolfson, "Family Movie," fiction/dark fantasy/3-D movies.
  • Alex Dally MacFarlane, "Bright Square Flickering," poem/fantasy/movie screens.
  • Craig Wolf, "Lost in the Fun Factory," fiction/dark fantasy/movie theaters.
  • Lyn C. A. Gardner, "House 5," poem/horror/movie theaters.
  • Matt Betts, "Something with Subtitles, Maybe," fiction/fantasy/movies as metaphor.
  • Cliff Winnig, "Kraken's Wake," fiction/science fiction/exotic location shoots.
  • Daniel Ausema, "City of Facades," fiction/speculative/movie sets.

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