Secret Dead Blog Recommends...

... Kevin Johnson's The Dark Page, which I picked up at B'Con last week. It's an oversized, gorgeous survey of classic mystery and crime novels (and otherwise) that were adapted into 1940s noir films. With each entry comes a full page, full color photo of the first edition of these novels. I've been savoring this book for over a week now. It's like porn for noir/pulpheads. And while the price is a bit dear ($95), especially in these lean times (hey! just like the 1940s!), I ask you: How much blood or plasma do you really need, anyway?

... Tom Piccirilli's brand-spankin' new blog, The Cold Spot. Bookmark it. Savor it. Pic's the man.

... Hulu.com for making David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch available online for free. I saw this fucked-up freakfest back in my college days, and watching it again last week (when I should have been writing) was a blast.

... the Iliad Bookshop in lovely downtown Burbank, California. I've been meaning to mention this shop ever since visiting it a few weeks ago. At the time, I was bookless in Universal City., having whipped through Stephen Hunter's Night of Thunder in record time. I was also carless, so I couldn't drive out to either the Mystery Bookstore or Books to Die For for reinforcements. But a quick Google search brought up the Iliad, and my God was the $7 cab ride to the joint worth it. Rows and rows and rows of crime, horror and sci-fi paperbacks. I ended up buying more than the TSA would allow me for the return flight, so I ended up having an entire box shipped home. If you are anywhere near the Iliad, report to it immediately. But leave the collection of vintage paperbacks alone. I want first dibs next time I'm back in L.A.

... Stephen Hunter's recent Washington Post piece about this weekend's Noir City D.C. film festival is worth reading just for his definition of film noir alone ("the sensation of the fly, the wonder at the spider"). And to bring things full circle: Hunter name-checks Johnson's The Dark Page.

Secret Dead Blog also recommends Milky Way Midnight, scotch on the rocks, Kitty Foyle, peanut butter, Quaker Grits with extra sugar, V8 and the musical stylings of Rocky Burnette, though not necessarily in that order.