A young emperor falls in love with a neighboring princess, only to find that his ambassadors are arranging a marriage to her less-desirable older sister, who is outraged at the emperor’s choice of her younger sister. She convinces her father to exile the younger princess in a tower in the desert with the older sister’s nurse as a companion and guard, but the emperor finds her, though he is seriously injured when he tries to see her. Will the two lovers thwart the older sister’s evil plan and find happiness?

Today we examine excerpts from the writings of two famous Italian writers, whose works have influenced Western culture for over 600 years: Dante Alighieri and Giovanni Boccaccio.

During this bonus episode Bill talks to writer Tim Lucas. Lucas was the publisher of the video review magazine Video Watchdog. He talks about his favorite books about film, and what he's been watching during the pandemic of 2020. In addition to his work on the magazine, Lucas wrote the novels Throat Sprockets and The Book of Reinfield, a deep dive into Cronenberg's film Videodrome called Videodrome, and the biography Mario Bava: All The Colors Of The Dark.

Three poems full of suspense and excitement.

A King is eager to marry, but insists that his bride should be as beautiful as the sun. So how does he end up married to an elderly witch?

If you’ve never read or heard of the Japanese ghost stories of Lafcadio Hearn, you are in for a real ghost story lover’s treat.