Nat Segaloff was working as publicity director for a Boston theater chain when Exorcist first opened. He subsequently got to know both filmmaker William Friedkin and author William Peter Blatty, who wrote the 1971 bestseller on which the film is based as well as its Oscar-winning screenplay adaptation. Curious about the Exorcist “curse” (the weird goings-on during the film’s production)? The industry backlash when the movie was nominated for 10 Oscars, but won only two? How about how the film’s star-less cast contributed to the film’s success? In his exhaustive compendium, Segaloff provides all the background details, and explains why the film ranks as a great whodunit.

You can find my piece here: https://mysteryscenemag.com/blog-article/7698-q-a-with-nat-segaloff-author-of-the-exorcist-legacy-50-years-of-fear

P.S. Back in 1973, Yours Truly was among the throngs standing in a line that wrapped around an entire city block, waiting to see the movie at the National Theatre in Westwood, California. Hey, it was worth the wait!

The first book, by Mark Dawidziak, opens with the literary icon’s strange passing in Baltimore — a city he wasn’t intending to visit — at age 40 in 1849. Found wearing another man’s clothes, not long after telling a friend “I am full of dark forebodings,” Poe added to the ensuing intrigue by calling out a name in his final hours that no one recognized. Dawidziak examines the many theories of what he labels “one of the great literary stage exits of all time,” tracing Poe’s rise, struggles, artistry and that confounding demise.

In the second, Chris Alexander explores Roger Corman’s popular cycle of eight films based on the darkly imaginative writer’s most famous works; interviews with the pioneering producer/director himself add to the author’s astute analysis.

I recommend both publications … and the website, which you’ll find at https://mysteryscenemag.com/

I’ve been busy on the fiction front, too. My short story “The Fast and the Furriest,” about a Hollywood fixer, was reprinted in June’s Black Cat Weekly # 41 – which I think is apt, as I’m an unapologetic Cat Lady. The piece first appeared in the pages of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. You can order a copy here: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/l/frank-belknap-long/black-cat-weekly-41.htm

Luhrmann takes oodles of creative license, with the action happening in his trademark flamboyant, sometimes mind-boggling fashion. Along the way the film dodges minefields: several women with whom Elvis was seriously involved, who aren’t popular with the Presley clan, don’t warrant so much as a howdy-do; the Memphis Mafia is downplayed; Elvis’s military time (when he seriously started popping pills) gets short shrift; ditto weight-related issues.

But if this isn’t a warts and all biopic, it does hit the high notes of E’s career, and also serves as an introduction for the younger crowd. And it’s certainly a showcase for Luhrmann’s hyperventilating screen style. This film will be in contention for numerous Oscar technical categories – and possibly, for Tom Hanks’s performance as Colonel Parker. Meantime, with everyone all shook up again, Elvis will continue to entice.

(You’ll find additional thoughts in a longer version of this review on my Facebook page.)

I’ve written lots (and lots) about the horror-fantasy film genres, for publications including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and Entertainment Weekly, so I’m looking forward to discussing “Conjuring Up a Mystery: Paranormal Elements in Fiction” at this Sunday’s (October 24) online meeting of Orange County Sisters in Crime. My talk will begin at 3 p.m.

At 4 p.m. we’ll hear from distinguished authors Chris Offatt and Willy Vlautin (look ‘em up; they have serious credentials!). Interested in attending? Check the chapter website at www.sistersincrimeoc.com for a meeting link.

And it you’re interested in film noir, join me at the Saturday, November 13 online meeting of Partners in Crime, the San Diego chapter of Sisters in Crime. I’ll give a virtual presentation on “Out of the Shadows: A Spotlight on Film Noir.” The talk begins at 2 p.m. (I’m an adjunct professor for the Emeritus Institute of Saddleback College, where I teach film and writing. In my film classes I show lotsa noir.) For more about the chapter and the meeting go to https://sistersincrimesd.org/ .

My talk, which will begin at about 3 p.m., is the lead-in to our featured panel of authors whose works appear in the just-out anthology, Palm Springs Noir (Akashic). That panel will be led by the book’s editor, Barbara DeMarco-Barrett – who happens to be our chapter prez. They’ll get going at 4 p.m.

I look forward to setting the shadowy stage … and introducing attendees to some memorable shady dames, hard-boiled p.i.s and their pals/antagonists.

Check the chapter website at www.ocsistersincrime.org for further information.

Even briefly, that covers a lot of territory — so I guess I’ll have to talk fast!

Edgar Allan Poe. Anna Katharine Green (the first female author of a detective novel). Arthur Conan Doyle (daddy of Sherlock Holmes). The Golden Age crowd, including Agatha Christie. The Black Mask-ers (that is, the hard-boiled guys, who started out writing for the pulp mag, Black Mask). Books for young fans. (Nancy Drew, anyone?) Board games devoted to crime-solving crimes. (Colonel Mustard did it in the Library with the Candlestick!)

I’ve previously spoken to the O.C. Sisters about mystery and crime writing topics including “Getting Cozy with Crime,” “Hot Stuff – Crime in the Desert,” “Bright Lights, Dark Places – Crime Fiction Set in SoCal” and “Capitol Crimes.”

For this latest talk, I look forward to revealing the genre’s historic moments.

Hollywood’s had considerable fun mining that terrain, with films like “White House Down” and “Olympus Has Fallen” – both of which were dominated by images of the Capitol building/the White House in flames.

But for authors, it’s often the country’s highest office that’s at stake. This theme goes way back – to 1934 and a book called “The President Vanishes,” a title that sums up the plot.

Of course, real life events – the JFK assassination and the resulting (and endless) conspiracy theories surrounding his death, the Watergate scandal – have provided inspiration for myriad thrillers, many of which became best sellers, thanks to the votes of readers.