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This week, just in time for Halloween, we asked our distinguished panelists about Gothic and Urban Fantasy…

The theme of this year’s World Fantasy Convention is “Northern Gothic and Urban Fantasy”. The thesis is that Urban Fantasy represents the new Gothic; castles and haunted locations have been replaced by the Modern City.

This is what they had to say…

I suppose if you go back far enough, this is a valid theory. It doesn’t, however, happen to be mine. Probably because I’m not literate enough. I’m not sure I’ve read a single book that Michael Ashley or John Clute references in their essays.
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• Cool news! Scott Westerfeld‘s Midnighters is coming to NBC. The story “revolves around a group of people born at the stroke of midnight who have access to the 25th hour of each day, which they use to stop crime.” [via SFX]
• Interviews and Profiles:
  • John Scalzi answers Stargate Universe questions.
  • Innsmouth Free Press has a brief interview with Mary Robinette Kowal.
  • 3 Questions with Mindy Klasky at SF Novelists.
  • Jeremy Tolbert and Jeff VanderMeer join host Tony C. Smith in the latest Sofanauts podcast.
  • @Only The Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy: David Gunn.
  • @Sci-Fi Fan Letter: Gail Carriger.
• Frederik Pohl on Fandom. (Part 3)
• Octavia Butler’s Papers Bequeathed to Huntington Library. [via Locus Online]
• Guest-hosting at Tor.com: Cherie Priest, author of the the aesome recent release, Boneshaker.
• The Post-Modernity of Steampunk.
• The Directors of Spectrum announced that Richard Corben is the recipient of the 2009 Grand Master Award.
• The World SF News Blog is now hosted over on WordPress.
• Rare Gene Roddenberry Science Fiction TV Pilots are coming to DVD.
• Lists:
  • Star Wars Lines Improved By Replacing A Word With “Pants”.
  • An Alternate Universe Reading Guide.
  • 10 Insanely Coveted Out of Print Sci Fi Novels.

• Interviews and Profiles:
  • @ A Dribble of Ink: Jesse Bullington (The Sad Tale of the Brothers Grossbart).
  • The Big Idea: Mindy Klasky.
  • @SF Site: Mark Chadbourn.
  • @Omnivoracious: David Anthony Durham (The Other Lands). [via Bibliophile Stalker]
• Award-winning sf writer and teacher Nalo Hopkinson is offering $2,000 intensive, one-on-one mentorships to budding writers, via email. [via Boing Boing]
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch: Freelancer’s Survival Guide: When To Return To Your Day Job.
• Robert Charles Wilson reviews Margaret Atwood’s A Dystopia Sketched in Crayon.
• AT B&N, Paul Goat Allen reviews Paolo Bacigalupi’s The Windup Girl.
• Biology in Science Fiction examines James P. Hogan’s Inherit the Stars.
• It’s Steampunk Month on Tor.com! To wit: Lou Anders reviews George Man’s awesome book The Affinity Bridge.
• Brenda Cooper talks about 2 Very Cool Futurist Events.
• @AMC: Mary Robinette Kowal’s Guide to the Real Classics of Fantasy.
• David Langford has posted Ansible #267 for October 2009.
• John Anealio has posted a Sci-Fi Song podcast.
• I, for one, would like to welcome our tiny, remote-controlled insect Overlords… [Thanks, Ray!]
• Daily Galaxy asks: Space Colonization: Future or Fantasy?
• HBO’s fantasy Game of Thrones urgently needs male horseriders! [via Slice of SciFi]
• This NY TImes profile of FlashForward drops some hints about the show’s direction and the network’s commitment. For example, despite the foreshadowed April 2010 date, “…a few of the clues will not pan out for several seasons…” [via Gary Farber]
• Philippine SF Fan Charles Tan talks about the recent flooding there and lists some ways you can help.