Ed Grabianowski, Author at Gizmodo

The New Gothic anthology ditches romance for fear and gloom

The New Gothic is a collection of unsettling tales, including a story by horror grandmaster Ramsey Campbell, that seeks to regain gothic territory ceded to defanged vampires and bantering demon hunters. It’s an ambitious undertaking to revise the definition of gothic literature. What exactly “gothic” is has been under revision and argument since the term…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Feb 18

In the TimeWatch RPG, paradoxes are part of the fun

Someone murdered an ambassador’s wife, leading to a NATO vs. Warsaw Pact war in the 1960s. Your team is on the case, but not to bring the killer to justice. This is TimeWatch – and your job is to prevent this crime from ever happening in the first place. Time travel is one of the…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Feb 17

The “Circle Jerk of Doom” and a Deadly Dance-Off, on Lost Girl

Lost Girl indulged in some world building this week, rearranging the characters and setting up some fun light-versus-dark conflict. We got plenty of Vex, and a high-stakes fae dance-off. The plot picks up just as Bo learns from the Una Mens that she involuntarily “chose” the dark side. Bo talks like a Mafia don (“This…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Feb 11

EONS: A game where you create the universe and then destroy it

In EONS, stars form and planets give rise to life within a few turns. A few turns later, your opponent might make your star go supernova or obliterate your planet with a cosmic collision. EONS is a card game at its core, although there is a game board used to track turns and the current…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Feb 11

Bo and Tamsin are dark avengers on Lost Girl

This is the Lost Girl episode I’ve been waiting for all season. Tamsin returns, Bo is a hot badass, there’s a mystery to solve, we get a sex scene in a boxing ring, and a Spice Girls song. Wait, what? Before we dive into the episode, I want to mention the interesting discussion in the…

Television Ed Grabianowski Feb 6

Ice-T records D&D audiobook: “This s%!t is impossible to read.”

A day long awaited by the enormous latent audience for RPG gaming/hip hop crossovers has finally arrived: Ice-T has recorded a D&D audiobook. Ice-T talks about the experience on his podcast, Final Level. Apparently it wasn’t an entire novel, just a short story 40 pages long. Good thing, as the process was taxing for the…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Feb 6

Legends walk among us in this Magic the Gathering: Born of the Gods art

The latest Magic: the Gathering expansion, Born of the Gods, will be released this weekend. When gods walk among mortals, it makes for some amazing art, which you can see in this Born of the Gods art gallery. Born of the Gods continues the Greek mythology themed story from the previous set, Theros. There are…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Feb 6

What if Lost Girl made The Amityville Horror into softcore porn?

This week’s Lost Girl was sort of a monster of the week, sort of getting the band back together, sort of softcore porn – all of which has me hoping the show has found its soul again. In the primary storyline, Bo hops off the magic train and lands in a dusty old house just…

Television Ed Grabianowski Jan 28

Freedom Drop: The 1968 plan to nuke North Korea

When North Korea captured a U.S. Navy electronic surveillance ship, the USS Pueblo, in international waters in 1968, it was perhaps the worst security breach in U.S. history. One of the potential responses to North Korean aggression, drafted and approved by top military officials, was nuclear war. The USS Pueblo was positioned in international waters…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Jan 28

Dwarven mechs battle the bones of giants in War of Metal and Bone RPG

War of Metal and Bone is an RPG with an great elevator pitch: it’s a war between dwarves, using massive metal golems and warriors soul-bonded to giant skeletons. The game also takes advantage of the many open source game systems used by popular indie RPGs today. Lead designer Tracy Barnett explained how War of Metal…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Jan 27

Lost Girl dishes up domestic violence and a cosmic space train

The tale of the missing succubus drags on, Tamsin returns (sort of), and Dyson and Hale are on the case in this week’s Lost Girl. It seems there’s some double-crossery in the future, and surprise surprise, Vex is involved. We now know exactly where Bo is, even if the rest of the gang doesn’t –…

Television Ed Grabianowski Jan 21

Chaosmos board game keeps you on the edge of cosmic catastrophe

In the board game Chaosmos, the Chaos Clock counts down to the complete collapse of the universe. Hidden on some desolate planet protected by traps and trickery is an artifact that can save the cosmos — but you’re not the only one after it. Chaosmos is an original board game in which players play aliens…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Jan 17

D&D Fourth Edition is the perfect game for wizard-on-wizard action

With the next edition of Dungeons & Dragons finally ready for release later this year, you may be thinking it’s time to garage sale all those 4th Edition books on your shelf. Here’s a better idea – use them for player-versus-player wizard battles. 4E has a pretty bad rep: too focused on combat, too rigid,…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Jan 16

Lost Girl‘s fourth season starts with an “Ohhhhhh my!”

Lost Girl has returned! And oh what a delirious mess it continues to be, now with 100 percent more George Takei (and roughly the same amount of overacting). There’s been a lengthy hiatus between the end of season three and the debut of season four (which started up a few months ago in Canada, but…

Television Ed Grabianowski Jan 14

Glitter & Mayhem is a glam rock space party terror anthology

Glitter & Mayhem is an anthology of fantasy, science-fiction, and horror that takes mythology to a nightclub, dusts it with glitter, gets it drunk, then takes it out onto the dance floor to grind the night away. It’s one of the more interesting anthology themes I’ve seen recently, even if it is a bit hard…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Jan 9

A good night of sleep is like hosing down your filthy brain

Why animals sleep remains one of the enduring mysteries of biology, but new research suggests the primary reason might be to allow cerebrospinal fluid to wash all the gunk out from between your brain cells. Sleep seems to strengthen links between cells, helping turn short-term memories into long-term ones. But scientists have struggled to understand…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Dec 30

Explore Pathfinder’s Distant Worlds with aliens and starships

If you love the fantasy adventure of the Pathfinder RPG but really wish you could take your characters into space, then rejoice. A new setting, Distant Worlds, gives you an entire solar system to explore in your next campaign. One thing you have to give Paizo credit for, they’re willing to take chances. Distant Worlds…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Dec 25

How to conquer Magic the Gathering‘s new Duels of the Planeswalkers

You’ll need a brand new strategy for Duels of the Planeswalkers, the casual “video game” version of the Magic the Gathering card game. Luckily, our ultimate Planeswalkers guide will tell you when to counterspell, when to summon a massive elder thing, when to reanimate a demon corpse, and how to lay waste to your opponent.…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Dec 25

Captain the starship of your dreams with Faster Than Light’s expansion

Anyone who grew up watching any version of Star Trek has dreamed of commanding a Federation vessel. And Faster Than Light is an amazing PC game that lets you do just that — plus a free expansion will let you add more weapons, drones, and alien ships. I was a little late to the FTL…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Dec 25

The Deadliest Potential Pandemics Facing The World Right Now

Scientists and health experts at the World Health Organization and Centers for Disease Control are constantly on guard against diseases that could sweep through the human population. Which pandemics are they most worried about, heading into 2014? H5N1 Influenza The strain of influenza commonly called bird flu is technically HPAI A(H5N1), a specific highly pathogenic…

io9 Ed Grabianowski Dec 24

Ed Grabianowski

The New Gothic anthology ditches romance for fear and gloom

In the TimeWatch RPG, paradoxes are part of the fun

The “Circle Jerk of Doom” and a Deadly Dance-Off, on Lost Girl

EONS: A game where you create the universe and then destroy it

Bo and Tamsin are dark avengers on Lost Girl

Ice-T records D&D audiobook: “This s%!t is impossible to read.”

Legends walk among us in this Magic the Gathering: Born of the Gods art

What if Lost Girl made The Amityville Horror into softcore porn?

Freedom Drop: The 1968 plan to nuke North Korea

Dwarven mechs battle the bones of giants in War of Metal and Bone RPG

​Lost Girl dishes up domestic violence and a cosmic space train

Chaosmos board game keeps you on the edge of cosmic catastrophe

D&D Fourth Edition is the perfect game for wizard-on-wizard action

Lost Girl‘s fourth season starts with an “Ohhhhhh my!”

​Glitter & Mayhem is a glam rock space party terror anthology

​A good night of sleep is like hosing down your filthy brain

Explore Pathfinder’s Distant Worlds with aliens and starships

How to conquer Magic the Gathering‘s new Duels of the Planeswalkers

Captain the starship of your dreams with Faster Than Light’s expansion

The Deadliest Potential Pandemics Facing The World Right Now

Where the Hell Do You Even Put the Popcorn in Disney’s Sail Barge Bucket?

This Is Supposedly the Final, Final, FINAL Look of the Foldable iPhone

Scientists Watch Brain’s Self-Cleaning Process During Sleep in Real Time

LEGO Super Mario Piranha Plant Sees 30% Off on Amazon While LEGO and Nintendo’s Official Stores Keep It at Full Price

‘No Data Centers’ Sign Found After Shooting at Indianapolis Politician’s Home

‘Dark Matter’ Season 2 Sees Joel Edgerton Forced Back Into the Multiverse

Astronomers Found the Closest Thing Yet to the Universe’s First Stars

Samsung’s 55″ 4K Smart TV (2025) Comes Without the Pricey Tag in Amazon’s Clearance Sale, Skip Smaller Budget Displays

KAMRUI’s High-Performance Hyper H2 Mini PC Hits Its Lowest Price for Amazon Prime Members Only (32GB RAM, 1TB SSD)

Marvel’s ‘X-Men’ Movie Has Found Some New Writers

Aqara Thermostat Hub W200 Review: Almost Better than My Ecobee

HP Omen Max 45L Review: 4K60 Gaming Has Never Been So Easy

Ecovacs Winbot W3 Omni Review: Window Cleaning Robots Have a Long Way to Go

AirPods Max 2 vs. Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen): Which ANC Headphones Win?

The Best Gadgets of March 2026

AirPods Max 2 Review: Still Ridiculously Expensive and Ridiculously Nice

DJI Osmo 360 Review: The Best 360 Camera for the DJI-Pilled

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Lost Girl dishes up domestic violence and a cosmic space train

Glitter & Mayhem is a glam rock space party terror anthology

A good night of sleep is like hosing down your filthy brain