10 Historical People Who Were Real-Life Magicians 

If you think magic is just for Dungeons & Dragons players and Criss Angel, you’re sadly mistaken. Magic is totally real, and was totally practiced by totally real people who lived in history! Here are just 10 real-life wizards and sorcerers who used magic for a lot more than just party tricks. 1) Nicholas Flamel…

On Steven Universe, Lying to Your Mother is its Own Battle

Steven Universe made a triumphant return last night, back on a normal weekly format after recent scattered, concentrated releases of episodes. Despite the change in schedule, in “Nightmare Hospital” the show is still doing what it does best: defying expectations and being one of the most emotionally smart cartoons on TV. https://gizmodo.com/steven-universe-keeps-giving-us-some-of-the-most-comple-1719081112 Spoilers ahead, of…

The Visit Proves That Families Are the Scariest Thing of All

The Visit arrives lugging some baggage. It’s directed by M. Night Shyamalan, and it’s a found-footage horror movie. For many film fans, just one of those factors would be an automatic turnoff. But The Visit has one really big thing going for it: it’s entertaining as hell. The premise is simple. Teenage siblings Becca (Olivia…

Welcome to Your Party, GIFs!

Hello, GIFs! This is your party and we’re so happy to see you. You know how this works: Digital friends, stories, updates, thoughts, worries, wonders—and some interpretive GIFing to express it all. Party time!

Will Scientists Ever Solve the Mystery of Consciousness?

We still have no idea how the brain produces conscious awareness. In this excellent short video produced by The Economist, various experts are called upon to explain the “hard problem” that is consciousness, and how scientists might solve this profound mystery. For the video, The Economist gathered together an impressive collection of philosophers and scientists,…

Things Are Ridiculously Mysterious in Doctor Who‘s Prologue to Season 9

The ninth season of nu-Who doesn’t debut until September 19th, but you might as well get started with this moody but maddening vague two-minute “prologue” to the upcoming episodes. As you can see, the Doctor is on Karn, last featured in the memorable minisode “The Night of the Doctor,” where Paul McGann returned as the…

Marvel May Have Found The Absolute Perfect Person To Play Captain Marvel!

There’s even more rumors surrounding the return of a supposedly-dead Game of Thrones character. Kid Flash may appear on The Flash sooner than you’d think. Plus, a happier Arrow, Michael Shannon on Zod’s role in Batman v Superman, and Mark Gatiss on his unorthodox Doctor Who episode. To Me, My Spoilers! Captain Marvel As ever…

And Then We Just Stopped And Thought About Just How Far We’d Come

A man and his mech stand on the edge of a cliff, looking out at the majestic landscape of an alien world. In that red package is everything they struggled to carry across endless space, to get here. But how in blazes are they going to make it to that gas giant hanging on the…

King Kong and Godzilla Are Going To Fight On The Big Screen Again

Fans of giant monster movies are going to get their dream rematch in the next few years. The upcoming King Kong movie is switching studios so that, eventually, King Kong can fight Godzilla in a massive, big screen showdown. Deadline reports Legendary Pictures is moving Kong: Skull Island from Universal Pictures to Warner Bros. Pictures.…

Local Governments Crack Down On The Monstrous Evil of Tiny Free Lending Libraries

It’s good to know that people are focusing on what’s really important. Local governments in a few different U.S. cities and towns have looked past the problems of homelessness, crumbling city services and displacement, to tackle the real crisis: people are putting up tiny “take a book, leave a book” libraries. This is clearly a…

Brain-Eating Aliens Take Over Congress, Just In Time For The 2016 Election!

Now that CBS has pulled the plug on Under the Dome, it has a hole in its schedule for next summer. And the replacement show, BrainDead, may actually be something pretty special. It deals with alien spawn eating the brains of “Congressmen and Hill staffers.” BrainDead comes from the pen of Robert and Michelle King,…

These Gorgeous Science Fiction-Themed Prints Should Be On Your Walls Right Now

Artist Josh Lane has created a line of prints that incorporate classic science fiction shows and movies into the usual floral patterns. And now, I want a room devoted to each one of them. You can purchase these prints on pillows, shirts, posters, at Lane’s Society6 store—where you can also fall into a mini-panic over…

Nobody Pronounced “Voldemort” Correctly, in Eight Movies

If this tweet by J.K. Rowling doesn’t prove that authorial intent is irrelevant, then nothing will.

Bruce Campbell May Host a Horror-Themed Reality Series, and Here’s Why That’s Terrifying

If the idea of another nerdy reality competition TV series fills you with dread… well, that’s kind of what the upcoming series Bruce Campbell’s Horrified is going for. The good news is, obviously, that the impossibly charismatic Bruce Campbell will be involved. The bad news is everything else. The show comes from King of the…

Which Actor Would You Most Like to See Make a Successful Comeback?

There are some actors who used to get juicy roles all the time in amazing movies, but lately, they’ve seemed to either be relegated to tiny parts or below-the-radar films or dropped completely out of sight. Which talented performer would you most like to see get a second chance in Hollywood? We’ll start: if Michael…

It took over four years, but the FDA has finalized sets of rules for both human and animal foods, requiring manufacturers to have plans in place to prevent contamination before it happens, rather than dealing with it after the fact. The two rules are just the first of an anticipated seven.

Not Even the Zombie Apocalypse Can Stop George R. R. Martin From Releasing Books

Whenever George R.R. Martin does anything that isn’t releasing the next A Song of Ice and Fire novel, some (typically crass) people tend to cry “he’ll be dead before he finishes!” But apparently Syfy’s Z Nation is going to show that not even a little thing like zombification can stop Martin from writing. Wait, what?…

Zack Snyder Admits Superhero Movies Could Be Heading For A Crash

A few weeks back, Steven Spielberg made headlines saying he thought superhero movies would eventually “go the way of the Western.” And now, the architect of DC, one of the biggest superhero movie worlds, says he pretty much agrees. That person is Zack Snyder, director of Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice…

We Took Apart the American Horror Story: Hotel Trailer So You Wouldn’t Have To

We now have the first American Horror Story: Hotel trailer actually showing its characters. And all of it is stylized with cuts and zooms to the point where you’re going to have to go through it frame by frame to see everything. The reoccurring motif of this trailer are definitely the Addams Family-style children that…

Elected Queens and Princess Senators: How the Politics of Star Wars Work

Greetings, my magnificent mail-minions! I’ve got a swell—dare I say it, keen group of questions in this week’s mailbags, but I want to try something. If you have a question for the postman, you can email me, but you can also leave it in the comments of this article, and I’ll try to round them…