Month: November 2019

Plants That Kill Animals, 1933

On: By: Romeyn

Header image for a 1933 article in the Evening Star (Washington DC)

WHEN an animal bites a plant, that is hardly news. Animals are doing that all the time: Cows and caterpillars, mice and men; they’d die very soon if they didn’t. But when a plant bites an animal there may be an interesting story in it. There are, indeed, a great many interesting stories that might be told of plants that eat animals, in spite of the fact that there are not many such plants, and that the most widespread and sensational of such stories aren’t so.
The tales about the man-eating tree of Madagascar are about the most completely hardy perennial species in all popular pseudo scientific literature, and also about the most completely unproved. They go with the similar yarns about the deadly upas tree of the East Indies—the tree that was said to knock down men and animals with its mere poisonous breath.

Both the Madagascar monster and the poison scented upas must go the way of all myth…

The Black Raven, 1943

On: By: Romeyn

It was a dark and stormy night, several strangers find their way to the Black Raven, an escaped convict, a gangster who is trying to slip out of the country, a weaselly bank teller, a young couple trying to get to Canada to elope, and finally the girl’s father, a dirty politician who disapproves of the marriage. George Zucco plays the proprietor Black Raven Inn, who apparently has some ties to the underworld. Glenn Strange, provides comedy relief as Andy the strong but dim-witted help. A fun little low-budget who-done-it which involves two murders and $50,000 cash, and plenty of motive for murder. Continue reading “The Black Raven, 1943” →