With Squaw Valley becoming Palisades Tahoe now I figured what better time to revisit this neglected 1879 horror story which deserves to be as remembered as Sleepy Hollow, House of the Seven Gables and others.
THE SQUAW HOLLOW SENSATION (1879) – The Squaw Hollow Sensation was originally published in serialized form in the California newspaper The Mountain Democrat from May 31st to July 26th, 1879. The story was set in Squaw Hollow, California, near Placerville in present-day El Dorado County. In fact the El Dorado County Historical Museum was where I obtained my copy of the story for this review.
Our main character is Berlin’s Doctor Loerder Von Herbst, a man trying to prove that ancient Egyptians migrated across the Atlantic Ocean and that the Aztecs were really a colony of Egypt. His studies have led him throughout the American West, northern Mexico and part of California, wherever he believes the legendary region of ancient Aztlan to have been. Von Herbst theorizes that the preserved figures called Aztec Mummies are not corpses but rather living beings who were put into a centuries-long sleep and can be revived.
The good doctor has created a special chemical solution that in experiments has restored body parts from dissected corpses to a condition resembling living tissue. He believes he can use this chemical solution as part of a procedure to bring an Aztec Mummy back to life. Ancient papyri refer to “Heaven’s fire” and Dr Von Herbst is convinced that means lightning and so he plans to use electricity generated from a Daniell’s Battery to aid in the resuscitation process.
With the aid of various assistants the doctor investigates an Aztec tomb uncovered by mining operations. Inside that subterranean tomb are 50 mummified Aztec bodies that are over a thousand years old. With this bonanza on his hands Doctor Von Herbst sets up a laboratory in the massive burial structure and sets to work, carefully keeping a secret of the bodies he and his assistants have discovered. He begins by soaking the mummies in large vats full of his restorative chemical solution which replenishes the bodily fluids of the dehydrated bodies. Continue reading
DOCTOR HACKENSAW’S SECRETS – Written by Clement Fezandie. Doctor Hackensaw and his adventures were similar to Paul B’Old’s short stories about Professor Jerome Mudgewood, but with less emphasis on humor. Both figures dealt with the often destructive consequences of their own inventions or discoveries. Ferzandie’s Hackensaw tales were published in the magazine Science and Invention. 
BLUEFIELD CONQUERS DIVISION TWO – The NAIA’s BLUEFIELD COLLEGE RAMBLING RAMS took it on the road against the NCAA Division Two team the EMORY & HENRY COLLEGE WASPS. For newbies this is like when 1AA teams take on 1A teams. Trailing 38-17 in the 4th Quarter the Rambling Rams came back to win 46-45!
GIANT-KILLERS – This week 3 NCAA Division 3 teams imitated the NAIA’s usual schtick of defeating teams from higher divisions. The UW-OSHKOSH TITANS won 28-10 at D2’s NORTHERN MICHIGAN WILDCATS ### Meanwhile the LINFIELD COLLEGE WILDCATS hammered D2’s SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY CLAN 56-20 ### And the WHITWORTH UNIVERSITY PIRATES edged D2’s LINCOLN (CA) UNIVERSITY OAKLANDERS 31-29. 
HISTORY WAS MADE – The BLUEFIELD STATE BIG BLUE managed the FIRST victory for their revived intercollegiate football program! After losing last week the Big Blue visited the ELIZABETH CITY STATE VIKINGS. Bluefield State trailed 21-0 in the 1st Quarter but tied things up 21-21 by Halftime. The Vikings went up 27-21 in the 3rd but the Big Blue came back to win it 35-27. 
MARATHON GAME OF THE WEEK – This particular designation goes to the clash between the SUSQUEHANNA UNIVERSITY RIVER HAWKS and their hosts the FRANKLIN & MARSHALL COLLEGE DIPLOMATS. It took FIVE OVERTIMES before the River Hawks emerged with a 30-28 victory. 
SPIDER-MAN Vol 1 #123 (August 1973) 
Robbie and the police at the scene tell Jameson they aren’t so sure Spider-Man was the killer. There are fragments of the Green Goblin’s exploding pumpkin-bombs in the battle scarred area there on the New York City streets. PLUS, someone obviously moved Osborn’s body a bit before the cops arrived on the scene. At length Jonah refuses to listen any further and rides off angrily in his limo. 
RIKI-OH: THE STORY OF RICKY (1991) – Back when I started Balladeer’s Blog in 2010 this Hong Kong martial arts/ splatter film was among the first movies I planned to review. Feeling intimidated by the need to describe the sheer scale of the joyously tasteless violence in this movie I kept postponing it. Eventually, it seemed so notorious that I figured too many people knew about it for me to bother. 
Riki-Oh (pronounced Ricky-HO) is also known as Violence King and with good reason. This Category 3 Hong Kong movie does the seemingly impossible – it more than lives up to the Japanese Manga it was based on. Siu-Wong Fan stars as the title character. Ngai Choi Lam directed and wrote the screenplay adaptation. 
RED STAR (1908) – Written by Alexander Malinowski under the name Alexander Bogdanov. This pro-communist science fiction novel came three years after the failed uprising of 1905 and sixteen years BEFORE Aelita: Queen of Mars, a silent sci-fi film which depicted a similar communist paradise on Mars. 
They reveal that Lenni’s brilliant paper described the concepts of nuclear fission and anti-gravity that the Martians use in their spaceships. Recognizing his superior mind they sought him out in order to take him on board their interplanetary vessel and transport him to Mars. Once there they will let him observe their culture like they secretly observed Earth culture during their stay. 
After Balladeer’s Blog’s examination of the Mwindo Epic many readers expressed an interest in Nyanga mythology. I’m all about giving readers what they want so here are brief looks at the deities of the Nyanga people. 
INDIANA WESLEYAN CONQUERS DIVISION ONE – We already have 2021’s 2nd instance of an NAIA team toppling an NCAA Division ONE team. Every season these games in which NAIA football teams knock off teams from higher divisions like NCAA Divisions One or Two are great David vs Goliath stories! Yesterday the INDIANA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY WILDCATS hosted the D1 VALPARAISO UNIVERSITY BEACONS and won an authoritative 28-10 Upset.
LAWRENCE TECH CONQUERS DIVISION TWO – In the equivalent of a 1AA (FCS) team upsetting a 1A (FBS) team, the NAIA’s LAWRENCE TECH BLUE DEVILS took it on the road against the NCAA Division Two team the BLUEFIELD STATE BIG BLUE. A 7-7 1st Quarter tie was unchanged at Halftime. The 3rd Quarter ended in a 14-14 deadlock before the Blue Devils won the game 21-14 in the 4th. 
DOWN GOES NUMBER ELEVEN – Meanwhile, down in NCAA Division Three the 19th ranked WASHINGTON & JEFFERSON COLLEGE PRESIDENTS traveled to face the number 11 JOHN CARROLL UNIVERSITY BLUE STREAKS. The defenses dominated the scoreless 1st Half, then the 3rd Quarter ended in a 7-7 tie. In the 4th the Presidents won it 21-7. 
SPIDER-MAN Vol 1 #119 (April 1973) 
UNION COLLEGE CONQUERS DIVISION ONE – Every season we get David over Goliath victories in which NAIA teams defeat higher division teams from either NCAA Divisions One or Two. Last night the UNION COLLEGE BULLDOGS traveled to face NCAA Division ONE’s CAMPBELL UNIVERSITY CAMELS. A slender 13-10 Halftime edge for the Bulldogs ultimately turned into a 33-18 Upset victory! 
DEFENDING CHAMPS ROLL – Meanwhile, the defending National Champions in the NAIA – the LINDSEY WILSON COLLEGE BLUE RAIDERS – opened their 2021 season by hosting the WEBBER INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY WARRIORS. The Blue Raiders converted a 13-7 1st Quarter lead into a 30-7 advantage at Halftime and finally into a 58-7 blowout victory.
SHUTOUT – In this game the BETHEL (KS) COLLEGE THRESHERS took it on the road against the MCPHERSON COLLEGE BULLDOGS (should be the Mastiffs). The Threshers led McPherson 3-0 in the opening Quarter and 10-0 at the Half. After a scoreless 3rd Quarter Bethel College went on to win the game by a final tally of 24-0. 
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