The Online Home of Christian Bone

Interview With Child’s Play (2019) Director Lars Klevberg

Earlier this month, I got the chance to have a chinwag with Lars Klevberg, director of this year’s Child’s Play remake, which is out on Digital HD, DVD and Blu-Ray now.

If you haven’t seen it yet, make sure to do so this Halloween as it’s easily one of the most original horror remakes you’ll find, with a neat twist on the premise of the 1988 original and a terrific cast including Aubrey Plaza and Mark Hamill as the voice of Chucky.

The interview is up on the Starburst Magazine website now. In it, Klevberg speaks about what hooked him on the project in the first place, hints at the deleted material that didn’t make it into the final cut and he also touches on the chances of a sequel (spoilers: he’s quite hopeful!).

Go on, be my best buddy and follow the link to the interview here.

Read ‘The Man Who Saved The World’ Online Now

You can now read my short story ‘The Man Who Saved The World’ over on the UWIN Student Blog, the website of my old alma mater the University of Winchester. You can find it here.

I wrote this way back in 2014 for a module in my Creative Writing course called “Creative Visions”, in which we studied science fiction that imagines the world of tomorrow. I can’t remember the exact criteria for this piece but essentially we had to write something that called for the reader to wake up to the world’s environmental and ecological problems.

I didn’t want to write something that came across as polemical so I focussed on the idea of telling the story of an everyman whose mind is opened to the world around him – as it turns out, by a sort of hipster personification of Mother Earth.

I’m chuffed that the piece has got a new life on the UWIN site so long after it was written so feel free to give it a read by following the link above. No pressure, but the safety of the world might just depend on it.

My Reviews For Doctor Who Series 11

The eleventh series of Doctor Who came to an end this past Sunday – so that’s a wrap on Jodie Whittaker’s first run of episodes as the Thirteenth Doctor.

Over the past ten weeks, I had a great time reviewing each new adventure in time and space over WeGotThisCovered. Honestly, I had mixed feelings about the series as it was but I still enjoyed writing about each episode afterwards.

If any of you should be so inclined as to want to read them all – the masochists among you, perhaps – here’s all ten in one place.

As happens, some of my opinions have changed towards the episodes in the weeks since I wrote these – in particular, a few of my star ratings would be different. “Witchfinders” and “It Takes…” are much better episodes that “Ghost” and “Arachnids”, for example. And maybe even **1/2 was too generous for “Battle.”

Sadly there won’t be cause to review another series of Doctor Who again for a while now as the show won’t return to our screens until 2020. Apart from the upcoming New Year’s special – if I end up reviewing that, too, I’ll update this post to include it.

UPDATE: And here’s my review of the New Year’s special, as promised:

11. Resolution (**** Stars)

Out Now: Starburst Magazine #437!

It’s that time again, readers. Time for another issue of Starburst Magazine, featuring some writing by yours truly.

The latest edition of the cult entertainment magazine is something of a Wonder Woman special this month, ahead of the release of the DC movie in June. There’s also some great coverage of Marvel’s Spider-Man: Homecoming. Including a tie-in article about the oft-forgotten Spider-Man live-action TV series from the 1970s. It’s particularly well-written, if you ask me, and I have a sneaky suspicion that its author is a very handsome guy indeed.

I also have two reviews to be found elsewhere in the mag. Namely, one about the Doctor Who audio adventure The Jago and Litefoot Revival (featuring the Tenth Doctor) and Sebastien De Castell’s terrific fantasy novel Spellslinger.

If you are still not convinced, cast your peepers at these gorgeous covers, both the regular and collector’s editions, below:

Go ahead and subscribe to Starburst Magazine over at their website. I mean, you know, if you want to. It’s not like there’s a sniper poised to take you out if you don’t. *Innocent whistling*

Starburst Magazine #435 Out Now

The latest issue or Starburst Magazine is available from newsagents and the online store now! Have a gander at the fantastic regular and collector’s edition covers below:

This month’s mag previews a whole bunch of upcoming movies and TV shows – such as Doctor Who season 10, American Gods, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword and Fast and Furious 8.

The cover story is, of course, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 so there are a swath of features about Marvel’s space-faring superhero team inside. And, guess what, one of them is by me. My feature is titled ‘Who Are The Guardians? and runs through the team members and what we can expect from them in the new movie.

No reviews of mine in the mag this month, but you can read some online instead. Namely, a couple of Doctor Who audio dramas – The Contingency Club and The Beast of Kravenos – and the bloody terrific A Conjuring of Light from V.E. Schwab, one of the finest YA writers around.

So pop over to the Starburst website and order your copy today!

*rubs hands together* I think my work here is done…

Starburst Magazine #434

It’s slightly belated, but I’m just popping by to give you a gentle shove in the back to buy the latest issue of Starburst Magazine. Guess what, it features me!

Have a look at the Power Rangers themed subscriber’s and regular edition covers here:

It’s a packed issue this month. As well as those Mighty Morphin Teenagers with Attitude, the mag also celebrates some classic TV – Doctor Who, Star Trek and Buffy the Vampire Slayer – and looks at some upcoming movies – including Beauty and the Beast, Ghost in the Shell and A Cure for Wellness.

No features from me this month, but you can find three of my reviews inside. Namely, you can read my thoughts on Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Vol.2 comic book, short story collection Sherlock: The Essential Arthur Conan Doyle Adventures and Darren Dash’s weird and wonderful novel An Other Place.

Have I tempted you yet? I have, haven’t I? I know it. In which case, you can go ahead and purchase the mag from Starburst‘s website here.

Starburst #432 Is Out Now!

Just a belated reminder that the latest issue of Starburst Magazine is out to buy now in news agents across the land.

As 2016 draws to a close (phew!), this issue looks forward to 2017, with lots of previews for the hottest TV shows and films coming out next year. The cover star this month is LEGO Batman himself. See the regular edition and subscriber’s edition covers below:

For those who might be specifically looking for my bits (hello mum), I’m previewing Kingsman: The Golden Circle and Jumanji on the film side of things. In the TV section, I look ahead to Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Stranger Things (Season Two) and American Gods. My review of Big Finish’s second volume of The Avengers: Steed and Peel audio dramas is also in the mag.

As ever, you can get hold of the magazine from the Starburst website here.

Starburst Magazine #431 Out Now!

It’s that time again – time to run down to your local news agents (or as the young’uns do nowadays, jump on the internet) and get the latest issue of Starburst Magazine!

In this issue, #431, Starburst goes Star Wars crazy in honour of the release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story next month. Check out the gorgeous regular and subscribers’ edition covers below.

As well as travelling to a galaxy far, far away, there are all the usual coverage of Doctor Who, Star Trek, the latest movies, books, comics and video games.

You can find two reviews by me in this month’s mag. One is my thoughts on series twelve of Doctor Who spin-off audio series Jago & Litefoot and the other is a review of Eoin Colfer’s YA Iron Man novel The Gauntlet. On Starburst‘s website, you can read my critique of unofficial Tim Burton biography Tim Burton: The Iconic Filmmaker and His Work.

As always, you can order the latest issue of Starburst from their website here.

Interview With YA Fantasy Author Leigh Bardugo

Recently I was lucky enough to get the chance to ask bestselling young adult author Leigh Bardugo some questions, on behalf of Starburst Magazine.

If you are familiar with her work, you’ll know that she’s one of the best fantasy writers around at the moment. If you haven’t read her stuff, get thyself to a library now! I’d recommend starting with Six of Crows and then going back to her Grisha trilogy. At least, that’s what I did.

Leigh talks about the writing process for her new book Crooked Kingdom, her approach to tackling her upcoming Wonder Woman novel for DC and she also gives a quick word on her new adult book series Ninth House. You can read the interview here.

If that tickled your fancy, my reviews of Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom can be found by clicking those colourful words you just read.

Starburst Magazine #429 Is Out Now!

Back in magazine land, the latest issue of Starburst Magazine is out now and is available to purchase from all good, bad and morally ambiguous news agents across the UK. It can also be bought online here.

Here’s the standard issue cover and the spell-binding subscribers’ edition.

In case the covers didn’t tell you, the issue’s focussed on the upcoming Marvel movie Doctor Strange, which arrives in the UK in October. The cover story, a preview of the movie, is written by yours truly. My reviews of the scrumptious Doctor Who: The Official Cookbook and the tremendous audio drama box set The Sacrifice of Sherlock Holmes also feature elsewhere in the mag.

Over the past month or so, I’ve likewise written various book and audio reviews that were posted on Starburst’s website. E.g. The Associates of Sherlock Holmes and The New Adventures of Bernice Summerfield: The Unbound Universe.

If you are a pop culture vulture who loves everything from superheroes to Sherlock Holmes, from Doctor Who to Doctor Strange, I guarantee you will find something to enjoy in the pages of Starburst.