Sorry for the last minute post here, folks. I know I am not giving you a lot of time prior to the holidays to grab any of these treasures, but I only have the excuse of…well, nothing. I have been forgetful of late. Therefore, please accept my apologies and I hope you find something in this list for the D&D player(s) in your life.

Here’s the 2021 Holiday Gift Guide: Dungeons & Dragons Edition.

So this is the “new normal?” Or is it a return to the “old normal?” Either way, regardless of how you spent this past year, regardless of your thoughts on the world, politics, and economics of the world, furrowing your eyebrows at this or that or embracing all the necessary and arguably unnecessary changes in the world, one needs a constant personal and universal soundtrack to keep going, to keep sane, to keep grounded and inspired. As the newest round of the holiday season gets ready to dawn upon us, music not only acts as the perfect and always obvious choices for even the most discriminating of tastes, but also something that brings much-needed relief and communion to end another challenging year and brace everyone for what lies ahead in 2022. So as always, here’s my picks for some of the sonic highlights released this year, spanning all genres and tastes.

Check out our 2021 Holiday Gift Guide for Music.

We had hoped it wouldn’t come to be, but 2021 turned out to be more of the same from the previous year thanks to the pandemic. Lots of hunkering-down isolating or enjoying the great outdoors more often than usual. And once again, books played a big part in helping us all cope and maintain some kind of normalcy. Now more than ever, books in all their various formats will make a great gift this holiday season. This year saw a resurgence of Dune; illustrated versions of J.R.R. Tolkien works; memoirs from the world of rock and heavy metal; graphic novel collections; fun, pop-culture-themed cookbooks; stories from the imaginations of Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, and Grady Hendrix; continuing adventures from the Star Trek, Star Wars, and Marvel universes, and much more.

Check out our Holiday Gift Guide 2021 for Books, eBooks, and Audiobooks for our favorite holiday gift picks for the readers in your life.

The Upside Down has infiltrated New York City in Times Square with Stranger Things: The Experience! This immersive shopping experience will satisfy the Hawkins drought we have all been feeling since the end of Season 3 of the Netflix series, Stranger Things. Opening weekend saw many visitors, who came to the pop-up to play games at the Palace Arcade, visit the Byers’ living room, go to the Hawkins Snow Ball, and put themselves at risk in the Russian lab. The details for these mini-sets were amazing, with all kinds of 80’s technology and memorabilia strewn about. There is a ridiculous amount of Stranger Things and Netflix merchandise for sale to satisfy all geeks and empty all wallets.

Check out our live video of the event and gallery of pics here below.

The cult monster-hunting reporter returns for Moonstone Books’ upcoming Kickstarter campaign

Moonstone Books will publish a graphic novel anthology for the 50th anniversary of Kolchak: The Night Stalker, which began in 1972 as a TV movie starring Darren McGavin as the title monster-hunting reporter and later a TV series that became a cult classic that famously inspired X-Files creator Chris Carter.

Kolchak: The Night Stalker 50th Anniversary Graphic Novel will contain 10 all-new contributions from master storytellers such as Jonathan Maberry (V-Wars), Peter David (The Incredible Hulk), Kim Newman (Anno Dracula), and more, with an introduction by Richard Christian Matheson, the bestselling horror writer and son of Richard Matheson, who penned the original TV movie and its TV movie sequel The Night Strangler. An essay on the 50th anniversary from Mark Dawidziak, the author of The Nightstalker Companion, will be included, along with a retrospective of Moonstone Book’s massive Kolchak publication history from publisher Joe Gentile.