Matthew Kresal
@kresalwrites.bsky.social
Author, bookseller, and podcaster with many and varying interests. Doctor Who fan, writer of alternate history for Sea Lion Press & geeky analysis for Obverse Books including a book on the 1990s TV series Dark Skies.
Happy Doctor Who Day!
For this anniversary, I spent some time this evening revisiting City of Death. a utter delight to watch, full of wit and humor but not enough to overwhelm a tale that's actually got some serious stakes to it.
Here's to you, Doctor!
(Artist Unknown)
For this anniversary, I spent some time this evening revisiting City of Death. a utter delight to watch, full of wit and humor but not enough to overwhelm a tale that's actually got some serious stakes to it.
Here's to you, Doctor!
(Artist Unknown)
November 24, 2025 at 5:20 AM
Happy Doctor Who Day!
For this anniversary, I spent some time this evening revisiting City of Death. a utter delight to watch, full of wit and humor but not enough to overwhelm a tale that's actually got some serious stakes to it.
Here's to you, Doctor!
(Artist Unknown)
For this anniversary, I spent some time this evening revisiting City of Death. a utter delight to watch, full of wit and humor but not enough to overwhelm a tale that's actually got some serious stakes to it.
Here's to you, Doctor!
(Artist Unknown)
Reposted by Matthew Kresal
From the archives: #SidewiseAward winning #author Matthew Kresal ( @kresalwrites.bsky.social ) reviews the #anthology "Alternate #Presidents" edited by Mike Resnick. #AlternateHistory #Counterfactual #WhatIf #BookReview #USPolitics www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/review-...
Review: Alternate Presidents
By Matthew KresalEvery four years, American voters get the chance to elect a new President. The choices voters, and sometimes the House of Representatives, made on those occasions have been a rich vei...
www.sealionpress.co.uk
November 17, 2025 at 8:30 AM
From the archives: #SidewiseAward winning #author Matthew Kresal ( @kresalwrites.bsky.social ) reviews the #anthology "Alternate #Presidents" edited by Mike Resnick. #AlternateHistory #Counterfactual #WhatIf #BookReview #USPolitics www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/review-...
Reposted by Matthew Kresal
#SidewiseAward winning #author Matthew Kresal ( @kresalwrites.bsky.social ) reviews the #DCComics work #Flashpoint - no, not #TheFlash comic storyline nor its TV adaptation, but the original #Elseworlds from 1999. #AlternateHistory #Comics www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/review-...
Review: Flashpoint
By Matthew Kresal.Mention the title Flashpoint to a fan of DC Comics and you’ll get a flicker of recognition. It was the title, after all, of a 2011 crossover event that reshaped the DC universe prior...
www.sealionpress.co.uk
November 14, 2025 at 10:18 AM
#SidewiseAward winning #author Matthew Kresal ( @kresalwrites.bsky.social ) reviews the #DCComics work #Flashpoint - no, not #TheFlash comic storyline nor its TV adaptation, but the original #Elseworlds from 1999. #AlternateHistory #Comics www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/review-...
This November 10th marks also the centenary of the birth of my favorite actor: Richard Burton. To paraphrase Michael Sheen on a BBC radio documentary over a decade ago, he could make the good great, and the great magnificent.
A lasting legacy, to be sure.
A lasting legacy, to be sure.
November 11, 2025 at 5:18 AM
This November 10th marks also the centenary of the birth of my favorite actor: Richard Burton. To paraphrase Michael Sheen on a BBC radio documentary over a decade ago, he could make the good great, and the great magnificent.
A lasting legacy, to be sure.
A lasting legacy, to be sure.
Reposted by Matthew Kresal
Twenty-nine sailors drowned when the Edmund Fitzgerald went down in the Great Lakes' icy waters on Nov. 10, 1975. The ship was immortalized in a surprise hit 1976 folk ballad by Gordon Lightfoot.
50 years ago, the Edmund Fitzgerald, a 'rock star' ship, sank in Lake Superior
Twenty-nine sailors drowned when the Edmund Fitzgerald went down in the Great Lakes' icy waters on Nov. 10, 1975. The ship was immortalized in a surprise hit 1976 folk ballad by Gordon Lightfoot.
n.pr
November 10, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Twenty-nine sailors drowned when the Edmund Fitzgerald went down in the Great Lakes' icy waters on Nov. 10, 1975. The ship was immortalized in a surprise hit 1976 folk ballad by Gordon Lightfoot.
The Mouse is out! Looks like we’ll be waiting until next Christmas but, hey, one of my panel suggestions for Chicago TARDIS this year might be a moot point now!
www.doctorwho.tv/news-and-fea...
www.doctorwho.tv/news-and-fea...
October 28, 2025 at 4:12 PM
The Mouse is out! Looks like we’ll be waiting until next Christmas but, hey, one of my panel suggestions for Chicago TARDIS this year might be a moot point now!
www.doctorwho.tv/news-and-fea...
www.doctorwho.tv/news-and-fea...
Reposted by Matthew Kresal
#SidewiseAward winning #author Matthew Kresal ( @kresalwrites.bsky.social ) reviews #DoctorWho: #Leviathan, a 'lost story' from the #ColinBaker era by #BrianFinch, now a #BigFinish #AudioDrama. #BBC #ScienceFiction #LostStories www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/review-...
Review: Doctor Who: Leviathan
By Matthew Kresal.The Colin Baker era of Doctor Who, filled as it was with various trials and tribulations, left behind a plethora of unmade serials. Some were scripted for the originally planned seas...
www.sealionpress.co.uk
October 28, 2025 at 10:43 AM
#SidewiseAward winning #author Matthew Kresal ( @kresalwrites.bsky.social ) reviews #DoctorWho: #Leviathan, a 'lost story' from the #ColinBaker era by #BrianFinch, now a #BigFinish #AudioDrama. #BBC #ScienceFiction #LostStories www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/review-...
Some news I’ve been eagerly awaiting for a long time now. And with Rob Valentine writing to boot!
Doctor Who season 13 just got BIGGER on the inside! 🤯 Click https://bgfn.sh/425news to read about The Ministry of Death, 2026's forthcoming first full-cast Fourth Doctor audio drama box set.
October 16, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Some news I’ve been eagerly awaiting for a long time now. And with Rob Valentine writing to boot!
My heart aches this afternoon. Zelda passed away unexpectedly this afternoon. I hope that in those final moments she knew how much she was loved and how much I’m going to miss hearing that purr box or having her lay on me as I type on the laptop.
Rest in peace, Baby Z.
Rest in peace, Baby Z.
October 12, 2025 at 8:27 PM
My heart aches this afternoon. Zelda passed away unexpectedly this afternoon. I hope that in those final moments she knew how much she was loved and how much I’m going to miss hearing that purr box or having her lay on me as I type on the laptop.
Rest in peace, Baby Z.
Rest in peace, Baby Z.
Reposted by Matthew Kresal
A Mainer received an Amazon package containing 250 missing ballots for a GOP-backed referendum that would restrict ballot access. Amazon claims the box contained only the expected items, leading some to ask whether the mishap was a political stunt. https://bit.ly/42DKdwZ
Mail Ballots Were Found in an Amazon Box in Maine. Some Suspect a Political Dirty Trick.
Read more here...
bit.ly
October 11, 2025 at 3:05 PM
A Mainer received an Amazon package containing 250 missing ballots for a GOP-backed referendum that would restrict ballot access. Amazon claims the box contained only the expected items, leading some to ask whether the mishap was a political stunt. https://bit.ly/42DKdwZ
Having spent entirely too much in Walmart's in the early 2000s owing to my grandmother (the only person I know to this day who can spend multiple hours in there) and my parents grocery shopping, I have very little nostalgia for the place. The one thing I do miss? When it was open 24 hours.
This is doing numbers on social media right now and it's so depressing how people truly yearn for this shit and want to preserve that feeling indefinitely like a mausoleum of false memories.
September 30, 2025 at 6:20 AM
Having spent entirely too much in Walmart's in the early 2000s owing to my grandmother (the only person I know to this day who can spend multiple hours in there) and my parents grocery shopping, I have very little nostalgia for the place. The one thing I do miss? When it was open 24 hours.
I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve lived through the apocalypse at this point. We can blame this one on TikTok, apparently. Think I’ll just keep watching Live and Let Die over here and see if the apocalypse hits mid-movie.
What is the Rapture and why is a doomsday prediction spreading on TikTok?
A South African man's prophecy about the Rapture has gone viral. He claims it will happen on Sept. 23 or 24, sparking both belief and mockery.
apnews.com
September 23, 2025 at 11:40 PM
I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve lived through the apocalypse at this point. We can blame this one on TikTok, apparently. Think I’ll just keep watching Live and Let Die over here and see if the apocalypse hits mid-movie.
The 10th of September is #WorldSuicidePreventionDay. Not an easy subject to ever broach & one with a lot of stigma still attached to it. But I've come to believe that if telling my story might help someone else, it's a worthwhile thing to do. So here's my story of how #DoctorWho saved my life. 1/14
September 11, 2025 at 1:15 AM
The 10th of September is #WorldSuicidePreventionDay. Not an easy subject to ever broach & one with a lot of stigma still attached to it. But I've come to believe that if telling my story might help someone else, it's a worthwhile thing to do. So here's my story of how #DoctorWho saved my life. 1/14
Reposted by Matthew Kresal
They never think it can happen to them, too. Never.
I would not say gun deaths are worth it. Sorry. No.
*****
www.buzzfeed.com/alexalisitza...
I would not say gun deaths are worth it. Sorry. No.
*****
www.buzzfeed.com/alexalisitza...
A 2023 Video Of Charlie Kirk Saying Gun Deaths Are "Worth It" Is Going Viral
People are saying Kirk's comments aged like milk.
www.buzzfeed.com
September 10, 2025 at 10:38 PM
They never think it can happen to them, too. Never.
I would not say gun deaths are worth it. Sorry. No.
*****
www.buzzfeed.com/alexalisitza...
I would not say gun deaths are worth it. Sorry. No.
*****
www.buzzfeed.com/alexalisitza...
Enjoy a good historically based spy story? Or like a good "what if?" alternate history tale? Our Man on The Hill asks what might have happened if the Cold War’s most infamous Red Hunter was a Soviet agent all along.
September 9, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Enjoy a good historically based spy story? Or like a good "what if?" alternate history tale? Our Man on The Hill asks what might have happened if the Cold War’s most infamous Red Hunter was a Soviet agent all along.
Reposted by Matthew Kresal
#SidewiseAward winning #author Matthew Kresal ( @kresalwrites.bsky.social ) reviews the #BigFinish #audiodrama adaptation of a lost #DoctorWho script from 1965, "The Dark Planet". www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/review-...
Review: Doctor Who: The Dark Planet
By Matthew Kresal.Early 1960s Doctor Who is at times an extraordinary thing to behold: a series whose makers were striving for excellence and big ideas in often antiquated studios and with a fraction ...
www.sealionpress.co.uk
September 9, 2025 at 8:59 AM
#SidewiseAward winning #author Matthew Kresal ( @kresalwrites.bsky.social ) reviews the #BigFinish #audiodrama adaptation of a lost #DoctorWho script from 1965, "The Dark Planet". www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/review-...
Reposted by Matthew Kresal
#SidewiseAward winning #author Matthew Kresal ( @kresalwrites.bsky.social ) looks at #NASA 's little-known post- #Apollo plan to send #astronauts to - or at least past - #Venus. #SpaceRace www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/apollo-...
Apollo Goes To Venus: The Manned Venus Flyby
By Matthew KresalHalloween 1973.A Saturn V rocket sits on Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. On top of it, three astronauts await lift-off. The journey they will soon be embarking ...
www.sealionpress.co.uk
August 28, 2025 at 9:08 AM
#SidewiseAward winning #author Matthew Kresal ( @kresalwrites.bsky.social ) looks at #NASA 's little-known post- #Apollo plan to send #astronauts to - or at least past - #Venus. #SpaceRace www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/apollo-...
A response I saw on Instagram in regards to someone complaining about the new Superman movie and how they felt Superman didn’t “change or grow” during it. Which I’d never thought about before but which is 100% on point.
August 24, 2025 at 12:35 AM
A response I saw on Instagram in regards to someone complaining about the new Superman movie and how they felt Superman didn’t “change or grow” during it. Which I’d never thought about before but which is 100% on point.
If the best weapon the “Deep State” has on hand is a sandwich and THIS is your response, I’d say someone has a persecution complex (but we knew that anyway).
August 14, 2025 at 9:58 PM
If the best weapon the “Deep State” has on hand is a sandwich and THIS is your response, I’d say someone has a persecution complex (but we knew that anyway).
Reposted by Matthew Kresal
@kresalwrites.bsky.social writes this month's #alternatehistory vignette for @sealionpress.co.uk , as the US leadership learn the Soviet space programme has just sent up... something BIG...
www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/vignett...
www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/vignett...
Vignette: The Dumbo Moment
By Matthew Kresal.On the Sea Lion Press Forums, we run a monthly Vignette Challenge. Contributors are invited to write short stories on a specific theme (changed monthly).The theme for the 46th contes...
www.sealionpress.co.uk
July 29, 2025 at 6:36 AM
@kresalwrites.bsky.social writes this month's #alternatehistory vignette for @sealionpress.co.uk , as the US leadership learn the Soviet space programme has just sent up... something BIG...
www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/vignett...
www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/vignett...
A geeky feel good story for your Thursday: More than thirty years after their own film was pulled out from beneath them, the original live action Fantastic Four cast are getting a moment to shine.
www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/st...
www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/st...
How ‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’ Heals a 30-Year-Old Betrayal: ‘The Curse Is Broken’
In the early ’90s, Roger Corman made a low-budget ‘Fantastic Four’ film that was never released. Its misled castmates reveal how Marvel finally welcomed them back into the superhero family.
www.vanityfair.com
July 24, 2025 at 10:54 PM
A geeky feel good story for your Thursday: More than thirty years after their own film was pulled out from beneath them, the original live action Fantastic Four cast are getting a moment to shine.
www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/st...
www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/st...
I'm pleased to announce that I've returned to the latest issue of Chromakey from the wonderful folks at Pencil Tip Publishing. Join me for a look back more than seven decades when James Bond first came to the screen in a live TV version of Casino Royale.
July 22, 2025 at 2:37 AM
I'm pleased to announce that I've returned to the latest issue of Chromakey from the wonderful folks at Pencil Tip Publishing. Join me for a look back more than seven decades when James Bond first came to the screen in a live TV version of Casino Royale.
Reposted by Matthew Kresal
The right-wing backlash against #Superman this week got me thinking: Has this happened before?
That led to the discovery of these headline — from April 1940, when the official newspaper of the SS took umbrage at the comic book hero and ridiculed its creators.
My how times change ...
That led to the discovery of these headline — from April 1940, when the official newspaper of the SS took umbrage at the comic book hero and ridiculed its creators.
My how times change ...
July 11, 2025 at 1:41 PM
The right-wing backlash against #Superman this week got me thinking: Has this happened before?
That led to the discovery of these headline — from April 1940, when the official newspaper of the SS took umbrage at the comic book hero and ridiculed its creators.
My how times change ...
That led to the discovery of these headline — from April 1940, when the official newspaper of the SS took umbrage at the comic book hero and ridiculed its creators.
My how times change ...
With a new Superman movie out this weekend, the folks at Sea Lion Press were kind enough to let me review perhaps the most famous tell of an alternate Man of Steel in the form of Mark Millar's Superman: Red Son. But is it the classic that its reputation suggests? Read on and find out!
#SidewiseAward winning #author Matthew Kresal ( @kresalwrites.bsky.social ) reviews #DCComics ' #AlternateHistory #Elseworlds #Superman tale, in which Kal-El lands in the #SovietUnion rather than #Kansas : #SupermanRedSon. www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/review-...
Review: Superman: Red Son
By Matthew Kresal.Richard Donner, director of the 1978 Christopher Reeve Superman film and a fair chunk of its immediate sequel (but that’s another topic for another time), once summed up Superman and...
www.sealionpress.co.uk
July 12, 2025 at 4:43 AM
With a new Superman movie out this weekend, the folks at Sea Lion Press were kind enough to let me review perhaps the most famous tell of an alternate Man of Steel in the form of Mark Millar's Superman: Red Son. But is it the classic that its reputation suggests? Read on and find out!