Bob Byrne ruled the charts last month, with no less than three articles in the December Top Ten — a new record. Well done Bob! (But you’re still not getting a new office.)

Bob’s most popular piece was his report on the new Robert E. Howard pastiches coming in 2018, followed by a detailed look at the notorious takeover of gaming company SPI by its arch-rival TSR in 1982. His investigation of Heroic Signatures, a new venture to create digital properties based on Howard’s work, came in at #10 for the month.

The top article at Black Gate last month was another gaming piece: Michael O’Brien’s warts-and-all survey of Avalon Hill’s early Runequest releases, including classics like Griffin Island and Gods of Glorantha. Third on the list was our look at Frank M. Robinson’s legendary pulp collection. Rounding out the Top Five was Elizabeth Crowens’ far ranging interview with bestselling author Charlaine Harris.

Number six was our summary of the Top 50 Posts in November, followed by a sneak peek of the latest issue of Weirdbook. Closing out the list was our 2017 Christmas message, and Jess Terrell’s in-depth interview with Christopher Paul Carey, author of Swords Against the Moon Men.

The complete list of Top Articles for December follows. Below that, I’ve also broken out the most popular overall articles, online fiction, and blog categories for the month.

The Top 50 Black Gate posts in December were:

1. Resurrecting RuneQuest: An Investigation by the Tales of the Reaching Moon Editorial Staff
2. By Crom! New Robert E. Howard Pastiches Coming in 2018!
3. Remembering Frank M. Robinson’s Legendary Pulp Collection
4. Simulations Publications Inc: The TSR Incursion
5. The Poison Apple: True Interview – One-on-One with Charlaine Harris
6. The Top Black Gate Posts in November
7. Weirdbook #37 Now Available
8. Merry Christmas From All of Us at Black Gate
9. From Ancient Opar to the Moon: An Interview with Author Christopher Paul Carey
10. Heroic Signatures: REH Digital Rights Part of $10 Million Deal

     

11. In 500 Words or Less: Ride the Star Wind: Cthulhu, Space Opera, and the Cosmic Weird, edited by Scott Gable and C. Dombrowski
12. Wordsmiths: Reasons and Examples Why Julie E. Czerneda is Genuinely Awesome
13. Helen’s Daimones by S.E. Lindberg
14. A Return to Terry Carr’s Best Science Fiction of the Year
15. Wings, Wind, and World-Wreckers: The Best of Edmond Hamilton
16. Decide the Fate of the World With Tiny Plastic Ships: Axis & Allies by Avalon Hill
17. China’s Silicon Valley, but With More Tea: Derek Visits Hangzhou
18. Witches, Privateers, and Enchanted Blades: Tales of the Thieftaker by D. B. Jackson
19. Lost and Found Treasure
20. Alfred Bester on “My One Demented Meeting with the Great John W. Campbell, Jr.”

     

21. Read Black Gate in Italian!
22. December Short Story Roundup
23. Don’t Mess with Mary: P.L Travers’ Mary Poppins
24. There’s No Place Like Home
25. Goth Chick News: Christmas Is for Ghost Stories… Or At Least it Used to Be
26. A Treasure Trove of Alarums and Excursions
27. Little Miss Martian
28. Relive Gary Gygax’s Classic Tale of Giant Mayhem in Assault of the Giants
29. From the Vaults: The Lands of the Earthquake by Henry Kuttner
30. Batman Returns Is My Favorite Christmas Movie and That’s Not a Joke

     

31. My All-Story Story, or, A Tale of Tarzan (Not Triumphant)
32. Exploring the Subterranean
33. True to the Specters of the Dead: The Big Book of Ghost Stories, edited by Otto Penzler
34. Old Empires and Armored Planets: Rich Horton on The Sun Smasher by Edmond Hamilton and Starhaven by Ivar Jorgenson
35. Goth Chick News: Jurassic World 2 Gets More Teeth
36. Fantasia 2017, Day 18, Part 1: Geek Girls
37. The Complete Carpenter: Starman (1984)
38. Vintage Treasures: Soldier Boy by Michael Shaara
39. Vintage Treasures: Blind Voices by Tom Reamy
40. Goth Chick News: I Have No Idea Why I’m Obsessed With This, But I Am…

     

41. Fantasia 2017, Day 19: Heightened Realities (Night Is Short, Walk On Girl, Deliver Us, and Blade of the Immortal)
42. Vintage Treasures: The American Fantasy Tradition edited by Brian M. Thomsen
43. Watching the Justice League Movie
44. Celebrate the Spirit of the Holidays With The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries, edited by Otto Penzler
45. Carl Burgos and Air-Sub “DX”
46. The Guardian on the Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of 2017
47. Fantasy as Something Brighter: Peter S. Beagle’s The Overneath and Jane Yolen’s The Emerald Circus
48. Vintage Treasures: Farewell Fantastic Venus! edited by Brian W. Aldiss with Harry Harrison
49. January/February 2018 Asimov’s Science Fiction Now on Sale
50. Fantasia 2017, Day 16: Control and Resistance (Fritz Lang and The Crazies)

There were plenty of older articles popular last month as well. The 25 most popular blog posts written before December were:

1. Death Knight Love Story: WMA meets WTF
2. Goth Chick News: Samuel L. Jackson Takes On Japanese OVA – Hold On To Your Butts…
3. New Treasures: The Library of America Publishes Elmore Leonard
4. “Are You Not Still Entertained?”: Gladiator’s 10-Year Oscar Anniversary
5. The Series Series: Shieldwall: Barbarians! by M. Harold Page
6. Fantasia Diary 2015, Day 5: Teana: 10000 Years Later, Crimson Whale, and The Shamer’s Daughter
7. My Fantasia Festival, Days 5 to 7: Cold in July, The Fatal Encounter, and Huntresses
8. Heroic Fantasy with the Sharp Edge of Reality: The Sacred Band by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
9. Blowing the Doors Off the Barn: Expanding the Iron Fist Mythos
10. The IX by Andrew P. Weston
11. Eccentric in Retrospect: Helen Simpson’s The Woman on the Beast
12. Solitaire Adventure with Victory Point Games
13. Living it Large: How Larger Than Life Characters Work
14. The Return of the King (1980)
15. Part Gothic, Part Sword and Sorcery, and Part Horror: Andrew P. Weston’s Hell Bound
16. Adventures on Stage: Fantasy Literature’s Missing Link
17. Haunt the House: The Music and Art of Will Houlihan
18. Return to Thieves World in Beyond Sanctuary: The Revised and Expanded Author’s Cut by Janet Morris
19. Adventures In Gaming: The Temple Of the Sea Gods
20. Tribulations Herculean and Tragic: Beyond Wizardwall by Janet Morris
21. AD&D Figurines: Youth In a Box?
22. Caught Between Rebels and the Empire’s Blackest Magic: Beyond the Veil: The Revised and Expanded Author’s Cut by Janet Morris
23. Read “The Great Detective” by Delia Sherman at Tor.com
24. Modular: The Capharnaum RPG: A Kickstarter Combining the Campbellian Hero Path, Arabian Nights Multiculturalism, and Compelling Worldbuilding
25. Tempus Takes Manhattan: Janet and Chris Morris’ Tempus Unbound

The Top Black Gate Online Fiction features were:

1. An excerpt from The Sacred Band by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
2. An excerpt from A Gathering of Ravens by Scott Oden
3. “Seven Against Hell” by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
4. Tempus Unbound, edited by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
5. An excerpt from Pirates in Hell, edited by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
6. “Goat-Beard the Pirate, Part 2: Evil Angel,” by Janet Morris and Chris Morris
7. An excerpt from Shards of the Glass Slipper: Queen Cinder by Roy A. Mauritsen
8. An excerpt from Truck Stop Earth by Michael A. Armstrong
9. An excerpt from Mouth of the Dragon by Tom Barczak
10. An excerpt from The Black Fire Concerto by Mike Allen
11. The first chapter of The Wreck of the Marissa by M Harold Page
12. “The Sorrowless Thief” by Ryan Harvey
13. “Tsathoggua” by Michael Shea
14. An excerpt from “Night of Two Moons” by David B. Coe
15. “Stand at Duben-Geb” by Ryan Harvey
16. “Iron Joan” by ElizaBeth Gilligan
17. An excerpt from Three Ghosts in a Black Pumpkin by Erika M Szabo and Joe Bonadonna
18. An excerpt from The Power of the Sapphire Wand by Erika M Szabo and Joe Bonadonna
19. “A Princess of Jadh” by Gregory Bierly
20. “Vestments of Pestilence” by John C. Hocking
21. An excerpt from “The Mudslinger” by David Evan Harris
22. “Nero Wolfe – Stamped for Murder” by Bob Byrne
23. “The Trade” by Mark Rigney
24. “The Cremator’s Tale” by Steven H Silver
25. Fiction Excerpt: “Tumithak of the Corridors” by Charles R. Tanner
26. “The Renunciation of the Crimes of Gharad the Undying” by Alex Kreis
27. “Awakening” by Judith Berman
28. An excerpt from “The Hand That Binds” by Michael Livingston
29. “The Whoremaster of Pald” by Harry Connolly
30. An excerpt from Soleri by Michael Johnston

The top categories last month were:

1. Editor’s Blog
2. Books
3. Vintage Treasures
4. Blog Entry
5. Art
6. Art of the Genre
7. BG Staff
8. Black Gate Goes to Summer Movies
9. Uncategorized
10. Comics
11. Conan
12. Pulp
13. Game Reviews
14. Magazines
15. Convention Report
16. Reviews
17. Goth Chick
18. Contest
19. Discovering Robert E. Howard
20. Role Playing Games
21. New Treasures
22. Fiction
23. Interviews
24. Future Treasures
25. Reviews of Black Gate
26. News
27. Pastiche
28. Paranormal Romance
29. Rich Horton
30. Music

The Top 50 Black Gate blog posts in November are here, and you can see all 90 posts we made in the month of December here.