Director John Carpenter and special makeup effects master Rob Bottin teamed up for this 1982 remake of the 1951 science fiction classic The Thing from Another World, and the result is a mixed blessing. It's got moments of highly effective terror and spine-tingling suspense, but it's mostly a showcase for some of the goriest and most horrifically grotesque makeup effects ever created for a movie. With such highlights as a dog that splits open and blossoms into something indescribably gruesome, this is the kind of movie for die-hard horror fans and anyone who slows down to stare at fatal traffic accidents. On those terms, however, it's hard not to be impressed by the movie's wild and wacky freak show. It all begins when scientists at an arctic research station discover an alien spacecraft under the thick ice, and thaw out the alien body found aboard. What they don't know is that the alien can assume any human form, and before long the scientists can't tell who's real and who's a deadly alien threat. Kurt Russell leads the battle against the terrifying intruder, and the supporting cast includes Richard Masur, Richard Dysart, Donald Moffat, and Wilford Brimley. They're all playing standard characters who are neglected by the mechanistic screenplay (based on the classic sci-fi story "Who Goes There?" by John W. Campbell), but Carpenter's emphasis is clearly on the gross-out effects and escalating tension. If you've got the stomach for it (and let's face it, there's a big audience for eerie gore), this is a thrill ride you won't want to miss. —Jeff Shannon

Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, William Atherton, William Sadler, Reginald VelJohnson Director: Renny Harlin

Nicholas Shaxson Dirty money, tax havens and the offshore system describe the ugliest and most secretive chapter in the history of global economic affairs. Tax havens have been instrumental in nearly every major economic event, in every big financial scandal. This title shows how this happens.

Seth McFarlane, Alex Borstein

Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner Season 12 of The Simpsons flies in the face of the contention that it’s the earlier runs of the show where you’ll find the gold. Granted, it’s been tough to keep the standard up to the levels of the show at its finest, but here we find some majestic and inspired Simpsons moments.

Season 12 doesn’t have, it should noted, the calibre of guest voice star of previous runs. That said, it’s still the core adventures of Homer, Maggie, Lisa, Marge and Bart that form the heart of the fun. Particular favourite highlights of The Simpsons’ twelfth season include Lisa’s relationship with the tree hugger, Homer’s brand new gossip website, the moment where Homer suddenly (and temporarily!) gets a burst of intelligence, and the wonderfully titled Worst Episode Ever. There’s also the very welcome return of Sideshow Bob, as voiced by Kelsey Grammar.

The writing of The Simpsons, as evidenced here, remains witty and sharp, and while perhaps there aren’t so many of the belly laughs of the earlier years, season 12 still more than justifies its purchase price. At least half the episodes here are ones you’ll be looking, we’d suspect, to watch again. Factor in too the usual high quality selection of extras, and long after most series have folded, we continue to find The Simpsons on fine form. —Jon Foster

none, Tim Albone, Lucy Martens, Leslie Knott

Walter Isaacson

Charles Mackay A complete repackaging of the classic work about grand-scale madness, major schemes, and bamboozlement—and the universal human susceptibility to all three. This informative, funny collection encompasses a broad range of manias and deceptions, from witch burnings to the Great Crusades to the prophecies of Nostradamus.

Peter F. Hamilton

Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres Much praised and much missed after its premature cancellation, Firefly is the first SF TV series to be conceived by Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy and cocreator of Angel. Set five centuries in the future, it is a show where the mysterious personal pasts of the crew of the tramp spaceship Serenity continually surface. In fact, it's a Western in space where the losers in a Civil War are heading out to a barren frontier. Mal Reynolds is a man embittered by the war, yet whose love of his comrades perpetually dents his cynicism—even in the 14 episodes that exist we see him warm to the bubbly young mechanic Kaylee, the preacher Book, the idealistic doctor Simon, even to the often demented River, Simon's sister, the psychic result of malign experiments.

Firefly is also about adult emotional relationships, for example Kaylee's crush on Simon, the happy marriage of Mal's second officer Zoe and the pilot Wash, the disastrous erotic stalemate between Mal and the courtesan Inara. Individual episodes deal with capers going vaguely wrong, or threats narrowly circumvented; character and plot arcs were starting to emerge when the show was cancelled. Fortunately, the spin-off movie Serenity ties up some of the ends; and in the meantime, what there is of Firefly is a show to marvel at, both for its tight writing and ensemble acting, and the idiocy of the executives who cancelled it.

On the DVD: Firefly on DVD is presented in anamorphic 1.78:1 with Dolby Surround Sound. It includes commentaries on six episodes by various writers, directors, designers and cast members as well as featurettes on the conception of the show and the design of the spaceship Serenity, four deleted scenes, a gag reel, and Joss Whedon singing the show's theme tune, more or less. One of the things that emerges from all of this is how committed to the project everyone involved with it was, and is—unusually, you end up caring as much for the cast and crew as for the characters.

Sir Terry Pratchett Death comes to us all. When he came to Mort, he offered him a job. After being assured that being dead was not compulsory, Mort accepted. However, he soon found that romantic longings did not mix easily with the responsibilities of being Death's apprentice.

Neal Stephenson

Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Ron Underwood Tremors didn't actually break any new ground (even though its tunnelling worm monsters certainly did), but it revved up the classic monster-movie formulas of the 1950s with such energetic enthusiasm and humour that it made everything old seem new again. It's also got a cast full of enjoyable actors who clearly had a lot of fun making the film, and director Ron Underwood strikes just the right balance of comedy and terror as a band of small-town rednecks battles a lot of really nasty-looking giant worms. The special effects are great, the one-liners fly fast and furious between heroes Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward (and yes, that's country star Reba McEntire packin' awesome firepower), and it's all done with the kind of flair one rarely associates with goofy monster flicks like this. —Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

Harlan Ellison

Winner of two 2010 Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for Bryan Cranston and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad: The Complete Third Season returns, hailed by the Los Angeles Times as "the best show on television." Even though his cancer's in remission, chemistry teacher-turned-meth maker Walter White (Cranston) still can't catch a break. his wife (Anna Gunn) has filed for divorce, his DEA agent brother-in-law (Dean Norris) is out to bust him and a Mexican cartel just wants him dead. But with his family's future still at stake Walt cooks up a deal that will make him a fortune, a scheme with a terrible price. Executive produced by Vince Gilligan and Mark Johnson.

Bryan Cranston, Anna Gunn, Adam Bernstein, Michelle Maxwell MacLaren, Johan Renck, Terry McDonough As Breaking Bad's first year concluded, chemistry teacher Walt (two-time Emmy-winner Bryan Cranston) and his meth-making partner, Jesse (Emmy-nominee Aaron Paul), hooked up with drug kingpin Tuco (Raymond Cruz), and the money started to roll in. They expected some degree of danger—but not a homicidal maniac. When DEA agent Hank (Dean Norris) starts to close in on Tuco, he kidnaps the duo, who eventually escape, but the experience creates a host of new complications, leaving Jesse temporarily homeless and driving a wedge between Walt and his pregnant wife, Skyler (Anna Gunn), and their 15-year-old son, Walt Jr. (R. J. Mitte). In his commentary, creator Vince Gilligan explains that the "chickens come home to roost" in season 2 as Walt's criminal activity catches up with him. In effect, he lives out the psychological version of The Fly, with his double life merging into one, such that he starts to become as ruthless as Tuco. Hank, meanwhile, gets a promotion that expands his jurisdiction to El Paso, while Skyler takes an accounting job that could cause her to "break bad" in season 3.

If this AMC hit lacked a sense of humor, it just might be too hard to take. Aside from Walt's incurable illness and Hank's post-traumatic stress disorder, there's a head crushing, a shooting, an explosion, and an overdose. Though Walt and Skyler get few humorous moments, Jesse, Hank, and ambulance-chasing attorney Saul (Mr. Show's Bob Odenkirk, an inspired addition) make the most of theirs. Jesse even gets a girlfriend (Krysten Ritter), who comes with a wary father (John de Lancie)—but there's still more shadow than light (not counting those panoramic desert shots). Strong stuff, but it's impossible to look away. Extensive extras include commentaries, deleted scenes, and featurettes on every episode. —Kathleen C. Fennessy

Bryan Cranston, Dean Norris, Vince Gilligan No one would confuse the desperate dad Bryan Cranston plays in this character-driven drama with the fun-loving Hal from Malcolm in the Middle. In Breaking Bad, Walter White lives in the suburbs with his wife—and wears tighty-whiteys—but the similarities end there. During the pilot, the cash-strapped chemistry teacher finds out he has inoperable lung cancer. He and Skyler (Deadwood's Anna Gunn) have one son, Walter Jr. (R.J. Mitte), and a daughter on the way. With two years to get his affairs in order, Walter comes up with a wild plan: he and former student Jesse (Aaron Paul), a drug dealer, will open a meth lab.

In the hands of creator Vince Gilligan (The X-Files), Bad's first season plays like the improbable offspring of Weeds and The Shield. With nothing left to lose, the Albuquerque 50-year-old uses his death sentence as a catalyst to break every rule he's ever followed while keeping his family—including Skyler's radiologist sister, Marie (Betsy Brandt), and her DEA agent husband, Hank (Dean Norris)—out of the loop. Throughout these seven episodes, Walt takes on a hostage, a dead body, and a partner who likes to sample his own product. Based on the description alone, it shouldn't work as well as it does, except Gilligan and company keep the situations psychologically believable and Emmy winner Cranston makes Walt surprisingly sympathetic as he swings between compassion and self-interest. As he tells his students, "Chemistry is the study of change", a statement that applies equally well to the show, since Walt ends up in a very different place than where he began. —Kathleen C. Fennessy

Richard Matheson

China Mieville A dark urban fantasy thriller from one of the all-time masters of the genre

China Mieville

George R R Martin First volume of a brilliant new fantasy trilogy: the most powerful, original and absorbing new epic since Stephen Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. The first volume of George R R Martin's glorious high fantasy tells the tragic story of treachery, greed and war that threatens the unity of the Seven Kingdoms south of the Wall. Martin unfolds with astonishing skill a tale of truly epic dimensions, thronged with memorable characters, a story of treachery and ambition, love and magic. Set in a fabulous world scarred by battle and catastrophe over 8000 years of recorded history, it tells of the deeds of men and women locked in the deadliest of conflicts and the terrible legacy they will leave their children. In the game of thrones, you win or you die. And in the bitter-cold, unliving lands beyond the Wall, a terrible winter gathers and the others — the undead, the neverborn, wildlings to whom the threat of the sword is nothing — make ready to descend on the realms of men. A Game of Thrones begins the most imaginative, ambitious and compelling fantasy epic since The Lord of the Rings. Thronged with memorable characters, it unfolds with astonishing skill a tale of truly epic dimensions. There have been many pretenders to the throne of Tolkien: now at last he has a true heir.

Neil Gaiman

Lauren Beukes ZINZI DECEMBER FINDS PEOPLE. Even if they don't want to be found - like missing pop starlet Songweza. Trouble is, when you go turning over stones and digging up secrets it isn't long before the real truth comes to light. A truth the local crime lord, dark magician and beast master, will kill to keep hidden. In Lauren Beukes' shattered city, magic is horribly real and the criminal classes sport symbiotically linked animals. A stunningly original urban fantasy.

China Miéville

Andrew Lincoln, Jon Bernthal, Frank Darabont, Ernest R. Dickerson, Guy Ferland, Gwyneth Horder-Payton, Michelle Maxwell MacLaren Arguably the biggest hit of the US 2010 television season, the apocalypse drama The Walking Dead pulls the zombie subgenre out of its overexposed doldrums and finds, ironically enough, the humanity and emotion beneath its rotting shell. Produced by Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption) and Gale Anne Hurd (Aliens) and based on the acclaimed graphic novel by Robert Kirkman, The Walking Dead follows a band of Atlanta-based survivors of a viral outbreak that has caused the dead to rise up and consume the living. The group's nominal leader is a sheriff's deputy (Andrew Lincoln) who wakes from a gunshot-induced coma to find the world in disarray and his wife (Sarah Wayne Callies, Prison Break) and son missing. His search for his family and the survivors' attempts to make sense of their lives in the wake of the outbreak is handled with intelligence and sensitivity, which helps to elevate the show beyond the grindhouse take on zombies, which favours spilled guts over character development. That's not to say that the blood doesn't flow plentifully here: the special effects are on par with zombie-movie mayhem, but again, they aren't the show's raison d'être. Solid performances, including Jon Bernthal as Lincoln's partner, Jeffrey DeMunn as the group's leading rationalist, and Michael Rooker and Norman Reedus as a pair of trouble-making rednecks, and gripping suspense make each of the first season's six episodes compelling from start to finish for both horror fans and those who dislike the genre as a whole.

The two-disc set of The Walking Dead's first season includes all six episodes, as well as a number of making-of extras, including the show's conception and production, a talk with Robert Kirkman (he's a fan), a look at the makeup by KNB Studios, and the show's panel at the 2010 ComicCon. All of the principal players on both sides of the camera are given adequate screen time to discuss their vision for the show, its influences (George Romero, naturally), and the challenges of depicting the end of civilisation on a budget. —Paul Gaita

John Swartzwelder One of a series of comedy/science fiction novels featuring slow-witted detective Frank Burly. By John Swartzwelder, the writer of 59 episodes of The Simpsons.

Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss From the off, Mad Men was reaping plaudits and acclaim, as critics and audiences lined up to declare it one of the best new modern drama series that television has brought us. What’s perhaps even more impressive, though, is that it’s kept this going. That, four seasons in, it’s not just managed to keep up the elegant stylings that got many to sit up and take notice in the first place. But that it’s delivering some terrific television as it does so. Season four puts added emphasis onto Don Draper, expertly played by Jon Hamm, and this in turn throws the spotlight onto the people closest to him. Furthermore, Mad Men, as always, finds room to explore the supporting characters, with several compelling threads to follow. Without giving too much away, the show also picks up from the events at the end of season three, and the characters concerned find the ride just a little bumpier than they might have been expecting. It’s a terrific show. Played by a cast of characters who inhabit their roles expertly, Mad Men is what happens when a group of people who are genuinely expert at their jobs come together at just the right time. In a decade that has seen a collection of excellent television series laying claim to our time and attention, Mad Men stands proud as one of the finest of the lot. —Jon Foster

Douglas Coupland This collection of stories cuts through the hype of modern living, travelling inward to the elusive terrain of dreams and nightmares.

Verna Felton, Kathryn Beaumont, Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske

Joshua Jackson, Anna Torv

Brand new and factory sealed

David Mitchell, Robert Webb

David Attenborough, Oprah Winfrey Narrated by: David Attenborough

David Mitchell, Robert Webb

36 Crazyfists

Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein

Brian Aldiss The first published novel of England's greatest living SF writer

Christopher Priest 'One of two or three of the most impressive pure-SFnovels produced in the UK since World War Two' ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF SCIENCE FICTION.

Mike Ashley Many readers are attracted to science fiction for that singular moment when a story expands your imagination, enabling you to see something in a new light. This book collects some of the finest examples of mind-expanding and awe-inspiring science fiction.