M. J. Simpson

Last updated

M. J. Simpson
Mike Simpson, 2005.jpg
Simpson in 2005
Born
Mike Simpson
Occupation
  • Author
  • journalist
  • critic
  • scriptwriter
NationalityBritish
Genre
  • Biography
  • film criticism

Mike Simpson, professionally known as M.J. Simpson, is a British author, [1] [2] journalist, critic, scriptwriter and occasional actor. He was deputy editor of the British science fiction magazine SFX from 1995 to 1998. [3] He was for several years an expert on the television writer and novelist Douglas Adams and his work.

Contents

Simpson wrote two books about Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and was involved in running ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha, the official Hitchhiker's Guide appreciation society. In 2005, on the release of the Hitchhiker's film adaptation, Simpson closed down his website Planet Magrathea and gave up writing about the subject. [4]

Simpson is an authority on modern British horror films, a subject on which he has so far written one book as well as a regular column, "21st Century Frights", in Scream magazine.

Simpson's website about "cult movies and the people who make them" has been running continually since January 2002, initially at www.mjsimpson.co.uk (now defunct) and, since 2013, on Blogger.

In 2024, he appeared as a contestant on The 1% Club and reached the 1% question.

Bibliography

References

  1. Ferguson, Euan (16 March 2003). "Observer Review: Hitchhiker by MJ Simpson". The Guardian .
  2. Taylor, D. J. (2 March 2003). "Review: Hitchhiker, a Biography of Douglas Adams by M J Simpson". The Times .
  3. Cohen, Dave (23 January 2019). "Rediscovered: The Open Spot Still Remembered 30 Years on: Punching Up 2019". chortle.co.uk . Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  4. Sillito, David (22 April 2005). "Expectations High for Hitchhiker's". BBC News Online . Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  5. Unsworth, Martin (23 December 2012). "Book Review: Urban Terrors – New British Horror Cinema (1997–2008)". starburstmagazine.com . Retrieved 31 October 2025.
  6. Smith, Adrian (16 March 2013). "Book Review: Urban Terrors: New British Horror Cinema 1997–2008 by M.J. Simpson". Cinema Retro . Retrieved 31 October 2025.