1. The Discworld is balanced atop four elephants, who in turn balance atop Great A’Tuin the giant star turtle. Which of these is NOT one of the names of the elephants?
   A) Tubul
   B) Great T’Phon
   C) Jerakeen
   D) Cori Celesti
   E) Berilia
2. In 1982 Tim Burton wrote and directed an animated short film which was a tribute to an actor who served as a lifelong idol and inspiration for Burton. The actor in question also narrated the film. Name it.
3. Ed Wood, affectionately known as the worst director of all time, began his moviemaking career with this 1953 film (in which Bela Lugosi served as the narrator):
   A) Glen or Glenda
   B) Bride of the Monster
   C) Plan 9 from Outer Space
   D) Night of the Ghouls
   E) Jail Bait
4. An enduring maritime mystery involves the fate of this ship, which left New York in November 1872 and was found floating deserted off the Azores Islands a month later. It inspired a short story by Arthur Conan Doyle entitled “J. Habakuk Jephson’s Statement,” which did much to encourage paranormal myths about what was most likely an unfortunate case of a panicked crew abandoning ship after mistakenly believing it was about to sink.
5. In TV’s Bewitched Samantha’s mother is named Endora, a reference to the Biblical Witch of Endor who was consulted by which Israelite king?
   A) Solomon
   B) Rehoboam
   C) Ishbaal
   D) David
   E) Saul
6. Ray Parker, Jr. was sued over the “Ghostbusters” theme song by this popular 80s band, who claimed it was plagiarized from one of their previous hits.
7. Roger Zelazny’s A Night in the Lonesome October follows various Victorian gothic archetypal characters as they fight to keep the Great Old Ones from coming through a portal on Halloween. The title is taken from a line in which poem by Edgar Allan Poe?
   A) “The Bells”
   B) “Ulalume”
   C) “Lenore”
   D) “Annabel Lee”
   E) “The Raven”
8. In the Resident Evil series of video games, the mutated monsters and zombies roaming around were originally created by the release of the T-virus, a biological weapon created by this corporation.
9. The TV series Supernatural began with a “monster of the week” format in which brothers Sam and Dean Winchester encountered a different supernatural being in every episode. What creature did they fight in the series pilot?
   A) Woman in White
   B) Hook Man
   C) Rawhead
   D) Bloody Mary
   E) Wendigo
10. At the end of Lewis Carroll’s The Hunting of the Snark, the Baker “softly and suddenly vanished away” because the Snark was actually what?

(Answers below the fold)

Read the rest of this entry »