“It’s almost October, though, and horror is my religion.” – Stephen Graham Jones, ‘My Heart Is A Chainsaw’ Welcome to Subgenre Slam!, a column series I will start today, break […]
11 Chicago Books You Should Read
“I say I’m from Chicago and / folks get excited. I mean, they / light up like they got gossip to tell.” – Taylor Byas, “You from ‘Chi-raq?’” First off, […]
11 Monster Books You Should Read
“If you’re not a beautiful monster, then you’re a villager.” – Stephen Graham Jones, ‘Mongrels’ Not sure what’s come over me, but the urge has struck me to write some […]
Does Your Book Have Buildings and Trees?
“and the days rummaging his eyes / and the nights flickering through a slit / of narrow bars. hips. thighs.” – from ‘does Your House have Lions?’ by Sonia Sanchez […]
No Matter How Bad Things Get, I’m Still Better At Life Than Elon Musk And Jeff Bezos
“fuck it, Dude, let’s go bowling” – Walter, ‘The Big Lebowski’ This has been the hardest column to begin since I started this blog. Usually, when people say that, it’s […]
You Only Like The Beginnings Of Things: Having Ideas In Speculative Fiction
“The Orb 4 had grand if unrealized plans…Not only were there to be ‘solo novels’ spun off by the members, but…talk of graphic novels, poetry chapbooks, and at least one […]
Ekphrasis: Vampires Edition
“A strangeness. A ripple of unease…A sense that there was a reason to watch one’s back when shadows grew long.” – Isabel Cañas, ‘Vampires of El Norte’ Hey look, it’s […]
Ekphrasis: Sea Monsters Edition
“To know the ocean, I have always felt, is to recognize the teeth it keeps half hidden.” – Julia Armfield, ‘Our Wives Under The Sea’ Hey look, it’s the first […]
Ekphrasis: Werewolves Edition
“That’s how it is with werewolves. You have something, then you just have the story of it.” – Stephen Graham Jones, ‘Mongrels’ Hey look, it’s the first crop of ekphrasis […]
Horror Can Be Done In Cities
“I can’t say nothing or Candyman will get me…I ain’t scared of nobody but you’re crazy walking in here on your own.” – Jake, ‘Candyman (1992)’ There’s an old Cracked […]