With only two issues of tiny frights a year, I figured I should put out the occasional interim update.
Horror reads since Walpurgis night
One or more of these might be reviewed in the upcoming issue.
- Dark Country by Monique Snyman, a horror detective novel.
- Queens of the Abyss: Lost Stories from Women of the Weird, edited by Mike Ashley.
- Manhunt, a dystopian near-future novel by Gretchen Felker-Martin.
- What Can You Say Against a Death Machine? a collection of absurdist short stories by Marty Shambles.
- Your Body is Not Your Body: A New Weird Horror Anthology to Benefit Trans Youth in Texas, edited by Alex Woodroe and Matt Blairstone.
- Coyote Songs: a barrio noir, a novel by Gabino Iglesias.
- The Curious Case of H.P. Lovecraft, a biography of the influential horror writer and notorious bigot, by Paul Roland.
My recent horror viewing
- I watched all four seasons of Hannibal. No disrespect to Anthony Hopkins, but Mads Mikkelson plays the part better. (But then, he had a larger canvas to work on.) I appreciated the importance of William Blake in the 4th season.
- Blake’s work and thought also played a part in the psychological horror movie Saint Maud.
- Brand New Cherry Flavor — this miniseries kept me watching to the end, but I’m still not sure what I think of it.
- I was disappointed by the final season of Stranger Things.
- I rectified a grievous omission in my education by finally watching Get Out, and I’m glad I did.
- Ditto The Shape of Water.
- Watching the series Midnight Mass was time well spent, but it could have been even better.
- I continue to watch my way through Wynonna Earp, but it’s starting to remind me of Supernatural.
Miscellaneous spookiness
My wife and I spent a couple of nights at The Elms Hotel & Resort, and I went on the paranormal tour. There were a few tales of apparitions, but most unexplained occurrences seemed to fall under the heading of poltergeist phenomena, or maybe just mischievous spirits moving things. We experienced nothing eerie during our stay.
The Halloween 2022 issue
The next issue is starting to take shape, with art, poetry and fiction by the likes of Kathy Allen, Jerome Berglund, Alex Bestwick, Linda M. Crate, Mort Duffy, Nolcha Fox, Madison McSweeney, Jennifer Rodrigues, and your humble editor. If you’d like to join this illustrious roster, the deadline for submissions is September 30th. See the submission guidelines for details.