Right on time for this spookiest of seasons, I read this excellent article about Carmilla, which is the best vampire novel you’ve never read. The other one is The Gilda […]
Elegy for an Advertisement
I drove into San Francisco in June or July for the first time since the order to shelter in place had begun. I remember the bizarre emptiness of both the […]
Antler Review: September Sure Shots
The best stuff I read in September: I loved American Movie by K-Ming Chang for its quick, clear, queer fabulousness. If you just want to try on the […]
They’re Made Out of Meat
My freshman English teacher loved short stories. I read them before then; I hunted copies of F&SF on waiting room tables and at libraries. I read OMNI and I dreamed […]
Tiny Nightmares
Flash is the hardest thing to write. It’s much easier to tell a story in 50k words than it is in 50. A fully developed narrative in less than 1k […]
Rebecca
I paid homage to Daphne DuMaurier’s “Rebecca” the way that all writers show their love: I stole from it. The opening line of this book is as good as a […]
The Gunslinger
If you read a book at the right time, it will become something like religion to you. This is true even in cases where the book doesn’t attempt to construct […]
Find Layla: Tell me all my love’s in vain.
In 1992, Eric Clapton released his acoustic album “Unplugged,” which included a stripped-down cover of his own work: 1971’s “Layla,” performed by Derek and the Dominos. I was born in […]
Antler Review: August is always burning.
This quarantine will never end. The months go on and on. At least there are new stories every day. I am consistently impressed with the work that Catapult buys, and […]
JAWS
It’s a perfect film. Tension builds between half-glimpsed night-swimming carnage and technical talk of tooth size and bit radius. Our three-headed guide has all the charm of a lawman, a […]