After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
@megapolisomancy.bsky.social
Nonfiction about weird fiction at Seize the Press, Strange Horizons, Interzone, Los Angeles Review of Books, Nightmare, and Ancillary Review of Books, where I am also an editor. Also jazz, metal, leftism. he/him
https://doomsdayer.wordpress.com/writings/
https://doomsdayer.wordpress.com/writings/
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Profane Illuminations: An Initiation
Zachary Gillan Everyone knows that the short story is the ideal form for weird fiction. But why? What is it about the form and the genre that makes them so symbiotic? What might we learn by explori…
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
I've been threatening for a while to start a column on collections of weird fiction, and so: Profane Illuminations, a quarterly series where I'll look at a few in tandem and see what threads I can draw out about their stories and the genre at large. Quick intro here, first full entry next week.
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
Finally out into the world, the labour of many months. My long essay in the inaugural edition of the Alter Magazine on the pasts, presents, and futures of Indian science fiction.
“The Secret History of Indian Science Fiction” —
altermag.com/articles/the...
“The Secret History of Indian Science Fiction” —
altermag.com/articles/the...
The Secret History of Indian Science Fiction.
Before Asimov, there was Rokeya.
altermag.com
November 22, 2025 at 6:11 AM
Finally out into the world, the labour of many months. My long essay in the inaugural edition of the Alter Magazine on the pasts, presents, and futures of Indian science fiction.
“The Secret History of Indian Science Fiction” —
altermag.com/articles/the...
“The Secret History of Indian Science Fiction” —
altermag.com/articles/the...
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
The bane of my existence
November 28, 2025 at 6:37 PM
The bane of my existence
This is correct (aside from not caring about genre, imagine!!). What is weird fiction without weird poetics
I don’t know or care about genre, but I strongly agree with this article’s thesis that people need to get back to writing sentences that evoke ideas and feelings rather than merely explaining them to the reader/that SFF and surrealism should be written with as much attention to style as premise
This was an interesting essay on this kind of zany marvelous writing; with no conception at all of “weird fiction” as a tradition or mode then there’s no expectation of the ontological unsettlement at its root clereviewofbooks.com/marvelous-wr...
November 29, 2025 at 12:18 AM
This is correct (aside from not caring about genre, imagine!!). What is weird fiction without weird poetics
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
I don’t know or care about genre, but I strongly agree with this article’s thesis that people need to get back to writing sentences that evoke ideas and feelings rather than merely explaining them to the reader/that SFF and surrealism should be written with as much attention to style as premise
This was an interesting essay on this kind of zany marvelous writing; with no conception at all of “weird fiction” as a tradition or mode then there’s no expectation of the ontological unsettlement at its root clereviewofbooks.com/marvelous-wr...
Marvelous Writing: The Sentence Will Save the Form - Cleveland Review of Books
To squabble over genre would be to take away from the very potent delight of these kinds of tales: a capacity to traverse an enormous affective range, to play lightly at the surface of life and to sin...
clereviewofbooks.com
November 29, 2025 at 12:08 AM
I don’t know or care about genre, but I strongly agree with this article’s thesis that people need to get back to writing sentences that evoke ideas and feelings rather than merely explaining them to the reader/that SFF and surrealism should be written with as much attention to style as premise
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
Kara Walker's stunning "Unmanned Drone," a deconstructed & reassembled statue of Stonewall Jackson that was originally located in Charlottesville, Virginia until its 2021 removal. A fascinating & complex artwork, now on view at LA art space The Brick as part of "Monuments" exhibition the-brick.org
November 28, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Kara Walker's stunning "Unmanned Drone," a deconstructed & reassembled statue of Stonewall Jackson that was originally located in Charlottesville, Virginia until its 2021 removal. A fascinating & complex artwork, now on view at LA art space The Brick as part of "Monuments" exhibition the-brick.org
Unknown Balrogs
November 28, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Unknown Balrogs
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
This was an interesting essay on this kind of zany marvelous writing; with no conception at all of “weird fiction” as a tradition or mode then there’s no expectation of the ontological unsettlement at its root clereviewofbooks.com/marvelous-wr...
Marvelous Writing: The Sentence Will Save the Form - Cleveland Review of Books
To squabble over genre would be to take away from the very potent delight of these kinds of tales: a capacity to traverse an enormous affective range, to play lightly at the surface of life and to sin...
clereviewofbooks.com
November 28, 2025 at 8:20 PM
This was an interesting essay on this kind of zany marvelous writing; with no conception at all of “weird fiction” as a tradition or mode then there’s no expectation of the ontological unsettlement at its root clereviewofbooks.com/marvelous-wr...
The bane of my existence
November 28, 2025 at 6:37 PM
The bane of my existence
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
Wise words on writing the urban weird, from @bradleybooks.bsky.social's essay in The Subtle Art of Short Fiction @flyonthewallpress.bsky.social
November 28, 2025 at 10:42 AM
Wise words on writing the urban weird, from @bradleybooks.bsky.social's essay in The Subtle Art of Short Fiction @flyonthewallpress.bsky.social
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
Had a blast talking about the collection and a number of other writing topics. Most detailed questions I think I've gotten on a pod to date. Thanks for having me on!
We've got a new Horror in the Margins podcast drop for you! In this episode, we talk to Nebula, Ignyte, Hugo, Locus, and Shirley Jackson Award-nominated writer of speculative short fiction @thomasha.bsky.social about his debut short story collection, Uncertain Sons and Other Stories. We discuss...
November 27, 2025 at 3:38 AM
Had a blast talking about the collection and a number of other writing topics. Most detailed questions I think I've gotten on a pod to date. Thanks for having me on!
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
Never-Ebbing Story: @casella.bsky.social reviews Eva Meijer's SEA NOW, translated by Anne Thompson Melo (@catransitnerd.bsky.social)
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2025/11/26/n...
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2025/11/26/n...
Never-Ebbing Story: Review of Eva Meijer’s Sea Now
Jake Casella Brookins Under Review:Sea Now. Eva Meijer, translated by Anne Thompson Melo. Two Lines Press, October 2025. Ironically, it’s the very dry humor of Eva Meijer’s Sea Now—a story entirely…
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
November 26, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Never-Ebbing Story: @casella.bsky.social reviews Eva Meijer's SEA NOW, translated by Anne Thompson Melo (@catransitnerd.bsky.social)
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2025/11/26/n...
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2025/11/26/n...
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?”
More blanks, more voids, more left unsaid, more productive ambiguity
November 25, 2025 at 5:14 PM
A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?”
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
Extremely excited that my essay "Gothic Phenomena and Weird Noumena: On Writing Dark Numinous Fiction" appears in American Gothic Studies, 1.2!!
I propose a genre metaphysics through the act of writing (vis Blanchot, Poe, Lovecraft, King, & others).
tinyurl.com/3jbkmck6
@ssag.bsky.social
I propose a genre metaphysics through the act of writing (vis Blanchot, Poe, Lovecraft, King, & others).
tinyurl.com/3jbkmck6
@ssag.bsky.social
November 25, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Extremely excited that my essay "Gothic Phenomena and Weird Noumena: On Writing Dark Numinous Fiction" appears in American Gothic Studies, 1.2!!
I propose a genre metaphysics through the act of writing (vis Blanchot, Poe, Lovecraft, King, & others).
tinyurl.com/3jbkmck6
@ssag.bsky.social
I propose a genre metaphysics through the act of writing (vis Blanchot, Poe, Lovecraft, King, & others).
tinyurl.com/3jbkmck6
@ssag.bsky.social
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
Neither horror nor romance but a secret third thing (weird)
November 25, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Neither horror nor romance but a secret third thing (weird)
November 25, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Neither horror nor romance but a secret third thing (weird)
November 25, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Neither horror nor romance but a secret third thing (weird)
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
AI will never have its pedal short out in the middle of the song and have to improvise what to do to get to the end. AI will never have to kick someone out of the band.
@timkabara.bsky.social on Suno, Alzabo, and Missing the Entire Point of Being Alive in this week’s ANYTHING FOR A WEIRD LIFE ↓
@timkabara.bsky.social on Suno, Alzabo, and Missing the Entire Point of Being Alive in this week’s ANYTHING FOR A WEIRD LIFE ↓
November 25, 2025 at 3:03 PM
AI will never have its pedal short out in the middle of the song and have to improvise what to do to get to the end. AI will never have to kick someone out of the band.
@timkabara.bsky.social on Suno, Alzabo, and Missing the Entire Point of Being Alive in this week’s ANYTHING FOR A WEIRD LIFE ↓
@timkabara.bsky.social on Suno, Alzabo, and Missing the Entire Point of Being Alive in this week’s ANYTHING FOR A WEIRD LIFE ↓
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
When someone says genre is nothing but a marketing tool and/or shelving system for bookstores
February 7, 2025 at 2:59 PM
When someone says genre is nothing but a marketing tool and/or shelving system for bookstores
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
November 24, 2025 at 9:03 PM
November 24, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
I'm in the final stages of getting the 2026 new horror list ready to launch, so a reminder: please let me know about your books if you haven't already! RTs very appreciated
do you have a horror/horror-ish book coming out in 2026? tell me about it here, please! I'm working on the 2026 horror list and while I'm very good at sniffing out new books, I still miss things - help me help you!
forms.gle/KxLNwVDVbbRS...
forms.gle/KxLNwVDVbbRS...
2025-2026 Horror Master List Book Submissions
Because I'm out of my mind, I maintain a running list of the year's new horror releases. If you're an author/editor/marketer/publicist/agent who'd like one of your books included, please fill out the ...
forms.gle
November 24, 2025 at 4:27 PM
I'm in the final stages of getting the 2026 new horror list ready to launch, so a reminder: please let me know about your books if you haven't already! RTs very appreciated
November 24, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
In a time… it’s time to
November 23, 2025 at 10:55 PM
In a time… it’s time to
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
In a time of slop, AI or not, it’s time to lean into niche communities and odd work by passionate weirdos with well-honed clarity of intention and craft
This is so relevant to my day-to-day thinking at @hubcitypress.bsky.social. instead of being demoralized and saying, let AI do all the publishing work and pump out more slop to boost sales, our new focus is carefully curated + clearly human created. Hence the focus on short stories, novellas, etc.
November 23, 2025 at 8:07 PM
In a time of slop, AI or not, it’s time to lean into niche communities and odd work by passionate weirdos with well-honed clarity of intention and craft