#out there screaming

[nkjemisin]

Well, it's official, and now I can talk about OUT THERE SCREAMING, a new anthology of Black horror that's edited by Jordan Peele. I have a brand-new short story out in this, and I'll be sharing a Table of Contents with Dr. Chesya Burke, Nnedi Okorafor, Cadwell Turnbull, Tananarive Due, P. Djeli Clark, and more!

[readtilyoudie]

When I try to wrap my lips around a story I’m not supposed to tell, it sours on my tongue. The only way to sweeten it? Name some truths before the lie.

Lasirèn by Erin E. Adams; Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror by Jordan Peele

[davidmariottecomics]

Best of 2023

Hi there, 

This week, we're celebrating the 2 year anniversary of my website and blog (well, just under 2 years, it officially launched on Jan 1). So, to round out this year with the blog and in general, I thought I'd do a little roundup of my personal "Best of" 2023. This is more a list of stuff I really dug this year than a formal ranking of any sort, and a lot of this isn't necessarily new in 2023, so much as stuff I discovered (and rediscovered) this year! Some things will get a little extra blurb, some things will just be listed. Alright, without further ado, my best of 2023! 

PODCASTS: Dungeons & Daddies - Legitimately, 90% of my podcast listening this year was either Dungeons & Daddies or Blank Check. I don't even think I meant for it to be like that, it's just how it happened. As a work of collaborative fiction, I really love Dungeons & Daddies. It's a super funny show and this past week-ish, I've been relistening to Season 2 so far and have just been delighting in it.  Blank Check My Year in MENSA Solve This Murder The Real Housewives of Dungeons & Dragons Abandoning the Premise - Haven't heard of it? Well so far, there's only one episode and it's exclusive to my Patreon! But it was fun and I'd like to revisit in the future! 

VIDEO GAMES:  Reverse 1999 Honkai Star Rail - I am very bad at playing updating video games. It doesn't come naturally to me. I am not someone who completes a lot of games--if I am really gripped by something, I'll finish the story, but I'm not very good about new game plus and 100% runs or anything like that. So, what usually happens with games like this is I get to a point where I am caught up and then I take a break because something else catches my eye or I have less time or I just feel like there's not a lot to do with where I'm at in the game and when I next try to dip in, I feel too far behind. That's definitely where I am with HSR right now, but I'm hoping to take some of my remaining time off to actually try to play and enjoy it again.  The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog Detective Pikachu Returns - This was a Christmas gift and it's delightful! A lot of the puzzle-solving is very easy, but, I dunno, I like hanging out with my friends the Pokemon. 

COMICS:  Nancy Chainsaw Man Milky Way by Miguel Vila - Another Christmas gift, this book is beautifully ugly. It is a semi-erotic relationship-thriller that I think does a very good job of balancing the grotesqueness of human nature and interpersonal relations with a sort of soft loving lens of what compels us toward each other, even when it's at our expense. There's deception and injury and fetishization presented in ways that remind you why they're often treated as morally repugnant, but also are so attractive to us so often.  Superman Kaguya-Sama: Love is War 17-21 The Rock Cocks Witch Watch - Every Sunday morning, I read through my "webcomics" of the week. I hit up Webtoon and catch up on anything there, then hop to Shonen Jump and read my new stuff there. Consistently, Witch Watch is probably my favorite read each Sunday morning, just because it almost never misses weeks and the characters are all just so delightful. Even with the current storyline being kinda weird (one of the main characters has been turned from a teen into a toddler and is being kinda raised by her romantic interest...) there's such a solid core of thoughtfulness and care and humor that I think it just always works.  Spy x Famiy  Lore Olympus Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story Birds of Prey Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville - I recently talked on my Patreon about how I think playing backseat editor and coming up with "a book that would really get readers to the shop regularly again" isn't practical because I think there are other things that could bolster comic sales in longer-lasting, better ways and I think particularly with the current state of the readership, "comics readers" aren't looking for a unifying title, they're looking for the stuff they find personally compelling. I'm a guy in comics, I have a lot to say on that and how to improve things, but that's for another day. Why I bring it up here is between Birds of Prey and Fire & Ice, those are the books that if there was justice in this world would bring all the boys to the yard. These are the exact kind of superhero titles I wanna read all the time. Poison Ivy: Thorns Superman: The Harvests of Youth Dumbing of Age One Piece Crimehot - Crimehot #4 came out this year and includes the Cassidy and Butch to our main group's Jessie and James (That's a Team Rocket reference), the way more competent counterparts who all have weirdly deep backstories with the main cast. And let me tell you... like the name says, they're hot. And they do hot stuff. It's a good comic.  Steamy Dandadan - I was recently gushing about Dandadan to some friends and described it as really hitting me as a comic that is so very much a book about whatever interests the creator at the moment (similar to Witch Watch in that way). If you read the pitch, it's like "she believes in ghosts and not aliens, and he believes in aliens and not ghosts and then wacky stuff happens to make a believer out of both of them" but it's really a light rom-com with just bonkers stuff happening and I love that about it.  Three Rocks: The story of Ernie Bushmiller, the Man Who Created Nancy  It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth  What Happens Next - This is a webcomic I discovered not too long ago and there are content warnings on the very first page that I think are very helpful to make sure you're in the right headspace for it. I am a big fan of stories about younger adults finding their place in the world--not a coming of age "taking your first steps into real life" kind of thing, but a "you've been around for a while and life is hard and even if you're doing the right things, or nothing at all, why isn't it better and what comes next" types of stoires. This totally fits that. And it reads incredibly quickly since it's usually 1-2 panels per page. 

BOOKS:  Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror - I look at my comics list and I look at the things I didn't place on either list and I know I read plenty this year, but it does feel strange having such a short list for traditional books. There's a lot to that: I spent like 6 weeks spending all my free reading time catching up on 1100 chapters of One Piece. I started a handful of books that I was enjoying but for one reason or another paused and didn't really pick back up. And so while this is the most recent release on the list, Out There Screaming was a major help for me because it was something I could pick up and read in short bursts and leave satisfied and wanting to come back for more. Every story--even the ones that I didn't like as much, was compelling and fun and left me thinking about it afterwards.  House of Leaves  Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs - Book of the year. I don't even eat hot dogs, but I loved this book!  I'm Glad My Mom Died  The Broken Room 

TV SHOWS:  Poker Face Craig of the Creek  Rise of the TMNT  Transformers: Earthspark  I Think You Should Leave - Out of everything we've consumed this year, I think ITYSL is the most quoted show in our household (though Real Housewives of Beverly Hills/Vanderpump Rules are close contenders). So much of this show is so funny and strange.  The Rehersal Barry  My Adventures with Superman Praise Petey - Without a doubt, Praise Petey is the least known show on this list. And because of that, as I just found out, it was canceled after a single season which sucks. The premise is after her cult leader dad dies, a down-on-her-luck New Yorker moves to the countryside and becomes a cult leader... whether she wants to or not and her own feelings on that differ minute-by-minute. Despite the broad premise, it's pretty in line with other animated sitcoms like Bob's Burgers or King of the Hill (it is a Mike Judge co-production) that I think speaks in an authentic, funny voice of the 18-35 demographic. If you like Only Murders in the Building, I think this has a similar energy, but hornier and with more of the concerns of youth than of old men.  Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake Sex Education - Okay, I know I said I wasn't doing rankings, but as an overall piece of media, I think Sex Education is my show of the year. The last season, the one that came out this year, isn't my favorite of the series, but when so many shows flub their endings, this one really found a way to nail it (and to roll with the more major cast/location changes) in a way that felt real. This is one of those shows that, if it was available on DVD, I would buy to add to my "regular rotation", but much like Freaks and Geeks, I'd only ever be able to watch some of it again because as it got closer to the end, I don't know that I'd be able to emotionally take that on a regular basis.  Joe Pera Talks with You Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

MOVIES:  The Boy and the Heron The Fablemans - I have very complicated feelings about this movie. On the one hand, I really loved it on first viewing. It hit me emotionally in a major way. I've talked on the blog before about crying multiple times in the theater. And if you had asked me in the first half of the year what my favorite movie of the year was, it'd probably be this (even though it's technically a 2022 film). But I also have my issues with Steven Spielberg and... it is a film where I'm still navigating my own emotional catharsis with it relative to Spielberg as an artist/creator/subject of the film. Not to get too far into real issues of death of the author and separation of the art and artist, this is the sort of hyper-personal work that even moreso than usual I think cannot be separated from the creator and so my changing feelings on him means I'm still figuring out my new relationship with the work.  M3GAN Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem - Up until recently, this probably would've moved into the movie of the year spot. I just thought it was so much fun. It's a visual feast. I like that it's a full story (Sorry, Spider-Verse). I love the world and the enthusiasm of the turtles and just really tuned in.  Robocop Phantom of the Paradise - Becca watched this for the first time with me and we both marveled on how this kind of forgotten cult film actually informed so much of all pop culture for decades to come. I am happy to say that overall, still slaps.  Venture Bros: Radiant is the Blood of the Baboon Heart Blue Beetle Gone Girl - I ended up watching a lot of Fincher movies this year, largely influenced by Blank Check. And Gone Girl has to be my favorite of his, and, on this rewatch, one of my favorite films of the 2010s.  Oldboy Josee, the Tiger and the Fish Godzilla: Minus One - Again, not to rank things so much, but if Minus One did an Oscars sweep and took home (checks notes) every award, I'd be happy. Even the ones that don't make sense. Best Documentary Short? Give it to Godzilla, cowards! An absolute masterpiece on every level. 

MUSIC:  The Loveliest Time - Look, we got a new CRJ album. What else do you want from me? 

OTHER STUFF:  A smooth transition from IDW into the holidays (and into my new thing soon) Making a Discord for my friends and the feeling that I can spend a little time making my friendships stronger with some folks while we aren't also coworkers/collaborators. Bluesky (and not being on Twitter). Remaining boosted on my vaccines and not having any serious illness of my own. Becca's first year on Twitch.  My first year on Patreon.  WaifuExpo (now KimochiiCon) and generally being more open in my interest in consuming and creating adult material.  Having some good experiences at shows and doing so many (will not be doing so many in 2024).  Having good times with the people I love.  All the comics I edited, all the blogs I posted, and just being at an end to that for the year. 

Not to be a bummer at the end, but it has been a long, strange, difficult year. There is so much wrong in the world and so many are struggling. So, it's nice that there is also so much that I found enjoyment and comfort in. I hope you've had some real bright spots in this year too, and I look forward to next year with you. 

I am not much for resolutions. I usually don't do a good job of them, if I bother to make them at all. But I do have some things I'll briefly say I'm excited for in the coming year. 

I am excited to get married and to figure out what celebrations we can do around that.  I am excited to start this new job and tell you all about it when I can.  I am excited to make more comics. Besides my little self-drawn things that you can find on this blog, I didn't release any comics this year and I am very much looking forward to that not being the case in 2024.  I am excited to grow my friendships.  I am excited to continue this blog. 

Thanks for reading. Happy new year! 

New Releases next week (1/3/2024): Sonic the Hedgehog #68 (Editor)

Pic of the Week: A little thing about where else to find me online that I made. 

[girlonfilms]

Get Out director to publish horror anthology

Oscar-winning writer/director Jordan Peele is curating an anthology of horror stories that will be published in time for Halloween. Continue reading Untitled

[scorbunny]

matthew lillard doing the iconic ghostface knife wipe like that HAD to be intentional

[too0bsessedformyowngood]

I felt inspired after watching the fnaf movie

[affixjoy]

Book recommendation!!

Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror edited by Jordan Peele

I’ve been in a reading slump all year, nothing has been able to hold my attention. But THIS! This held my attention.

There are so many great stories and authors in here. Some highlights for me were: Invasion of the Baby Snatchers, The Most Strongest Obeah Woman in the World, A Bird Sings by the Etching Tree, and Hide and Seek.

Read it read it read it!

[she-tragedy]

addiction n abusive relationship metaphors are breaking down my door send help

head in my hands the last three panels are gonna live in my head forever

[onebluebookworm]

February 2024 Book Club Picks

My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me: A Black Woman Discovers Her Family's Nazi Past by Jennifer Teege: Raised by foster parents, Jennifer Teege had very little knowledge about her past. She had minimal contact with her birth mother, knew that her father was Nigerian, and that her grandmother Ruth committed suicide in 1983, but that was it...until one day she stumbled upon a book in her local library. A book about Amon Goethe, the notorious Nazi commandant, the “butcher of Płaszów", a monster hanged in 1946 for the heinous murders he committed for Hitler's Reich. And in that book, she finds pictures of her grandmother and mother, listed as Goethe's partner and daughter. Everyone wants to know who they are, where they come from. But now Teege must reckon with what we do when we learn that we come from something dark, twisted, and almost too horrible to talk about.

The End of Policing by Alex S. Vitale: Recent years have seen an explosion of protest against police brutality and repression. Among activists, journalists and politicians, the conversation about how to respond and improve policing has focused on accountability, diversity, training, and community relations. Unfortunately, these reforms will not produce results, either alone or in combination. The core of the problem must be addressed: the nature of modern policing itself. Drawing on groundbreaking research from across the world, and covering virtually every area in the increasingly broad range of police work, Alex Vitale demonstrates how law enforcement has come to exacerbate the very problems it is supposed to solve.

Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror by Jordan Peele (editor): Two Freedom riders find themselves stranded on a lonely road in Alabama. A prison warden discovers a horrible secret in the facility where he works. A young girl descends into the bowels of the earth to destroy the creature that killed her parents. Peele collects there stories and more from some of the most gift black horror authors writing today in an anthology sure to thrill, chill, and linger.

Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire: When Antoinette "Antsy" Ricci becomes the newest student at Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children, word spreads quickly that she can find anything. When resident irresistible mean girl Laurel tries to strongarm Antsy into finding Laurel's door for her, she's forced to flee with a small group of friends through a series of doors...which eventually lead her back to the Shop of Lost Things. And now that Antsy is back, she intends to make sure Venita and Hudson are keeping their promise

Ejaculate Responsibly: The Conversation We Need to Have About Men and Contraception by Gabrielle Blair: Why are women expected to shoulder the majority of the burden for preventing unwanted pregnancies? With fertility that's harder to track and birth control that's more invasive, more hazardous, and more difficult to obtain, it seems almost counterproductive that the men in the pregnancy equation are expected to take less or even no responsibility in pregnancy prevention than women. In 28 concise arguments, Blair lays out a new way to look at birth control and abortion, with one, simple thesis underlying all of it - men can prevent 100% of unwanted pregnancies if they simply ejaculate responsibly.

[inktho]

sometimes

[readtilyoudie]

He’d never done anything like that before, but people often never do things right before they always do them.

The Other One by Violet Allen; Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror by Jordan Peele

[vaor]

things i wish i had known when i escaped my family household and couldn't ask my parents for help

invest in a good mattress early on. there are many other ends you can save on - sleep is not one of them. this is key to how much energy you'll have throughout the day

you don't need a bedframe but you do need a slatted bed base (even if it's just pallets)

opening a bank account is easy

there's youtube tutorials for everything. how to install your washing machine, how to use tools, fixing stuff around the place. channels like dad, how do i? are a godsend

change energy provider as soon as your old deal runs out. you'll get better offers elsewhere and avoid price gouging

assemble a basic first aid kid at home: painkillers, probiotics, alcohol wipes, bandages, tweezers, antihistamine tablets - anything you might need in a pinch

and an emergency toolkit: flashlight, extra batteries, a utility knife, an adjustable wrench, multi-tool, duct tape

set your fridge to the lowest temperature it can go. the energy consumption is minimal in difference and it'll give you +4/7 days on most foods

off-brand products are almost always the same in quality and taste, if not better, for half the price

coupons will save you a lot of money in the long run

there's no reason to be shy around employees at the bank/laundromat/store; most people will be happy to help

vegetarian diets are generally cheap if you make food from scratch

breakfast is as important as they say

keep track of your budget in a notebook or excel file - e.g. rent, phone and internet bills, food, leisure so you'll have an overlook on your spending over the months

don't gamble

piracy is okay

stealing from big stores and chains is also ethically okay

keep medical bills and pharmacy receipts for tax returns

also, file your tax returns early

take up a hobby that isn't in front of a screen. pottery, music, going for a run every now and then, stuff that'll keep you busy and sane

and most importantly... you're allowed to get the stuff you want. treat yourself to the occasional mundane thing. a good scented candle. a bath bomb. that body lotion that makes you feel like royalty. the good coffee beans.

you're free and you deserve to be happy.

[tigger8900]

The Books I Didn't Review

I dropped the ball on book reviews in 2023. I'm not surprised. It was a rougher year than 2022, and I also dropped that particular ball then as well. It's hard for me to stay motivated, especially since when I get stressed out I simultaneously read more and want to write(including blogs) less. But this is a new year(I have realized, more than two weeks into it) and I can wipe this slate clean. Start with a book I'm very excited to review, and then...nothing! Empty pile!

So I'm going to do a very brief overview of some of the books I read in the last few months of 2023. Some stuff I read completely fell through the cracks, because it had to go back to the library and I just wasn't able to write up anything about it. Most of these are ones I'd tried to save though, because I was excited to make a record of them in the blog. So I'm disappointed in myself that I couldn't do as well as I'd hoped, but at the same time I recognize that I did as well as I could. Haven't ragequit my job. Still meeting the important bills. Am reading, and writing, and having weird-ass dreams about what if Beauty and the Beast were mutual beards. So it could be a lot worse. Let's see what happens when I give myself permission to start fresh.

Golden Boys, by Phil Stamper

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1/2

Young adult gen fic. This is Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, but with less 00s-era weirdness. Brotherhood of the super gay boys, as I deemed it in a work e-mail. I didn't expect to like this one, but I actually found myself incredibly invested in these boys' lives. I especially appreciated how their friendships were centered above all else, even in the cases where romance was also taking place. I intend to read the sequel if I can find time, because y'all I have *got* to know where these boys go next.

The Darkness Outside Us, by Eliot Schrefer

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Young adult science fiction. This is a love story, but not a traditional romance(even though it starts out looking like a straightforward enemies to lovers in space). High appeal to people who enjoy brainfucky sci-fi as well as gay romance, though if you come solely for the romance you're probably going to walk away disappointed, confused, and possibly vaguely traumatized. I'm so glad my coworker insisted I pick it up, because I never would have read this based on the cover.

Horse Barbie, by Geena Rocero

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Adult memoir. This is about a Filipino trans woman's experience in the pageant circuit in the Philippines as well as her time modeling in the US. I wasn't really into the performance-oriented segments, but I found it illuminating how she contrasted the US's legal acceptance(but social hostility) of trans identity with the Philippines' social acceptance(but legal hostility). Someone who's more into glamour/fashion might get more out of it than I did, but it's still a solid trans memoir even if you're not into that stuff.

Never Whistle at Night, edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1/2

Adult short stories. This is an anthology of "dark fiction," horror-adjacent, centering North American indigenous voices. Almost all of the two dozen~ stories were good or great, hitting a diverse selection of tones and content. I loved too many of them to list favorites. The stories might not be the type to make you check under the bed, but come prepared to be unsettled and disturbed.

Citadel, by C. M. Alongi

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1/2

Adult science fiction. Featuring a nonverbal autistic protagonist, who seems to have been researched very thoroughly, this is a story about uncovering the truth about what happened long ago. My main gripe is that it ends rather suddenly, leaving me feeling like there's meant to be a sequel, but as far as I can tell there's no plans for that. But the story it told was fantastic, I just wish I knew where some of the loose ends and teased bits were going. Probably has strong crossover appeal to an older YA audience.

Blackouts, by Justin Torres

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Adult general fiction. Won the national book award this past year. Three and a half stars for the novel, bumped up to four for the excellent use of blackout poetry on found text throughout. It's about an inter-generational friendship between two gay men, one of whom is on his deathbed and gifts the other a selectively blacked-out copy of Sex Variants, a real publication from the 40s, as well as a selection of other photographs and artifacts. This is all characters and no plot. Highly recommend reading this in the print edition, as the best parts seem like they won't translate to audio.

Out There Screaming, edited by Jordan Peele

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Adult short stories. Horror-adjacent "dark fiction"(to borrow a phrase from a previous book) centering Black voices working in a variety of formats and genres. Picked this up for the names included(Nnedi Okorafor, Tananarive Due, N.K. Jemisin, Rebecca Roanhorse, P. Djèlí Clark, Tochi Onyebuchi, and of course Jordan Peele himself), but was happy to enjoy some of the other stories as well. My favorite story by an anticipated author was Clark's Hide & Seek(though it had stiff competition), and my favorite story by a new-to-me author was Nicole D. Sconiers's A Bird Sings by the Etching Tree.

The Possibilities, by Yael Goldstein-Love

⭐⭐⭐ 1/2

Adult speculative fiction. A new mom struggles with contradictory memories of whether or not her child survived the birth. Then he disappears, as if he'd never been, and she has to go find him. I haven't read/seen Everything Everywhere All At Once, but people keep bringing it up when I describe this book to them, so it must be similar! Heavy content warning for baby-related trauma. This is not the book for you if you're going through an anxious time with a pregnancy or young child!

The Future, by Naomi Alderman

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1/2

Adult speculative fiction. In the near-future, tech bro CEOs have a plan for the end of the world. In the lead-up and as the plan deploys, we follow a survivalist blogger and a cult survivor who muses about the end of the world seen through the lens of god's wrath. A surprisingly hopeful pre-apocalyptic(the event itself happens roughly 3/4 of the way through) novel, with some sapphic shenanigans in the background. Funny coincidence: I finished this and handed it to my mom at the same time as she tried to hand me The Power by the same author. 😂

Us, by Sara Soler, translated by Silvia Perea Labayen

⭐⭐⭐ 1/2

Adult graphic novel memoir. Originally published in Spain, this is the story of Sara Soler's experience when her partner comes out as a trans woman. I read this hoping for more insight to their particular experience, especially when Soler mentioned early on that she discovered she was demisexual, but ultimately it reads as more of a primer to trans issues in general. No hate for that, it's just not what I was expecting. While this is marketed to adults, I think there's cross-appeal to teens who are interested in the subject matter. There was nothing that struck me as particularly scandalous, mostly a lot of swearing.

[cliopadra]

WE’RE GETTING A SEASON THREE!!!???!!!