I loved it! The last line just killed it.

(Well, literally)

Thanks so much, Bruce 🖤

My short story about meth, estate disputes, and swamps appears in this week's PseudoPod with a pitch-perfect narration by Rae Lundberg 🌴 Read or listen in celebration of National Siblings Day!

The PseudoPod logo on a white background, looking like a portal to an icy, mountainous landscape

A very special call: Over our 20 (!) years we’ve published stories from all the continents of the world, except Antarctica. We want to remedy that.

We’re looking for stories between 2000–6000 words from writers who are in, have recently been to, or have plans to visit Antarctica in the near future.

Shrieks & Howls | Chelsea Davis | Substack Dissecting what makes you laugh & what makes you scream, two movies at a time. Click to read Shrieks & Howls, by Chelsea Davis, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.

Each installment of Shrieks & Howls discusses one comedy alongside one horror film. The only rule is that their titles must share a word in common. You can read the archive here, or subscribe for free to catch future editions: shrieksandhowls.substack.com

CARNIVAL OF SOUL PLANES Before we get into this edition of S&H, here are a few pieces I’ve recently published elsewhere:

In the latest edition of my essay series on horror & comedy, I discuss the films SOUL PLANE and CARNIVAL OF SOULS. Both are nightmarish fantasies of social & geographic mobility.

shrieksandhowls.substack.com/p/carnival-o...

It's week 2 of #WiHM. A grandmother warns her new granddaughter of the world of men (by @l-foxauthor.bsky.social, read by @michelle-kane.bsky.social). Then, two sisters try to banish their visions of otherworldly beings (by @chelsead.bsky.social).

talestoterrify.com/episodes/737-l-fox-chelsea-davis

Private Rites by Julia Armfield There’s a plodding pace to things in Private Rites, and by design.

I could keep going day by day, tbh: @deanleetal.bsky.social on Magica Riot, @chelsead.bsky.social on Julia Armfield, @tristanbeiter.bsky.social on North Continent Ribbon. We really are gifted with - and grateful for - excellent, lovely writers.

Flesh Under Pressure | Los Angeles Review of Books Chelsea Davis considers Katherine Dunn’s posthumous story collection ‘Near Flesh.’

For @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social ), I reviewed Katherine Dunn’s first, and posthumous, collection of short fiction. Violence, motherhood, resilience, boxing.

lareviewofbooks.org/article/fles...

The cover of Near Flesh against a background

"'Near Flesh' often treats motherhood and violence as two sides of the same coin, or sword."

@chelsead.bsky.social considers Katherine Dunn’s posthumous story collection "Near Flesh." lareviewofbooks.org/article/flesh-under-pres...

Shrieks & Howls | Chelsea Davis | Substack Dissecting what makes you laugh & what makes you scream, two movies at a time. Click to read Shrieks & Howls, by Chelsea Davis, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.

Subscribe here to catch future essays, or to read the archive. Recent essays cover BRING HER BACK, THE CELL, THE WEDDING PLANNER, etc.:

shrieksandhowls.substack.com

the movie posters for The Devil's Bath and Sorry, Baby are displayed side by side

In the latest edition of my essay series on horror & comedy films, I discuss SORRY, BABY and THE DEVIL'S BATH. St. Agnes, suffering, and specialness.

shrieksandhowls.substack.com/p/agni-dei

A Provocative Story Collection About Immigrants, Bodies Under Siege, and the Horror of Being Perceived - Electric Literature Kristina Ten’s “Tell Me Yours, I’ll Tell You Mine” gets spooky about girlhood

Absolute dream speaking with @chelsead.bsky.social for @electricliterature.com about the great Dorothy Allison, the agency in body horror, my perpetual motion sickness, where people-pleasing gets dangerous, being your own absent babysitter, and more.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS ACT UP BEYOND NEW YORK: STORIES AND STRATEGIES FROM A MOVEMENT TO END THE AIDS CRISIS Edited by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore (Magenta text on pink background).

Here it is, the call for submissions for my next anthology, ACT UP BEYOND NEW YORK: Stories and Strategies from a Movement to End the AIDS Crisis, to be published by @haymarketbooks.org! Please forward widely!⚡💕⚡💕⚡ Here's the link to the call: www.mattildabernsteinsycamore.com/other

'Under the Influence' reading at Et al. gallery in San Francisco on Thursday September 18th 2025 at 6pm

Hey! I'm reading in SF this Thursday!

Et al. Gallery at 6pm with @milesklee.bsky.social @spookymeatball.bsky.social @chelsead.bsky.social, Colin Winette and Lucy Corin

Very excited to share the official announcement of my first book 'The Veldt Institute'!

Official Double--Negative announcement here: www.instagram.com/p/DOIx9MGkWxg

Add it on Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/book/show/24...

Order it on Asterism: asterismbooks.com/product/the-...

Subscribe - Bright Wall/Dark Room Subscribe for $29 a year Subscribe now to receive immediate access to each new essay we publish, plus our entire 135+ issue archive. Bright Wall/Dark Room is 100% independent, runs no ads, and strongl...

Real talk (reel talk?):

BWDR recently lost a partnership that covered nearly half our operating budget, so things are suddenly very tough. If what we do has ever meant something to you, or you’ve ever thought about subscribing, now’s the time—it *truly* makes a difference.

Annalee Newitz’ ‘Automatic Noodle’ – Queer robots in futuristic California “I love writing gay robots,” Annalee Newitz says. It’s clear the Lambda Literary Award-winning author and science journalist had a ball writing “Automatic Noodle” (Tor), their fourth queer sci-fi book...

It was a total delight to interview @annaleen.bsky.social about their new queer sci-fi novella, Automatic Noodle. You can read the interview online now, or in print this Thursday ✨

tinyurl.com/yc53d83u

Well, we tried to stop the portal, but it looks like it’s opening anyway. Oh well. We open for submissions at midnight. Ish.

Horror. Up to 6,000 words, including flash. Originals and reprints: you may submit one of each.

Don’t agonise over your cover letter. Just send us a brilliant story.

The Heart Is a Lonely Haunter | Los Angeles Review of Books Chelsea Davis hangs out with dead people in Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s “The Bewitching.”

I reviewed Silvia Moreno-Garcia's newest novel for the @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social. The Bewitching is a reflection on misanthropy, cross-cultural witch lore, and the pleasures of research.

lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-...

"But who needs sex when you’ve got books? Minerva’s emotional connection to the dead authors she studies is so hot-blooded it verges on the erotic." @chelsead.bsky.social reviews "The Bewitching." lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-heart-is-a-l...

britishfantasysociety.org Best Audio • Podcastle • The Tiny Bookcase • Breaking the Glass Slipper • Pseudopod Jurors: Elizabeth Elliott, Marc Bitterli, Jo Ross-Barrett, Edward Partridge, Graham Millichap

Woo! Delighted to have been nominated by the BFS for Best Audio! 🎉

Congratulations to The Tiny Bookcase, Breaking the Glass Slipper and, of course, our friends in the Castle! @podcastle.org

Shrieks & Howls | Chelsea Davis | Substack Dissecting what makes you laugh & what makes you scream, two movies at a time. Click to read Shrieks & Howls, by Chelsea Davis, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.

Subscribe or read the archives: tinyurl.com/mcmj4pfk

In the latest edition of my horror-comedy newsletter, Shrieks & Howls, I wrote about Bring Her Back and Bring It On. File under: mourning & melancholia, pirated copies, Nancy Kerrigan. Read here, & subscribe for free at the link in the comments to catch future installments.
tinyurl.com/5b8hs6r3

@celardolor.bsky.social @incastellated.bsky.social

Naomi Falk’s The Surrender of Man | The Brooklyn Rail An editor and art book designer who has worked in galleries and museums, Falk offers up her own existential and emotional bildung (education) as a case study in how artistic experience might help nonb...

For The Brooklyn Rail, I reviewed Naomi Falk’s mesmerizing memoir-in-art, The Surrender of Man.

brooklynrail.org/2025/06/art_...

ok so an important thing i really think people on bluesky need to hear about the anti-trans megabill

the tl;dr is that you could actually turn the tide of trans rights in america right now

but if you don’t act now, then we’re all cooked indefinitely

please read on

🧵

Tysm @chronicleflask.katday.com for your thoughtful host commentary!