An intrepid reader might notice that I don’t post on this website very frequently. Said intrepid reader would be correct – I really only want to write here when I’ve got something substantial to say, or talk about, or revisit. Like seeing Florence and the Machine in concert and reflecting upon Florence Welch’s use of folk-horror in her music.

But that won’t get eyeballs here, and if I’ve learned one thing, eyeballs are important.

So I’m taking a page from some fantastic newsletters I’ve subscribed to and will provide a general life update each month to let y’all know what’s going on over in my neck of the woods.

Also, if you’ve read this far and have not yet subscribed, please take a second to do so.

Now, what have I been up to?

Writing & Speaking

Biggest news I have to share is that I’ve recently had an article published in The Wellsian, the peer-reviewed annual journal of the H.G. Wells Society. My article is a (small) expansion of a paper I wrote for my Gothic Literature class at DePaul concerning The Island of Doctor Moreau. It’s about evolution, de-evolution (cameo by Devo) and religious satire in the novel. It’s fairly dry, so I won’t share the whole thing here, but if anyone really wants to take a gander, let me know in the comment below.

I’ve also started full work on getting a new ongoing graphic novel series into the world! Entitled Chronons, it’s a blend of post-apocalyptic steampunk, Kurosawa samurai movies, and death-metal album covers. I’m very excited to share this with the world soon, and will provide updates as Chronons moves forward.

Lastly, I was lucky enough to be selected to present a short horror story of mine at the DePaul Spring English Conference. I’ll be reading “Brick Lake By Night” on Friday, May 15th, and am very excited to share that with my peers, and to listen to others writing as well!

But enough about my work. What else is new?

Watching

It looks like there’s no end of fantastic movies coming out this month – horror, specifically.

We’ve got Hokum, a haunted hotel flick starring Adam Scott. (May 1)

There’s Obsession, which looks creepy as all get out. (May 15)

There’s Passenger, the latest from the director of Trollhunter and Last Voyage of the Demeter, the surprisingly fun ‘Dracula on a boat’ movie. This one looks really cool, y’all. (May 22nd)

Lastly, there’s Backrooms, for fans of liminal horror who enjoyed the heck out of Skinamarink and enjoy their ‘elevated horror’. (May 29)

So I’ll be spending a lot of time at the movies this month, I gather.

Reading

I’ve been busy reading through all of the 2025 nominees for Best Horror Novel from this year’s Stoker Awards. So far, I’ve completed four out of five, with one to go. The one remaining is King Sorrow by Joe Hill. It’s a beast of a book (no pun intended) that comes in at 900ish pages, so it’s taken a bit more time to work through. However, it’s readable as all get out (all of the nominees have been), and a super enjoyable time.

Expect a future post rounding up all five nominees once I finish reading King Sorrow.

Listening To

It’s somewhat challenging to keep music focused on horror here, given that my listening habits are all over the place and the music to horror ratio is rarely 1:1. However, in this month, things worked out.

Stygian Bough Vol. 2 is the latest collaborative project from funeral doom metal masters Bell Witch and dark-folk-acoustic artist Aerial Ruin. I’m bummed that I’ll be traveling when these artists come to Chicago, but I am looking forward to spinning this record once I’ve got a moment or two to really focus here.*

*The trick with funeral doom is that you have to be in the right headspace. If you go in expecting three minute pop bangers, you’ll be sorely disappointed. My recommendation is to sit down, lower the lights, turn on the music, and let yourself be enveloped by sound. It sounds New Age as shit, but trust me – you’ll find yourself in a far different place than you were when you started.

So there ya go. Some movies to see, some tunes to spin, and some books to read. As always, stay classy out there.