JOIN ME IN THE MADHOUSE: October '11 Madhouse Recap: Haunted Cemeteries, Ghostbusters, and a Book Release!

October‘22 Madhouse Recap

Hello Friends and Fiends—

October is always a fun-filled, crazy spooky month for me, and this year proved no different. We kicked the month off by traveling to go visit my brother and sister-in-law. It was Evie’s first road trip and she did such a great job. To no one’s surprise, she slept almost the entire five hours there; I can’t imagine where she got that from (*looks away*). While we were there, we watched lots of spooky movies and even went to Build-A-Bear, where Evie created a Werewolf friend named Walt. She licked his heart before it got sewn into his tummy, and then we also put a soundbox in there that plays the Oogie Boogie song when she hugs him. I think we all fell in love a bit more that day.

Because we’re all big fans of fall in general, we tried to take lots of long walks over the past couple of weeks to breathe that crisp, cool air and take in the colors of the leaves. On one of our adventures, Dennis stopped me on a bridge and gave me this beautiful BloodMilk snake ring for our 6-year anniversary and it felt like all the Halloween magic was just swirling around me. I also house-sat for my parents and watched the bulldogs one weekend, and we slept outside on a blanket together and cuddled close. Honestly, I live for these moments. I mean, some people like to tan in the summer; I like to lay out in the fall covered in blankets and sweatshirts and dogs. To each their own.

About halfway through the month, it was midterms for me. Luckily my psychology assignments consisted of a Freudian analysis of Coraline (which I think I’ve been waiting all my life to write), and then an analysis of the psy-complex in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. I geeked out and had a blast, and I remain so happy that I chose to go back to school and do this for me. With that said, the teacher side of me also had midterms to grade in my one graduate course and finals to grade in another. I’ve been having a lot of fun with my students this semester, and I’m enjoying the discourse we’ve been having, especially about poetry, women and violence, and the mother trope in horror. I ended up rereading Bunny by Mona Award with my one mentee and my god, that book just gets better on the reread. I think I’m actually going to teach it again next semester with my undergraduate students because I’ll be teaching a Women Write Horror class at PPU as part of their Theoretical Approaches core. This class will offer an inclusive, diverse, and extensive history of female writers in speculative fiction. Students will study a chronological history of horror classics and then compare them against contemporary literature written in the last five years by some of the genre's most celebrated voices. From the gothic to the cosmic, to an unraveling of the final girl, there is something for everyone, and scares for all!

Dennis and I also managed to steal away for a vacation and we went to a bucket list place for both of us: Savannah, Georgia. I’ve wanted to go to Savannah for years now, especially around Halloween, and it was the perfect getaway for us: quiet, spooky, relaxing, and romantic. I swear, I never tire of looking at those gorgeous Spanish moss trees, and taking a walk through the cemeteries every day was a big perk for me, too. Beyond that, lots of great food, drinks, plenty of walking (yay for exercise!), and some cool side trips as well. I plan on writing up two follow-up posts about the trip here soon, so hopefully, they’ll be up in November for everyone to see! In the meantime, I will say that Bonaventure Cemetery was one of the most beautiful places I’ve been in my entire life and yes, I did have a haunted experience on my travels (but the spirits really waited until the last minute to show up!).

We ended our vacation week with vending at the Pittsburgh Comic Show. I also like attending these because I get to talk to fellow horror comic fans and then I also get to see Dennis in his element and learn more about the business. Out of the two of us, I’m the reader whereas Dennis is the collector and business blood, but I think we make a good team because we’re both picking up where the other lacks. Needless to say, if you’re a comic fan and haven’t checked out our shop yet, you can follow Dennis on Instagram @WanderingComics as well as on FB (Dennis Gallagher), eBay, and Whatnot. And if for some reason that doesn’t work, or you can’t find his sales, you can reach out directly to me and I can get you the hookup or have a pull list started for you.

And yes, the best for last! HALLOWEEN! We had so much fun this year and I really tried to go all out with it being Evie’s first. Dennis and I dressed as Ghostbusters and then Evie went as the Stay Puft Marshmallow lady. It was the cutest costume ever and we handed out candy to everyone while my dad dressed up and scared children, and my mom and I drank lots of sangria. Plus, we had a big homemade Polish feast, and then I backed a ton of cookies and appetizers. There was dancing, laughing, and lots of music…and okay, a little screaming, but what else would you expect? BOO!

On the writing/teaching front:

Probably the biggest news this October for me was the release of my speculative poetry craft book, Writing Poetry in the Dark. This whole book feels like such a dream and I’m so honored to share it with all of you in the hopes that it will help you create beautiful, wonderful, terrifying things. We also celebrated the release with the Writing Poetry in the Dark Conference, where a handful of contributors taught a variety of workshops and gave lectures on the topics they wrote about in the book. Truly, I can’t thank you all for helping make this release everything that it was. It means the world to me.
I hosted a Halloween Open Mic Night at Point Park University this month and invited the HWA Pittsburgh Chapter members to help kick off the evening with some haunting tales. Big shout out to the Literary Department and the All Things Horror Club for helping me pull this off. We had a great evening of spooky stories, great company, and lots of Halloween treats, and the best part of the evening was when students asked if we could do this more often. Um, yes, please!
My poem “Honey Jar” is in the first issue of Toil & Trouble Magazine. You can download the first issue here.
My poem “As the Crow Flies” was reprinted in Skyway Journal. You can read it here.
It was announced that Under Her Skin (Black Spot Books) won FIRST PLACE in the Bookfest Book Awards in Poetry Collections/Anthologies. I remain so honored to be involved in this anthology and a massive congrats go to Lindy Ryan and Toni Miller for all their hard work here. If I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again–any time these ladies do a project, you want to submit to it. They are some of the most professional, kind, and wonderful people I’ve had the pleasure of working with in this industry.
My sonnet "The Witch Stained Red" --inspired by Macbeth and Shakespeare's treatment of witches--will be included in the Shakespeare Unleashed anthology. Have you preordered yet?
The HWA Poetry Showcase, Volume IX is officially live! You can pick up your copy here. You folks know that this showcase has a special place in my heart, and I’m honored to be a featured poet in this volume. Thank you, Angela Yuriko Smith, for all your work and dedication to the genre. This is a smashing success! Oh! And did I mention that the showcase got some action for Book Fest in Times Square? How amazing is that?
I’m so excited to be participating in Winter Haunts this year, thanks to the ever-kind Alex Davis. This is an online day of workshops, panels & talks on ghost stories, gothic and supernatural fiction, and I’ll be running a workshop on How to Write the Speculative Poem and then appearing on a Baba Yaga panel to talk about all things feral and witchy.
I chatted with Steve Stred in his interview series here. I talked about my writing routine (spoiler alert: I don’t have one), creative burnout, and Shirley Jackson. Because obviously.
I took part in a Pro-Choice Roundtable where a group of horror writers chatted about our experiences in a post-Roe v Wade world. Check it out here and be sure to read the first two installments as well. Thank you, Gwendolyn Kiste!
The second Writing Poetry in the Dark Roundtable Interview went live where I interviewed Linda Addison, Christina Sng, and Timons Esaias. You can check it out here.
The third Writing Poetry in the Dark Roundtable Interview went live where I interviewed Marge Simon, Sara Tantlinger, and Claire C. Holland about monstrous women. You can check it out here.
The fourth Writing Poetry in the Dark Roundtable Interview went live where I interviewed Michael A. Arnzen, Jeannine Hall Gailey, and Cynthia Pelayo about writing across genres. You can check it out here.
The fifth Writing Poetry in the Dark Roundtable Interview went live where I interviewed Jessica McHugh and Albert Wendlanding about Building Worlds. You can check it out here.
I chatted with Angela Yuriko Smith about Writing Poetry in the Dark over on the HWA Poetry Blog. You can check it out here.
In honor of the release of Writing Poetry in the Dark, I wrote an article for LitReactor titled: “When Fiction Sells, Why Write Speculative Poetry?” You can read it here.

This month, I read:

What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfsher

Crime Scene by Cynthia Pelayo

Nightmare Before Christmas, Mirror Moon by Mallory Reaves

Bunny by Mona Awad (reread–and even better the second time around!)

Where the Wild Ladies Are by Aoko Matsuda

Chilling Adventures of Salem, a one-shot from Archie Comics

Chilling Adventures in Sorcery, a one-shot from Archie Comics

Robyn Hood Baby Yaga, Issue #1 (I knew I’d regret it, but I had to. Baba, they did you dirty).

here

On the media front:

New Watches: Hocus Pocus 2 (2022), Do Revenge (2022), My Best Friend’s Exorcism (2022), Inheritance (2020), Hellraiser (2022), Mad to Be Normal (2017), Mr. Harrigan’s Phone (2022), One Flew Over the Cukoo’s Nest (1975–technically a rewatch, but it’s been a while) and Barbarian (2022).
I really wanted to finish Shudder’s 101 Scariest Horror Movie Moments of All Time, but alas, I only made it to Episode 5. I’m still having a blast with this though and it’s fun to revisit all these moments (and find some new movies to check out).
American Horror Story: I watched the first two episodes. I wish someone would tell Ryan Murphy to leave AHS behind and focus on new projects. Then again, I’m the idiot who keeps watching so what do I know?
The Midnight Club: I absolutely loved this, and it makes me sad that I never read a single Christopher Pike book as a kid. Needless to say, I’ll be fixing that with Evie when the time comes, but yeah, this series was everything I love about horror. It was scary (Sweetheart, I’m so hungry!), and it commented on life and trauma in a way that made me think about my own mortality, morals, and ethics, and yet at the same time, it was also hopeful. Throw in a haunted house, medical horror, and a predominately female cult? Christ, could this have been better marketed to me? 10/10 would recommend it.
The Patient: Talk about a grim ending! There were parts I liked about the finale, and parts I didn’t like. I think, as much as I like to pretend I don’t, that I really like and appreciate a happy ending and this was just…heartbreaking. I do think it’s an interesting case study for anyone interested in psychopathology though–lots to discuss. I brought it up several times in my one class this semester.
The Watcher: I was a little skeptical when I first started this, but around episode 4 I had to admit that I was suckered in. I enjoyed the series overall, even if it was a mighty embellishment from the original story, but honestly, I’m 100% okay with that. I will say that the final scene with the stairway was perfect and I absolutely loved it. Also, can we all just applaud the absolute majesty of Jennifer Coolidge? What a queen!
Dahmer: Episode 6 “Silenced” broke my fucking heart. Jesus Christ. I have to be honest and say that I was kind of upset when I saw that there was another adaptation coming out about him (and yes, I know I’m part of the problem because I keep watching them) but I have to say that I was really surprised with how this turned out (no shade to Ryan Murphy). This series did a great job at showcasing systemic racism in action, issues with police cruelty and neglect, the lack of mental health resources available to a number of people, and most importantly, showcasing, naming, and exploring the lives of the families and those who lost their lives to this monstrous man. I had a really hard time watching this and I took it slowly but I’m impressed with what it did, even though I still think that this had to be retraumatizing for the victim’s families and that level of empathy is something we all need to take a step back and explore/meditate on further.
She Hulk: Overall, I loved the series, but–and I know people will come for me for this–I really didn’t like the final episode. Like at all. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll still be watching if there’s a second season but I just creatively didn't like the choices they made in structure and deliverance.