November '22 Madhouse Recap: Comics, The Music of Lily Dale, and Saying Goodbye to an Old Friend

Hello Friends and Fiends—

November seemed to fly by, didn’t it? Most of the month I was lost in audits and registration woes for my day job, but there was also a fair amount of midterm grading, advising chats with my mentees, and a ton of reading (both for pleasure and for market research/work). I’m already looking ahead to next semester as I’ll have 3 mentees with WCSU and then I’ll be teaching an undergraduate course at PPU: Theoretical Approaches, Women Write Horror. I’m really excited about all of this and we’re going to read a ton of great books. I haven’t finalized my syllabi quite yet, but I can say that I’ll definitely be teaching Bunny by Mona Award, Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado, The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enriquez, Sisters by Daisy Johnson, and Monster She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction by Lisa Kroger and Melanie Anderson. I’m going back and forth between a few more books/short story collections, so we’ll see what happens in the next couple of weeks for the undergraduate class, but as always, I’ll be sure to post the readings lists in my January update for anyone who is interested in following along with us!

I feel like I haven’t been creatively producing a whole lot lately, but I’ve been doing a ton of research and reading for my psychology classes and working on a bunch of nonfiction stuff, and I’m feeling very okay with that. I definitely feel drawn to some new horizons lately and while internally I’m a panicked mess about it, I’m trying to honor and embrace change rather than run away from it (which I normally do). But don’t fear! I have a new poetry collection coming out in 2023, and I’ll have some short stories making their way into the world as well, so my dark and creepy isn’t leaving anytime soon. With that said, I have been playing with a new monster poem recently that I’m enjoying; I’m trying to accomplish a lot with it though so it’s taking some time, I bought Jill Tracy’s album The Secret Music of Lily Dale, and I’ve been vibing with that and enjoying it immensely; one of my friends also introduced me to the artist Blind Sage, and I’ve been listening to their 2022 Ice Wind album a bunch, too. Both of these soothe me and inspire me in different ways, and because I tend to obsess over songs instantly, these albums have pretty much been on repeat all last month.

Thanksgiving was bittersweet this year. We had a wonderful time at my cousin’s the weekend before and then celebrated again the day of at my mother-in-law’s with my family as well, but my sweet, angel dog Edgar Allan passed away a few days before and I’ve just been heartbroken ever since. Most of you know or have certainly seen pictures of my darling boy, and while I’m devastated that he’s gone, we spent 13 beautiful years together and he died a king’s death: warm, with a full belly, and surrounded by love. Edgar was instrumental in my life; he was my comfort, my solace, my critique partner, and such a sense of happiness and joy when I felt empty and alone. I feel blessed to have gotten to be his mom, and I’m confident I’ll feel his slobbery kisses again in another life because our bond was too strong for us not to continue on somewhere on the other side of the veil.

In happier news, Evie is a riot. She’s standing and crawling everywhere and she chugs her bottle one-handed now like an absolute party girl (I know, I know–I’m paying for my past sins). She’s wild and hysterical and makes faces at us all the time now, and she’s absolutely enchanted by Santa (we’ve been watching the Tim Allen Santa Clause movies and series), but she also devoured Wednesday with me and literally never took her eyes off the screen. She eats everything including avocado for breakfast and sweet potatoes for lunch, and on Thanksgiving, we learned this girl loves some pumpkin pie! She also started drinking from a sippy cup, which just feels unreal to me, and she super enjoys bubble baths (especially when they’re lavender-scented). She’s growing up so fast and while I love it and am so excited, it’s always a little sad, too. Ah, pesky emotions!
On the writing/teaching front:

• I participated in Winter Haunts, a day of workshops and panels sponsored by Writing Magazine and hosted by the wonderful Alex Davis. I taught a speculative poetry workshop in the morning and then sat on a panel later in the afternoon about Baba Yaga, which was personally quite inspiring and empowering. I hope everyone had an enjoyable time, learned a lot, and is off creating magical, frightening, fantastical things as we speak.
• Austin and I had a brilliant and fantastically funny chat about poetry, axe murder poems, mental health, Writing Poetry in the Dark, and this idea of "bad poetry,” You can check out the episode courtesy of the Ledger Podcast here.
• Austin, I know I owe you a poem edit! I promise I haven’t forgotten!
• Into the Forest, Tales of the Baba Yaga, edited by Lindy Ryan went live last month. I remain so honored to have a poem and a short story in this anthology. Baba Yaga is beyond special to me, so this feels like the best kind of magic. You can pick up your copy here.
• My open letter/ poetic musing to Anne Sexton was published on her birthday via LitReactor. This is one of my favorite pieces I think I’ve written and you can read it here.
• The Writing Poetry in the Dark Roundtable Interview 6 went live with an interview with FJ Bergmann, Lucy A Snyder, and Bryan Thao Worra. Each contributor talked about identity in some way in their essay, and you can read it here.
• The last Writing Poetry in the Dark Roundtable Interview 7 went live with an interview with Donna Lynch, and Jim and Janice Leach. Each contributor talked about writing from within, whether that be from the POV of marriage, the wound, or mental health, and I can’t recommend this one enough. You can read it here.
• I welcomed Grace R. Reynolds to The Madhouse last month, and we talked about domestic horror and chatted about her poetry collection, Lady of the House. You can read it here.
• H V Patterson from Dreadfulesque interviewed me about Writing Poetry in the Dark. You can read it here.
• I'm also incredibly happy to announce that Ellen Datlow long listed a number of my pieces for Best Horror of the Year 14.
• “The Crow’s Nest,” (poem) Were Tales
• “The Returned,” (poetry) Nightmare #106, July
• “Night Mare,” (poem) Vastarien Vol. 4 Issue 2 Fall
• “Mother Knows Best,” Attack From the 80s
• “Blood, Like Chocolate,” (poem) Shadow Atlas

This month, I read:

• A Mirror Mended by Alix E. Harrow
• Wain: LGBT reimaginings of Scottish Folktales by Rachel Plummer
• Lady of the House by Grace R. Reynolds
• Woman, Eating by Claire Kodha
• The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enriquez (reread)
• Sisters by Daisy Johson
• I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
• Briar, Issue 1 via Boom! Studios
• Lovesick, Issue 1 via Image Comics
• Two Graves, Issue 1 via Image Comics
• Ten Thousand Feathers, Issue 1-3 via Image Comics
• Specs, Issue 1 via Boom! Studios
• Bolero, Issue 1 via Image Comics
• Twig, Issue 1 via Image Comics
• I Hate Fairyland, Issue 1 via Image Comics
• Rogue State, Issue 1 via Black Mask Studios
• The Closet, Volume 1 via Image Comics
• The Nice House on the Lake, Vol 1 by James Tynion
• Stray Dogs, Vol 1 by Tony Fleecs (review on Goodreads)
• I read some stories from Rosario Ferre’s short story collection The Youngest Doll. These were first-time reads for me and were recommended by a friend because they know I love dark magical realism. I read “The Dreamer’s Portrait,” “The Youngest Doll” (which was delicious) as well as “The House that Vanished.”
• I’ve also been reading Erica LaRocca’s novella They Were Here Before Us. So far, I read the first three stories: “All That Remains is Yours to Keep,” “Delicacies from a First Communion,” and "A God Made of Straw."

On the media front:

• New Watches: Halloween Ends (2022), The Curse of Bridge Hollow (2022), Where the Crawdads Sing (2022), Mandrake (2022), Grizzly Man (2005), The Menu (2022), Ouija (2014).
• Cabinet of Curiosities: I’m really enjoying this series, mostly because I’m such a creature fan and I feel like we’re getting a lot of cool stuff here. I’m only five episodes in but here are my thoughts so far:
• “Lot 36”- I love stories about antique shows, storage units, estate sales, etc., so once this started, I knew it was going to be for me.
• “Graveyard Rats”- Willard pretty much ruined my life (I’ll never be able to get that cat scene out of my head) so I didn’t think I would really like this one, but it was decent and that final scene was gross-out perfection!
• “The Autopsy”- I’m such a sucker for medical horror, and when you throw in a good splash of body horror and the supernatural? Yes, please! This was one of my favorites
• “The Outside”- So I have a sensory thing with lotion, so this was really hard for me to watch (despite me actually loving the plot). I gagged a lot but this was such a great piece of body horror and I liked all the social issues it tackled, too. With that said, I never want to see someone get in a tub of lotion again. UGH!
• “Pickman’s Model”- This is my favorite Lovecraft short story, and I absolutely loved how they paid homage to the original while still creating something new. This will be one I revisit, and might even show in my classes. All the applause!
• Wednesday: This show made me so happy and there were so many Easter eggs in there for Addams Family fans. This will definitely be a repeat show for me, and I kind of want to go back and watch the original tv series again now, too.
• The Santa Clauses: The Santa Claus is one of my favorite Christmas movies, and I watch it every year (all of them, honestly) so when I saw this come out, we immediately dove right in. Again, all the nostalgia and Easter eggs for fans of the original, and I love how they’re tackling loopholes in the original, too. I can’t wait to keep watching!
• I don’t usually write about holiday/romance things on here but I had to watch Lindsay Lohan’s return in Falling for Christmas. I’m not the audience for this so I won’t really comment on it, but I did love the nod to “Jingle Bell Rock” from her Mean Girl days...
• Blockbuster: I didn’t especially like this, but it was an okay show to kind of just watch with Dennis when we needed to take a break. I don’t know that I’ll necessarily jump if there’s a season 2 though. I will say that while streaming is great, I do miss going to the video store and mining the horror section for classics, sequels, and weird titles that I’d never heard of.
• Big Mouth, Season 6: As usual, I flew through this season because I just adore this show. I appreciated how they tackled gender and sexuality this season and I remain so jealous that this type of show and discourse wasn’t available when I was growing up, but I’m so happy these conversations are happening now.

Podcasts:

• This Ends at Prom, Episode 111 “Coraline with Bona Bones”
• This Ends at Prom, Episode 109 “The Babysitter (2017) with Xero Gravity”
• Talking Scared Podcast, Episode 61 “Cassandra Khaw and Stories to Tell Death”
• Talking Scared Podcast, Episode 45 “Carmen Maria Machado and Literary Kidnery Stones”
• It’s Not Just In Your Head Podcast, Episode 98 “A Beginner’s Guide to Trauma Responses”
• It’s Not Just in Your Head Podcast, Episode 103 “Life After a Cult (ft. Alisa Mahjoub)
• Books in the Freezer Podcast, “Halloween Horror with Briana Morgan”
• Books in the Freezer Podcast, “Macabre Nonfiction with Stephanie’s Husband”
• Books in the Freezer Podcast, “Creepy Dolls with Agatha from She Wears Black Podcast”

Also as a reminder, if you enjoy and appreciate the work we do here in The Madhouse, you can show your support for the blog by "buying a coffee" (or two!) for our madwoman in residence: me! As always, I thank you for your time and support and I look forward to serving you another dose of all things unsettling and horrifying soon.

Best,

Stephanie