Sunday, January 1, 2023

December ‘22 Madhouse Recap: Honoring Time and Saying Goodbye to 2022

Hello Friends and Fiends—

I don’t know about you folks but I’m so happy to be on the other side of 2022. What a year, yeah? Like I feel like Veronica Sawyer at the end of Heathers. After dealing with PPD, getting diagnosed with OCD, and grieving loved ones, and dealing with some health scares in my little family, I just want this year to be calm. It doesn’t even have to be exciting–a boring 2023 would actually be great.

That aside though, 2022 taught me a lot about myself. Evie has blessed my life in countless ways and honestly, I know some people are weird about scars, but I love that I see the results of carrying her and birthing her every day. It feels empowering to me, and it reminds me that I’m strong–and for me, that’s something that I need and treasure. I’ve also been seeing a therapist pretty much once a week for the past year, and it’s been a tremendous journey of healing–emotionally and physically. I got on a new medication plan, have new insight into how my body reacts to trauma and my PTSD, and I’m putting in the work to unravel some generational pain to make sure it doesn’t make its way to Evie. This entire process has brought me so much comfort, stillness, and hope, and I feel so much closer to my daughter as a result. I hope this path continues to enlighten me and my heart and that I continue to gain confidence and acceptance of my inner self. 

That’s why my power word for 2023 is no. 

Needless to say, though, because of the above, I really struggled to get in the holiday spirit this year. I had a lovely spa day mid-month to celebrate the end of the semester, but I didn’t really do anything else for Yule, and I had pretty much given up on Christmas; I didn’t even buy a tree. I did throw up some decorations though, and Evie and I watched a TON of holiday favorites, but I was slowly becoming okay with the idea that I just didn’t have it in me to make any magic this month.

 


One day though, while Evie and I were pregaming for an evening of Elmo World, Dennis fixed our stove (which broke last month), and then went out and got all the ingredients I needed to do my Christmas baking. I was so excited (yes, I cried), and I spent the whole night baking with Evie. She stayed up till 1 a.m. licking spoons, sampling cookies, and dancing to Disney holiday music and we both went to sleep exhausted but happy (and okay, covered in powdered sugar, too). I finished the rest of my baking the following day with an army of gingerbread cookies and a cranberry-orange loaf to have for breakfast on Christmas morning (a tradition of mine). It felt so good to make all of these homemade treats and give them out to family and friends, and that certainly perked me up and brought joy into my holiday. What was even better was that Evie stayed up till midnight on Christmas Eve and Dennis decorated her whole nursery with Christmas lights, and her face when she saw it? It was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen and I’ll remember it forever.

I closed out the year by spending lots of time with friends. My friend Patrick came in for a holiday visit and we all went to The Aviary with Evie and then grabbed some drinks and dinner at Church Brew Works; I had some friends over for a craft night where we made spell jars and set our intentions for the new year; Dennis and I went out for drinks one night at Meat and Potatoes and I had the best drink of my entire drinking history: an upstate sour. Trust me. Try it. And then we closed out 2022 at a friend's house with lots of kids, laughter, champagne, and good spirits. 

I’m looking forward to all that 2023 has to bring.

On the writing/teaching front:

  • I finished up teaching two grad classes this term and sat in on a student’s thesis semester as well. I’m so incredibly proud of my mentees and I think we shared a lot of great experiences (creative and human, alike) that pushed us to evolve, think critically, and push ourselves as artists. I truly love my job at WCSU so much and I’m already looking forward to the spring semester there.
  • I finished up two psychology courses this fall and got a 4.0 at the end of the term. I had a blast learning and challenging myself (especially from a critical lens rather than a clinical one) and I’m looking forward to the spring when I’ll be studying the psychology of sexual behavior.
  • I’ll be teaching my Archetypal Vampire class with LitReactor again here soon. Details: Study the archetype of the vampire to track how it's evolved throughout literature & film, then create a series of stories/poems in response to the vampire & its place in contemporary fiction. Writing the Vampire starts February 7th. Sign up now!
  • This review came in for Writing Poetry in the Dark and I’m so incredibly moved by it. This is exactly what I hoped the book would accomplish and I’ll carry this one with me.
  • Check out some behind-the-scenes craft advice that walks you through how I wrote my story "A Trail of Feathers, a Trail of Blood" from my poem "Dinner with Baba Yaga" for Into the Forest via Black Spot Books.
  • Looking into the new year, have you ordered the Shakespeare Unleashed anthology yet? If not, you can pick up your copy here.
  • My article “The Must-Read Horror Graphic Novels of 2022” was published at LitReactor last month. If you missed it, you can read it here. Likewise, if you want to see some of my favorite reads from 2022, you can check out this LitReactor end-of-year wrap-up, too!

This month, I read:

Something that I love sharing is my reading stats (thanks to The Story Graph!). I ended up reading 85 books this year (not including all the single-issue comics I enjoyed), and below is a look at my moods and my top 10 genres of 2023.

On the media front:

  • New Watches: How to Change Your Mind (2022), The Work (2017), The Imposter (2012)

  • Queer for Fear: The History of Queer Horror, Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022), Orphan: First Kill (2022), Monstrous (2022), The Invitation (2022).

  • Cabinet of Curisioites: 

    • “Dreams in the Witch House”- So this is another favorite Lovecraft story of mine, and I gotta say, I really wasn’t into this interpretation. I thought Keziah looked cool but it felt more dark fantasy than horror to me (which is totally fine), but it just didn’t vibe with the vision that was in my head, and Brown Jenkins really didn’t work for me. Sigh. Oh well. 

  • Dragula, Titans: I’m so happy that my QUEEN Victoria Elizabeth Black took home the crown as Dragula’s ultimate Titan, but I’m just devastated with how that finale turned out. I wanted to see the tenants on display, and I was so upset that there wasn’t a crowning and that Victoria didn’t have her Carrie moment. I get that creatively they were looking to do something different this season, which I respect, but it didn’t necessarily work for me; trust though, that I will happily be here for whatever the Boulet Brothers do next. 

  • Riverdale, Season 6: I really wasn’t sure what to expect with this season, especially because I wasn’t a big fan of season 5, but I have to say, I enjoyed the hell out of this. I was a little thrown with the Rivervale vs Riverdale paradox in the beginning and I honestly didn’t think they would be able to tie it all together (I’m not really a fan of time-jumping plots) but I was hooked and I dug it: the multiverse, the magic, the darkness, and the TBK plot. Looking forward to season 7!

  • Afterlife: I really enjoyed the final season of this. I’ve been putting it off for some time because this show always sends me into an existential crisis, but I thought it was beautifully done and it gave me a lot to think about in regard to life, kindness, and love. 

  • The Santa Clauses: I loved this. I haven’t really been in a Christmas mood this year, but I always watch all The Santa Claus movies, so having this as something to look forward to every week was really nice. I thought the humor was spot on, too, I loved that La Befana was in there, and I’m happy with how they tied up some loopholes, too. Also, the elves totally cracked me up (Team Betty and Noel)! 

    • I also watched A Christmas Story Christmas (begrudgingly). I don’t want to admit that I liked it, but I kind of did, and seeing that I had no holiday spirit at all last year, this was at least a nice step in the right direction. 

    • We watched the new Great British Baking Show Holiday episodes and had a blast with them. That show inspires the hell out of me and I’m not ashamed to admit it.

  • The Sex Lives of College Girls: What can I say about this? I’m just so happy this show exists and season 2 was perfect and everything I hoped for. But that ending? DAMN. How am I supposed to wait all this time for season 3 now? If you’re not watching this, at least give it a shot! 

  • Dead to Me, Season 3: I couldn’t really remember the first two seasons, so I happily rewatched them before diving into season 3 (which I basically cried all the way through). I thought the ending was perfect and beautifully sad and just appropriate on all levels. Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini were just goddesses throughout this entire project and I highly applaud them both.




Podcasts:

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


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