JOIN ME IN THE MADHOUSE: December '21 Madhouse Recap

Hello friends and fiends—

Happy new year! I hope 2022 is off to a nice, relaxing start for everyone and that you’re all safe and sound and walking through life in good spirits. December was a wild, exciting, stressful month, but we made it through and are a few weeks closer to meeting our little one in a few weeks (which is still so insane to believe). Moving around these days has been a bit challenging, and to say I’ve slowed down to a sloth’s speed is an understatement. I’m working here and there when I can, but my main focus is on my health and the babe’s so yes, priorities have definitely shifted and I’m not feeling any guilt about that. And yes, how did you know? I did build two puzzles over winter break, and I’m framing the Alice in Wonderland one as we speak.

Dennis and I have been working hard to finish the nursey and feel as prepared as possible before our little one arrives (I swear I’ve cleaned things I didn’t even know existed/needed cleaned), but we also managed to steal away on a few dates last month to focus on ourselves and conjure some yuletide cheer. We went to the Phipps Winter Flower Show and Light Garden festivities, which is always a holiday favorite of ours, and we popped into the city for Lindsey Stirling’s Warmer in the Winter Tour. It was great to see live music again and considering this is my #1 favorite Christmas album, it was surreal to see it performed on stage.

I had big plans for Yule/Christmas, but my 9-month pregnant self may have shot a little too close to the sun because I didn’t come close to doing everything I wanted to, but hey, that’s okay. I did manage to make my orange-cranberry loaves, a double batch of chocolate chip & walnut cookies, and then these cute little gnome sugar cookie cups this year, though, so small victories on the baking front. We hosted Christmas Eve this time around and my parents brought over a ton of food, Dennis cooked appetizers and bartended for my family all evening, and then my brother and sister-in-law drove in, and we played a bunch of fun games and opened presents together. All in all, it was a lot of fun, but I swear I slept for the next three days trying to recover from it all. Maya and Apollo were in their glory, too, because they got lots of table scraps and festive holiday bandanas, not to mention pretty much all the Christmas snuggles.

On the writing front:

My contributor copy of Vastarien: A Literary Journal arrived. You can read my poem “Night Mare” along with a bunch of other stellar stories and poems in this issue, which is available for purchase here.
I wrapped up my third round of teaching Witch Lit for LitReactor last month. We had a blast, and I read so many wonderful stories and poems, and the discourse, as always, was inspiring and thought-provoking. I also got to announce the debut of a new class I’m teaching with LitReactor this March titled: Writing the Vampire. The short pitch for it is: Uncover the blood-soaked history and folklore surrounding the vampire while learning how to explore its archetype and leave new bite marks on the modern world.

Interested parties can sign up for the class now, and if you have any questions or concerns about the class, don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly.

My contributor copy of Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas arrived. You can read my poem, "Blood, Like Chocolate" inside.
My editorial copies of the HWA Poetry Showcase, Vol. 8 came in the other day, and ah, they look so beautiful! It’s been such a joy editing this series for the past four years, and I’ve come to know and meet so many wonderful poets and art as a result. So much work goes into this showcase and it’s certainly not a one-person job. Cheers and my eternal thanks to all my judges over the years; to John Palisano and Lisa Morton for their guidance, poetry, and assistance with well…everything; to David E. Cowen for first reaching out to me about the editor position and then for doing all the interviews; to Marge Simon for helping with the blog and the artwork (along with Mary Turzillo); to Robert Payne Cabeen for working with me on the cover art for the last three years; to Eric J. Guignard for being a layout expert and one of the easiest people to work with; to Meghan Arcuri-Moran for help with marketing; to Brad C. Hodson for all his help with payments, contributor copies, etc.; and to all the poets who have submitted over their work over the years. You’re all so appreciated, and I truly thank you for all you’ve done to make this showcase happen.
Rebecca Rowland of Gingernuts of Horror reviewed Attack from the 80s (edited by Eugene Johnson) and had some nice things to say about my story “Mother Knows Best.”

She wrote: “My personal favorite in the collection is Stephanie M. Wytovich’s “Mother Knows Best.” In it, Eden’s mum had been dating her teacher for three years, but when a violent incident ends the relationship, Mr. Myers returns to Eden’s home to discuss it. Although all of Attack’s stories are dark in their own ways, “Mother” is a [particularly] unsettling entry. “He took a sip of his drink, his mustache wet, shining under the soft overhead light. He wore a white button-down shirt and a pair of salmon chinos, no socks. A professional-but-relaxed-look for a man who was anything but professional and should definitely not be relaxed.” Wytovich’s slow-burn development creeps stealthily under the skin until the discomfort erupts into a full-blown anxiety attack. Readers will not be able to put the story down until its deliciously horrific conclusion.” You can read the full review here and pick up a copy of the anthology here.

This month, I read:

F4 by Larissa Glasser
Waif by Samantha Kolesnik
Tortured Willows: Bent, Bowed, Unbroken by Angela Yuriko Smith, Lee Murray, Christina Sng, and Geneve Flynn
Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin
“The Witch of Duva: A Ravkan Folk Tale” by Leigh Bardugo
White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi
Lore Olympus: Volume One by Rachel Smythe
The Purity Myth: How America’s Obsession with Virginity Is Hurting Young Women by Jessica Valenti

I participated in the Books in the Freezer 2021 Reading Challenge, and just about made it—alas, 94% complete! Oh well, I still had a blast participating and I’m set up for their 2022 one as well and really looking forward to it.

This year I read 85 books and my top 5 genres were: poetry, horror, fantasy, LBGTQIA+, and literary. According to StoryGraph (which, I love), my preferred reading moods were reflective, dark, emotional, mysterious, and challenging. Sounds about right.

On the media front, I watched:

Pig, The Inheritance, Bloodthirsty, We Need to Do Something, The Amusement Park, The Columnist, Leatherface (the prequel to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), The Unforgiveable, The Deep House, In the Earth, and The Night House.
I finally got around to watching Midnight Mass. I think I was so excited for it that I put it off because I set the expectations so high in my head, but I’m happy I made time to watch it because I really enjoyed it. The pacing was a little slow at times, but episode 6 was some of the best horror I’ve seen this year and I loved the ending. Intense, thought-provoking, heartbreaking. Well worth the watch. I can’t wait to see what Mike Flanagan does next with The Fall of the House of Usher.
Dragula season 4 finished up this month and WOW. I found myself ridiculously invested in this season and with the final four in general, all of who I thought were fantastic and deserving of the crown. With that said, congrats to Dahli! I really respect their art and drag (they had some of my favorite looks/performances this season!) and I think they were fantastically deserving of the win. Plus, their floor show was fire (the filth performance? OMG). Cheers to another great round of dragmonsters. I’m excited to see what the Boulet Brothers have in store for us next year.
Yellowjackets. Fuck yes. I am obsessed with this show and will sing its praises loud and forever. If you’re not watching this yet, you’ll definitely want to add it to your list. It’s dark, thrilling, scary, and makes you play the “what-if” game, which is something I always appreciate in my horror/suspense.
Dennis and I started The Witcher together, but we’ve only made it three episodes in. With that said, I loved the first episode. The Bruxa was such a great monster to open with and I have a feeling I’ll be thinking about her character for quite some time.
I started and got caught up with Dexter New Blood. Now, for those of you who don’t know me super well, Dexter was my obsession when it came out, and when they ended it how they did, it broke my heart. To this day, I don’t think I’ve ever been angrier over a season finale of a show. So yeah, needless to say, I was skeptical going into this—but also kind of excited! The show certainly grew on me, and I’m looking forward to seeing how they end it, but I’m also conflicted over Dexter—who, I feel like isn’t really Dexter anymore (although, yeah, I get that’s kind of the point), and if I’m being perfectly honest, I really hate how they’re portraying Deb’s character; it doesn’t even seem like her anymore and it feels too over-the-top (which is saying something if you know Deb!). I do, however, love Harrison and I’m enjoying seeing how his and Dex’s relationship is playing out, and I also appreciate the subtle nods to past seasons and the old opening credits (which I super miss).
Dennis and I also checked out the first episode of The Book of Boba Fett, which I loved.
My college roommate and I distance binge-watched The Sex Lives of College Girls together this month (along with The Great) and loved it. I want more raunchy, sex-positive shows about girls going through life that facilitate discussions about college, their bodies, sex, consent, etc. It’s important and necessary, and honestly, I wish I had stuff like this growing up, but I’m happy to see it on TV and being talked about now.
Season 2 of The Great was well…great! I really hope Hulu renews it for a third season because that ending was not only intense, but I feel so emotionally invested in Catherine and Peter’s relationship now that I absolutely need to know things are going to go from here. If you haven’t watched this series yet, I truly can’t recommend it enough. Perfect for fans of comedy and historical fiction.
Dennis and I decided to dive into some Christmas movies this month to 1) chase the holiday spirit, 2) keep things light and positive, and 3) allow some romance and magic into our lives during a time when I was struggling with pain and discomfort. Honestly, I don’t normally go for stuff like this, but it’s been kind of fun and it’s been interesting to see how it’s helped my mood and frame of thinking. Some new-to-us movies we watched were: Let it Snow, A Castle for Christmas (this one was too much for me—pass), Single All the Way (I actually loved this one), No Sleep ‘Til Christmas (also thought this was super cute…ugh, who am I!), Ghosting: The Spirit of Christmas.

Some podcast episodes I checked out where:

After the holidays, I mostly hibernated. We did some post-holiday shopping, sure, but I mostly read and wrote and relaxed with lots of tea, oversized sweaters, and television/movie marathons. I packed my hospital bag, wrote out my 2022 goals (my power word for this year is blossom), and now it’s mostly taking things a day at a time until a certain someone decides to make their appearance. Wish us luck and health and happiness (and maybe sanity) and please keep us in your thoughts as we blossom into a family of three (well, five if you count the dogs, which we of course do!).

Warmest wishes,

Stephanie

JOIN ME IN THE MADHOUSE

Saturday, January 1, 2022

December '21 Madhouse Recap

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September Madhouse Recap: Mabon, Spooky Reads, and Fall Wellness

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