Thursday, June 2, 2022

May ’22 Madhouse Recap: Death, Ancestral Magic, and The Cycle of Life

Hello Friends and Fiends—

First off, Happy Pride!

May was a somewhat strange and beautiful month. I’m writing to you while listening to the soundtrack to Nightmare Alley and it has me more reflective than usual if I’m being honest.

Yesterday we buried my grandmother, and I’ve spent a good portion of my morning today building her and my pap’s altar, doing smoke/egg cleanses, and creating a simmer pot from her funeral bouquets. The house smells Catholic right now, and I know it’s weird to say that, but if you’ve been to a Catholic service and smelled the incense, the sweetness of Nag Champa, the spice of frankincense and myrrh, then you know what I’m talking about. No matter how I feel about my religious upbringing, these scents always bring me immense comfort, and in times of stress, mourning, and blessing, I often burn them and soak in that stillness and prayer.

I didn’t get to say goodbye to my Pap Wytovich (even though we conveniently rescued a dog named Maya, his nickname, a few years later) and my Nana was a complicated situation with Alzheimer’s, but I spoke to my Grammy a few days before she got put on morphine, and while she was fading, I got to see her and say hi and I love you one more time while she was conscious. A few days later, my dad called to tell me she was slipping and that they were going to administer last rites, and I was able to make it to the home before she passed. I whispered I loved her, told her how beautiful she looked, and that she could finally rest and go see pap again. Seeing her in that state was a reminder of mortality, and while it was scary and sad, it was also such an honor to be there with her and my family in those final moments. I’m thankful for them and the memories we all shared that day and I have no doubt my pap’s spirit was there holding her hand the entire time.


On a happier note, our sweet Evie had a lot of firsts this month. We celebrated my first Mother’s Day, and she got me a gorgeous Alice in Wonderland bag that I’ll forever treasure, and then our house finally got fixed so we were able to move her into her nursery and start enjoying the space we set up for her. She slept in her crib for the first time and has been sleeping through the night for a while now, which is a serious blessing, ah. We even got to start feeding her some real food this month. She was skeptical of the texture of bananas and was a big fan of pears, but nothing could have prepared us for her immense love of sweet potatoes. She screamed and laughed and danced and ate half the jar on the first go of it. Needless to say, she definitely is a foodie just like her mom and dad.

We also took her to the zoo and aquarium with my brother and his wife and we all had a blast but seeing Eve’s eyes light up in the aquarium was truly something special. We watched the elephant seals for a while but the general color and vibes and movement of all the sea creatures were pure magic to her and her eyes just filled with such wonder! She was awake for most of the day, but she did sleep through all the monkeys, which was hysterical because they were howling like crazy when we walked in! Little Eves also started to splash around in the tub, laugh, and give big sloppy kisses. Babcia (that's Polish for grandmother) even got her a little pool to play around it, and Eves has a blast!

Outside of that, Dennis and I put in our garden and our tomato plants are outside as we speak living their best life. We also have some lavender, two types of basil, some sweet mint, a variety of peppers, and then some flowers. I told Eves our butterfly garden is starting to make an appearance, and I genuinely think she was excited because she lights up when I take her outside to look at and touch the plants. We’ve also been feeding the birds and making friends with them, and that’s a hobby that she and I have been very much enjoying together.

On my end, I made some time to build this amazing Edgar Allan Poe puzzle, bought tickets to StokerCon 2023, and signed up for a tea blending workshop this month.

On the writing/teaching front:

  • I wrapped up teaching two graduate courses this month, one at WCSU and the other at SNHU. I tackled speculative fiction in both, and we had a lot of great discourse throughout the weeks/months. I’m a little sad they’re over, to be honest, but I’m also excited to have the rest of the summer off to write and just focus on my full-time day job. As a side note, I was also excited to hear that I was nominated as one of the top three performers at SNHU last term. I love that my passion for horror and science fiction and fantasy and all the weird things I do and love continue to seep through and get celebrated in my teaching and it means so much to hear that’s being received well.
  • I wrote a letter/poem to Walt Whitman for LitReactor this month titled “Song of My Postpartum Self.” This is a piece that celebrates the birth of my daughter while meditating on life and death and spirit. You can read it here.
  • This month I brought back my Madhouse Interview Series and started off with a conversation with Adrian Ernesto Cepeda about his most recent release from Clash Books, We Are the Ones Possessed. We also chat about his book La Belle Ajar and a bit about Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton. You can read it here.
  • I published an interview with Avra Margariti on my blog about their poetry collection The Saint of Witches from Weasel Press. We chatted about queer representation, gender, women and violence, and of course, witchcraft! You can read it here.
  • I published an interview with Stephanie Athena Valente on my blog about her poetry collection Internet Girlfriend from Clash Books. We talk about witchcraft, fashion, confessions, sexuality, and more! Read more here.
  • I’ll have an interview with Stephanie Ellis and Cindy O’Quinn going live early in June about their collaborative poetry collection Foundlings. Be sure to keep an eye out for it, and in the meantime, you can pick up a copy of the book here.
  • The cover reveal for Into the Forest, an upcoming anthology featuring stories surrounding Baba Yaga, went live. My poem "Dinner with Baba Yaga" will be included alongside my short story "A Trail of Feathers, a Trail of Blood.” Gingernuts of Horror did a fantastic interview with Lindy Ryan about this, too, and I highly suggest checking it out. You can read it here.

This month, I read:


On the media front:

  • Free Guy (2021), Batman (2022), Scary Stories -Documentary (2019), Vicious Fun (2020), Urban Legend (1998), Night of the Demons (2009), The Stylist (2020), Hatching (2022), Disturbed Behavior (1998), Seven Stages to Achieve Eternal Bliss (2018), The Addams Family 2 (2021), Our Father-Documentary (2022), and Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021).
  • Russian Doll, Season 2. I absolutely loved this season and how trippy it was (which is saying a lot if you’ve seen the first one). The focus on accepting your past, forgiving your family, and learning to heal from ancestral trauma was so beautifully explored. I hope they do a third season where Nadia and Allan get stuck in the future, but if not, I’m satisfied with how things ended.
  • Grace and Frankie, Season 7. This was such a great finale. I love this show and everything it represents. I’ll admit that it got me a few times (I’m sensitive, what can I say?), but absolutely beautiful. All the stars and recommendations.
  • Ghost, Season 1. I’m obsessed with this show and I’m so happy I finally made time for it. It’s funny and charming, and duh, filled with ghosts. Thankfully, it’s been renewed for a second season and I, for one, cannot wait!
  • Working Moms, Season 6. I have watched and rewatched this show so many times, and it hits even harder now as a new mom and someone who considers themselves a workaholic. This season was truly intense and that final episode? Fuck. How am I supposed to just sit here and wait in limbo until the next season? I literally raged (in a good way) when it was over. Great writing, and a super relatable show.
  • Episodes 1-3 of Stranger Things, Season 4. There are no words for how happy and excited I am that the gang is back together and we’re up against Vecna. So excited to keep exploring this. I also super appreciated all the nods to A Nightmare on Elm Street and It.
  • Episode 1 of Obi-Wan Kenobi. I hope they keep giving us all the Star Wars series. I’m here for all of it.
  • Junji Ito Collection, Season 1 (via CrunchyRoll). Episodes 1 and 2.

Podcasts:

I’m excited for June. I’ll finally have some time to wrap up two big projects I’ve been working on in the writing world, and I’m looking forward to doing some more flower magic and perfecting some meals. I’ve been pulling a lot of vegetarian recipes from Forest Feast (probably my favorite cookbook), and I’m hoping to try a few more this month, too. I’m also hoping to finish reading a few books I’m in the middle of now: Night Bitch, Lore: Monstrous Creatures, and Goblin, not to mention, spend some time with friends.

Until next time, be kind, but also be spooky and weird and beautifully, apologetically you.

Best,

Stephanie

 

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