Signal Boost #44: C.L. Polk (Witchmark) and Tonia Thompson (Nightlight Podcast)
https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFSignalBoost44PolkThompson/Sandf–SignalBoost44–PolkThompson.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSS In today’s episode of Signal Boost, Jen talks to C.L. Polk, author of the debut novel Witchmark from Tor.Com Publishing. We learn what inspired C.L. to set the novel in an allegorical post-WWI England, how she developed a complex governmental and class system around a simple magic system, what compels the m/m romance that is central to the plot, what we can look forward to in book two of the series, and more! Then Jen sits down with her boss over at Nightlight Podcast, Tonia Thompson. They discuss how Tonia’s work in horror has taken on a multi-media life, what makes the form of Twitter horror so compelling, why she started Nightlight Pod, what you can expect to find over there during the month of October and all year long, and much more! Plus, Tonia shares her favorite form of torture. We hope you enjoy the episode!
Short Fiction Review: August 2018
Over the past several months, I’ve been using this column to spotlight my favorite new short stories. In particular, I’ve been attempting to spotlight work by new writers and/or writers with marginal identities. This month, I’m going to try something slightly different. Rather than spotlight short stories, I’m going to spotlight publications. Why? I was able to read a lot of short fiction over the last month, and there’s a lot of good work that deserves attention. In particular, this last month, most of my favorite stories appeared in these three publications: Nightmare Magazine (for the horror addicts), Anathema: Spec from the Margins (for those of you who love superb worldbuilding), and Broken Metropolis: Queer Tales of a City That Never Was, a new anthology of queer urban fantasy.
Torture Cinema #81: Frogs (1972)
https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFTortureCinema81Frogs/Sandf-TortureCinema81-Frogs.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSS Toads, Sam Elliot’s missing mustache, and weaponized Spanish moss, oh my! In today’s hoptastic episode, Alex, Paul, David, and special guest Michael J. Martinez try to drain the swamp of the southern patriarchy as they discuss the 1972 “killer” amphibian classic, Frogs. From leapless pacing, stagnant antagonists, and horribbitless story (all the terror of fluffy bunnies… less, really, at least fluffy bunnies have teeth), this is one worth throwing back to the lilypads. Come for the man pelts, stay for the fantastic lesson on early killer wildlife horror films (David has a ton of suggestions for further/better viewing)! We hope you enjoy the episode!
Short Fiction Review: June 2018
My favorite story last month was “In the End, It Always Turns Out the Same” by A.C. Wise, which appears in The Dark Issue 37. It’s a smart, dark take on the Scooby Doo formula that pauses and asks, “Aren’t they too young for this?” Like poetry and space opera? Go read “I Sing Against the Silent Sun” by A. Merc Rustad and Ada Hoffmann, which appears in Lightspeed Magazine Issue 97. In this harrowing yet hopeful story, a poet-revolutionary is hunted by a god of silence. (Also, this story makes me happy because of its genderfluid and nonbinary representation.) I also enjoyed “The Sweetness of Honey and Rot” by A. Merc Rustad, which appears in Beneath Ceaseless Skies Issue 254 (21 June 2018). It’s a story about the costs of resistance, and it features original, inventive worldbuilding and gorgeous, detailed prose.
At the Movies #69 — A Quiet Place w/ Zin E. Rocklyn
https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFAtTheMovies69AQuietPlace/Sandf-AtTheMovies69-AQuietPlace.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSSign language, killer aliens, and polar bears, oh my! In today’s episode of At the Movies, Shaun, Alex, David, and the lovely Teri (a.k.a. Zin E. Rocklyn) discuss the science fictional horror film, A Quiet Place, which is probably the only film produced by Michael Bay that doesn’t have anything blow-up… except the fireworks. Damn you, Michael Bay! Together, our intrepid crew explores the film’s treatment of disability, the underlying themes of family and terror, the Nail of Evil, the direction, and so much more. We hope you enjoy the episode!
Torture Cinema #79: Event Horizon (1997)
https://media.blubrry.com/skiffyandfanty/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/archive.org/download/SandFTortureCinema79EventHorizon/Sandf–TortureCinema79–EventHorizon.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Android | iHeartRadio | Podchaser | Podcast Index | Email | TuneIn | Deezer | RSSSingularities, Cenobites, and Gothic cathedrals, oh my! Jen, Paul, David, and Rachel get together to review the film that refused to stay buried in a Transylvanian Salt Mine. They discuss (or rather, David schools everyone) how Event Horizon is a stealth Warhammer 40k fanfic film, the brilliance of a supernatural horror in space, the failed potential of a pretty cool speculative concept, how the film portrays surprisingly good representation given when it was made, but how, sadly, it has some of the most inconsistent science ever seen in a science fiction film (and our last film was Lawnmower Man, for goodness sake). All this and more await you in the Overlook hotel IN SPACE!!! We hope you enjoy the episode!
