Columns

LURID: Bible Bloodshed - 5 of the Goriest Episodes in Scripture

October 19th, 2015

LURID: vivid in shocking detail; sensational, horrible in savagery or violence, or, a guide to the merits of the kind of Bad Books you never want your co-workers to know you're reading.

Read Column →

How to Make the Internet a Less Scary Place: Three Rules for Writers

October 19th, 2015

Internet fury has become a commonplace of our daily lives, so ubiquitous that Jon Ronson wrote a book about it, so routine that this same book, So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed, was one of the books we talked about on our return episode of the Unprintable podcast. In Shamed Ronson talks to people who have experienced the internet in full-on cobblestone-hurling riot mode and lived (some just barely) to tell the tale.

Read Column →

The Many Movie Incarnations of Peter Pan

October 16th, 2015

J.M. Barrie was a literary genius. His Peter Pan is the single-most romantic adventure tale for children ever created, and he's inspired countless adaptations through the years since the book's 1911 publication. What little girl, who's found reason to be pissed off at her parents, doesn't want to be swept away in dramatic style by a mysterious boy who can fly? And what little boy doesn't want to stay a little boy forever? Gah! I know I surely wanted both!

Read Column →

The Best Horror Book Covers. Ever!

October 15th, 2015

The best horror book covers. Ever. How can I deliver on my pitch without upsetting a ton of people while doing it? It's impossible. Part of me just wants to post some really goofy 90s paperback covers and call it a day, but I have to be brave. These are my choices for best horror book covers of all time. Here goes. Witness me.

Read Column →

Every Goosebumps Book Summarized In One Sentence

October 15th, 2015

*Contains spoilers for the original Goosebumps series, The Stuff,  the Rocky saga, and The Sixth Sense.* Inspired by "Every Stephen King Novel Summarized in 140 Characters or Less" by Max Booth III

Read Column →

The Grim Specter of Writer Suicide

October 14th, 2015

With Halloween fast approaching, our thoughts tend to gravitate toward ghosts, monsters, slasher villains and all the other things that terrify us. In the spirit of the holiday, I’d like to take a look at one of the scariest demons that continues to prey on us in the real world: suicide. Available statistics tell us that it claims a body count of over a million every year, about one every forty seconds, which means at least two people will have ended their own lives before I finish typing this sentence.

Read Column →

Book vs. Film: 'The Martian'

October 12th, 2015

[WARNING!: Contains spoilers for both The Martian novel and The Martian film]

Read Column →

Writing the Unknown Setting: 8 Tips on Conducting a Research Trip for your WIP

October 12th, 2015

In the age of social media, Google Earth, and everyone’s tendency to add “-gate” to the end of all mistakes, it’s more important than ever to get setting right. Location can be as important to one’s novel as the title or the main character’s backstory—but every now and then, you may need to set your book in a place you don’t know very well. 

Read Column →

'Haunted', the Album inspired by Mark Z. Danielewski's 'House of Leaves'

October 9th, 2015

Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves was released 15 years ago, and in the time since the enigmatic novel has developed a bit of a cult following. Part horror fiction, part academic satire, it is mostly remembered for its ergodic page layout and unconventional style.

Read Column →

LitReactor Community Spotlight: October 2015

October 9th, 2015

This October has given us our own horrors to deal with. Another school shooting in Oregon, another day. It's getting harder to scare people, because I think in a lot of ways, people are starting to realize how scary our world can actually be. We're used to fear.

Read Column →