LitReactor: The End of An Era

News by Joshua Chaplinsky October 9, 2023 6 comments
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LitReactor: The End of An Era

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Today we are sad to announce that we have made the difficult decision to shut down LitReactor.com. As some of you may recall, this all started as an offshoot of ChuckPalahniuk.net back in 2011. Portions of that site (the workshop, columns, interviews, reviews) were growing at such a rate, that the decision was made, with Chuck’s blessing, to give all this content its own domain.

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Fun, Spooky Small Businesses to Support

Column by Sara Tantlinger September 29, 2023
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Fun, Spooky Small Businesses to Support

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While it's always spooky season for horror writers, I have to admit that the consumer in me gets giddy around this time of year. There are so many fun Halloween and horror-themed items, decor, and apparel at every turn. What a perfect time to support small businesses and diverse creators. 

Here are just a few shops (that I love), where you can find some unique items in time for October and Halloween (and all year-round).

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More Than Sheep: An Account of Kiwi Horror with Lee Murray

Interview by Lindy Ryan September 28, 2023 5 comments
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More Than Sheep: An Account of Kiwi Horror with Lee Murray

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Lee Murray is arguably Aotearoa’s most successful contemporary horror writer.

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Beowulf Is The Greatest Classic Book, And I Will Not Be Taking Any Questions At This Time

Column by Peter Derk September 26, 2023
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Beowulf Is The Greatest Classic Book, And I Will Not Be Taking Any Questions At This Time

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Header images: Books, Barbarian

There's always someone out there trying to prove that one book or another is the all-time, stone-cold-est, greatest classic book of all time.

And they're all fools, because unlike me, they didn't pose Beowulf, which is absolutely, 100% the greatest classic book.

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Storyville: Tropes As a Jumping-Off Point

Column by Richard Thomas September 25, 2023
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Storyville: Tropes As a Jumping-Off Point

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(For reference, check out tvtropes.org as it has a TON of great information.)

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Robert Kirkman's Non-Walking-Dead Comics

Column by Peter Derk September 22, 2023
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Robert Kirkman's Non-Walking-Dead Comics

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Header image: Pixabay

Robert Kirkman is in a weird spot.

Because The Walking Dead was such a cultural phenomenon, it’s what he’ll be known for forever, the first line in his obituary, FOR SURE.

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To Carrie White, Signed with Pig's Blood

Column by Stephanie M. Wytovich, MFA September 21, 2023
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“Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology” edited by Shane Hawk & Theodore C. Van Alst, Jr.

Review by Christopher Shultz September 19, 2023 12 comments
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“Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology” edited by Shane Hawk & Theodore C. Van Alst, Jr.

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There’s a belief across numerous cultures that whistling at nighttime can attract evil spirits and misfortune. Hence the title of this anthology, which warns against such activity, because as Stephen Graham Jones notes in his foreword, “you don’t invite bad stuff, right?” You have control over your own fate, Jones indicates. You can choose to keep the “bad stuff” at bay. 

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How a Resurrection Really Feels: "The Gospel of The Hold Steady"

Review by Ben Tanzer September 18, 2023 3 comments
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How a Resurrection Really Feels: "The Gospel of The Hold Steady"

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It seems that to be a fan of The Hold Steady, or at least a guest writer in the quite culty and obsessively—both traits required to be a fan of the band in the first place—enjoyable coffee table book/oral history, The Gospel of The Hold Steady, you have to one, know how you discovered The Hold Steady in the first place and two, know where you saw them first.

I can relate to that.

There are bonus points if it was somewhere in Brooklyn near the early part of the century.

I can’t relate to that.

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Happy Birthday To Agatha Christie, Inventor Of The Slasher

Column by Christopher Shultz September 15, 2023
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Happy Birthday To Agatha Christie, Inventor Of The Slasher

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Author photo: Wikipedia Commons

Agatha Christie was born on September 15th, 1890. The author is already much celebrated as one of the greatest mystery writers of all time, but there’s one area where Christie still deserves recognition: as the inventor of the slasher. Whether intentional or not, the horror subgenre owes a huge debt of gratitude to Christie and her 1939 novel And Then There Were None.

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