READING ROUND-UP: MAY 2026

The fifth monthly summary of what I’ve been reading, listening to, and watching in 2026!

 

BOOKS

I read 5 books in May: 3 in print, 1 in e-book format, and 1 in audio format. They were:

1.       Riverworld Odyssey edited by Michael Croteau. (Advance Reader Copy, E-BOOK) PREORDER HERE

2.       Dungeon Crawler Carl (Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 1) by Matt Dinniman (AUDIOBOOK)

3.       The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald  by John U. Bacon (PRINT - HARDCOVER) (SPARTA BOOKS BOOK CLUB MAY PICK)

4.       King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby (PRINT - SOFTCOVER) (STANZA BOOKS MYSTERY BOOK CLUB MAY PICK)

5.       Superman: Miracle Monday by Elliot S. Maggin. (PRINT - SOFTCOVER)

 

 

STORIES

I have a goal of reading 365 short stories (1 per day, essentially, although it doesn’t always work out that way) once again this year. Here’s what I read this month and where you can find them if you’re interested in reading them too. If no source is noted, the story is from the same magazine or book as the story(ies) that precede(s) it.

 

1.       “The Knacker Man” by Scott Dalrymple, in Lightspeed Magazine #192, edited by John Joseph Adams

2.       “The Star Where We Meet” by Sam W. Pisciotta

3.       “The Stars Look Away From the Vessel” by dave ring

4.       “The Test of Time” by Kristin Kathryn Rusch

5.       “Sarah's Laugh” by Melissa A Watkins

6.       “The Aerialist” by Yoon Ha Lee

7.       “Ten Unsent Letters to the Dark Lord” by Ada Hoffman

8.       “The Last Season of Your Life” by Christopher Barzak

9.       “Eden Sank to Grief” by Seanan McGuire, from the Author’s Patreon

10.   “River of Eternity” by Philip Jose Farmer from Riverworld Odyssey, edited by Michael Croteau

11.   “Day of the Great Shout” by Philip Jose Farmer

12.   “Riverworld” by Philip Jose Farmer

13.   “Riverworld War” by Philip Jose Farmer

14.   “Crossing the Dark River” by Philip Jose Farmer

15.   “A Hole in Hell” by Dane Helstrom (Philip Jose Farmer)

16.   “Up The Bright River” by Philip Jose Farmer

17.   “Coda” by Philip Jose Farmer

18.   “Emeralds to Emeralds, Dust to Dust” by Seanan McGuire, from Oz Reimagined edited by John Joseph Adams & Douglas Cohen

19.   “The Final Safest Place” by Wendy N. Wagner, from Three-Lobed Burning Eye #47, edited by Andrew S. Fuller

20.   “Out to Sea” by Dom D. Borg, From Kaleidotrope Spring 2026, edited by Fred Coppersmith

21.   “Hollow Cast” by Sarah Grey, from Nightmare #164 edited by Wendy N. Wagner

22.   “A Magic Kingdom” by Bruce McAllister

 

So that’s 22 short stories in May. A bit less than “1 per day,” and I don’t think I managed any author birthday short stories at all! (May 31st was the 151st day of 2026.)

 

COMIC BOOKS

I’ve begun tracking the individual monthly comic book issues I read and thought it would be fun to include that list in this monthly round-up as well. I’m striving for a comic book per day. I’ve also started doing a “Random Back Issue Comic Books Read/Reread” daily post on my Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky accounts. We’ll see how long that lasts. Here’s the comics I read in May:

 

1.       Marvel Presents #6 featuring The Guardians of the Galaxy (Marvel, 1976)

2.       Black Lightning #4 (DC, 1977)

3.       Superman In the Computers That Saved Metropolis (DC, 1980)

4.       Planet of the Apes #16 (Marvel black & white magazine, 1976)

5.       Rip Hunter Time Master #19 (DC, 1964)

6.       Rip Hunter Time Master #26 (DC, 1965)

7.       Bizarre Adventures #30 featuring Paradox, Silhouette, Hero (Marvel black & white magazine, 1982)

8.       Adventures of Superman: Book of El #8 (DC, 2026)

9.       Captain America (2025) #10 (Marvel, 2026)

10.   JSA (2024) #19 (DC, 2026)

11.   Looney Tunes #216 (Dell, 1959)

12.   Showcase ’93 #9 (DC, 1993)

13.   Wiccan: Witches Road #5 (Marvel, 2026)

14.   Showcase #46 (DC, 1963)

15.   Zatanna (2026) #1 (DC, 2026)

16.   World's Finest #154 (DC, 1965)

17.   World's Finest #157(DC, 1966)

18.   Swamp Thing '89 #1 (DC, 2026)

19.   The Flash (1960s series) #236 (DC, 1975)

20.   Brain Boy #6 (Dell, 1963)

21.   Justice League Intergalactic Special #1 (DC, 2026)

22.   Gatchaman: Red Impulse #1 (Mad Cave, 2026)

23.   Deadly Hands of K'un-Lun #3 (Marvel, 2026)

24.   Tales of the Green Lantern Corps: Guy Gardner #1 (DC, 2026)

25.   Marvel Team-Up #120 (Marvel, 1982)

26.   New Teen Titans Drug Awareness Special #1 (DC, 1983)

27.   Tarzan Family #60 (DC, 1975)

28.   Superman Family #173 (DC, 1975

29.   Captain America (2025) #11 (Marvel, 2026)

30.   Supergirl (2025) #13 (DC, 2026)

31.   The Fury of Firestorm (2026) #2 (DC, 2026)

32.   Action Comics #1098 (DC, 2026)

33.   Emperor Aquaman #17 (DC, 2026)

34.   The Thing on the Doorstep #4 (Image, 2026)

35.   Green Lantern Corps (2024) #16 (DC, 2026)

36.   Nectar #1 (Vault Comics, 2026)

37.   Super-Team Family #1 (DC, 1975)

38.   Batman Family #1 (DC, 1975)

39.   Morgana Pendragon #2 (Queen of Mercia LLC, 2026)

40.   Barbara Gordon: Breakout #1 (DC, 2026)

41.   The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones #1 (Marvel, 1983)

42.   Spider-Woman #2 (Marvel, 1978)

43.   Dracula Lives! Annual #1 (Marvel black & white magazine, 1975)

44.   Planet of the Vampires #2 (Atlas, 1975)

45.   The Hardy Boys #2 (Gold Key, 1970)

46.   Batwoman (2026) #3 (DC, 2026)

47.   Superman Unlimited #13 (DC, 2026)

48.   Odin #1 (Image, 2026)

49.   Deadly Hands of K'Un-Lun #4 (Marvel, 2026)

50.   Batman/Superman: World's Finest #51 (DC, 2026)

51.   Marvel Classics Comics #1 (Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde) (Marvel, 1976)

52.   Imperial Guardians #3 (Marvel, 2026)

53.   Super Creepshow #3 (Image, 2026)

54.   Seven Wives #1 (IDW, 2026)

55.   Sorcerer Supreme #6 (Marvel, 2026)

56.   Superboy #103 (DC, 1963)

57.   Nectar #2 (Vault Comics, 2026)

58.   Nectar #3 (Vault Comics, 2026)

59.   Monster Hunters #15 (Charlton, 1975)

60.   Blood of Dracula #1 (Apple Comics, 1987)

61.   Excommunicated #1 (Vault Comics, 2026)

62.   Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp #6 (Whitman, 1971)

63.   DC Super-Stars #9 (The Man Behind the Gun) (DC. 1976)

64.   All-Star Squadron Preview (originally published in Justice League of America 193, insert removed) (DC, 1981)

65.   All-Star Squadron #1 (DC, 1981)

66.   All-Star Squadron #2 (DC, 1981)

67.   All-Star Squadron #3 (DC, 1981)

68.   All-Star Squadron #4 (DC, 1981)

69.   Ironjaw #1 (Atlas, 1975)

So that’s 69 comics, way ahead of the “one per day” goal.

 

 

MOVIES

 

I watched ZERO movies in May.

 

TELEVISION

·       Doctor Who Classic S07 Eps 12 – 25 (Pertwee Season 1) (13 Episodes)

·       Doctor Who Classic S08 Eps 01 – 10 (Pertwee Season 1) (10 Episodes)

·       Good Omens S03 Ep 01 (1 episode)

 

That’s 24 episodes of television, much closer to the “1 per day” I was shooting for.

 

LIVE THEATER

1.       TRU (drama, Church of the Redeemer, NYC)

2.       Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York City) (musical, Longacre Theatre, NYC) (REVIEW HERE)

3.       The Lost Boys (musical, The Palace Theatre, NYC) (REVIEW HERE)

 

PODCASTS

I’m a fairly recent convert to listening to podcasts, so I thought it would also be fun to list those here in the monthly roundups:

1         Justice Society Presents Episode 46 (Interview with Matt Wagner and James K. Snyder III)

2         Justice Society Presents Episode 47 (The Sandman Slept Here 06 (Sandman Mystery Theatre Annual #1 and Adventure Comics #47))

3         Borgo Pass Horror Podcast Episode 11 (Dracula's Daughter 1936)

4         Borgo Pass Horror Podcast Episode 12 (The Werewolf of London 1936)

5         The Doctor's Beard Episode 60 (“Spearhead From Space”)

6         The Doctor's Beard Episode 61 (“Doctor Who and the Silurians”)

7         The Doctor's Beard Episode 62 (“Ambassadors of Death”)

8         The Doctor's Beard Episode 63 (“Inferno”)

9         The Doctor’s Beard Episode 64 (Patreon Exclusive #48)

10     FW Team-Up Episode 82 (Marvel Two-In-One #33, The Thing and Modred the Mystic)

 

Summary of Challenges:

Books Challenge: This month: 5 read; YTD: 39 of 120 read.

366 Short Stories Challenge: This month: 22 read; YTD: 189 of 366 read.

Graphic Novels Challenge: This month: 0 read; YTD: 6 of 52 read.

Read the Book / Watch the Movie Challenge: This month: 0 read/watched; YTD: 0 read/watched.

Movie Challenge: This month: 0 watched; YTD: 6 of 52 watched.

TV Shows Challenge: This month: 22 episodes watched; YTD: 66 of 365 watched.

Live Theater Challenge: This month: 3 shows attended; YTD: 8 of 12 attended.

Comic Books Challenge: This month: 69; YTD: 344 of 365 read.

READING ROUND-UP: April 2026

The fourth monthly summary of what I’ve been reading, listening to, and watching in 2026 (slightly overdue)!

 

BOOKS

I read 5 books in April: 4 in print, 0 in e-book format, and 1 in audio format. They were:

1.       The Cannibal Owl by Aaron Gwyn. (PRINT - SOFTCOVER)

2.       Death of a Bookseller by Alice Slater (PRINT - SOFTCOVER)

3.       The Author Immortal by Frank J. Barbiere, Morgan Beem, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, Sasha E. Head (PRINT - SOFTCOVER)

4.       The Long Way Home by Elissa Ebersold. (PRINT - SOFTCOVER)

5.       Mortal Monarchs: 1,000 Years of Royal Deaths by Suzie Edge. (AUDIOBOOK)

 

 

STORIES

I have a goal of reading 365 short stories (1 per day, essentially, although it doesn’t always work out that way) once again this year. Here’s what I read this month and where you can find them if you’re interested in reading them too. If no source is noted, the story is from the same magazine or book as the story(ies) that precede(s) it.

 

1.       “Saint Zero of the Hollows and the Eagle Knight” by V.M. Ayala, in Lightspeed Magazine #191, edited by John Joseph Adams

2.       “Dad Died on Discord” by Andrew Dana Hudson

3.       “Update on Rules for the Spatiotemporal Use of Campus Spaces” by Andrea Kriz

4.       “Empathetic Psychosis” by Justin C. Key

5.       “Hell is Empty” by J.R. Dawson

6.       “Six-Gun Vixen and the Machinist of Doom Valley” by Ashok K. Banker

7.       “Time Management” by P.A. Cornell

8.       “A Solitude of Space” by Seanan McGuire, from the Author’s Patreon

9.       “Nacre” by E. Catherine Tobler from Three-Lobed Burning Eye #45, edited by Andrew S. Fuller

10.   “The Barrens” by Octavia Cade

11.   “Once Upon an Invasion” by Amanda Cecelia Long, From Kaleidotrope Spring 2026, edited by Fred Coppersmith

12.   “Outbreak” by Michelle H. Porter

13.   “Macaroni Art in the Age of Filtration” by Ryan Cole, from the Clarkesworld #235, edited by Neil Clarke

14.   “DOG” by Tania Fordwalker

15.   “The Final Girl Trap” by A.C. Wise, from Nightmare #163 edited by Wendy N. Wagner

16.   “The Spiders You Swallow in Your Sleep” by Wendy Nikel

17.   “Cool Beans” by Teel James Glenn, from Cirsova #25 (Winter 2025) edited by P. Alexander

18.   “This Is Not Your Extinction Event” by Elena Sichrovksy, from Otherside #1 edited by V.M. Ayala, M.R. Robinson, Ash Vale

19.   “Vitrification” by Ishmael Grey

20.   “Not Known” by W.H. Chizmar, from Author Chapbook/Patreon

21.   “Windows” by Ibrahim Ojedokun, from The Dark #131 edited by Sean Wallace

22.   “Dromedary Mary” by Phoenix Alexander

23.   “Johnny Otha Has a Problem” by Margaret Dunlap, from The Sunday Morning Transport April 2026, edited by Fran Wilde and Julian Yap

24.   “Strawberries” by D.A. Xaolin Spires

 

So that’s 24 short stories in April. A bit less than “1 per day,” and I don’t think I managed any author birthday short stories at all! (April 30th was the 120th day of 2026.)

 

COMIC BOOKS

I’ve begun tracking the individual monthly comic book issues I read and thought it would be fun to include that list in this monthly round-up as well. I’m striving for a comic book per day. I’ve also started doing a “Random Back Issue Comic Books Read/Reread” daily post on my Facebook, Instagram, and Bluesky accounts. We’ll see how long that lasts. Here’s the comics I read in April:

 

1.       Justice League Red #6 (DC, 2026)

2.       Strange Tales (2025) #4 (Marvel, 2026)

3.       The Eternals 50th Anniversary Special #1 (Marvel, 2026)

4.       Batman/Superman: World's Finest #50 (DC, 2026)

5.       JSA (2024 series) #18 (DC, 2026)

6.       Nightmask #1 (Marvel New Universe, 1986)

7.       Beowulf: Dragon Slayer #1 (DC, 1975)

8.       Beowulf: Dragon Slayer #2 (DC, 1975)

9.       Beowulf: Dragon Slayer #3 (DC, 1975)

10.   Beowulf: Dragon Slayer #4 (DC, 1976)

11.   Beowulf: Dragon Slayer #5 (DC, 1976)

12.   Beowulf: Dragon Slayer #6 (DC, 1976)

13.   Targitt #3 (Atlas, 1975)

14.   The Sandman #1 (DC, 1974)

15.   Sherlock Holmes #1 (DC, 1975)

16.   Nova: Centurion #05 (Marvel, 2026)

17.   Adventures of Superman: Book of El #7 (DC, 2026)

18.   Universal Monsters: Phantom of the Opera #2 (Image/Skybound, 2026)

19.   Deadly Hands of K'Un-Lun #2 (Marvel, 2026)

20.   The Flash (2023 series) #31 (DC, 2026)

21.   Captain Britain #6 (Marvel, 1985)

22.   Stalker #3 (DC, 1975)

23.   The Shadow War of Hawkman #1 (DC, 1975)

24.   Superboy #200 (DC, 1974)

25.   Planet of the Apes #1 (Marvel black & white magazine, 1974)

26.   Marvel Preview #16, featuring Lilith and Hodiah Twist (Marvel black and white magazine, 1978)

27.   Pick-Up #1 (AWA, 2026)

28.   New Titans #33 (DC, 2026)

29.   Super Creepshow #1 (Image/Skybound, 2026)

30.   Captain America (2025 series) #8 (DC, 2026)

31.   Supergirl (2025 series) #12 (DC, 2026)

32.   The Fury of Firestorm (2026 series) #1 (DC)

33.   Green Lantern Corps (2024 series) #15 (DC, 2026)

34.   Action Comics #1097 (DC, 2026)

35.   Emperor Aquaman #16 (DC, 2026)

36.   The Nice House By The Sea #9 (DC/Vertigo, 2026)

37.   Doomsday +1 #1 (Charlton, 1975)

38.   Bizarro Year One #1 (DC, 2026)

39.   Batman (2025 series) #8 (DC, 2026)

40.   The Thing on the Doorstep #1 (Image, 2026)

41.   The Thing on the Doorstep #2 (Image, 2026)

42.   Lost Fantasy #8 (Image, 2026)

43.   Imperial Guardians #1 (Marvel, 2026)

44.   Blackhawk #220 (DC, 1966)

45.   Blackhawk #221 (DC, 1966)

46.   Astonishing Tales #24 featuring IT! The Living Colossus (Marvel, 1974)

47.   Dark Shadows #17 (Gold Key, 1972)

48.   Classics Illustrated #67 (The Scottish Chiefs) (Gilberton, 1950)

49.   Justice League of America (1960 series) #56 (DC, 1967)

50.   Superman (2023 series) #36 (DC, 2026)

51.   DC/Marvel: Superman/Spider-Man #1 (DC, 2026)

52.   Sorcerer Supreme #2 (Marvel, 2026)

53.   Sorcerer Supreme #3 (Marvel, 2026)

54.   Sorcerer Supreme #4 (Marvel, 2026)

55.   New History of the DC Universe: The Dakota Incident #1 (DC/Milestone, 2026)

56.   Green Lantern (2023 series) #31 (DC, 2026)

57.   Green Lantern (2023 series) #32 (DC, 2026)

58.   Green Lantern (2023 series) #33 (DC, 2026)

59.   Justice Society of America (1991 series) #3 (DC, 1991)

60.   Werewolf #2 (Dell, 1967)

61.   Giant-Size Avengers #1 (Marvel, 1974)

62.   Frankenstein #3 (Dell, 1966)

63.   Wynd: The Power of the Blood #8 (BOOM!, 2026)

64.   Imperial Guardians #2 (Marvel, 2026)

65.   Exquisite Corpses #12 (Image, 2026)

66.   The Other/Half #2 (Ignition Press, 2026)

67.   Captain America (2025) #9 (Marvel, 2026)

68.   The Flash (1960s series) #173 (DC, 1967)

69.   Sorcerer Supreme #5 (Marvel, 2026)

70.   Justice League Unlimited #18 (DC, 2026)

71.   Superman Unlimited #12 (DC, 2026)

72.   Gatchaman #17 (Mad Cave, 2026)

73.   Batwoman (2026 series) #2 (DC, 2026)

74.   Steel The Indestructible Man #2 (DC, 1978)

75.   Steel The Indestructible Man #3 (DC, 1978)

76.   Steel The Indestructible Man #4 (DC, 1978)

77.   Steel The Indestructible Man #5 (DC, 1978)

78.   Marvel/DC: Spider-Man/Superman #1 (Marvel, 2026)

79.   Lost Fantasy #9 (Image, 2026)

80.   Fireborn #1 (Image, 2026)

81.   Marvel Two-In-One #11 featuring The Thing & The Golem (Marvel, 1975)

82.   The Peril of the Brutal Dark: an Ezra Cain Mystery #3 (DC/Vertigo, 2026)

83.   Universal Monsters: The Phantom of the Opera #3 (Image/Skybound, 2026)

84.   Superman (2023 series) #37 (DC, 2026)

85.   The Thing on the Doorstep #3 (Image, 2026)

86.   Marvel Spotlight #5, featuring Dragon Lord (Marvel, 1980)

87.   Green Lantern (2023 series) #34 (DC, 2026)

88.   The Flash (2023 series) #32 (DC, 2026)

89.   Super Creepshow #2 (Image/Skybound, 2026)

90.   What If Dark: Tomb of Dracula #1 (Marvel, 2025)

91.   Iceman Omega #1 (Marvel, 2025)

92.   Challengers of the Unknown #81 (DC, 1977)

93.   Battle of the Planets #6 (Western Publishing, 1980)

94.   Justice League of America (1960s series) #47 (DC, 1966)

95.   Mission: Impossible #2 (Dell, 1967)

 

So that’s 95 comics, way ahead of the “one per day” goal.

 

 

MOVIES

 

I watched ZERO movies in April.

 

TELEVISION

·       Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Special Eps 1 – 2 (2 episodes)

·       Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair S01 Eps 1 – 4 (4 episodes)

·       Doctor Who Classic S07 Eps 1 – 11 (Pertwee Season 1) (11 Episodes)

That’s 17 episodes of television, still not even close to the “1 per day” I was shooting for.

 

LIVE THEATER

1.       CHESS (musical, Imperial Theatre, NYC)

2.       Titus Andronicus (Red Bull Theatre, NYC)

 

PODCASTS

I’m a fairly recent convert to listening to podcasts, so I thought it would also be fun to list those here in the monthly roundups:

1         Justice Society Presents Episode 44 (The Sandman Slept Here 05 (Sandman Mystery Theatre Issues 17-20))

2         Justice Society Presents Episode 45 (JSA in the 90s: Justice Society of America #3 ('91))

3         Borgo Pass Horror Podcast Episode 7 (Frankenstein 1931)

4         Borgo Pass Horror Podcast Episode 8 (Captive Wild Woman 1943)

5         Borgo Pass Horror Podcast Episode 9 (House of Dracula 1945)

6         Borgo Pass Horror Podcast Episode 10 (The Raven 1935)

 

 

Summary of Challenges:

Books Challenge: This month: 5 read; YTD: 34 of 120 read.

366 Short Stories Challenge: This month: 24 read; YTD: 139 of 366 read.

Graphic Novels Challenge: This month: 1 read; YTD: 6 of 52 read.

Read the Book / Watch the Movie Challenge: This month: 0 read/watched; YTD: 0 read/watched.

Movie Challenge: This month: 0 watched; YTD: 6 of 52 watched.

TV Shows Challenge: This month: 17 episodes watched; YTD: 42 of 365 watched.

Live Theater Challenge: This month: 2 shows attended; YTD: 5 of 12 attended.

Comic Books Challenge: This month: 95; YTD: 275 of 365 read.

Top Ten(ish) Tuesday: 10 Favorite Books of 2025

I read 123 books in 2025. Disregarding titles that were re-reads from previous years, here are my Top Ten(ish) favorites, in no particular order, with links to reviews if I posted one.

 

How To Fake a Haunting by Christa Carmen. I have loved all of Christa Carmen’s “New England Gothic/Spooky” novels to date, so it is probably no surprise that this in on my list of favorites. A woman in an emotionally abusive relationship decides to gaslight her husband into thinking their house is haunted … but what if it really is? Keeps you guessing throughout as to how supernatural it really is and provides more than a few good scares and creepy moments along the way. I interviewed Christa earlier this year about her writing process and this book in particular.

Christmas and Other Horrors, edited by Ellen Datlow. The darkest, shortest days of winter in general, and Christmas in particular, is traditionally a time for ghost stories. Editor par excellence Ellen Datlow once again assembles a great group of writers to spin horror stories around Christmas, Hannukah, Solstice, Yule, and even sometimes your average winter day. Favorites included Mary Robinette Kowal’s “To Speak in Silence,” Benjamin Percy’s “The Ones He Takes,” “Return to Bear Creek Lodge” by Tananarive Due, “Gravé of Small Birds” by Kaaron Warren, and M. Rickert’s “The Lord of Misrule,” but there isn’t a clunker in the group.

The Breathtaker Collection by Mark Wheatley and Marc Hempel. I didn’t read a lot of graphic novels in 2025, but even if I had this one would stand out. A woman who survives by draining the energy from the men who loves her is pursued by a government super-hero for her perceived crimes. There are so many twists in this one I can’t say much more without giving them away. I interviewed Mark Wheatley earlier this year about his creative process.

Our Share of Night by Mariana Enriquez, translated into English by Megan McDowell. In a narrative that spans decades and changes not just character point of view but narrative style multiple times, Enriquez melds almost every sub-genre of horror (cosmic, cult, supernatural, slasher, body, medical, and haunted houses) with generational trauma and the real-world horrors of living under Argentine dictatorship. This is not an easy read, but I stand by my assessment that it is an important, vital, one. I read it for the Stanza Books (Beacon NY) Dark Fiction Book Club and reviewed the book back in February.

Born A Crime by Trevor Noah. Noah’s memoir of growing up under Apartheid as a mixed-race child moved me deeply. Highly recommended. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by the author, which just heightened the emotion.

The Front Seat Passenger by Pascal Garnier, translated into English by Jane Aitken. I tripped across this French noir novella at McNally Jackson Books in Rockefeller Center, apparently the only one of Garnier’s books currently in print in English translation. At first it didn’t feel particularly noir, but man does it get there. And when it does, the twists are fast and furious. I loved this one so much I immediately sought out everything of Garnier’s I could find in translation and look forward to doing a deep dive at some point soon.

Saint Death’s Herald by C.S.E. Cooney is a complex fantasy featuring Miscellaneous “Lanie” Stones, a young necromancer who gets ill at any signs of violence, which makes her job – hunting down the man possessed by the ghost of her evil grandfather – must more difficult. This is the second book about Lanie (the first was Saint Death’s Daughter) and the third volume is coming in 2027. The world-building is wonderful, the characters quirky and relatable, the footnotes hysterical. I reviewed the book earlier this year.

Cheddar Luck Next Time by Beth Cato. The mystery I loved so much, I read it then listened to it on audio, then moderated a Sparta Books (Sparta NJ) book club meeting about it. Set in a small town on the central California coast and featuring an autistic lead character who gets embroiled in a murder investigation while dealing with the recent death of her grandmother, Cheddar Luck is hopefully the start of a new series that is part cozy mystery, part thriller. I reviewed the book earlier this year, and interviewed author Beth Cato as well.

The Art Thief by Michael Finkel. The second non-fiction book on the list. Read this one for the Mystery Book Club at Stanza Books, and I’m so glad we did. The book is a fascinating character study of the most successful art thief in European history – a thief who operated not in the 18th or 19th century, when such thefts would have been easier, but the 1990s!

Amplitudes: Stories of Queer and Trans Futurity, edited by Lee Mandelo. The second short story anthology on the list, almost every story in this volume blew me away with honest yet still hopefully looks at the future and in particular how LGBTQIA+ people exist in that future. I particularly liked Sarah Gailey’s “Moonwife,” Bendi Barrett’s “Six Days,” “The They Whom We Remember” by Sunny Moraine, and “Sugar, Shadows” by Aysha U. Farah, all of which I talked about in my review back in July.

Sgt. Janus and the House That Loved Death by Jim Beard is the fourth book in his occult detective series starring the mysterious Sgt. Roman Janus. This may or may not be the last book in the series, as it establishes quite a change in the status quo for the main character and his compatriots. The previous three books, which I reviewed in a Series Saturday post in 2020, were purely epistolary in style; this book breaks that mold a bit to great effect. I really need to update the series post to include this latest book.

Girl in the Creek by Wendy N. Wagner. A fantastic ecological horror novel set in the Pacific Northwest that manages to feel cosmic and claustrophobic at the same time and equally effectively. That’s quite a feat in my opinion. Wendy N. Wagner’s work always excites and intrigues me, and this one was no exception. I reviewed this one back in July.

Dogs Don’t Break Hearts by ‘Nathan Burgoine. Burgoine is another of my “go-to” auto-buy authors. This is his second “HiLo” book (High Interest, Low Readability, aimed at getting kids who struggle with reading to read). Teenager Beck volunteers at a dog rescue to get over being gaslit by who he thought was his boyfriend, and through the dogs finds both healing and a new love interest.

Black Hole Heart and Other Stories by K.A. Teryna, translated into English by Alex Shvartsman. The only single-author short story collection on this list, for which I still need to write a review. Teryna’s speculative fiction (mostly science fiction, but not all) is character-based while still exploring larger ideas of how technology improves and disrupts our lives and our greater need for community. I particularly enjoyed “Lajos and His Bees,” “Madame Felides Elopes,” “The Chartreuse Sky,” “Songs of the Snow Whale,” and the title story.

 

I have to also include Jack of All Comics! A Fan Conversation About the King of Comics, edited by Jim Beard. I had an essay in the book, discussing Jack Kirby’s work on DC’s 1970s Sandman title, so this feels a little like cheating or shameless self-promotion … but the other essays in the book are all great. Each one focuses on a different series Kirby wrote and/or drew for Marvel and DC through the 60s and 70s – from the well-known (Fantastic Four, Thor, Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen) to the more obscure (his issues of DC’s First Issue Special, the aforementioned Sandman run and his work on DC’s war comic The Losers).

 

Top Ten(ish) is a feature where I identify my personal top ten (or so) favorites in a given category. The key words there are “my” and “favorites.” My favorites may not be your favorites, and I’m not claiming that my favorites are necessarily the best in a given category. Everyone’s tastes are different, and “best” is subjective. I welcome polite discussion on these lists.

Interview: Christa Carmen

Today for Writer Wednesday, I chat with author Christa Carmen.

Christa Carmen lives in Rhode Island. She is the Bram Stoker Award-winning and two-time Shirley Jackson Award-nominated author of The Daughters of Block Island, Beneath the Poet's House, and How to Fake a Haunting, as well as the Indie Horror Book Award-winning Something Borrowed, Something Blood-Soaked, the Bram Stoker Award-nominated "Through the Looking Glass and Straight into Hell" (Orphans of Bliss: Tales of Addiction Horror), and co-editor of the Aurealis Award-nominated We Are Providence and the Australiasian Shadow Award-nominated Monsters in the Mills. She has a BA from the University of Pennsylvania, an MA from Boston College, and an MFA from the University of Southern Maine.

When she’s not writing, she keeps chickens; uses a Ouija board to ghost-hug her dear, departed beagle; and sets out on adventures with her husband, daughter, and bloodhound–golden retriever mix. Most of her work comes from gazing upon the ghosts of the past or else into the dark corners of nature, those places where whorls of bark become owl eyes, and deer step through tunnels of hanging leaves and creeping briars only to disappear.

 

Hi Christa! Thanks for taking some time to chat.

Thank you so much for having me, Anthony!

How To Fake A Haunting, which released on October 7th, is your third book in three years. That’s consistent output! Tell us a bit about the plot.

Lainey Taylor is being pushed to the brink by her alcoholic husband, Callum. However, without any DUIs or missed work days for a judge to point to, Lainey knows she won’t win against Callum–and his influential family–in divorce proceedings or an attempt to gain full custody of their daughter, Beatrix. She’s trapped, angry, and completely helpless. 

Her best friend Adelaide has a wild solution. They’ll stage a haunting so convincing it will drive Callum out of Lainey’s life for good. They start small, with strange smells, noises in the walls, and flies unleashed along the windowsills (I had to insert at least a little Amityville-esque influence!). But with each stage of their plan (and a little help from Callum’s alcohol-induced night terrors), Lainey is closer to seeing the haunting through to its bitter, freeing end.

Without giving anything away, I’ll just say that there’s far too much rage, resentment, and fear for Lainey and Adelaide’s plan not to go horribly wrong. As their fake haunting spirals into something no one can control, Lainey discovers that the only way out is to join forces with Callum, or die trying.

What inspired or influenced How To Fake A Haunting?

There was a very specific moment of inception for this book. My husband and I have been married for nine years this October, and like all married couples (or maybe just like all people once they reach a certain age), we tend to occasionally (ahem, often) spend so much time choosing a movie to watch, that by the time we turn it on, one or both of us falls asleep. On this particular evening, my husband swore he wasn’t tired; we chose a movie, and not five minutes later, I heard heaving breathing coming from the couch. 

Annoyed, I decided to head in and get ready for bed. But before I could, an idea–BAM–hit me like a horror movie jump scare. I grabbed his cell phone, and took a picture of him sleeping on the couch. I think maybe I was planning to show him the picture in the morning, like, “I told you you’d be the one to fall asleep!” Instead, I texted the picture to myself, walked into the kitchen, and then stormed back into the living room loud enough to wake him. “Why did you just text me a picture of yourself sleeping?” I asked. Disoriented, he replied, “What? Why would I text you a picture of myself sleeping?” But I doubled down, narrowed my eyes, and said, really cryptically, “You mean, you didn’t just text me this picture of you sleeping from your phone?” Needless to say, he was suitably freaked out, and eventually, I caved and admitted to the prank. When the time came to get working on a new novel, I thought of the playfulness of scaring your spouse, and how the idea of faking a haunting could be really fun, which morphed into questions of why someone would want to commit to a fake haunting, and then things just took off from there!

It seems like you did quite a bit of research into the paranormal investigation field, and particularly in regards to faking a haunting. Can you tell us a bit about that research?

I think the research for this book might have been some of the most bonkers research I’ve ever conducted. Around two-thirds of the way through the book, in chapter 32, Lainey and Adelaide have returned to Lainey’s house under cover of darkness to orchestrate the mother of all fake hauntings, a terrifying spectacle that will finally send Callum packing for good. In order to pull off what is essentially an elaborate theatrical production, the women dig deep into their arsenal, acquired through extensive horror movie research and a meeting with a husband-wife team of paranormal investigators. Without spoiling anything, I’ll say that, in order to write the scene, I had to rely on my own knowledge of horror films, titles like Let’s Scare Jessica to Death, The Conjuring, The Amityville Horror, Poltergeist, Carrie, The Changeling, and Malevolent, as well as deep dives into smart speaker and television programming capabilities, magnetized candles, recordable teddy bears, and how much pig’s blood might be required to recreate an abattoir inside a bathroom.

Having read and loved all three of your novels, I feel like it’s safe to say you have slowly increased the supernatural quotient in each book. Daughters of Block Island was more classically Gothic, with mostly eerie vibes; Beneath the Poet’s House had some moments that could have been supernatural or could have had mundane explanations but were left up to the reader to decide, and now, without spoilers, it appears the fake haunting turns real. Has this slow increase in the supernatural been a conscious decision on your part?

So, short answer… yes? But one that was met with a fair amount of reluctance on my part and lots of encouragement from writer friends and beta readers.

I recently took part in a wonderful event an An Unlikely Story in Plainville, MA with fantastic thriller writers Vanessa Lillie and Tracy Sierra, and Tracy said that she thinks one of the most difficult things in writing horror is coming up with a ‘system’ of the supernatural—or monsters, or killers, or whatever frightening thing the author is working with—that is unique but also makes sense in the world of the story, and she stated that she felt I’d done a good job with it in How to Fake a Haunting (for which I’m eternally grateful). She then asked if I had any advice on how to invent a ‘horror world’ that is also logical, and my answer was that I start by getting something onto the page that serves the story, but that ultimately, I don’t want the supernatural in my work to be, as the kids say, “cringe.” 

I think I shied away from the supernatural on the page in the past because I was worried I would do it in a way that would be hokey or take readers out of the story. I should have trusted myself more, however, because I was happy with how the final third of How to Fake a Haunting played out.

I’m always interested to know what an author’s creative process is like. Are you a plotter, a pantser, somewhere in between? Has your process changed over the years you’ve been writing?

I am neither, I suppose. I’m a writer who tends to know where she wants a story to begin, where she wants it to end, and the major beats in between. The details, though, how I get from beginning to beat one, beat one to beat two, etc., those are apt to surprise me. I do tend to—if I stumble on an idea I want to include somewhere in a manuscript—get nervous that I’ll forget it, so I text myself little “breadcrumbs,” as I call them, so I can go back over the text thread at the end of each draft and make sure I’ve incorporated everything I wanted to include. So…I’m a ‘Hansel-and-Greteler?’

I love that term! Let’s make it a thing. You also write short stories and have edited some anthologies of local Rhode Island writers’ work. What do you look for as an editor?

First and foremost, adherence to submission guidelines! It may sound nitpicky, but this shows an editor that you respect their process and their time, and helps you put the right foot forward from first glance. As for content, I look for work that keeps me guessing, keeps me uneasy, has me questioning everything I thought I knew in the world of the story. I love a well-done ambiguous ending, a jump-scare-on-paper, and both quiet and cinematic horror, as long as it’s well done. Most importantly, I want to be thinking about the story long after I read it, turning over lines and plot points in my mind. I’m currently editing an unannounced project right now, and it’s been a delight to discover some new voices and be told some amazing, get-under-your-skin stories from writer’s I’ve come to admire.

I’m already eagerly anticipating your next book, as you probably have guessed. Can you tease us at all about your next project and when we might expect it?

Well, thank you! That’s so nice to hear. I’m indeed hard at work finishing up my fourth novel, as well as putting a second short story collection together. The novel will NOT be set in Rhode Island, which is pretty wild for me, but in London, Geneva, and Rome, and is a sort of body horror/sci-fi/artifact chase mashup. I’m having lots of fun with it and am looking forward to getting back to work on the project post-release of How to Fake a Haunting.

 In the meantime, my short story, “The Clearing,” is part of Lindy Ryan and Stephanie M. Wytovich’s HOWL: An Anthology of Werewolves from Women-in-Horror, out November 4th. I also have a story, “Comeback Kid,” in The Rack II: More Stories Inspired by Vintage Horror Paperbacks, edited by Tom Deady, that came out October 14th, and several other stories in anthologies, as well as an editing project, that I can’t announce just yet.  

Anyone interested in updates can find me online, at Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/christaqua/), Instagram (@christaqua), and Bluesky (‪@christaqua.bsky.social), as well as on my website, www.christacarmen.com.

And my traditional final question: What is your all-time favorite book?

I’m going to be such a downer on this question, because my favorite book is A Little Life by Hanya Yanigahara. I’ve never read something beyond this book in which the characters felt realer to me than some of the real people I know. Yanigahara’s ability to immerse you in the story, in the world she’s created, is unparalleled. Jude’s plight also helped me understand more about how trauma can follow and shape a person than some of my experiences working at an actual inpatient psychiatric hospital ward; I worked to get into patients’ heads, to help them, but one can never quite reach through someone’s barriers the way you can into a well-rendered character’s head, and this was Jude St. Francis all the way.

Thanks, Christa!

Thank you, Anthony! This was a blast!

You can find my review of Christa’s second novel, Beneath the Poet’s House HERE.