HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! Now read THANATOS, my creepy short story at Malarkey Books.

Malarkey Books published Hellarkey, just in time for Halloween (as a fundraiser for the press), and it sold out in mere hours. But even if you missed the chance to get your own copy, you can now read my story online!!!

Read Thanatos here.

A happy samhain to you and yours,

LJ

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Between Hallowe’en and Bonfire Night
BY RODDY LUMSDEN

Just then, encountering my ruddy face
in the grand piano’s cold black craquelure,
it conjured the jack-o’-lantern moon
dipping up over the roofs of the Tenderloin.

Only when I have done with the myths—
the inner spill that triggers us to flame,
breasts so sensitive a moment’s touch
will call down fever; the dark sea-lane

between limbic squall and the heart’s harbour—
will I picture you, just beyond innocence,
lying stripped by a thrown-wide window,
letting the cool breeze covet your ardour.

EYEBROW RAISERS
The ugliest house in America
That time DON RICKLES was a featured character in Superman comic books
Kid needs permission slip to read Fahrenheit 451
A brief history of Appalachian snake handlers
Butt plugs used to be marketed as miracle cure for headaches and acne

HOLIDAY SPIRIT
The history of candy corn
The best of NASA’s pumpkin carving competition
Spooky skull door, Fort Worth, TX, 1946
The original Jack-o-lanterns were made of turnips and WERE TERRIFYING
17 real life ghost stories that will freak you the fuck out
The Bell Witch Cave
Samhain: Traditions and Rituals for the New Year
What is a ghoul?

Image credit
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CULTURAL LITERACY

RACE SALIENCE
How to choose a non-racist Halloween costume
The racist and sexist history of keeping birth control side effects a secret
AFROPUNK’s White person’s guide to Black neighborhoods

AMERICA
Cahokia: the enormous, pre-Columbian city you’ve never heard of
This lake in Montana is full of colored pebbles
Ansel Adams’ photos of life in American internment camps for Japanese-American citizens and immigrants
Body ritual among the Nacirema

CLEAR EYES, FULL HEARTS
Artemisia Gentileschi: more savage than Caravaggio
How to suppress women’s criticism
What Rich Cohen learned from his 3 a.m. calls with Marlon Brando
“Jesus Hasn’t Saved Us:” young black women returning to ancestral religions
When the art department takes over your Citgo commercial

HAPPY PLACE
KATE MCKINNON GHOSTBUSTERS OUTTAKES
An elephant comes to the rescue
Lin-Manuel Miranda sings Hedwig to his dog

PARENTING WINS
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s ‘Feminist Manifesto’ on how to raise a child
A mom sticks up for her daughter at school

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Pro-tip: email subscribers click title for HAWT GIF of KATE MCKINNON WINKING