After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
@megapolisomancy.bsky.social
Nonfiction about weird fiction at Seize the Press, Strange Horizons, Interzone, Los Angeles Review of Books, Nightmare, and Ancillary Review of Books, where I am also an editor. Also jazz, metal, leftism. he/him
https://doomsdayer.wordpress.com/writings/
https://doomsdayer.wordpress.com/writings/
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Profane Illuminations: An Initiation
Zachary Gillan Everyone knows that the short story is the ideal form for weird fiction. But why? What is it about the form and the genre that makes them so symbiotic? What might we learn by explori…
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
I've been threatening for a while to start a column on collections of weird fiction, and so: Profane Illuminations, a quarterly series where I'll look at a few in tandem and see what threads I can draw out about their stories and the genre at large. Quick intro here, first full entry next week.
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
"Is it a stretch to rejoice in the fact that that elision of boundaries defies fascism’s hysterical insistence on clean lines and demarcations? Probably. I’m thinking it anyway." 🔥
If anyone is looking for something to recommend for any awards you might be associated with, "Reading Weird Fiction in an Age of Fascism" by Zachary Gillan @megapolisomancy.bsky.social deserves all the awards. Essential reading.
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2025/05/02/r...
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2025/05/02/r...
Reading Weird Fiction in an Age of Fascism
Zachary Gillan I have been thinking, for obvious reasons, about living in a world of reactionary politics, and about the political valences of the irreal, and about ARB’s insistence upon the radica…
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
November 10, 2025 at 10:44 PM
"Is it a stretch to rejoice in the fact that that elision of boundaries defies fascism’s hysterical insistence on clean lines and demarcations? Probably. I’m thinking it anyway." 🔥
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
Great essay.
If anyone is looking for something to recommend for any awards you might be associated with, "Reading Weird Fiction in an Age of Fascism" by Zachary Gillan @megapolisomancy.bsky.social deserves all the awards. Essential reading.
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2025/05/02/r...
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2025/05/02/r...
Reading Weird Fiction in an Age of Fascism
Zachary Gillan I have been thinking, for obvious reasons, about living in a world of reactionary politics, and about the political valences of the irreal, and about ARB’s insistence upon the radica…
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
November 9, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Great essay.
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
A despicable death cult masquerading as a country.
September 24, 2024 at 11:24 PM
A despicable death cult masquerading as a country.
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
Cheating and picking two:
1) the foreword to Thomas Ha’s UNCERTAIN SONS AND OTHER STORIES, because I love the stories and it was great to work with Thomas and Michael at Undertow.
2) “Reading Weird Fiction in an Age of Fascism”, because it’s kind of a précis of everything I’ve been doing.
1) the foreword to Thomas Ha’s UNCERTAIN SONS AND OTHER STORIES, because I love the stories and it was great to work with Thomas and Michael at Undertow.
2) “Reading Weird Fiction in an Age of Fascism”, because it’s kind of a précis of everything I’ve been doing.
November 9, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Cheating and picking two:
1) the foreword to Thomas Ha’s UNCERTAIN SONS AND OTHER STORIES, because I love the stories and it was great to work with Thomas and Michael at Undertow.
2) “Reading Weird Fiction in an Age of Fascism”, because it’s kind of a précis of everything I’ve been doing.
1) the foreword to Thomas Ha’s UNCERTAIN SONS AND OTHER STORIES, because I love the stories and it was great to work with Thomas and Michael at Undertow.
2) “Reading Weird Fiction in an Age of Fascism”, because it’s kind of a précis of everything I’ve been doing.
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
"She saw the branches drop about his steps and hide him. His figure faded out among the speckled shade and sunlight. The trees covered him. The tide just took him, all unresisting and content to go. Upon the bosom of the green soft sea he floated away beyond her reach of vision...He was gone."
November 10, 2025 at 12:20 PM
"She saw the branches drop about his steps and hide him. His figure faded out among the speckled shade and sunlight. The trees covered him. The tide just took him, all unresisting and content to go. Upon the bosom of the green soft sea he floated away beyond her reach of vision...He was gone."
November 10, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
I spent a good chunk of the past 11 months angry, angry at what this regime is doing to this country.
But im feeling levels of unbridled rage that I have not felt in years after watching the democrats negate their biggest win in years with a deal that gives the regime an even bigger victory
But im feeling levels of unbridled rage that I have not felt in years after watching the democrats negate their biggest win in years with a deal that gives the regime an even bigger victory
November 10, 2025 at 3:16 AM
I spent a good chunk of the past 11 months angry, angry at what this regime is doing to this country.
But im feeling levels of unbridled rage that I have not felt in years after watching the democrats negate their biggest win in years with a deal that gives the regime an even bigger victory
But im feeling levels of unbridled rage that I have not felt in years after watching the democrats negate their biggest win in years with a deal that gives the regime an even bigger victory
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
Wow
November 9, 2025 at 11:18 PM
Wow
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
So, so good. Well worth your Sunday reading time!
If anyone is looking for something to recommend for any awards you might be associated with, "Reading Weird Fiction in an Age of Fascism" by Zachary Gillan @megapolisomancy.bsky.social deserves all the awards. Essential reading.
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2025/05/02/r...
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2025/05/02/r...
Reading Weird Fiction in an Age of Fascism
Zachary Gillan I have been thinking, for obvious reasons, about living in a world of reactionary politics, and about the political valences of the irreal, and about ARB’s insistence upon the radica…
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
November 9, 2025 at 9:15 PM
So, so good. Well worth your Sunday reading time!
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
Trump: I'm dismantling the Constitution, building a paramilitary fascist army loyal only to me, demolishing the White House, and blowing up the US economy for my billionaire cronies
Schumer: Okay, but you have to extend subsidies for corporate health care
Trump: No
Schumer: Okay
Schumer: Okay, but you have to extend subsidies for corporate health care
Trump: No
Schumer: Okay
November 9, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Trump: I'm dismantling the Constitution, building a paramilitary fascist army loyal only to me, demolishing the White House, and blowing up the US economy for my billionaire cronies
Schumer: Okay, but you have to extend subsidies for corporate health care
Trump: No
Schumer: Okay
Schumer: Okay, but you have to extend subsidies for corporate health care
Trump: No
Schumer: Okay
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
For real. Please check this out, if you haven't. Share if you have. And nominate if you're so moved!
If anyone is looking for something to recommend for any awards you might be associated with, "Reading Weird Fiction in an Age of Fascism" by Zachary Gillan @megapolisomancy.bsky.social deserves all the awards. Essential reading.
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2025/05/02/r...
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2025/05/02/r...
Reading Weird Fiction in an Age of Fascism
Zachary Gillan I have been thinking, for obvious reasons, about living in a world of reactionary politics, and about the political valences of the irreal, and about ARB’s insistence upon the radica…
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
November 9, 2025 at 8:41 PM
For real. Please check this out, if you haven't. Share if you have. And nominate if you're so moved!
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
ICE Agent Panics After Realizing There More Children Than He Has Flash-Bangs
ICE Agent Panics After Realizing There More Children Than He Has Flash-Bangs
CHICAGO—His heart racing with terror as he found himself completely surrounded, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent conducting a raid on a Chicago elementary school reportedly fell into panic...
theonion.com
November 9, 2025 at 7:00 PM
ICE Agent Panics After Realizing There More Children Than He Has Flash-Bangs
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
If anyone is looking for something to recommend for any awards you might be associated with, "Reading Weird Fiction in an Age of Fascism" by Zachary Gillan @megapolisomancy.bsky.social deserves all the awards. Essential reading.
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2025/05/02/r...
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2025/05/02/r...
Reading Weird Fiction in an Age of Fascism
Zachary Gillan I have been thinking, for obvious reasons, about living in a world of reactionary politics, and about the political valences of the irreal, and about ARB’s insistence upon the radica…
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
November 9, 2025 at 6:02 PM
If anyone is looking for something to recommend for any awards you might be associated with, "Reading Weird Fiction in an Age of Fascism" by Zachary Gillan @megapolisomancy.bsky.social deserves all the awards. Essential reading.
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2025/05/02/r...
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2025/05/02/r...
Cheating and picking two:
1) the foreword to Thomas Ha’s UNCERTAIN SONS AND OTHER STORIES, because I love the stories and it was great to work with Thomas and Michael at Undertow.
2) “Reading Weird Fiction in an Age of Fascism”, because it’s kind of a précis of everything I’ve been doing.
1) the foreword to Thomas Ha’s UNCERTAIN SONS AND OTHER STORIES, because I love the stories and it was great to work with Thomas and Michael at Undertow.
2) “Reading Weird Fiction in an Age of Fascism”, because it’s kind of a précis of everything I’ve been doing.
November 9, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Cheating and picking two:
1) the foreword to Thomas Ha’s UNCERTAIN SONS AND OTHER STORIES, because I love the stories and it was great to work with Thomas and Michael at Undertow.
2) “Reading Weird Fiction in an Age of Fascism”, because it’s kind of a précis of everything I’ve been doing.
1) the foreword to Thomas Ha’s UNCERTAIN SONS AND OTHER STORIES, because I love the stories and it was great to work with Thomas and Michael at Undertow.
2) “Reading Weird Fiction in an Age of Fascism”, because it’s kind of a précis of everything I’ve been doing.
Was this my favorite story in the collection? Maybe. Maybe not. (Probably, though.) But if you haven’t read it, you really, really should.
I've made @thomasha.bsky.social's original novelette "Uncertain Sons" - from his debut collection - available to read for those catching up on year-end reading, for awards eligibility and recommendations. Enjoy!
We appreciate your kind consideration.
undertowpublications.com/uncertain-sons
We appreciate your kind consideration.
undertowpublications.com/uncertain-sons
November 9, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Was this my favorite story in the collection? Maybe. Maybe not. (Probably, though.) But if you haven’t read it, you really, really should.
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
Looks like we’re doing weird vs horror discourse! www.nightmare-magazine.com/nonfiction/t...
November 8, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Looks like we’re doing weird vs horror discourse! www.nightmare-magazine.com/nonfiction/t...
November 9, 2025 at 2:48 AM
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
November 8, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
November 8, 2025 at 5:29 PM
November 8, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
“Cat Smaug with Southwestern cattle baron voice” is the most inspired design decision of all time
They look like cute little bulldogs. What, are they afraid of the excellent kitty-Smaug, too?
December 19, 2024 at 6:16 PM
“Cat Smaug with Southwestern cattle baron voice” is the most inspired design decision of all time
Reposted by After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest,
but, in all seriousness, Boone's Smaug is absolutely incredible, the sense of menace and power and disdain and pure pleasure in his total domination is amazing...the part where he laughs when bilbo says they're there for revenge is amazing, truly incredible acting from Boone
November 8, 2025 at 2:41 PM
but, in all seriousness, Boone's Smaug is absolutely incredible, the sense of menace and power and disdain and pure pleasure in his total domination is amazing...the part where he laughs when bilbo says they're there for revenge is amazing, truly incredible acting from Boone