The Means At Hand
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the-means-at-hand.bsky.social
The Means At Hand
@the-means-at-hand.bsky.social
An online magazine, on & about crime, noir, mysteries, detectives, and what makes it all tick. Run by @costakout.bsky.social. Submissions are always open. - themeansathand.wordpress.com
Pinned
A reminder, we are almost always open for submissions!
Submissions
How To Submit Got something to say? Want to say it through us? It’s pretty simple, just email us at TMAHcontact@gmail.com. Please put “TMAH (type) SUBMISSION” in your email’…
themeansathand.wordpress.com
Hi everyone. So we're gonna be putting TMAH to bed for the foreseeable future. Issues 1 through 7 will remain up as an archive for the foreseeable future, but right now we're not accepting submissions. It's been a good run but it's also time to move on.
August 25, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Don't forget, we're always open for submissions, looking for crime/noir short fiction and related nonfiction for issue 8!
Submissions
How To Submit Got something to say? Want to say it through us? It’s pretty simple, just email us at TMAHcontact@gmail.com. Please put “TMAH (type) SUBMISSION” in your email’…
themeansathand.wordpress.com
June 4, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Bumping this, we're not that active right now and slow on the emails but still open for submissions!
I'm busy until like mid-June but @the-means-at-hand.bsky.social is still open for submissions, I'm just not as quick on the responses, send in your short crime/noir fiction, essays, articles, comics, and even reviews!
Submissions
How To Submit Got something to say? Want to say it through us? It’s pretty simple, just email us at TMAHcontact@gmail.com. Please put “TMAH (type) SUBMISSION” in your email’…
themeansathand.wordpress.com
May 17, 2025 at 1:39 PM
We're on a bit of a break until the summer but why not use that time to catch up on some great crime/noir-influenced reading;
"The Means At Hand"
A Micropub on Noir, Mystery, & Crime Fiction
themeansathand.wordpress.com
April 21, 2025 at 5:23 PM
REMINDER: We've got a new story up!
April 11, 2025 at 11:32 PM
Check out our new short story, "Mean Enough" from Jeremy Estes! An outlaw country ballad come to life in a way Amigo The Devil himself would be proud of;
FLASH FICTION; “Mean Enough” by Jeremy Estes
She said the best songs are about death. “The rest are just bubblegum.” Our attempts sounded weak next to those old murder ballads she loved. They had a haunted house sound we couldn’t capture. I a…
themeansathand.wordpress.com
April 11, 2025 at 1:07 PM
A reminder, we are almost always open for submissions!
Submissions
How To Submit Got something to say? Want to say it through us? It’s pretty simple, just email us at TMAHcontact@gmail.com. Please put “TMAH (type) SUBMISSION” in your email’…
themeansathand.wordpress.com
April 8, 2025 at 11:08 PM
From @costakout.bsky.social, on the way that Aaron Katz's 2017 film ZODIAC captures the ways that the fringes of LA are the perfect encapsulation of modern neo-noir -
“Bright Lights, Big Cities” – GEMINI’s Low-Key LA Noir
The 2017 movie Gemini, starring Lola Kirke and Zoe Kravitz and directed by Aaron Katz, utilizes the elements of noir at a skeletal level. A multi-level narrative contained in an hour and a half, it…
themeansathand.wordpress.com
April 3, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Like comics? How about the amazing comic SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATER? Then check out Anthony Perconti's essay about it -
American Nightmare: The Noir Roots of SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATER by Anthony Perconti
(EDITOR’S NOTE: A truncated version of this article appeared in the second issue of Guilty Crime Magazine [Fall 2021]) ~ 1993 saw the publication of the DC/ Vertigo Comics title, Sandman Mystery Th…
themeansathand.wordpress.com
April 3, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Jacob Steven Mohr's "Bag Work" is a short story about boxing, revenge, and the long wait -
FICTION; “Bag Work” by Jacob Steven Mohr
I took a week after the fight to clear my head. A bottle of brown and a long slow cruise around my Boston apartment did the job, wearing down the soles of my loafers, pacing. Then I got dry, and I …
themeansathand.wordpress.com
April 3, 2025 at 12:47 PM
From @costakout.bsky.social himself, check out an essay on the neo-noir post-9/11 surrealness of @greatdismal.bsky.social's "Blue Ant" now-future;
Tomorrow’s Parties, Today’s Worries, & the Post-9/11 Noir of William Gibson’s “Spook Country”
He looked at her. “It’s good to see you.” “Good to see you, Reg. But I’m still confused.” “If you weren’t these days,” he said, “You&#821…
themeansathand.wordpress.com
April 1, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Check out "The Chamber of Flying Cocks," a moral dilemma that's nothing but shades of gray in a world of criminalized porn, from @illimani.bsky.social -
FICTION; “The Chamber of Flying Cocks” by Illimani Ferreira
It was 4 o’clock, and Fred’s 4 o’clock had just arrived, as he could attest by the image of the young man at his doorstep displayed by the small screen on his smart watch. Two things surprised Fred…
themeansathand.wordpress.com
April 1, 2025 at 1:44 PM
New short story up now at The Means At Hand, check out neo-noir dispatches of regret and sadness from the edge of the world in possible future. Read "Whale Meat," by @esedia.bsky.social -
FICTION; “Whale Meat” by Ekaterina Sedia
Ever since I was six, I believed that a divorce necessitated transpacific travel—ever since my mom bundled me into my warmest coat and took me to the US, while dad was left behind, small and sad. H…
themeansathand.wordpress.com
April 1, 2025 at 1:43 PM
Reposted by The Means At Hand
Enjoying a quiet Sunday? Why not read some great short noir fiction and essays from writers like @esedia.bsky.social, @illimani.bsky.social, @keithpille.bsky.social, @highway62.bsky.social, and yours-truly (plus others) at The Means At Hand, my crime/noir-themed webzine;
"The Means At Hand"
A Micropub on Noir, Mystery, & Crime Fiction
themeansathand.wordpress.com
March 16, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Reposted by The Means At Hand
Hey hey what if you were depressed about something completely different?

My story, Whale Meat (originally published in The Future is Japanese edited by @nmamatas.bsky.social ) is up at The Means at Hand!
March 31, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Reposted by The Means At Hand
Check out my new short story THE CHAMBER OF FLYING COCKS
March 10, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Guess we're here now.
March 31, 2025 at 2:55 PM