ergot.

Filling in the Blanks: Zachary Gillan reviews A Voice Calling by Christopher Barzak - Seize The Press Christopher Barzak’s A Voice Calling is a novella about a haunted house; it is, more specifically, about the community haunted by the presence of a haunted house. The narrative voice, fascinatingly, i...

Zachary Gillan is back with some thoughts on the misuse of metafiction; should a haunted house story be scary? Or creepy? Or at all weird?

His review of A Voice Calling by Christopher Barzak, from STP Issue #13.

Guitarist and composer Aaron Quinn announces the release of To Be Held, the debut album from his quartet Sunchoke, arriving February 20, 2026 via Endectomorph Music. The seven-track album represents Quinn's first release as a leader in the improvised music community and marks a significant artistic departure from his previous solo projects and collaborations. Featuring David Leon on alto saxophone, Walter Stinson on bass, and Matt Honor on drums, Sunchoke explores a distinctive musical terrain where the raw intensity of early 2000s hardcore and screamo collides with sophisticated compositional techniques drawn from visionary composers Olivier Messiaen, Sofia Gubaidulina, and Henry Threadgill. The result is a densely layered, emotionally exhausting work that uses tonal moments—rather than dissonance—as its primary source of tension.

I'm usually not much for guitar-forward jazz ensembles but this one-sheet was tailor-made to break through that habit aaronquinn.bandcamp.com/album/to-be-...

That eerie bluesky feeling when you realize you’re the only person regularly following the artist bots

Truly, this place is a shadow realm, a haunted funhouse decorated with the remnants of defunct social media platforms. We walk alone through its long galleries, sometimes mistaking our distorted visage in its cracked mirrors for evidence of true company. Hélas

Baltimore / Saturday, March 7th / 5-7pm

Metro Gallery / 1700 N Charles St.

Always Crashing / @meeklingpress.bsky.social / @barrelhouse.bsky.social

I don’t know if it’s in this collection? but @spicycloaca.bsky.social’s “Pearlescent Tickwad” (in Strange Horizons) was one of my favorite stories of last year, so recommended!

a figure sitting at a table in the dark, papers and books in front of them, very subuded

art by marina ho

Cover for Destroy Me, Desecrate My Bones by Victoria Hood: cream cover with title in red and a small picture of a man dragging a dead body in the center bottom.

happy publication day to my newest collection Destroy Me, Desecrate My Bones ❤️‍🔥

it’s always exciting and nerve wrecking to throw the book out of the nest but I hope you enjoy it 😘

stories, essays, poems, and diagrams lurk within to explore queer love and desire

Thanks for the Publisher's Weekly Starred Review! Please read the review and consider whether you would enjoy this book.

If so, it's a great time to preorder!

SHORT STORY REX Jan 2026 SHORT STORY REX Jan 2026 [Before we begin: it does feel hopelessly trivial to be nattering on about short fiction just now, so let my first recommendation...

Like short stories but are tired of dojng the same inane discourse about stories from 70 years ago?read my newsletter and discourse about stuff from @strangehorizons.bsky.social @kayv.bsky.social @ancillaryreviewofbooks.org and crucially, the 2nd Red Krayola album buttondown.com/shortstoryre...

valentine's day is coming soon <3

I’m overjoyed to have a story published by ergot. I’ve admired the work they’ve championed for a few years now. It’s a privilege to be one of the cool kids.

So what is weird fiction, anyway? It's when you read weird fiction.

This is my finest work

God of the Community Garden

Read my new story about life and death at a community garden. GOD OF THE COMMUNITY GARDEN at the one and only @burialmagazine.bsky.social

i'll be happy if you preorder my collection and *thrilled* that you're supporting Minnesota rent relief efforts! they're almost to their goal - help them make it

Home | Cursed Morsels Press

Today, all Cursed Morsels store proceeds that would normally go to me will instead go to rent relief for 16 St. Paul families affected by ICE detention and occupation.

Check out our store if you love weird horror and supporting neighbors during times of fascist terror: www.cursedmorselspress.com

How to be a Writer.
1. Stare out of window at rain.
2. Experience a certain lassitude.
3. Contemplate the infinite.
4. Tea.

ICYMI

ergot. innovative + experimental horror

"He’s so small. I pick him up and put him back to bed.
‘I’ve been dead a long time,’ he says.
‘Really?’ I ask.
‘Why yes,’ he says. ‘And what are you doing here? You haven’t been born yet.’"

Today on ergot.: 'The Forest of Almost Death' by @timothyfox.bsky.social

www.ergot.press/authors/Timo...

ergot. innovative + experimental horror

"The hospital is built on a cliff overlooking the ocean. From his room, I can see down the coast to where the fires burn. When I’m not sitting at his bedside, I walk the long hallways..."

Today on ergot.: 'The Forest of Almost Death' by @timothyfox.bsky.social

www.ergot.press/authors/Timo...

You Have Got to Go Straight Ahead: The Aesthetics of Insistence in The Kills’ “Tape Song” — Yanis Iqbal In The Kills’ “Tape Song,” there is enjoyment, but enjoyment of a peculiar kind, enjoyment that doesn’t come from aiming at enjoyment, but enjoyment that is simply picked up, assumed along the way,…

"Roaming is everything. To roam is to reject the itinerary, to squander the path. Roaming means stepping without knowing the destination, wandering until the body itself becomes lost ..."

You Have Got to Go Straight Ahead — Yanis Iqbal

minorliteratures.com/2026/02/05/y...

Tomorrow on ergot.: a new trip to the hospital with Timothy Fox @timothyfox.bsky.social

2026 Pre-Order Bundle — Undertow Publications Pre-order all 3 of our 2026 titles: Weird Horror #12 (Shipping March) Weird Horror #13 (Shipping August) Best Weird Fiction of the Year, Vol. 2 (Shipping November)

Reminder you can really help us out by pre-ordering our 2026 titles.

Thank you!

Weird Horror #12 (Shipping March)

Weird Horror #13 (Shipping August)

Best Weird Fiction of the Year, Vol. 2 (Shipping November)

undertowpublications.com/shop/2026-pr...

Seeding of a Ghost (1983) A cursed taxi driver begs a vengeful sorcerer to undo his hex and revive his wife after a brutal tragedy.

ergot. work of the day: 'Seeding of a Ghost' 1983, dir. Shaw Brothers

eternal.tv/programs/see...

You Have Got to Go Straight Ahead: The Aesthetics of Insistence in The Kills’ “Tape Song” — Yanis Iqbal In The Kills’ “Tape Song,” there is enjoyment, but enjoyment of a peculiar kind, enjoyment that doesn’t come from aiming at enjoyment, but enjoyment that is simply picked up, assumed along the way,…

You Have Got to Go Straight Ahead: The Aesthetics of Insistence in The Kills’ “Tape Song” — @yanisiqbal.bsky.social

minorliteratures.com/2026/02/05/y...

KEEP PLANNING – Perry Ruhland

#031 – "Directions" by Perry Ruhland

new fiction by now-three time Keep Planning author Perry Ruhland out today. take a trip down a long dark tunnel, towards the silent ruins of the past

if i had a nickel for every time i got a story published that was written while obsessively listened to the annihilation (2019) soundtrack i'd have 2 nickels which isn't a lot but I love that it happened twice - "this is not your extinction event" coming soon with @othersidespec.bsky.social

My review of The Cellar Below the Cellar by Ivy Grimes from @apexmag.bsky.social ! historythatneverwas.com/2026/02/04/r...