Reading the latest email from Psyche. Just fascinating insight into how younger folks are using AI to process the experience of growing up in difficult times. Well recommended!
bit.ly/3WrVWuV
#AI #Psyche #Writing #Science

Thinking about horror narrative and writing Writing Tips and Theories

Great horror writing starts with a great process.

I'm making the messy part visible today, inspired by:

Austin Kleon's "Show Your Work!" (Think process, not product).

Jane Friedman on making Substack a career.

bit.ly/46xENpP

#WritingTips #ShowYourWork

Gothic Week: On Vernon Lee's Haunting and the Shadow of Obsession Gothic Week 2025

In Vernon Lee's Hauntings, history is a hungry beast.
Old objects whisper, possessing aesthetes whose passions curdle into "moral madness." The horror? Is it a spirit, or the mind buckling under the beautiful, murderous weight of its own desires?
bit.ly/42n3tPk
#QueerHorror #VernonLee

The Blood and Soil: America’s Most Gothic Gothic Week 2025

What if the American landscape itself is a character in our horrors?

America's Most Gothic by Hieber & Janes explores how our chilling tropes are ripped straight from our forgotten, unquiet history. It makes you rethink horror's attraction.

bit.ly/4gLvaXM

#AmericasMostGothic #NetGalley

The Blood and Soil: America’s Most Gothic Gothic Week 2025

The true specters of America demand retribution.

I'm reviewing America's Most Gothic, which spotlights Mercy Brown, the Vampire of Exeter, and the exiled noblewoman of the Isle of Demons. It's a deep dive into our tragic, haunted past.
bit.ly/4nXcu9W

#SpookySeason #GothicHorror #RealGhostStories

The Blood and Soil: America’s Most Gothic Gothic Week 2025

Forget European crypts. True Gothic horror is rooted in the blood & soil of the American experiment.

Hieber & Janes's new book, America's Most Gothic, argues our chilling tropes—mad ancestors, murder, etc.—are unquiet history, not fiction.
bit.ly/4nXcu9W

#GothicWeek #HauntedHistory #BookReview

My latest post is live! I'm talking about the business of being a writer, Austin Kleon's "Show Your Work!", and a must-see Notion template for organizing your story. Take a look!http://bit.ly/3VZYf8k
#Substack #WriterTools #AustinKleon #Narrative #Horror

America's Dark Theologian: What Stephen King's Horror Can Teach Us About Faith Haunted Theology

What can Stephen King's horror teach us about faith? My latest post explores a book that calls King "America's dark theologian" and argues that horror is the perfect genre for exploring our deepest spiritual questions.
bit.ly/3I7krKG
#StephenKing #horror #theology #faith #amreading

What a Fairy Tale Taught Me About the Unmoving God Spiritual Narrative Therapy

A lot of us have wrestled with why bad things happen. My new post uses a fairy tale to explore one of the most unsettling ideas in theology: What if God is as stuck in the mess as we are?
bit.ly/3Ib61ZN
#LittleTheives #BookReview #Horror #Theology #Spirituality

When You Feel at Home in Horror A Haunted Tarot Reading

Why do we read horror? Maybe it's not about the scares, but about a strange sense of comfort. In a world full of real-life terrors, horror novels can offer a kind of soul medicine. I'm talking about it in my latest post, "When you feel at home in horror." bit.ly/4mU5f2v
#Horror #BookTok #Reading

The Real Terror of The Strain: Spiritual Horror in a World Without God A Haunted Reflection

The real horror of Del Toro's The Strain isn't the monsters. It's the spiritual terror.

In my latest post for Haunted Pulpit, I ask: what if God has walked away? This is the core of our "Corruption of the Soul" series.

bit.ly/47m6O4n

#horror #thestrain #hauntedpulpit #theology

Evil is what creates monsters in the first place. This week, we begin a new series called The Poisoned Soul that explores how dark forces can transform us. First up this Thursday, a deep dive into Guillermo del Toro's The Strain. bit.ly/3JxHU84 #ThePoisonedSoul #Horror #TheStrain #BookReview

The Corruption of the Soul: How We Become the Monsters We Fear A Haunted Pulpit Exploration

Ever wonder how ordinary people become monsters? Our new series, "The Corruption of the Soul," dives into the psychology and horror of it all. Tune in for our first lesson tomorrow! bit.ly/45OlsPp #Horror #BookReview #LittleThieves #TheHauntedPulpit

Wretch and the Spirituality of Pain Marginalia & Musings

What happens when the living refuse to let the dead rest? In this week's post, we're unpacking the spiritual darkness and haunting grief in Eric LaRocca's powerful novel, Wretch. Read the full analysis at bit.ly/45JFAlU #HauntedPulpit #horrorbooks #spirituality

Would you recommend this as a starting point for T. Kingsfisher's work? I love her covers, but haven't read her work.

A Summoning: Eric LaRocca's Wretch, or, The Unbecoming of Porcelain Khaw A Haunted Reading

New post up on The Haunted Pulpit!

In this week's haunted reading, we're diving into Eric LaRocca's Wretch, exploring the unsettling side of suffering and what it means to be a "wretch like me."

Read the full post here: bit.ly/4mrU3dg

#Horror #Wretch #BookReview @ericlarocca.bsky.social

Interesting take. I always thought Tanis was one of the most interesting characters, but I hadn't considered the idea of racism in his case. So, food for thought. Thanks!

King of Ashes and the "Fall of the Rebel Angels": A Reflection on Faith, Fire, and the Apocalypse Haunting Reflection

The new post for the Haunted Pulpit is live! This week, I dive into S.A. Cosby's crime epic, King of Ashes, and its surprising connections to the Book of Revelation. Come for the literary analysis, stay for the theological wrestling with themes of fire and faith. bit.ly/4lAcZVU #SACosby #Horror

Poverty in America persists because the rest of us benefit from it. That's the bracing argument of Matthew Desmond's book. My latest post, "The Haunting of Jefferson Run," wrestles with this truth and other themes of poverty, place, and prophecy found in The King of Ashes. bit.ly/45uOWSd #SACosby

The Haunting of Jefferson Run: On Poverty, Place, and Prophecy Pulpit Notes

The world of The King of Ashes is terrifyingly real. I dove into research on poverty and systemic violence to find out why. This post, "The Haunting of Jefferson Run," shares the five books that spoke to me, from Matthew Desmond to Farah Stockman. bit.ly/3UOKOb3 #BookRecs #horror

Gotta say, if getting that cute little critter is what happens, then may the TBR pile grow..

I'm thrilled to have received a review copy of Wretch by the incredible @ericlarocca.bsky.social!

I'll be delving into the spiritual implications of its intense, visceral horror for an upcoming post on the Haunted Pulpit. #Wretch #EricLaRocca #HorrorFiction #BodyHorror #TheHauntedPulpit

The Unholy Trinity: How the Three of Pentacles Reveals the Horror in S. A. Cosby's King of Ashes Tuesday's Marginalia & Musings

Dive into the full analysis on The Haunted Pulpit: open.substack.com/pub/thehaunt...

Let me know your thoughts on the book or my haunting method!

I used the Three of Pentacles (the monk, the architect, and the sculptor) to analyze the book's core themes of ethics, broken systems, and the nature of evil. It was a journey into some "undiscovered God country."

What does a tarot card have to say about S.A. Cosby's crime novel, King of Ashes? A lot, as it turns out.