J. Ichabod Whateley

Weirdly lit weirdo book ‘Moonfellows’ by Danger Slater.

Today’s reading weirdness is brought to us by @dangerslater.bsky.social ‘s ‘Moonfellows’. So far it is funny as fuck, which makes the anticipation for the terrible that much more delectable.

Try hitting up Parallel Worlds on NE Alberta, if you’re going to be in town for a mite. Tiny, but well curated, and they may be able to recommend more reasonably priced options.

Dammit! Why does Powell’s keep doing all the cool shit on the one night a week I can’t escape the bar. I’m gonna send a bunch of my regulars to ask sketchy questions for me.

Ain’t kind at all. Your work is spectacular and worthy of more recognition. Gave my little brother in West Virginia a copy of ‘Chaindevils’ cause it was both great, and the Appalachias and the Ozarks share some common settlers. He got it.

Not only is this a brilliant collection of deeply fucked up regional horror with pitch perfect voice, it is also really funny. Like, really, really funny in places. Go get’ chu some.

Cassandra Khaw’s ‘The Library at Hellebore’ on a marble top beside what I sincerely hope is not a member of the hellebore genus.

Afternoon reading by @casskhaw.bsky.social . Not only is the physical book of ‘The Library at Hellebore’ a gorgeous work of art (those endpapers, those glorious indigo sprayed edges), but it is chock full of one of my favorite prose stylists words. No one writes more beautiful scenes of cannibalism.

Valkyrie Loughcrewe’s ‘Decrepit Ritual’ on a rusty ass outdoor metal table.

Midway through @goresorcerer.bsky.social ‘Decrepit Ritual’ from @ghoulish.bsky.social , and fuck me but it is a twisted delight. A framed narrative in second person slowly bleeding into an ultra-violent technicolor euroshlock gorefest of exquisite prose. My crit-lit-nerd/genre-fuckery heart is full.

Fuck you. If you want my support after you lost your funding from the current administration, than you can be honest about how anti-DEI is just racist ass bullshit. And yet here you are pandering to the assholes who cut your funding regardless. Be real journalists or fuck off.

(This post brought to you by a promise I made to @tenebrouspress.bsky.social to pay forward their extremely over generous gift of books for which I did not pay. Support your local indie press and authors you heathens!)

Three unread books - displayed before a pair of piles of also unread books - by Danger Slater, Valkyrie Loughcrewe, and Matthew Mitchell. I don’t have a problem, *you* have a problem!

Today’s book haul courtesy of @dangerslater.bsky.social , @goresorcerer.bsky.social , & @matthewmitchell.bsky.social ! Shits about to get real weird out here!

Stephen Graham Jones ‘The Buffalo Hunter Hunter’ paired with a Buffalo Trace Single Barrel Select from Westmoreland Liquor.

Post shift prose courtesy of the prolific scribe @sgj.bsky.social . Paired with a Buffalo Trace Single Barrel Select, obviously.

I’m not sure what this says about my upbringing, but nothing in this initial post seems weird to me. I’m one of 30 odd grandchildren, and I cannot be certain about any blood relationship in my family.

Cebo Campbell’s “Sky Full of Elephants” accompanied by whisky and beer.

Tonight’s post shift reading is the (thus far) phenomenal ‘Sky Full of Elephants’ by Cebo Campbell. Beautiful turns of phrase (his past work as a poet shines through his prose) and an oddly hopeful novel for these times.

Jacy Morris’ (unreleased) new novel ‘We Like It Cherry’ accompanied by a half pour of beer and Fuk whisky.

Tonight’s post shift reading is brought to us by @jacymorris.bsky.social and @tenebrouspress.bsky.social . This is absolutely not me gloating about having an early copy - this is research for a future cocktail. Nothing more than research…

You’re either a shill or an idiot. Living in Portland and seeing the studies - every fucking time it does not matter if you raise the minimum wage. You know what you should be upset about? Fucking Amazon and Microsoft have paid less in actual dollars, not tax percentage than you. Fuck the fuck off.

Cause I love this series, and I can at least talk my regulars into reading this. Or I will.

Hey, would you like to do a local book release in Portland, with a weird asshole who would build cocktails around your stories, once I’ve read them? (Have not purchased this volume yet.)

Many thanks to @margaret.bsky.social & @tangledwilderness.bsky.social for tonight’s whisky accompaniment.

Brilliant take on the “are we inherently savages” trope. But it’s the lingering doubt about what else may have been going on in the park that elevates it to a terrifying masterpiece. A novel that is more chilling for what is not revealed.

Only £20! you lucky monster! (It is significantly more expensive a dram stateside.) Enjoy the delightful taste of bonfire smoke in late autumn along the seaside, upon which ancient and hard used leather saddlebags have been tossed to burn as the sun sets.

And it works for every faith, background, or ethnicity! Catholic Irish got the fuck around, and anyone who calls you out looks poorly.

Wait?! You guys are getting *paid*?!

Try @margaret.bsky.social Danielle Cain series. Short, beautifully written novellas about anarchist magicians and monster hunters. The third novella comes out next month (also: they possess the best titles in the business right now. Start with “The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion”).

I have witnessed vermut that you would not believe! Wermut that spoke to ages lost. Vermú that tasted of futures undreamed. Vermute that sailors in foreign ports wept to know. All these vermutti erased by those who chose not to taste…

You toss this off as levity, but in 21 years as a bartender, the two most important things I’ve learned are this: 1) less fucking sugar; and 2) spend ten dollars more on slightly better vermouth. Fixes almost every cocktail ever.

One of my former players, co-players, and then DM’s said to me tonight that “you always play the lawful evil asshole”. When I attempted to deny that, he said “sure, but even your ethically neutral and/or good characters push the boundaries of legality and chivalry”. And, yeah, accurate.

K. E. Wolfe’s delightfully demented “Sing, Behemoth, Sing”

Just tore through “Sing, Behemoth, Sing” by K.E. Wolfe. A short of brilliant world building and obtuse storytelling. Suspect some of the images and ideas are going to linger for a bit.

The menu is working as intended! (Coincidentally, I almost chose @jeffreyford8.bsky.social “The Physiognomy” for inclusion on this menu, but it has like more of a fall/winter cocktail vibe.)

It seemed appropriate to the feel of the work.

Presenting the Spring/Summer 2025 cocktail menu: The New Weird. Containing six deliciously weird libations inspired by some fantastic authors and their works.

Delayed for a bit, but the Spring/Summer 2025 cocktail menu is finally here! Celebrating the genre that got me through my undergrad. With many thanks to @michaelcisco.bsky.social , @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social , @caitlinrkiernan.bsky.social , China Mieville, K. J. Bishop, and Salvador Plascencia.