Ollie Swasey

Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro says 'I'd rather die' than use generative AI Del Toro's new Frankenstein adaption reimagines Mary Shelley's 1818 Gothic novel. Frankenstein was like a tech bro: "creating something without considering the consequences," he explains.

“I am not interested, nor will I ever be interested. I'm 61, and I hope to be able to remain uninterested in using it at all until I croak. ... The other day, somebody wrote me an email, said, ‘What is your stance on AI?’ And my answer was very short. I said, ‘I'd rather die.’” 🫡

Thanks very much to Lee @godscrueljokelp.bsky.social for his tireless work on this gem of a magazine, and for making space for fucked up art in a culture that sorely needs it.

Thrilled to share that my story "Butterfly Stitch" is out today in GCJ5! Following a conviction for performing illegal abortions, a disgraced transsexual surgeon turns to backalley work offering gender affirming surgeries to those with nowhere else to go. www.godscrueljokelit.com/5-speculativ...

A photo of the USS Salem, a decommissioned Navy battleship, docked in a harbor at sunset.

A photo of an outdoor film screen at night. A man with a red beard is speaking on stage, and a title card on the screen reads "Coolidge After Midnite Presents Ghost Ship and The Fog Aboard the Sea Witch."

We just came back from an awesome double feature of Ghost Ship and The Fog screened on the deck of the USS Salem in Quincy, definitely one of the coolest @thecoolidge.bsky.social events I've ever been to

Hard to overstate how psyched I am for this issue, no one is doing it like GCJ. Look for my new story "Butterfly Stitch" when this comes out next week--if you think you can stomach it.

My new story "Newshawk's Crawl" is out today in Bewildering Stories! Thank you to Don Webb and the rest of the Ed staff, it's a pleasure to have this piece out in the world.
bewilderingstories.com/issue1106/ne...

Cinnamon babka for sunday dinner

RIP Tom Lehrer - the day he announced his items were public domain on a website, we mirrored it. Thank you for your service

archive.org/details/toml...

Elliott Smith - Elliott Smith [Full Album] - YouTube Elliott Smith - Elliott Smith [Full Album] (1995) Track listing 1. Needle in the Hay 2. Christian Brothers 3. Clementine 4. Southern Belle 5. Single File 6. ...

Another notable anniversary: Elliott Smith’s self-titled album turns 30 today.

I have objectively listened to this record more than any other. It is an essential record for me.

www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Hello #writingcommunity, I'm new to this platform and I'd love it if you took a moment to check out some of my short fiction; this post on my blog has links to everything available right now: www.tumblr.com/metaphorford... Stay tuned for new stuff forthcoming in God's Cruel Joke later this year!

A bright orange sunset over Cape Sounion in Greece

The Temple of Hephaestus in Athens, Greece half-hidden by trees in front of a pale blue late afternoon sky

These are but two of the literal hundreds of photos I took on our trip, from Cape Sounion on the last day and at the Temple of Hephaestus at the ancient agora

On 1/1/25 just after midnight I saw an owl while walking home from a party and took it as an omen. Fast forward to now, while my wife and I were in Greece last week I got not one but TWO awesome emails (one partial request and one job offer)! It seems like Athena might be on my side this year 🦉

One bright side to being forced to live in an AI slop tornado is now I see my artistic mistakes as incredibly endearing. The human machine of my body made that weird line. My worst day of drawing is completely untouchably better than anything AI will ever produce until the heat death of the universe

Vampire hunters keep killing Maggie's friends, and now he's been framed for a crime he didn't commit. When a retired PI learns his secret, she becomes an unexpected ally in his search for the truth.
🔎Urban fantasy/mystery
🌈LGBTQ cast
🦇Vampire MC
♾️ND rep
WWDITS x WE SOLVE MURDERS
#LuckyPit #PopUpPitA

300 characters feels like so few, I have no idea how other people are fitting so much into their pitches! If I were better at moodboards maybe that would help...

WWDITS X WE SOLVE MURDERS
While laying low during a surge of slayings, a vampire living in Miami is framed for a crime he didn't commit. When a retired private detective gets involved and learns his secret, she becomes an unexpected ally in his hunt for the true culprit. #LuckyPit #PopUpPitA

be so serious right now homie symbol collapse of a failed regime

"As a millennial, my experience with American politics has been as a kind of republic of gestures." Brandon Taylor continues to be one of the best and most approachable thinkers of the era.

open.substack.com/pub/blgtylr/...

Congratulations!!!

Hello #writingcommunity, I'm new to this platform and I'd love it if you took a moment to check out some of my short fiction; this post on my blog has links to everything available right now: www.tumblr.com/metaphorford... Stay tuned for new stuff forthcoming in God's Cruel Joke later this year!

In a faltering empire, a thief steals a crown from the ruling family, sparking a battle of wits with a spymaster. Drawn together by their contest, the two become tangled in a deadly web of conspiracies as their rivalry turns to unlikely alliance. SIX OF CROWS + FOUNDRYSIDE #2025Pit #A #F #LGBTQ

Ben lives free & easy to spite his dad, but now there's a new 24/7 bodyguard getting in Ben's way. He'd be more annoyed if not for the fact that someone wants him dead, and he needs help stopping whoever that is.

disco elysium + a marvellous light + the locked tomb
#2025Pit #A #SPF #S #LGBTQ

CRIMSON PEAK x THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR
An unsolved massacre. A haunted house. A prodigy spirit-medium commissioned to resolve both.
But she doesn't know that she did not come to the house as a hunter, but as prey.
#2025Pit #A #H #R #amquerying

A tourism style poster showing several bright and cheerful images of sandy beaches and people playing in the water. The bottom image is a smiling girl with big red X's over her eyes. Over the collage are the words "Welcome to Bludeye Beach", and over that text a graffiti style phrase "something is wrong in bludeye beach"

DRESDEN FILES X GRAVITY FALLS

Girl meets boy. Girl meets monsters. Girl has to save the town. Sometimes what you don't know can kill you in Bludeye Beach.

👧Character driven
🫂Found family
💕Slow burn romance
👻Monster menagerie

#2025pit #A #Q #H #F

WWDITS x THURSDAY MURDER CLUB

During a troubling surge of slayings, an ancient vampire living in Miami finds himself framed for a crime he didn't commit. When a retired private detective learns his secret, she becomes an unexpected ally in his hunt for the true culprit. #2025Pit #A #M #SPF #LGBTQ

Here's a link to where you can read this story for free: www.tumblr.com/metaphorford...

In "The Happiest Girl in the Whole U.S.A.," a lonely, isolated alcoholic begins to lose control of her fantasies when her hatred of her coworkers transforms into something... else. Read it in issue 4 of God's Cruel Joke: www.godscrueljokelit.com/issue-four

READER BEWARE 2024 by Reader Beware READER BEWARE 4: THE RETURN OF READER BEWARE

Some things shouldn't be toyed with. "From the Journals of Dr. Arthur Sweetly" documents a Victorian surgeon's attempts to prove the Rosicrucian myth of sympathetic writing in the 2024 issue of Reader Beware: readerbewaremag.itch.io/reader-bewar... (Bonus: my wife Corinne has a story in here, too!)

Putting in a maintenance request is easy. Getting them to listen is a lot harder. "Maintenance Email Transcripts Sept-Oct 2022" is a horror story about urban neglect, and the people who have to live with it. Pubbed as an online feature in God's Cruel Joke: www.godscrueljokelit.com/ollieswaseym...