New Fiction 2023 – August

I took a theater class one semester of high school, along with a final play at the end, and that is an intense type of person to hang around with. But I liked that there’s a subset of member who just does, like, building sets and stuff, because it me.

Never Say Never dir. Baoqiang Wang (2023)

So… signing shady contractual obligations with children is okay if you’re giving them something to do?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem dir. Jeff Rowe (2023)

This feels the most like playing with action figures out of any TMNT thing which makes it the most appropriate interpretation.

Meg 2: The Trench dir. Ben Wheatley (2023)

Not enough sea creecher.

Ransomed dir. Kim Seong-hun (2023)

I enjoy the sociopathic killer who could be in a boy band genre from South Korean cinema, and this is right in there.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter dir. André Øvredal (2023)

A fine Saturday afternoon on broacast TV sorta movie.

Jules dir. Marc Turtletaub (2023)

Got some aliens this month, and this one is a charming little story about how aliens can’t save us from our bodies’ inevitable betrayal.

Strays dir. Josh Greenbaum (2023)

A good road trip to set the soul afire.

Blue Beetle dir. Angel Manuel Soto (2023)

Lots of good details, but it still shakes out as a generic superhero movie of our age.

Gran Turismo dir. Neill Blomkamp (2023)

I saw this 1.5 times after the first showing failed halfway through. You know where it’s going and, you know, sports movie gonna sports.

birth/rebirth dir. Laura Moss (2023)

Hey! That’s it, the jam, the good stuff. A high-end version of my beloved anthology horror.

Landscape With Invisible Hand dir. Cory Finley (2023)

The other aliens movie of the month is more in the po-mo style of commentary on our societal ills. I look forward to this feeling quaint in 20 years.

Porco Rosso dir. Hayao Miyazaki (1992)

Damn, TaleSpin really do be like this. But I’ll just take it as more fun anthropomorphized adventures of the air and sea.

The Wind Rises dir. Hayao Miyazaki (2013)

Ghibli’s contemplative looks at Japanese culture and history are some monumental works.

Retribution dir. Nimród Antal (2023)

That’s your final guy? Shoulda been someone else.

To Live and Die in L.A. dir. William Friedkin (1985)

That’s some good 80s vibe I tell you what.

Tales from the Crypt – Seasons 5-6 (1993-1995)

Okay, alright, things are starting to sag a bit after the peak of seasons 3 and 4. Not a show to binge watch. But I still want a super cut of Cryptkeeper intros and outros.

Who with only five senses and a reliance on obsolete metal tech could really understand what it meant to be alive?

“Always Home” by Jeff Vandermeer

Suddenly they were aware of sounds their earbuds, earrings, and ear-surrounds had protected them from: car engines, emergency sirens, truck airbrakes, the rustles and shuffles that indicated the existence of other people. The awareness became torture.

“Devolution” by Ellen Ullman

They ate half of the smoked flesh right there out on the lawn, taking turns, only ever eating slices of the other. They both agreed there was something too bloodlessly sickening about eating the self.

“Flesh” by Louis Evans

Ahem

The other girls at the store had roommates. They thought it was odd how much I paid for no company at all.

“WPO” by Joanne McNeil

New Fiction 2022 – December

The Chimes at Midnight by Geoff Trowbridge (2008)

It takes its time to get to the meat until there’s more to chew on in the latter half. Most of these TOS alternate histories were mildly interesting but this one is a cut above.

A Gutted World by Keith R.A. DeCandido (2008)

“What if the Cardassians discovered the Bajoran Wormhole?” This is the question that got me reading all these Myriad Universes novellas in the first place, but because I’m me and a completionist, I couldn’t just skip past the others in the series to get here. I come to Star Trek expanded universe stuff with a DS9 first approach so I was keen to read how the author spun out this alternate history in which the Dominion gets their foothold in the alpha quadrant if they met the Cardassians first. It had a little too much TNG cast for my taste (especially since those characters dominate so many of these stories), but it’s a worthy DS9 tale.

Brave New World by Chris Roberson (2008)

Now we get to a whole lot of Data, so more of TNG. The courtroom stuff doesn’t hit the same way in these stories as it does in the TV episodes, and then all the implications of androids woven into the fabric of the galaxy is strangely not that compelling.

The Embrace of Cold Architects by David R. George III (2010)

Another Data-heavy story. I think these novellas introduce interesting directions with how the Federation will absolutely exploit artificial beings if they have the slightest excuse, but this particular one needed to be its own novel. It ends just as things get interesting.

The Tears of Eridanus by Steve Mollmann & Michael Schuster (2010)

A TOS story that deviates from the prime universe thousands of years before the era we know. It revels in an alternate history in which the Andorians made first contact with Earth, and the Vulcans and Romulans never parted ways.

The Last Generation by Andrew Steven Harris, Gordon Purcell, Bob Almond, Terry Pallot, Mario Boon, John Hunt, Robbie Robbins, Chris Mowry, Neil Uyetake, Andy Schmidt, Scott Dunbier, Justin Eisinger, Mariah Huehner, Bill Tortolini (2009)

I could’ve done without Data and the TNG cast at the center of things (again), but it’s cool to see Sulu flying around being a badass in his Excelsior ship. All these TNG tales feels like the higher-ups asking “Ey, where’s my TNG (money)? I gotta have my TNG (money)!”

Strange World dir. Don Hall (2022)

I loved it, but then I’m a sucker for perilous adventure tales across strange new lands.

Violent Night dir. Tommy Wirkola (2022)

Die Hard meets Home Alone with a blend of Bad Santa and maybe God of War?

Empire of Light dir. Sam Mendes (2022)

I was there for it all the way. Sometimes I remember I’m a normie-ass man but that part that feels like I’m a distant weirdo never goes away, and this movie’s for that guy.

Demon Wind dir. Charles Philip Moore (1990)

I watched this movie within a video game along with its MST3K-style commentary at 2 AM with my youngest brother and what a thing to do and write down.

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio dir. Guillermo del Toro (2022)

I mean, of course it’s great. I haven’t read the original story and it sounds like this hews closer to that than the popular perception from Disney’s takes.

Babylon dir. Damien Chazelle (2022)

This could’ve been dry but instead it’s constantly running at full charge, and even when we slow down to the granular level of filmmaking commentary it’s still a high pressure romp.

Jack and Jill dir. Dennis Dugan (2011)

Eh, I suppose the most impressive thing here is that Sandler sells the idea that’s he’s own twin sister to the point that you consider them separate people.

The Whale dir. Darren Aronofsky (2022)

This had the potential to be bleak but instead it’s just genuinely hopeful. The performances come across a little too staged, as does the whole movie I suppose, so it’s no surprise to learn than this was originally a stage play.

The Outer Limits – “The Sandkings” (1995)

Here we go! I’d been thinking about watching the entire 1995 reboot of The Outer Limits and it’s everything I could’ve hoped for. All the 90s actors I remember from Saturday afternoon sci-fi TV, dated effects and production techniques, stories about man’s reach exceeding his grasp. This first episode even features three generations of the Bridges acting clan. The thing about intelligent alien bugs isn’t so compelling, but the overall production makes up for it.

The Outer Limits – “Vanishing Act” (1996)

I was looking for an episode that features New Year’s Day and found this story about a man who time jumps forward by ten years every time he falls asleep. It’s a sci-fi sort of twist on It’s a Wonderful Life and very reminiscent of something you’d see on Star Trek.

Tales from the Crypt – “And All Through the House” (1989)

And since I plan to also watch Tales from the Crypt after TOL, I skipped over to this story about a bad Santa stalking a bad mom.

The Outer Limits – “Valerie 23” (1995)

Here’s a reminder not to fuck around with robots. Don’t do it! Especially not if they’re hot! There’ll more fucked up robot tales in the seasons ahead…

The Outer Limits – “Blood Brothers” (1995)

We get a few stories here about rich assholes trying to live forever. This one does also present an interesting idea: what if we could all be cured of all ailments and live twice as long in the process? What happens when no one’s dying and the population count explodes? In any case, that’s more thought than what goes into the episode’s story. It’s mostly about a rich guy jumping the gun on proper medical testing and getting screwed as he should.

The Outer Limits – “The Second Soul” (1995)

Oh man, I was definitely on the paranoid side of this story as the events unfold. It was nice to get one of these where it isn’t a bleak or worst case ending.

The Outer Limits – “White Light Fever” (1995)

Another rich asshole who literally wants to live forever. And that’s it. Spoiler: he doesn’t get to.

Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared – Series 2 (2022)

I wanna love this because I loved the original web series, but binging a bunch of TV-length episodes just felt like too much of it. I liked them when they were shorter and spaced out more. Binger beware, I know.

New Fiction 2022 – November

“Esther” ed. Richard Challoner (1752)

A rare tale of the Jewish people catching a break before it hits the fan. (Though it does hit the fan for their enemies.)

“Job” ed. Richard Challoner (1752)

Job’s real disgruntled but you can’t blame him with a god like this.

Dracula Daily – “October” by Bram Stoker & ed. Matt Kirkland (1897, 2021)

What a journey. I’m kinda sad not to receive further correspondence from my good friends in 19th century England. At least now I see how much hornier Francis Ford Coppola made his version of events.

“Clyde” by biomechanicalmash and bogleech (2020)

If you look too closely.

Places of Exile by Christopher L. Bennett (2008)

Everything I wanted.

The New Girl by R.L. Stine (1989)

A simple start to a vast catalog.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (1959)

The depths of a haunted state.

Seeds of Dissent by James Swallow (2008)

Too good at imagining the worst way to treat people.

“Lenny” by David Cooper (2021)

You might as well tell them.

Scorn dev. Ebb Software (2022)

If you make me fight, make it good.

Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force dev. Raven Software (2000)

A maelstrom of rectangles.

The Legend of Mor’du dir. Brian Larsen (2012)

I didn’t need to know.

Decision to Leave dir. Park Chan-wook (2022)

Just four pills, that’s all.

Tár dir. Todd Field (2022)

The harder you run.

The Banshees of Inisherin dir. Martin McDonagh (2022)

The war at home.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever dir. Ryan Coogler (2022)

Tragedy squared.

Holy Spider dir. Ali Abbasi (2022)

Did you expect a victory?

The Menu dir. Mark Mylod (2022)

We’re not meant to excel.

She Said dir. Maria Schrader (2022)

An insatiable pit.

Ticket to Paradise dir. Ol Parker (2022)

Who accepts the loss?

Wendell & Wild dir. Henry Selick (2022)

Raze the structures.

The Devil’s Own dir. Alan J. Pakula (1997)

No boat will save you.

Brave dir. Mark Andrews & Brenda Chapman (2012)

Choked by the weight of all that matter.

Devotion dir. J. D. Dillard (2022)

They wait decades.

Bones and All dir. Luca Guadagnino (2022)

When you find them.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery dir. Rian Johnson (2022)

Cut to the beginning.

Suspiria dir. Dario Argento (1977)

Mysteries of the prior inhabitant.

Cabinet of Curiosities (2022)

Hold the kite string loosely.

What If…? (2021)

Possibilities amount to one thread.

The Sandman (2022)

Small hits collection.

Ms. Marvel (2022)

Now you’re getting personal.

The Twilight Zone – Season 1 (2019)

A small hook, but still.

I am selfish, private and easily bored. Will this be a problem?

“A Study in Emerald” by Neil Gaiman

Halpin Frayser was a poet only as he was a penitent: in his dream.

“The Death of Halpin Frayser” by Ambrose Bierce (1891)

Those Bierce burns are eternal.

Bliss

I wrote a story in 2011 that came to mind after some recent reading.

CW for mentions of sexual violence and murder.

…

When first asked why he
did it he would have no real answer, no apology, no regret. They would accuse
him of being a pervert. They would call him pathetic. They would grimace at the
revelation of his crime. They would shake their head in shamed acknowledgement of
his existence. The news among his neighbors would vary in scope and ferocity.
Some would speculate that he was going to rape the wife; others, that he intended
to murder the husband. Most would believe that he was sexually depraved and got
off on the entire affair. Eventually, sex factored into every opinion of him,
and they would insist that he be removed from the neighborhood for fear of what
he might do to them or to their children. Even those who had some vague feeling
of compassion would fall in line with the general opinion of his character.

They would say he was
unremarkable. Brown hair, brown eyes, pale skin that showed promise of a tan
but was never in the sunlight enough to attain one. He shaved every morning and
always dressed in button-down shirts, slacks, wing tips, and ties. The police
would report finding twenty-three ties when they searched his home for evidence
of photography or other keepsakes that were typical in such cases. He remarked
on unremarkable things, like the weather, and the state of his car, or the cars
of those he spoke to. He mowed his lawn regularly and cleaned the gutters every
six months, or more frequently if the rains had been heavy. He was forty-three
years old, owned a home, earned a good wage, and was in the phase of his life
when a man should have a wife and begin having children. He went on dates and
accepted good-natured ribbing from his married neighbors when they told him he
needed to get himself a family. When questioned by police and, later, a single
reporter from a national magazine they had never heard of, they would say that
he was nice, always agreeable and in good spirits, but that it did seem strange
that he remained unmarried, as he was a good-looking and successful man by all
accounts.

After he was gone his every past deed would be
questioned. The assistance in Mrs. Foster’s garden would become reconnaissance
of the house next door, where the Bellfields and their three young daughters
lived. They would feel ill at the realization that the potato salad that he
brought to the Fourth of July block party could have been laced with something
intended to pacify them and keep them unaware of his presence. No one knew what
he could have been planning when he joined the Christmas carol troupe that
covered every house in a three-block radius. From then on they would make sure
that their doors were locked, that the curtains and blinds were drawn, and that
all sounds from the outside were immediately investigated.

His former neighbors would
read an account in the national magazine of his life before the arrest, his
experience with the police, and his life afterward. They would become confused
by his reasoning, doubtful of its veracity, and sickened by the twisted nature
of the article. Their opinions of him would remain unchanged, even when they
read of his “lonely upbringing in a stern household.” They would not care for the
passage about him being “nestled among the bushes outside the living room
window where he found his peace,” nor the “moments of bliss that for one reason
or another eluded him elsewhere.” They would not understand witnessing “the
thrill of the wife’s promotion; the pain of the husband’s father’s death; the comfort
of footsteps from the carpeted hallway; light from the television on their tired
faces; the hum of the garbage disposal unit in the kitchen; the sense of a complete
life found at last by peering into the window and watching it all unfold.”