New Fiction 2023 – August

“Lamentations of Jeremias” ed. Richard Challoner (1752)

A little tag to the end of Jeremias about how dealing with God sucks, and there’s another one after this.

“The Miracle of the Lily” by Clare Winger Harris (1928)

Water yourself.

“The Conquest of Gola” by Leslie F. Stone (1931)

Why dudes gotta be like that.

“The Black God’s Kiss” by C.L. Moore (1934)

Fuck. Yes.

“Space Episode” by Leslie Perri (1941)

Fellas, just step aside.

“That Only a Mother” by Judith Merril (1948)

You see it coming but still hits.

“In Hiding” by Wilmar H. Shiras (1948)

Okay things get weird and eugenicsy with this atomic supermen bullshit.

“Contagion” by Katherine MacLean (1950)

Again with the genetic supermen business. Maybe that’s the intended effect?

“The Inhabited Men” by Margaret St. Clair (1951)

That’s some good slow-burn space horror.

“Ararat” by Zenna Henderson (1952)

Oh no the superior beings are among us and better than us and will replace us, aka yikes.

“All Cats Are Gray” by Andrew North (1953)

See or not, they’re there.

“Created He Them” by Alice Eleanor Jones (1955)

Rather be dead tbh.

“Mr. Sakrison’s Halt” by Mildred Clingerman (1956)

Get me outta here too.

“All the Colors of the Rainbow” by Leigh Brackett (1957)

God, this was a tough and necessary read.

“Pelt” by Carol Emshwiller (1958)

We’re all a skin to someone.

“Car Pool” by Rosel George Brown (1959)

This style, holy shit. Getting into the stuff I came up with, the style of the gazed navel.

“For Sale, Reasonable” by Elizabeth Mann Borgese (1959)

Don’t hire me.

“Birth of a Gardener” by Doris Pitkin Buck (1961)

You don’t listen.

“The Tunnel Ahead” by Alice Glaser (1961)

I mean, what else to do?

“The New You” by Kit Reed (1962)

They’ll bottle you up soon enough.

“Another Rib” by John Jay Wells & Marion Zimmer Bradley (1963)

Not so shocking now.

“When I Was Miss Dow” by Sonya Dorman (1966)

Be me be you be me.

“Baby, You Were Great” by Kate Wilhelm (1967)

If you can’t connect then you learn to live with it.

“The Barbarian” by Joanna Russ (1968)

Fear of my tower getting breached.

“The Last Flight Of Dr. Ain” by James Tiptree, Jr. (1969)

Twelve monkeys origin story.

“Nine Lives” by Ursula K. Le Guin (1969)

Too many minds for a collective.

Twilight by David R. George III (2002)

Hefty story but it’s good to go back to the old style of dealing with incomprehensible beings from other dimensions.

Are You Terrified Yet? by R.L. Stine (1998)

Not with this story. If Goosebumps 2000 is about aging out of monsters and supernatural stuff then I don’t care for it.

Tick Tock, You’re Dead! by R.L. Stine (1995)

Time travel shenanigans, my beloved.

“Mighty Max Trapped by Arachnoid” by Bluebird Toys (1992)

Spiders don’t scare me.

“Mighty Max Liquidates the Ice Alien” by Bluebird Toys (1992)

Refractive weapons.

“Mighty Max Lashes Lizard” by Bluebird Toys (1994)

Squirt.

“Mighty Max Traps Rattus” by Bluebird Toys (1994)

Traps you.

“Mighty Max Outwits Cyclops” by Bluebird Toys (1993)

Poke ‘em.

“Mighty Max Tangles With the Ape King” by Bluebird Toys (1993)

Just take over.

“Mighty Max Slays the Doom Dragon” by Bluebird Toys (1992)

Does he though?

“Mighty Max Grapples with Battle Cat” by Bluebird Toys (1993)

Bring them back.

“Mighty Max Squishes Fly” by Bluebird Toys (1994)

Narshty.

“Mighty Max Blows Up Dino Lab” by Bluebird Toys (1993)

Science outfits are slipping.

“Mighty Max Stings Scorpion” by Bluebird Toys (1993)

Big means not poisonous.

“Mighty Max Crushes the Hand” by Bluebird Toys (1994)

Win the duel!

“Mighty Max Escapes from Skull Dungeon” by Bluebird Toys (1992)

Smasher, really?

“Mighty Max Conquers the Palace of Poison” by Bluebird Toys (1992)

Flees from it, eh.

“Mighty Max Sinks Nautilus” by Bluebird Toys (1994)

Time has ravaged your once youthful looks.

“Mighty Max Caught by the Man-Eater” by Bluebird Toys (1993)

The final frontier.

“Mighty Max Bytes Cyberskull” by Bluebird Toys (1994)

Stay off the computer.

“Mighty Max Terminates Wolfship 7” by Bluebird Toys (1992)

Go away aliens.

“Mighty Max Survives Corpus” by Bluebird Toys (1993)

Get aHEAD in DEADvertising.

“Mighty Max Against Robot Invader” by Bluebird Toys (1992)

He invade.

“Mighty Max Zaps Beetlebrow” by Bluebird Toys (1994)

Quick work.

“Mighty Max Crushes Talon” by Bluebird Toys (1994)

See into the bone soul.

“Mighty Max Out-Freaks Freako” by Bluebird Toys (1994)

Wergh, some kinda phobia.

“Mighty Max Rams Hydron” by Bluebird Toys (1994)

I said let ’em take over.

“Mighty Max Versus Kronosaur” by Bluebird Toys (1992)

They just do what they do.

“Mighty Max Challenges Lava Beast” by Bluebird Toys (1992)

I doubt the veracity of flesh to fire.

“Mighty Max Tangles With Lockjaw” by Bluebird Toys (1993)

Well, some last words at least.

“Mighty Max Defeats Vamp Biter” by Bluebird Toys (1992)

In the sun.

“Mighty Max Fights Nuke Ranger” by Bluebird Toys (1992)

Not a place of honor.

“Mighty Max Pulverizes Sea Squirm” by Bluebird Toys (1992)

Die native fauna.

“Mighty Max Battles Skull Warrior” by Bluebird Toys (1992)

Go home, you’re drunk.

“Mighty Max Hammers Ax Man” by Bluebird Toys (1993)

It’s a tool!

“Mighty Max Hounds Werewolf” by Bluebird Toys (1993)

Awoo.

“Mighty Max Neutralises Zomboid” by Bluebird Toys (1992)

Flesh of my flesh.

“Mighty Max Defeats Battle Conqueror” by Bluebird Toys (1994)

I kick you.

“Mighty Max Head to Head With Hydra” by Bluebird Toys (1994)

Two in one.

“Mighty Max Melts Lava Beast” by Bluebird Toys (1994)

Delicious java.

“Mighty Max Strikes Fang” by Bluebird Toys (1994)

Grab the tail.

“Mighty Max Shuts Down Cybot” by Bluebird Toys (1994)

Always an off switch.

“Mighty Max Shatters Gargoyle” by Bluebird Toys (1994)

Tap tap tap.

“Mighty Max Assaults Skull Master” by Bluebird Toys (1994)

You’d lose but you do it anyway.

“La-Mulana” by KC Green (2023)

Hyuck.

“Mental Health Marge 2 Da Rescue” by ossian (2019)

Listen 2 da TV mom.

Theater Camp dir. Molly Gordon & Nick Lieberman (2023)

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.