A banished warrior teaches her treacherous uncle that once made, some oaths cannot be broken…and some monsters cannot be chained.
The Puppetmaster
The Horror Comedy Teeth Is Getting a Stage Musical Adaptation And We Have Questions
Screenshot: Roadside Attractions
The 2007 indie film Teeth is a horror comedy whose title and story is inspired by the folk tale of vagina dentata, whose etymology confirms that its meaning is exactly what you think it is. The movie did well critically, and intrigued a lot of people—including, it seems, A Strange Loop playwright Michael R. Jackson.
A Plague of Psychic Shows: Hilary Mantel’s Beyond Black (Part 9)
Welcome back to Reading the Weird, in which we get girl cooties all over weird fiction, cosmic horror, and Lovecraftiana—from its historical roots through its most recent branches.
This week, we continue Hilary Mantel’s Beyond Black with Chapter 10. The novel was first published in 2005. Spoilers ahead! CW for medical and non-medical fatphobia, and slurs related to ethnicity and sexual orientation.
Series: Reading the Weird
Animated Babylon 5 Film Has A Name And Will See the Return Of Many An Original Cast Member
Credit: Warner Bros. Animation & Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Last week, Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski revealed that an animated movie set in the original show’s universe existed and that we’d find out the title and the cast would be revealed next week. Well, it’s one week later, and as promised, both of those things have been revealed as well as a hint of what the plot of the film will be.
Read an Excerpt From Threads That Bind
Descendants of the Fates are always born in threes: one to weave, one to draw, and one to cut the threads that connect people to the things they love and to life itself…
We’re thrilled to share an excerpt from brand new young adult fantasy Threads That Bind by Kika Hatzopoulou, out from Razorbill on May 30.
A Matter of Death and Death: Jacqueline Holland’s The God of Endings
Jacqueline Holland, in her debut novel, avoids calling her blood-drinking immortals vampires. They don’t fear the sun or garlic, and no one here is turning into a bat. But when a previously dead creature rises from the earth, deathless and feeding only on blood, one might, I hope, be forgiven for using the shortcut. (Holland does, in multiple interviews; she clearly did her research.)
And what an odd vampire book this is. The story of an immortal named, over the decades, Anna or Anya or Collette, it feels at different times like a story about fear and loss; about not knowing what you want; about avoiding the world as often as engaging with it; and about ambivalence.
Good Omens 2 Will Heat Up Your Summer Starting in July
Screenshot: Amazon/BBC Studios
At long last, Good Omens 2 has a premiere date! It’s been almost two years since Amazon announced that the adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s novel would get a sequel series—two years filled with hints and extras and not-totally-clear casting announcements.
But this announcement is quite clear: Good Omens 2 arrives July 28th on Prime.
New Young Adult Science Fiction & Fantasy for May & June 2023
I hope you like fantasy, because that’s the overwhelming majority of what you’re getting this summer in the realm of young adult speculative fiction. A few horror and science fiction/dystopian novels have squeezed through, but otherwise this is a season of magic, gods, and other paranormal beasties. Here are some of the YA speculative books coming out in May and June that have peaked my interest.
Mother and the Wolf: Maternal Power in Fairy Tales
Little Red Riding Hood illustration by Elizabeth Tyler, c. 1918-20
Once upon a time, I was trying to tell a story, only I didn’t know how it went. There wasn’t a main character, there wasn’t an adventure, and when I tried to begin the story I just disappeared into one thing after another. “Happily ever after”—after what?
I was trying to tell a story about motherhood, and each time I set out from home I got lost in the woods. I was in love, and motherhood had given me a basket full of new experiences. I had a body that astonished me by growing a new person (look, I made fingers! eyeballs!). I had a heart that surprised me with its fierceness. Motherhood challenged me and revealed me to myself. Yet I lost myself, too. My creative work wasn’t getting done. I was overwhelmed and thrown off balance by my needs and desires.
Five Authors Who Wrote Sequels to Someone Else’s Work
Photo: Luke Lung [via Unsplash]
As mentioned in a previous essay, Dean Ing’s Ted Quantrill trilogy, which takes place during and after World War Four, is set in another’s author’s world. It borrows its backstory from General Sir John Hackett’s 1978 The Third World War. Where Hackett thought his conflict would lead, I cannot say. Ing used it as a springboard for an entirely more science-fiction-y scenario involving orbital weapons, biological warfare, and weaponized Canadian chocolate.
While it’s not exactly common for speculative fiction authors to write sequels to each other’s work, it is also not incredibly uncommon. I would imagine the usual process is something along the lines of an author reading someone else’s work, being inspired, and after getting permission, penning their own sequel. Do not disabuse me of this optimistic scenario.
Somebody Must Have Said His Name Too Many Times, Because Beetlejuice 2 Is Officially Happening
Screenshot: Warner Bros.
I would like to propose a new award. The Who Asked for This? trophy gets awarded to the sequel or reboot that seems the most obvious and yet the most bothersome, the greatest act of cashing-in that is also somehow, insidiously, almost appealing, except that it’s been 35 years and we all just want something new to happen.
Why do I bring this up? Well, the Tim Burton-directed Beetlejuice 2 is official, with Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder returning to their roles, and Jenna Ortega playing Ryder’s character’s daughter.
The Puppetmaster
A banished warrior teaches her treacherous uncle that once made, some oaths cannot be broken…and some monsters cannot be chained.
Don’t Look! The Bird Box Universe Is Expanding With Bird Box Barcelona
Remember way back in 2018, Netflix’s released the first Sandra Bullock-starring thriller, Bird Box, based on the book by Josh Malerman? The streaming platform sure does — the film was reported to be the most-watched film on Netflix at the time — and it’s no surprise that we’re going to get some more stories told in this universe, where aliens invade Earth and make anyone who look upon them go insane.
Secrets and Lies and Gods in America: Spring’s Arcana by Lilith Saintcrow
Lilith Saintcrow has written more novels than I care to count, in a variety of genres and under a variety of names. (Afterwar might be the novel of hers that left the most striking impact: a horrifying near-future imagining of the aftermath of war and genocide.) Spring’s Arcana is her latest, a vivid and atmospheric contemporary fantasy that opens in snowswept Manhattan and takes a roadtrip through an American landscape filled with otherworldly menace and uncomfortable secrets.
Book It! for a New Millennium
Image courtesy of the author
Welcome to Close Reads! In this series, Leah Schnelbach and their guests dig into the tiny, weird moments of pop culture—from books to theme songs to viral internet hits—that have burrowed into our minds, found rent-stabilized apartments, started community gardens, and refused to be forced out by corporate interests. This time out, Vanessa Armstrong looks back at her relationship with Book It! and forward to creating book-based memories with her daughter.
If you’re an adult of a certain age, you’re no doubt familiar with the BOOK IT! program where—if your elementary school teacher deemed you read what you said you did—Pizza Hut treated you to a free personal pan pizza.
I am one of those adults. As a child, I studiously wrote down in crude cursive the books I read, got the list approved by my first-grade teacher, and proudly wore my Book It! button to the local Pizza Hut joint where I topped my red plastic cup with too many refills of Pepsi as I dived into my suitably sized deep dish pizza.
Series: Close Reads
The First Ten Minutes of Evil Dead Rise Is Available Online, If You Can Handle It
If you missed Evil Dead Rise, the delightful sequel that brings the franchise back to its original films, when it was in theaters, then I have good news for you: to promote the movie’s release on digital, Warner Bros. Entertainment released the first ten minutes of the film, which you can check out above.
New in Series
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