21st century kitsch: Cultural critic W. David Marx examines the state of our art in his book Blank Space
Marx argues that the 21st century has been typified not by artistic innovation or renovation, but by a capitalistic retrenchment.
Sixteen books that helped put 2025 in perspective
What our literary output offers is not a vision of perfectibility but an attempt to reckon with our world in all its contradiction, ambiguity, and fractiousness.
A new(ish) hard SF novel mixes questions of ontology and the nature of memory with Lovcraftian cosmic horror
There Is No Antimemetics Division is not technically a new book: it originated as an online serial for the SCP Foundation.
Sexual healing: Bloomberg investigative journalist Ellen Huet’s book chronicles the rise and fall of OneTaste, a centre for “orgasmic meditation”
Huet is hesitant to reduce OneTaste to the simple category of a cult, notwithstanding the use of that word in her subtitle.
My definition is this: Self-proclaimed word nerd Stefan Fatsis examines the importance of the Merriam-Webster dictionary to U.S. society and culture
Some of the words Fatsis was successful in getting into the dictionary include "alt-right," "dogpile," "microaggression," and "overserve."
Michael Wehunt’s smart and creepy metafictional horror novel provides equal parts fear and pathos
Wehunt peppers his story with observations about the horror genre and how it operates.
Creeping paranoia is the order of the day in Annie Neugebauer’s debut novella, The Extra
Hints of supernatural occurrences creep into the narrative.
Trad wives and demon children: Eleanor Johnson examines the ways in which 1970s horror films dovetailed with 2nd wave feminism
Rosemary's Baby provides an entrée for Johnson to discuss five other films she collects under the umbrella of what she refers to as "domestic horror."
Going viral: A group of isolated scientists encounters a strange “specimen” in Sarah Gailey’s Spread Me
What Gailey has produced owes less to Ridley Scott's Alien than to John Carpenter's 1982 movie The Thing.
Night riders: Keith Rosson’s latest is a vampire novel crossed with a bloody revenge thriller
The lexicon of organized crime is one way in which Rosson blurs the distinction between horror and crime genres in his book.