The Never-Ending Tedium of Survival

a red-hued collage of Final Girls from famous horror movies, including Alice, Si

Horror movie franchises are often recognized by their iconic villains — Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees, Ghostface, Pinhead, and many other often-masked and often-men baddies who are easily recognizable as a Halloween costume. However, they are not always the core of the series; more often, the heart and soul of a horror franchise is its survivor — the Final Girl (or Guy), who finds herself hunted all over again in the next film, who must learn to survive and survive again as she continuously stares down the ever-looming presence of the monster in the dark.

Bearing the wounds and scars granted by their roles as would-be-victims turned fighters, these Final Girls find themselves perpetually trapped in a limbo of trauma, dragging themselves through the mud and blood in the hopes of coming through the other side alive. This article will present an overview of a number of survivors, who have each appeared in at least three films within their franchise — and who each have their own journeys of coming to terms with their dark worlds.

Continue reading on Interstellar Flight Magazine. . .

Ten Things That Made My 2022

Let me be real: 2022 was another tough year in a variety of ways that I won’t get into. Lately, I’ve been trying to focus on the things I’m grateful for, rather than dwelling on the negatives. So, please allow me to highlight some of the fantastic, wonderful, and exciting things that I experienced or discovered over this last year.

1. I completed two tiny video games — What Lies Underneath and Bluebeard: An Interactive Tale. Each I constructed with different game making tools, representing different kinds of gameplay and storytelling, and I am proud of the work I did on each of them.

2. . . . and all of that hard work paid off, since the games I made earlier in the year helped me snag my first freelance work in the games industry. I am currently working a contract writer for Lost Lake Games on a project I can tell you nothing about.

And I am also working with Patrick Knisely, a solo dev in charge of One Frog Games. Together, we are working on building the story, world, and scenes, which will be incorporated into the gameplay for a platforming game tentatively titled Monochrome Heights (play the demo).

3. I sold my fourth poetry chapbook, titled Necessary Poisons, which will be published by Interstellar Flight Press later this year. I’ve been working on this collection of strange little poems since 2016, and I’m so grateful and delighted that it has finally found a home. (A cover reveal and release date will be be coming soon.)

Continue reading on The Narrative Thread…

Ten Things That Made My 2022

Let me be real: 2022 was another tough year in a variety of ways that I won’t get into. Lately, I’ve been trying to focus on the things I’m grateful for, rather than dwelling on the negatives. So, please allow me to highlight some of the fantastic, wonderful, and exciting things that I experienced or discovered over this last year.

1. I completed two tiny video games — What Lies Underneath and Bluebeard: An Interactive Tale. Each I constructed with different game making tools, representing different kinds of gameplay and storytelling, and I am proud of the work I did on each of them.

2. . . . and all of that hard work paid off, since the games I made earlier in the year helped me snag my first freelance work in the games industry. I am currently working a contract writer for Lost Lake Games on a project I can tell you nothing about.

And I am also working with Patrick Knisely, a solo dev in charge of One Frog Games. Together, we are working on building the story, world, and scenes, which will be incorporated into the gameplay for a platforming game tentatively titled Monochrome Heights (play the demo).

3. I sold my fourth poetry chapbook, titled Necessary Poisons, which will be published by Interstellar Flight Press later this year. I’ve been working on this collection of strange little poems since 2016, and I’m so grateful and delighted that it has finally found a home. (A cover reveal and release date will be be coming soon.)

Continue reading on The Narrative Thread…

New Article Published: 10 Video Games to Baby Step Your Way into Horror

A man sits in the dark holding a video game controller - horror video games
Photo by Alexander Andrews on Unsplash.

One of my great pleasures in life is sitting back and watching a good horror movie. My tastes are wide ranging, from horror comedies to supernatural scares, gritty psychological horror, and body horror. I’ll watch it all.

But horror video games have always seemed too intense for me. Watching a horror movie is a passive experience, allowing me to observe the character’s progress through the haunted house and judge their decision to go down into the dark basement.

Video games on the other hand remove that passivity from the equation. As the player, I find myself suddenly immersed in the experience. Instead of watching the character step down into the dark, I’m the one in control, the one who has to make the decision to go down the stairs, even though I know something terrible awaits.

Over time, however, I’ve gained a growing appreciation for scary games. It’s been slow going, starting with games that feature more of a creepy aesthetic than actual scares and growing to a love for the intensity of survival horror.

If like me, you’ve been curious about playing scary games, I’ve put together a list of 10 video games to help you baby step your way into horror, recently published at Keeping It Spooky.

I would love to know if you’ve played any of these games, or if you’re trying horror games for the first time. What was your experience?

TWELVE Nominated for Two SFPA Awards

Two Books: TWELVE: Poems inspired by the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tale and The 2021 Rhysling Anthology

I’m perfectly chuffed to announce that my book Twelve, published by Interstellar Flight Press, has received two award nominations from members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA).

Within Twelve, my poem “The Third Sister” has been nominated for a Rhysling award in the Long Poem category.

In addition, Twelve as a whole has been nominated for the Elgin award in the chapbook category.

It is genuinely such an honor to have my work listed among so many amazing poets, whose work I admire.