From Costume Designer to Illustrator and Author: An Artist’s Journey 

Glam Reaper

From Costume Designer to Illustrator and Author: An Artist’s Journey
by Bill Crisafi 

My path from artist to author is something that wasn’t in my consciousness at all, but it ended up appearing at a time when I needed it most. I went from starting in fashion school and ultimately finding that general fine arts was a better fit, navigating the early days of Instagram to amassing over 300,000 followers and creating a brand using my illustrations as a guiding force. That path eventually led me to write my first book, The Glam Reaper’s Guide to Slaying, which is essentially an adult children’s book meant to bitch slap you into remembering you’re a fabulous diva.

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“It’s a Cursed Game”: Kyle Winkler on “The Ship of Death”

Cover art for The Ship of Death

I met Kyle Winkler at VoidCon last year, where I picked up his novel Enter the Peerless, a work of heady cosmic horror. This fall brings with it the release of his new book The Ship of Death, a book about a board game that might also be a vessel by which uncanny presences can enter the contemporary world; it’s also told through a series of found documents. As someone with a fondness for board games myself, the combination was irresistible and the novel wholly compelling. I chatted with Winkler about the roots of the origins of this novel, subverting horror tropes, and the challenge of creating found documents.

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Six Ridiculous Questions: Alex Behr

Alex Behr

The guiding principle of Six Ridiculous Questions is that life is filled with ridiculousness. And questions. That only by giving in to these truths may we hope to slip the surly bonds of reality and attain the higher consciousness we all crave. (Eh, not really, but it sounded good there for a minute.) It’s just. Who knows? The ridiculousness and question bits, I guess. Why six? Assonance, baby, assonance.

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Consciousness on Paper: An Interview With Grant Maierhofer

Covers of two Grant Maierhofer books

I’ve been an admirer of Grant Maierhofer’s work for years, but my experience of reading his two latest books back to back may be the apex of my experience with his bibliography thus far. Those two books are Synecdoche, New York — an entry in the Timecodes series to which I’m also a contributor — and the book-length essay Serotonin: Writing and Depression. Both books are, in their own way, moving explorations of creativity and mental health. They are candid, often very moving, and haven’t left my brain since I finished them. Maierhofer and I chatted via email about these two books, his larger project, and what’s next for him.

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Mallory Smart on Exploring the Midwestern Gothic

Mallory Smart

Mallory Smart is an author, editor, publisher, and podcaster. She has had a prolific year with multiple stories published and a chapbook, We All Go A Little Mad Sometimes, from Thirty West Publishing. Her newest horror story collection is Book of David from House of Vlad, out October 7, 2026.  An authentic encapsulation of Midwest gothic, Book of David is certainly a haunting collection just in time for Halloween.  I sent her a list of questions to learn more about David.  

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“Flyboy in the Buttermilk” Will Make You Want to Be a Better Writer

Flyboy In the Buttermilk

There are many reasons to pick up Greg Tate’s recently-reissued Flyboy in the Buttermilk, beginning with the fact that it’s a triumphant, wide-ranging collection of nonfiction and cultural commentary. Add in the presence of introductions by both Questlove and Hanif Abdurraqib, each of whom does an excellent job of pointing out why Tate’s work mattered when at the time it was written and continues to matter, and you have the makings of a classic returning to print.

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