X-R-A-Y Specs: THE PLUMBER (1979)
I don’t think Max’s colonization of the bathroom is an accident. It’s a place where we feel vulnerable, and many times we attach a lock to the door to prevent others from walking in unannounced.
X-R-A-Y SPECS: A Strip of Uncut Wild Flowers (1980)
The idea of chasing people into submission, trying to tame them as they run for their lives. Both the futility and cruelty of it.
HERO WORSHIP LEADS TO CULTS: An Interview with Brad Neely
I wanted to highlight how that’s an impossible fantasy in biographies of someone in the past. That said, I wanted to be silly with the title.
X-R-A-Y SPECS: Toys (1992)
In fact, my experience watching Popeye is what this film most reminded me of: the feeling of alarm, then dismay, and then the slow death of acceptance.
LENGTH OR GIRTH OR BOTH: An Interview with Gwen E. Kirby
As for the demon novel, yes, I am dancing with that devil, so we’ll see what happens. But I hope to write short stories for as long as I’m writing.
2023 STAFF PICKS
I have rewatched Guadagnino’s Suspiria remake at least a dozen times and it’s never been beaten, although Cosmatos’ Mandy came really close.
THE UNDERCURRENT OF DEATH: An Interview with Julian Tepper
Early readers have already told me that this is a novel about coming to New York as an artist and what it takes to succeed. Believe it or not, I wasn’t thinking about that all too much.
X-R-A-Y SPECS: The Catechism Cataclysm (2011)
And isn’t a catechism a religious text that takes the form of questions and answers? Is our conversation a catechism? Or just a cataclysm? Ha.
THE EDGE OF THE EDGE: A Numinous Conversation with Mike Thorn and Kathe Koja
I’ve never felt I’ve fully, accurately transcribed a mental concept through writing, and that’s one of my key motivations for continuing: maybe I’ll get closer next time, or maybe not, but I’ll keep trying.