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mark monday

https://markmonday.substack.com/

https://www.goodreads.com/majestic-plural

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mark is Currently Reading

mark monday is currently reading

The Stalker

by Paula Bomer (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading, mnemonic-devices

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Nov 06, 2026 08:12PM

mark monday is currently reading

Jirel of Joiry

by C.L. Moore

bookshelves: currently-reading, fantasy-classic

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Nov 06, 2026 08:10PM

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Where the Summer Ends: The Best Horror Stories of Karl Edward Wagner, Volume One

by Karl Edward Wagner

bookshelves: currently-reading, horror-60s-70s-80s

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mark monday said: " "In the Pines" - a tragic jerk and his disabled wife move to a cabin and find that a diabolical temptress from beyond the grave has some special plans for them. This is an unremarkable tale combining a ghost story with a Satanic threat. Despite the f "In the Pines" - a tragic jerk and his disabled wife move to a cabin and find that a diabolical temptress from beyond the grave has some special plans for them. This is an unremarkable tale combining a ghost story with a Satanic threat. Despite the familiarity of the narrative, it is effectively atmospheric and Wagner certainly knows how to create a realistic portrait of a self-absorbed dick.

"Sticks" - bundles of sticks form a hidden message, or perhaps an invite to a secret party... "Sticks" is one of Wagner's most well-known stories. I can see why some might see the menacing bundles of sticks that appear throughout as a precursor to those bundles of sticks in The Blair Witch Project. But the story is something else altogether. It is a few different things: a creepy recounting of how - while exploring some New England backwoods - an artist comes across a number of sinister, talismanic stick bundles (plus drawings of those bundles!) and an abandoned house atop a hidden megalithic chamber; a lightly-sketched overview of the pulp magazine industry of yesteryear; a Lovecraftian dark fantasy about a plan to use certain items as a kind of esoteric language, which in turn can be used to breach the protective boundaries between dimensions. All of the author's skills with characterization and description were in full effect. This was a memorable story.

"The Fourth Seal" - what if all the cures have already been found, but a diabolical cabal of physicians and pharmaceutical companies are keeping those secrets hidden while secretly keeping us all sick? A minor tale but the conspiracist mindset on display was strangely resonant. Doctor, heal thyself and only thyself; everyone else must pay up and keep paying.

"Where the Summer Ends" - it's not rats lurking in the kudzu, it's smart little creatures that creep about and enjoy flaying their human neighbors. Wagner descriptive skills are front & center in his depiction of the grimy, decaying atmosphere of an almost completely abandoned neighborhood gone to seed. Yet another minor tale, but the sticky unpleasantness sticks with you and the story is full of realistic kitchen-sink details tossed off with a kind of offhand expertise.

".220 Swift" - in the Appalachian countryside are two visitors: shady, high-handed Dr. Kenlow, on the hunt for conquistador treasure, and the more warmly received Eric Brandon, a preturnaturallly strong albino. Eric has made friends in this community, and a girlfriend; Eric may be a researcher studying folkways or he may be something else altogether. Together the two explore a tunnel-riddled cavern; what they find astounds and transforms them, so to speak. This was a lot of fun, full of twists and turns, and guessing the true nature of Eric's character was a lot of fun. Wagner's talent for creating a lived-in, perfectly detailed setting is front & center. Coulda used a better title though.

"Beyond Any Measure" - an American in London begins having dreams of a gothic past life. The messy, louche, counter-culture social world of two attractive students abroad is well-described and felt real; Wagner has himself traveled in such circles. This is the second story of lesbian lovers that I've read by the author and I appreciate the nonchalant authenticity of this relationship. The sex is fairly graphic, which must have been enjoyable for him to write (lol). But as to the story itself: what a twist! It takes the standbys of reincarnation and vampirism, brings them together, turns them inside out. Hoary material transformed into something fresh and very strange.

"Neither Brute nor Human" - a portrait of the friendship of two genre writers whose careers take off in unexpected ways. The supernatural is absent here, outside of a brief dream sequence near the end. This was very self-referential and a bit inside-baseball. Fortunately, Wagner made this slip of a story somewhat compelling, despite it basically being about the genre publishing industry, fan conventions, too much partying, and how selling out sucks. ...more "

Nov 11, 2026 01:18PM · see review

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mark’s Quotes

“I'm sorry," Billy says, "but I felt it was too organized. I like ellipses and teeny jottings and spontaneous poems and particularly all those devices like long lists of melancholy things.”
― Edmund White, Forgetting Elena

tags: writing

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“Notice this rent in my garment; I am at a loss to explain its presence! I am even more puzzled by the existence of the universe.”
― Jack Vance, Tales of the Dying Earth

tags: jack-vance, lodermulch, the-eyes-of-the-overworld

82 likes