An Excerpt From Matthew J. C. Clark’s “Bjarki, Not Bjarki”

"Bjarki, Not Bjarki"

We’re pleased to present an excerpt from Matthew J. C. Clark’s new book Bjarki, Not Bjarki — out now from the University of Iowa Press. It’s about lumber, the state of the nation, surreal transformations, and a whole lot more. “As a carpenter, I was interested in these American Dream Boards and I wanted to profile the owner, Bjarki Thor Gunnarsson,” Clark recalled in an interview with Writer’s Digest. “However, Bjarki turned out not to be who I wanted him to be—whatever that means.” Read on for an excerpt from Clark’s expansive work of nonfiction.

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VCO: Chapter 8

"VCO" image
Chapter 8

As if I’m being controlled remotely, I step out of the bar and into the street. Cool wind blows in my ear. Its frigid bite resets me, slightly.

I’m going to assume the worst is over and that whatever malfunction my intestinal tract was experiencing was due to ingesting whatever it was in that cocktail. But it seems to have passed now, and I feel good-n-pissed. Downfall is, my whiskyed dick don’t work but I still got energy.

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Haunted Places and Haunted Stories: An Interview With Rebecca Turkewitz

Rebecca Turkewitz

Where, exactly, can you find the dividing line between a ghost story and a story about ghosts? In her new collection Here in the Night, Rebecca Turkewitz explores that fascinating boundary. There are moments that stray into the uncanny here, for sure, but Turkewitz also explores the effects of ghost stories and local folklore on her characters, leading to moments that illustrate just how tales of the uncanny can have similar effects to the uncanny itself. I spoke with her about her collection, her own experiences with folktales, and what’s next for her.

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VCO: Chapter 7

"VCO" image

Chapter 7

It wasn’t that weird that this Morgen A. needed a ride. 

Although, our interactions in private messages did make me wonder if I was talking to a computer programmed with auto responses. A bot. 

The driver double-checked to make sure the address I put in was really where I wanted to go.

Why does it always feel set-up whenever someone agrees to hang out with me?

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Punk Rock Body Horror: On Alison Rumfitt’s “Brainwyrms”

"Brainwyrms" cover

One of the first books I read in 2023 was Alison Rumfitt’s novel Tell Me I’m Worthless. There’s a small subset of books I’m fond of that seem to follow a traditional narrative path, right up until the point that they don’t. Brian Evenson’s Last Days is one, as is Percival Everett’s Assumption. Rumfitt’s debut fits in here as well: it’s something of a haunted house story, but as the novel continues on towards its conclusion, it got weirder; Rumfitt moved away from the tropes of haunted house narratives to push towards something deeper and scarier about trauma and inheritance.

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