Hanging in an Alien Sky: a review of “Death Egg” by Nathaniel Duggan

Mallory SmartFebruary 14, 2024

September 22nd, 2023: I take a copy of Death Egg to a cabin in Wisconsin. Unable to read. A goat that has found its way onto the porch keeps trying to eat it. ...

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Time Presents Itself: A Review of Bennett Sims’ Other Minds and Other Stories

Mallory SmartNovember 2, 2023

Bennett Sims, celebrated for his acclaimed works like "White Dialogues," skillfully crafts a captivating tapestry of surreal and absurdist narratives that will ...

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Unveiling the Supernatural: Nora Fussner’s ‘The Invisible World’ Conjures Eerie Excellence

Mallory SmartSeptember 23, 2023

Nora Fussner's debut novel, "The Invisible World," offers a captivating and atmospheric narrative reminiscent of the eerie charm found i...

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We Are Like The Dreamer: A Review of Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology

Mallory SmartSeptember 10, 2023

Though we rarely speak of it today, humanity has always existed in a captivating world of superstitions full of myths of summoning shadows, broken mirrors, and ...

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Going Beyond The Curtain’s Illusion: a Review of Cardboard Clouds by Benjamin Niespodziany

Mallory SmartAugust 3, 2023

Prepare to embark on a surrealist odyssey of theatrical absurdity with Benjamin Niespodziany's remarkable collection of one-act plays, Cardboard Clouds, from X-...

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Random Occurrences

Mallory SmartJanuary 21, 2023

A Review of Jaded by Wilson Koewing   Think nothing of mind or spirit whilst reading Jaded. It is neither the time or place to do so. Instead, focus on...

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I Am Disappeared

Mallory SmartJanuary 20, 2023

A Review of The Craigslist Incident by Jason Fisk   “Women Seeking Men: I’m an 18-year-old female and I want to take a hit out on myself.” This is the ...

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Any Wish Fulfilled for the Right Price

Mallory SmartJanuary 17, 2023

A Review of Immoral Origins: A Suspense Thriller by Lee Matthew Goldberg   Welcome to a land full of gangsters, murderers, petty thieves, and mysterious ...

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ALL MY GENERATION WANTS: an interview with Austin Davis

Mallory SmartDecember 9, 2022

My phone just pinged and Austin Davis says that he’s cool to start the interview we have scheduled today, whenever. Hyped, I jump up from watching Wednesday, to...

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Scared Smart

Mallory SmartOctober 3, 2022

“Darkness Falls, Jaws, The Ring, Scream, The Grudge, Halloween, Halloween II, Halloween III: the Season of the Witch,  Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers,...

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That Main Character Moment: a review of Bad Thoughts by Nada Alic

Mallory SmartJune 26, 2022

We all have bad thoughts sometimes and Nada Alic somehow manages to fit as many deviant thoughts she can think of in this enchanting debut collection of stories...

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Circles and Self Care: an interview with Austin Davis about LOTUS & THE APOCALYPSE

Mallory SmartDecember 13, 2021

It's 12pm and I'm in Chicago. Austin is in Arizona where it is 11am. Our interview is about to start so I'm rushing to make coffee and get to my Mac on time eve...

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A review of New Madrid by Robert Tomaino

Mallory SmartDecember 13, 2021

To step into New Madrid is to step into a new reality entirely. From the first sentences, it is immediately felt that the world that Robert Tomaino has built is...

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The 21 Best Small Press Books From 2021

Mallory SmartDecember 6, 2021

I don’t know what happened in 2021 because I’m still trying to process 2020.  Yet here we are at the end of it getting ready to welcome 2022 in hopes that thing...

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Don’t Panic: A Review of “Everything Is Totally Fine” by Zac Smith

Mallory SmartNovember 29, 2021

You can write a long book full of witty metaphors. You can rip off dead writers that graduate students write massive essays about. You can use a nature trope or...

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Nothing In Life Matters: a review of This Is What Happens When You Leave Me Alone by D.T. Robbins

Mallory SmartSeptember 7, 2021

I’m getting beat up over here trying to decide if everything is lame and pointless or if that's just a condition of my being a millennial. And if something is p...

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Street Sorrows: an erratic interview with Austin Davis and Joe Allie

Mallory SmartJuly 15, 2021

Austin Davis has a new EP coming out soon with jazz musician Joe Allie. It’s about his experiences on the streets with the homeless. Austin Davis is a poet and ...

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How Shootings Go Viral: A Review of Jeff Chon’s Hashtag Good Guy With a Gun

Mallory SmartApril 20, 2021

On this day 22 years ago news coverage about Columbine spread rapidly, and broadly. By the time the shooters exhausted all their energy from firing at their cla...

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We Are So Alone In the World: A review of The Handsome Man by Brad Casey

Mallory SmartJanuary 10, 2021

Recommended for: manic oddballs and lonely hipsters everywhere    When the world is upended, where will you go? Will your mind linger and wonder what’s next...

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The 20 Best Small Press Books from 2020

Mallory SmartDecember 31, 2020

2020 will forever be known as the year of isolation and self-examination. For some this was good. For others, it was hell on earth. Constant reminders over how ...

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WHAT PERMITS OUR IMAGINATION: A Review Of The Internet Is For Real by Chris Campanioni

Mallory SmartNovember 25, 2020

Here we stand at the “nowness” of this thing we call the Internet. A digital refuge. An oasis of calm. A school of art. A profound and elemental place of being ...

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Strength, Perseverance, and Resilience: A review of “Final Girl” by Lauren Milici

Mallory SmartOctober 9, 2020

I’m watching Scream for the 20th time in my life or something close to that. I always listen to something or watch something in the background while writing bec...

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Not Drowning but Waving: A review of LAKE OF URINE by Guillermo Stitch

Mallory SmartAugust 11, 2020

This novel is surprisingly good. I hate stating that in such a candid way but even I was shocked that a book with such a strange and grotesque title could be be...

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Face to Face: A Review of “The Kinks: Songs of the Semi-Detached” by Mark Doyle

Mallory SmartJuly 13, 2020

The Kinks: Songs of the Semi-Detached by Mark Doyle is a book and a class apart. That is honestly the best way I can describe it and anything else would be a di...

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Condemned to the shadows of Joy: a Review of Comaville by Kevin Bigley

Mallory SmartMay 4, 2020

I’ve been bouncing around from book to book these last few months, that seem to have lasted a lifetime. And during this era that we are both sardonically and lo...

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“We Swim Out Forever”: Jack C Bucks’ Gathering View

Mallory SmartAugust 1, 2018

  This first collection by Jack C Buck is uncompromising and hopeful. Split into three sections, the poems come together to form a narrative that ta...

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who wants to join the maudlin fam?

Mallory SmartAugust 29, 2016

We’re looking to shake things up and bring on more staff! Maudlin House is growing and we need to keep up with that growth! Supply and demand right? Errr someth...

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Trailer for ‘Portrait of the Artist as a Viable Alternative to Death’

Mallory SmartJuly 28, 2016

Portrait of the Artist as a Viable Alternative to Death is now available to order. Click here to get yours!...

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Emoji Death Mask

Mallory SmartJuly 1, 2016

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Review of “A Galaxy Of Starfish”

Mallory SmartMay 25, 2016

A Galaxy of Starfish is the metamodern ephemera untainted. The alt-lit experiment celebrated. Sexy cerebral automatism. Rivers of poems that flow directly into...

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