John Chrostek
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johnchrostek.com
John Chrostek
@johnchrostek.com
FEAST OF THE PALE LEVIATHAN, novel: https://shorturl.at/7A4bA
BOXCUTTERS, short stories: https://malarkeybooks.com/store/boxcutters
(IBR's "TOP BOOKS WE READ IN 2025")

Co-owner @eveninghouse.bsky.social
EIC @cold-signal.com
Buffalo, NY
johnchrostek.com
Pinned
Some new testimonial graphics for my books because I put my heart + soul into them, readers enjoy 'em + they're out with small presses so I need to bang the gong twice as loud

Anti-fascist, genre-agnostic stories about regular folks + myths, demons, freaks, fools + lovers

Links at johnchrostek.com
Reposted by John Chrostek
My debut collection of speculative short stories, winner of the 2024 @mooncitypress.bsky.social Short Fiction Award, is now available for preorder and, well, I hope you'll want one when it releases this time next month.

Get it from The University of Arkansas Press:

www.uapress.com/product/bedt...
January 12, 2026 at 5:18 PM
Reposted by John Chrostek
New Yorkers from across the state are joining today’s action for #NY4All.

We’re here to demand that our leaders pass the New York for All Act to ensure our state resources are never used to disappear our neighbors. 

See how else this bill can defend immigrant communities. ⬇️
January 12, 2026 at 3:50 PM
Some great recent reads:

1. Greek gods wager on the happy deaths of fifteen dogs given human intelligence and capacity for language. Heartbreaking, beautiful.

2. Schitzo Columbo solves a murder and falls down the rabbit hole. Raw heart and style, 100mph the whole way through
January 12, 2026 at 7:43 PM
We out here making Edgar Allen Poe money, stacks rising like the House of Usher
Perhaps the surest sign of AI not being super intelligent is the amount of tailored scams targeting the finances of authors, which is as rewarding as trying to mug a seagull.
January 12, 2026 at 5:32 PM
Reposted by John Chrostek
The animating force at the heart of US conservatism currently is incandescent rage at the mere idea of women's autonomy and independence. An image of a smiling woman who looks insufficiently deferential for their tastes riles them up enough to tear up the social contract.
this is all it’s really about for them. Not domestic policy, not “economic anxiety”, just an endless desire to punish stand-ins for the Mommy who forced them take a bath, even if it tanks their own quality of life.
January 12, 2026 at 7:17 AM
Resharing for the morning people because there is no algorithm.

Boxcutters: You get wax mannequins, package theft, memory drugs, dog demons, Jesus in HR, wig possessions

Feast: You get a rivertube ride into the guts of Hobbes' Leviathan straight through to the island of Atlantis + the Jersey Shore
Some new testimonial graphics for my books because I put my heart + soul into them, readers enjoy 'em + they're out with small presses so I need to bang the gong twice as loud

Anti-fascist, genre-agnostic stories about regular folks + myths, demons, freaks, fools + lovers

Links at johnchrostek.com
January 12, 2026 at 3:55 PM
Reposted by John Chrostek
January 11, 2026 at 11:50 PM
Reposted by John Chrostek
Trying not to repost every video I see of ice agents eating shit (there are many such videos because every single ice agent is the stupidest person anyone has ever met), but I can't resist this one. I'm gonna watch this 3000 times
January 11, 2026 at 8:22 PM
Some new testimonial graphics for my books because I put my heart + soul into them, readers enjoy 'em + they're out with small presses so I need to bang the gong twice as loud

Anti-fascist, genre-agnostic stories about regular folks + myths, demons, freaks, fools + lovers

Links at johnchrostek.com
January 11, 2026 at 7:38 PM
Reposted by John Chrostek
You know what? I encourage you to write today.
gabinoiglesias.substack.com/p/i-encourag...
I encourage you to write today
I do.
gabinoiglesias.substack.com
January 11, 2026 at 6:02 PM
Reposted by John Chrostek
We have a few tote bags hanging around and will make you this deal: order The Barre Incidents, Hair Shirt, Boxcutters, and My Ardent Love for the Pencil and we’ll send a free tote bag. $76 for four books and a quality tote. Will delete if we run out.

malarkeybooks.com/store
Bookstore — Malarkey
You can order signed books through this website. Feel free to request a signature and a friendly note.
malarkeybooks.com
January 11, 2026 at 4:36 PM
Little moment to say if we’re pals, if we talk about writing or books or video games or something, I wish you the best, I’m glad to know you, and I’m sorry we’re all in this shit
January 10, 2026 at 2:09 AM
These sick nihilist bastards
The US Department of Agriculture suspends all federal funding to Minnesota, effective immediately.
January 10, 2026 at 1:54 AM
Reposted by John Chrostek
I thought the first video was horrible, but the new one, with Good's smiling, open face before the ICE thug murders her and mutters, "Fuckin' bitch"–it's just brutal. Nauseating.
January 9, 2026 at 7:12 PM
Reposted by John Chrostek
One of the most important tasks of literature is the demonstration of life. It doesn't matter whether the action is possible, what matters is what the imagery and characters inspire, what is communicated beyond barriers.

Read from around the world, read the real and unreal, grow your soul and mind
January 9, 2026 at 4:41 PM
Reposted by John Chrostek
This is as true for the absurdist or the writer of cozies as it is for someone penning demi-documentary grimdark stories about an imaginary apocalypse or someone whose gig is cute cat videos. The job is to help people breathe, and it matters even on the days it feels like you’re covered in lead. 2/2
January 9, 2026 at 4:17 PM
Reposted by John Chrostek
If you let them, the horrors will devour you whole. Making space to live and smile is an act of resistance. So is helping others to do the same. If you’re an artist in this time, remember that what you’re doing is part of the emotional support infrastructure. They want you silent. 1/2
January 9, 2026 at 4:17 PM
Reposted by John Chrostek
So happy to share the cover for @suzyeynon.bsky.social’s forthcoming novella, Terrestrial (May 2026, preorders open now and copies will be signed by the author). As ever, @angeelio.bsky.social gave us something special.

malarkeybooks.com/store/terres...
January 9, 2026 at 2:13 PM
Reposted by John Chrostek
Time to consult the Declaration again
January 8, 2026 at 4:23 PM
Reposted by John Chrostek
Two that have really stuck with me:

“The Gratitude of Mice” by @yumewrites.bsky.social
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fi...

“Inclement Weather” @johnchrostek.com
hexliterary.com?p=2870 (almost everything in @hexliterary.bsky.social is great for everyday surreal/weird flash!)
The Gratitude of Mice
After a moment of hesitation, I inhaled deeply and reached out and stroked the walls and imagined them trembling with the movement of little furry bodies.
strangehorizons.com
January 8, 2026 at 10:39 PM
Reposted by John Chrostek
good books that came out in 2025
I loved Plum by Andy Anderegg (Hub City) and Sweetener by Marissa Higgins (Catapult). Also Boxcutters by John Chrostek (Malarkey Books) and Hair Shirt by Adrian Sobol (Malarkey Books).
January 8, 2026 at 9:09 PM
Reposted by John Chrostek
Happening now, 250 Delaware at Chippewa, protest on front of the #Buffalo ICE office.
January 8, 2026 at 9:36 PM