Zachary Gillan
@megapolisomancy.bsky.social
Nonfiction about weird fiction at Seize the Press, Strange Horizons, Interzone, Los Angeles Review of Books, Nightmare, and Ancillary Review of Books, where I am also an editor. Also jazz, metal, leftism. he/him
https://doomsdayer.wordpress.com/writings/
https://doomsdayer.wordpress.com/writings/
Pinned
Forever in search of a vibe too unsettling for the sf crowd, not transgressive enough for the horror scene, and too avant-garde for either
Looking over the Bram Stoker shortlist and I’m fascinated by the inclusion of this essay/anecdote, written in faux-Lovecraft purple, about the author buying some letters of Frank Belknap Long’s, and presented, incredibly annoyingly, with no typographical distinction for the excessive block quotes
Frank Belknap Long Letters, Written to Michael E. Ambrose, 1976-1979 | Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts
www.fantastic-arts.org
February 3, 2026 at 8:36 PM
Looking over the Bram Stoker shortlist and I’m fascinated by the inclusion of this essay/anecdote, written in faux-Lovecraft purple, about the author buying some letters of Frank Belknap Long’s, and presented, incredibly annoyingly, with no typographical distinction for the excessive block quotes
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
Every day Mamdani comes out and is like "hey guys, I turned off the orphan-crushing machine. Literally just had to flip a switch. Took less than 5 minutes."
After decades of dem leadership pissing and moaning and fundraising about how complex an issue it is and how difficult the process is etc
After decades of dem leadership pissing and moaning and fundraising about how complex an issue it is and how difficult the process is etc
February 3, 2026 at 3:58 AM
Every day Mamdani comes out and is like "hey guys, I turned off the orphan-crushing machine. Literally just had to flip a switch. Took less than 5 minutes."
After decades of dem leadership pissing and moaning and fundraising about how complex an issue it is and how difficult the process is etc
After decades of dem leadership pissing and moaning and fundraising about how complex an issue it is and how difficult the process is etc
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
Fusion foods are good and we should say they’re good
February 3, 2026 at 3:43 AM
Fusion foods are good and we should say they’re good
Fusion foods are good and we should say they’re good
February 3, 2026 at 3:43 AM
Fusion foods are good and we should say they’re good
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
"Reject productivity!" I said to myself and the Internet, while worrying incessantly about the fact that I've accomplished so little in life.
February 2, 2026 at 11:20 PM
"Reject productivity!" I said to myself and the Internet, while worrying incessantly about the fact that I've accomplished so little in life.
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
your first draft isn't perfect? what? that's weird. i've never heard of that happening before. maybe you should give up
February 2, 2026 at 9:44 PM
your first draft isn't perfect? what? that's weird. i've never heard of that happening before. maybe you should give up
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
This intersects some not only w/ Delany's "reading conventions"/"reading protocols" but also Stanley Fish's "How to Recognize a Poem When You See One". Genre as interpretive community. The limit is only the meaning for the reading community & the productivity of the interpretation.
February 2, 2026 at 4:17 PM
This intersects some not only w/ Delany's "reading conventions"/"reading protocols" but also Stanley Fish's "How to Recognize a Poem When You See One". Genre as interpretive community. The limit is only the meaning for the reading community & the productivity of the interpretation.
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
There is a baby in here thinking "Of course McCoy Tyner was left-handed. Makes absolute sense, does that!"
February 2, 2026 at 4:42 PM
There is a baby in here thinking "Of course McCoy Tyner was left-handed. Makes absolute sense, does that!"
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
I'm particularly interested in the suggestion here of genre as something that can be read into a work—like, a set of reading protocols you might apply to the work whether or not that was the original idea; contemporary genre influencing how we read work from before it was codified.
And then the first of our essays: the inestimable @megapolisomancy.bsky.social on (what else?) the weird.
What is really striking about this piece is the way in which it advocates for critical reading as productive practice, for "weird reading as a way of thinking critically about the world."
What is really striking about this piece is the way in which it advocates for critical reading as productive practice, for "weird reading as a way of thinking critically about the world."
The Brackish Pool: Towards a Critical Practice of Reading Weird Fiction
The ideal reader of the weird has to embrace a kind of wilful suspension of foreknowledge or generic expectation.
strangehorizons.com
January 31, 2026 at 12:36 AM
I'm particularly interested in the suggestion here of genre as something that can be read into a work—like, a set of reading protocols you might apply to the work whether or not that was the original idea; contemporary genre influencing how we read work from before it was codified.
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
"Weirding, in this sense, is an active unsettling, expressed both in the reading and the affective poetics that trouble, unsettle, and actively weird its material."
Welcome to the 2026 Criticism Special Issue!
The Brackish Pool: Towards a Critical Practice of Reading Weird Fiction
by Zachary Gillan @megapolisomancy.bsky.social
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...
The Brackish Pool: Towards a Critical Practice of Reading Weird Fiction
by Zachary Gillan @megapolisomancy.bsky.social
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...
![NON-FICTION
Quote
the ideal reader of the weird has to embrace a kind of wilful suspension of foreknowledge or generic expectation. This affected tabula rasa perspective requires, in turn, a critical approach, a practice of weird reading [1] hyper-attuned to the weird poetics of a piece as it signals its own weirding and becomes weird fiction.
end Quote
The Brackish Pool: Towards a Critical Practice of Reading Weird Fiction
by Zachary Gillan
26 January 2026
Strange Horizons](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:sxw2th36klmpelvkrux2pa3y/bafkreiddzptg5esulvbs7mnjcyp4mdxt7m6jffkjqncqob4xcrp4sqcqx4@jpeg)
January 27, 2026 at 11:05 PM
"Weirding, in this sense, is an active unsettling, expressed both in the reading and the affective poetics that trouble, unsettle, and actively weird its material."
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
Friends! Our 2026 titles are up for pre-order. And our 2025 print titles are on sale. Pre-orders help us immensely. Take a look at our site for all the details. I hope you'll consider grabbing something, if you're able. Thank you all so much.
undertowpublications.com/shop
undertowpublications.com/shop
February 2, 2026 at 2:56 PM
Friends! Our 2026 titles are up for pre-order. And our 2025 print titles are on sale. Pre-orders help us immensely. Take a look at our site for all the details. I hope you'll consider grabbing something, if you're able. Thank you all so much.
undertowpublications.com/shop
undertowpublications.com/shop
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
Feeling very grumpy about the void here so l've channeled that into a list of weird or weird-ish or weird-adjacent or theoretically-weird collections by Black authors (some of which I’ve read and too many of which I have not)
February 11, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Feeling very grumpy about the void here so l've channeled that into a list of weird or weird-ish or weird-adjacent or theoretically-weird collections by Black authors (some of which I’ve read and too many of which I have not)
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I’m adding Liliana Colanzi’s WE GLOW IN THE DARK and ‘Pemi Aguda’s GHOSTROOTS as my unsuggested picks
February 1, 2026 at 8:58 PM
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I’m adding Liliana Colanzi’s WE GLOW IN THE DARK and ‘Pemi Aguda’s GHOSTROOTS as my unsuggested picks
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
CHOTINER: *undergoes a wild transformation, an opening of borders, a renegotiation of ontologies*
ME:
ME:
February 2, 2026 at 4:32 AM
CHOTINER: *undergoes a wild transformation, an opening of borders, a renegotiation of ontologies*
ME:
ME:
CHOTINER: And you actually think it’s important for writers to provide space for productive ambiguity?
ME:
CHOTINER:
ME:
CHOTINER:
ME:
ME:
CHOTINER:
ME:
CHOTINER:
ME:
February 2, 2026 at 3:42 AM
CHOTINER: And you actually think it’s important for writers to provide space for productive ambiguity?
ME:
CHOTINER:
ME:
CHOTINER:
ME:
ME:
CHOTINER:
ME:
CHOTINER:
ME:
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
Read THE BEST WEIRD FICTION OF THE YEAR, VOL. 1, people (I also think you should read UNCERTAIN SONS, but, well, you know, I’m biased there)
February 1, 2026 at 6:03 PM
Read THE BEST WEIRD FICTION OF THE YEAR, VOL. 1, people (I also think you should read UNCERTAIN SONS, but, well, you know, I’m biased there)
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
On January 24th, my parents home burned down. They and my disabled brother escaped with only minor burns but they lost everything they've ever had.
I'm running a GoFundMe to help them recover and rebuild. I would be deeply grateful for any donations but also for any shares!
I'm running a GoFundMe to help them recover and rebuild. I would be deeply grateful for any donations but also for any shares!
Donate to We Lost Everything to a Fire. Help My Family Rebuild., organized by Chloe Clark
On January 24th, our childhood home burned down. Our parents lost 50… Chloe Clark needs your support for We Lost Everything to a Fire. Help My Family Rebuild.
gofund.me
February 1, 2026 at 11:17 PM
On January 24th, my parents home burned down. They and my disabled brother escaped with only minor burns but they lost everything they've ever had.
I'm running a GoFundMe to help them recover and rebuild. I would be deeply grateful for any donations but also for any shares!
I'm running a GoFundMe to help them recover and rebuild. I would be deeply grateful for any donations but also for any shares!
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
Renee Gladman is famous to me, but I also feel like a lot more people should still be reading for her! You could try Theory for Moving Houses: www.wavepoetry.com/products/the...
Theory for Moving Houses by Renee Gladman
You are asking me where I live and it’s making me think all these things about space, where I start and end in space and where space starts and ends in me and when, in space, I am a body and when I’m ...
www.wavepoetry.com
February 1, 2026 at 11:51 PM
Renee Gladman is famous to me, but I also feel like a lot more people should still be reading for her! You could try Theory for Moving Houses: www.wavepoetry.com/products/the...
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
Read The Works of Vermin, people
February 1, 2026 at 6:00 PM
Read The Works of Vermin, people
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
My first 5 star book of the year is THE WORKS OF VERMIN by Hiron Ennes. I'm LOVING these strange, surreal fantasies we're getting more of now. Genuinely creative and weird, with nuanced complex plots and characters that feel like people, not archetypes. Give me MORE.
February 1, 2026 at 11:06 PM
My first 5 star book of the year is THE WORKS OF VERMIN by Hiron Ennes. I'm LOVING these strange, surreal fantasies we're getting more of now. Genuinely creative and weird, with nuanced complex plots and characters that feel like people, not archetypes. Give me MORE.
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
I kicked off Black History Month in Corona at the home of Louis Armstrong, who lived in our city for more than 30 years. Walking through his house and hearing how much New York meant to him was a powerful reminder of what this city owes to Black artists and culture.
February 1, 2026 at 10:17 PM
I kicked off Black History Month in Corona at the home of Louis Armstrong, who lived in our city for more than 30 years. Walking through his house and hearing how much New York meant to him was a powerful reminder of what this city owes to Black artists and culture.
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I’m adding Liliana Colanzi’s WE GLOW IN THE DARK and ‘Pemi Aguda’s GHOSTROOTS as my unsuggested picks
February 1, 2026 at 8:58 PM
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone. I’m adding Liliana Colanzi’s WE GLOW IN THE DARK and ‘Pemi Aguda’s GHOSTROOTS as my unsuggested picks
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
Marie NDiyae's The Witch (Black, French, witch book about a mediocre witch escaping from an oppressive life): bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
The Witch: A Novel
A Novel
bookshop.org
February 1, 2026 at 7:13 PM
Marie NDiyae's The Witch (Black, French, witch book about a mediocre witch escaping from an oppressive life): bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
Leila Renee's SOFT SPOTS, a debut novel about family and the ways we do and do not see each other (also funny): bookshop.org/p/books/soft...
Soft Spots: A Novel
A Novel
bookshop.org
February 1, 2026 at 7:13 PM
Leila Renee's SOFT SPOTS, a debut novel about family and the ways we do and do not see each other (also funny): bookshop.org/p/books/soft...