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
CHOTINER: And you actually think it’s important for writers to provide space for productive ambiguity?
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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:
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CHOTINER:
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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
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
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
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
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...
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
T Clark's ALL THIS WANT (AND I CAN'T GET NONE). This is a debut short story collection that is hilarious and cutting about issues of sex and class and gender: bookshop.org/p/books/all-...
All This Want (and I Can't Get None)
Check out All This Want (and I Can't Get None) - <b>A piercing short story collection that explores the feverish hunger and dizzying pleasure of girlhood and queer coming-of-age in a small town, ...
bookshop.org
February 1, 2026 at 7:13 PM
T Clark's ALL THIS WANT (AND I CAN'T GET NONE). This is a debut short story collection that is hilarious and cutting about issues of sex and class and gender: bookshop.org/p/books/all-...
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
'Pemi Aguda's One Leg on Earth: bookshop.org/p/books/one-... (I blurbed this one and it is deeply uncomfortable and weird and beautifully written)
One Leg on Earth
Check out One Leg on Earth - <p>The lonely daughter of a distant mother, Yosoye arrives in Lagos ready to change her life. Weeks after she begins an internship at a fancy architectural firm, she disco...
bookshop.org
February 1, 2026 at 7:13 PM
'Pemi Aguda's One Leg on Earth: bookshop.org/p/books/one-... (I blurbed this one and it is deeply uncomfortable and weird and beautifully written)
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
one of my standing complaints is every february 1st a lot of you are like read Black writers! and then name the same five people to read. Some writers who could use your pre-orders:
The Great Wherever by @shanders.bsky.social: bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
The Great Wherever by @shanders.bsky.social: bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
The Great Wherever: A Novel
A Novel
bookshop.org
February 1, 2026 at 7:13 PM
one of my standing complaints is every february 1st a lot of you are like read Black writers! and then name the same five people to read. Some writers who could use your pre-orders:
The Great Wherever by @shanders.bsky.social: bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
The Great Wherever by @shanders.bsky.social: bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
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)
Read The Works of Vermin, people
February 1, 2026 at 6:00 PM
Read The Works of Vermin, people
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
Halfway through the decade, what are your favorite short story collections by nonwhite authors of the 2020s?
January 30, 2026 at 9:50 PM
Halfway through the decade, what are your favorite short story collections by nonwhite authors of the 2020s?
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
Oh wow. UNCERTAIN SONS AND OTHER STORIES (Collection), "Uncertain Sons" (Novelette), and "In My Country" (Short Story), recommended by Locus. A lot of great works and authors here. Like half the collection category, colleagues/friends I recognize. My thanks to folks who enjoyed these stories.
2025 Recommended Reading List
Welcome to the Locus Recommended Reading List… We saw some fabulous books come out last year and are so pleased to let you know about them! Our recommendations are compiled annually by the Locus re…
locusmag.com
February 1, 2026 at 2:29 PM
Oh wow. UNCERTAIN SONS AND OTHER STORIES (Collection), "Uncertain Sons" (Novelette), and "In My Country" (Short Story), recommended by Locus. A lot of great works and authors here. Like half the collection category, colleagues/friends I recognize. My thanks to folks who enjoyed these stories.
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
For the @strangehorizons.bsky.social 2026 Criticism Special, I wrote about weird fiction being constituted by weird reading, vis a vis Sederholm and Woofter’s The Weird and @undertow.bsky.social’s The Best Weird Fiction of the Year, Vol. 1., in tribute to Maureen Kincaid Speller. It’s a long one.
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 26, 2026 at 1:42 PM
For the @strangehorizons.bsky.social 2026 Criticism Special, I wrote about weird fiction being constituted by weird reading, vis a vis Sederholm and Woofter’s The Weird and @undertow.bsky.social’s The Best Weird Fiction of the Year, Vol. 1., in tribute to Maureen Kincaid Speller. It’s a long one.
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
you will NEVER convince me that an illegal immigrant is my enemy and that a person who would do this to a child is my friend
A little girl in Portland, OR after being tear gassed by ICE. what the actual fuck.
I saw it too:
February 1, 2026 at 2:21 AM
you will NEVER convince me that an illegal immigrant is my enemy and that a person who would do this to a child is my friend
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
Won't bombard w/links, but the collection's afterword notes loose ties to 2 older stories. So if you enjoy the father/son or weird strains they are: "House Traveler" in @bourbonpenn.bsky.social, audio in @pseudopod.org, and "The Sort" in @clarkesworldmagazine.com, new audio in @wilwheaton.net's pod.
January 31, 2026 at 5:33 PM
Won't bombard w/links, but the collection's afterword notes loose ties to 2 older stories. So if you enjoy the father/son or weird strains they are: "House Traveler" in @bourbonpenn.bsky.social, audio in @pseudopod.org, and "The Sort" in @clarkesworldmagazine.com, new audio in @wilwheaton.net's pod.
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
Lotta new faces around here, everyone go read this and/or just go read Jeffrey Ford’s The Well-Built City books
Up now at @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social, I wrote about one of my favorite trilogies, Jeffrey Ford’s The Well-Built City, and what it has to say about living in a society in thrall, the fascist mindset, and the daily work of staying alive.
We Are Close, We Are Almost There | Los Angeles Review of Books
Zachary Gillan reflects on Jeffrey Ford’s ‘Well-Built City Trilogy’ in the era of resurgent fascism.
lareviewofbooks.org
January 22, 2026 at 11:45 PM
Lotta new faces around here, everyone go read this and/or just go read Jeffrey Ford’s The Well-Built City books
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
I wrote an essay appreciating the works of @horrorsong.blog. I name drop @megapolisomancy.bsky.social, whose Weird scholarship has been a great boon 🖤 please enjoy!
Literary Horror & Surrealist Trash
an appreciation of Joe Koch
open.substack.com
January 31, 2026 at 5:25 PM
I wrote an essay appreciating the works of @horrorsong.blog. I name drop @megapolisomancy.bsky.social, whose Weird scholarship has been a great boon 🖤 please enjoy!
Reposted by Zachary Gillan
If you're reading over coffee this Saturday, this novelette is temporarily available online again for the next month or so. Thanks if you check it out.
undertowpublications.com/uncertain-sons
undertowpublications.com/uncertain-sons
Novelette
“Uncertain Sons.” Undertow Publications. September 2025 (12,400 words).
A young bikeman joins a search party in foothills beset by strange creatures and voices of the past. (Novelette included with Uncertain Sons and Other Stories; temporarily available online for November 2025.)
“Uncertain Sons.” Undertow Publications. September 2025 (12,400 words).
A young bikeman joins a search party in foothills beset by strange creatures and voices of the past. (Novelette included with Uncertain Sons and Other Stories; temporarily available online for November 2025.)
Uncertain Sons — Undertow Publications
undertowpublications.com
January 31, 2026 at 3:45 PM
If you're reading over coffee this Saturday, this novelette is temporarily available online again for the next month or so. Thanks if you check it out.
undertowpublications.com/uncertain-sons
undertowpublications.com/uncertain-sons