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ZD Dochterman

@zddochterman.bsky.social

120 followers 170 following 170 posts

Speculative Fiction | Codex | Assistant Professor of Writing at USC | Apophatic Utopianist Author site: zddochterman.com

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ZD Dochterman @zddochterman.bsky.social · Sep 5

I have a new eco-horror story about telepathic deer, MN cabins, and weird trees in "What Lurks: A Cryptid Anthology" by Graveside Press.

And it just got picked up for podcasting on Creepy! Date forthcoming.

In the meantime, get a copy of the anthology here: graveside-press.com/product/what...

What Lurks: A Cryptid Anthology | Graveside Press

A Cryptid Anthology cryptid noun cryp·tid plural cryptids : an animal (such as Sasquatch or the Loch Ness Monster) that has been claimed to exist, but never proven to exist by scientific means. The...

graveside-press.com

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ZD Dochterman @zddochterman.bsky.social · 7h

I like this comparison. Imagine the darkest most absurdist day of high school then multiply by 100, and throw in a Minotaur.

Think that captures the vibe of my story pretty well.

Jennifer Jeanne McArdle @mcardlejeanne.bsky.social · 12h

Some lunch time reading from @seizethepress.bsky.social that gives me Sideways Stories from Wayside school vibes but way darker: www.seizethepress.com/2025/03/29/a...

“Avila Beach” by Z.D. Dochterman - Seize The Press

It was a Saturday, about two weeks before I was set to graduate from high school. I went to Avila Beach to work on my last English paper, the only thing between me and graduation. As the dour tide pre...

www.seizethepress.com

ZD Dochterman @zddochterman.bsky.social · 7h

Thanks for reading! Really appreciate it.

ZD Dochterman @zddochterman.bsky.social · 8h

Not quite the same but if anyone says Highway 10 or Highway 405 they are definitely not from LA.

Always use the definite article in front of your freeways numbers, folks!

If you are LA born and raised like me, you will also just refer to them by their names. E.g. Santa Ana Freeway

C.J. Subko @cjsubko.bsky.social · 9h

Willis 😜

Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 10h

What’s the word where you’re from that, when pronounced exactly as it looks, identifies a tourist immediately?

Reposted by ZD Dochterman

C.J. Subko @cjsubko.bsky.social · 9h

Willis 😜

Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 10h

What’s the word where you’re from that, when pronounced exactly as it looks, identifies a tourist immediately?

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ZD Dochterman @zddochterman.bsky.social · 13h

Just got my story, "The Poem of the Yovel" picked up by Quest magazine for the "Thresholds" issue #1.

It's about an alien species for whom the universe is a poem replete of meaning--until they venture out beyond their solar system.

Parts will be illustrated too. Excited! Details soon.

ZD Dochterman @zddochterman.bsky.social · 2d

Wonderful underwater death-dreamscapes from @anovelescape.bsky.social Kelsea Yu.

psychopomp.com/deadlands/is...

Deliquescence - PSYCHOPOMP.COM

It is cold where the dreamer lies. She is the only one of her kind in this dark, murky cage, but she is not alone. Claws tap out rhythms on her skull; fins brush patterns on her ribs.

psychopomp.com

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ZD Dochterman @zddochterman.bsky.social · 3d

At one time or another, we must all grapple with Poe.

a black and white drawing of a man with a crow on his shoulder

ALT: a black and white drawing of a man with a crow on his shoulder

media.tenor.com

ZD Dochterman @zddochterman.bsky.social · 6d

Important part of people’s history to remember. More than 50 years ago today.

Oct. 2, 1968: Tlatelolco Massacre

Student demonstrators and other civilians were killed by the military and police in Mexico in advance of the 1968 Olympic Games.

www.zinnedproject.org

ZD Dochterman @zddochterman.bsky.social · 7d

Finally started this game last week.

It’s quotes like this that make it so awesome.

#discoelysium

Disco Elysium Quotes @discoelysiumbot.bsky.social · 7d

That we continue to persist at all is a testament to our faith in one another.

Reposted by ZD Dochterman

Disco Elysium Quotes @discoelysiumbot.bsky.social · 7d

That we continue to persist at all is a testament to our faith in one another.

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ZD Dochterman @zddochterman.bsky.social · 7d

Submit your favorite weird horror here!

Tenebrous Press @tenebrouspress.bsky.social · 7d

SUBMISSIONS ARE OPEN!
...for BRAVE NEW WEIRD Vol. 4, our annual collection of the best **PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED** New Weird Horror of the year.
Eligibility window: stories published between 31st October 2024 and 31st October 2025.
All the deets here:
tenebrouspress.com/blog/2025/10...

Submissions open for Brave New Weird volume 4 — tenebrous press

REMINDER: THIS IS FOR ELIGIBLE REPRINTS ONLY Tenebrous Press presents the FOURTH (!!!) Annual Brave New Weird Awards—to reward and promote this unique blend of genres—and its accompanying antholog...

tenebrouspress.com

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ZD Dochterman @zddochterman.bsky.social · 8d

Atrocity Exhibition. Not only a great Joy Division song and JG Ballard novel but also a great hip-hop album.

Post from AaronTheHipHopGuy - YouTube

Danny Brown released “Atrocity Exhibition” 9 years ago today 💿 Best Selling Rap Albums This Week - https://youtube.com/shorts/nH_74LFcOEo?feature=share Join ...

youtube.com

ZD Dochterman @zddochterman.bsky.social · 8d

I just discovered how to get through grading papers. 6 shots of espresso per day.

Why hadn't I thought of it before?

ZD Dochterman @zddochterman.bsky.social · 14d

I have this exact shirt!!!

a man is playing a guitar in a classroom and a woman is dancing .

ALT: a man is playing a guitar in a classroom and a woman is dancing .

media.tenor.com

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ZD Dochterman @zddochterman.bsky.social · 14d

More of this please.

Amazing mix of black, technical and death metal with symphonic composition.

#lornashore

Oblivion

open.spotify.com

ZD Dochterman @zddochterman.bsky.social · 16d

Just ordered this! Looking forward to it

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ZD Dochterman @zddochterman.bsky.social · 16d

This is probably the first and only time I will ever say “I don’t have issues with authority.”

Reading the description online, it looks right up my alley, so we will add it to the infinitely growing list of books on my “to read” list.

Plus, bonus points for the weird head.

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ZD Dochterman @zddochterman.bsky.social · 16d

My wife has informed me that cake making is what she'd do with her family when hurricanes were about to hit their Central Florida era.

There is something about baking in the face of the apocalypse that feels right.

ZD Dochterman @zddochterman.bsky.social · 16d

Your random Junji Ito update.

Such a mind for horror--where the most intimate, personal, and vulnerable clashes with the bizarre.
#ito #junjiito

Thanks @shawnazilla.bsky.social!

Junji Ito Smashed book cover of bizarre woman's head with teeth underneath.

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ZD Dochterman @zddochterman.bsky.social · 17d

Not sure what this is but I’m gonna sleep on it and probably have a short story idea tomorrow.

ZD Dochterman @zddochterman.bsky.social · 17d

Vibes of current story I’m working on.

Spooky Bruce.

My Father's House

open.spotify.com

ZD Dochterman @zddochterman.bsky.social · 19d

Saturday at 7!!

ZD Dochterman @zddochterman.bsky.social · 22d

To me it seems like those interstitial spaces are becoming more and more rare due to cost-of-living issues. Maybe I’m just nostalgic but I feel you used to be able to work at a coffee shop, split an apartment with three people and be doing alright. Not to mention lower rent on alternative spaces.

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ZD Dochterman @zddochterman.bsky.social · 22d

I’m glad to see this insight I had confirmed:

“Our final defenses are more diffuse, working at a level of norms and attitudes. Stigmatization is a powerful force, and disgust and shame are among our greatest tools. Put plainly, you should feel bad for using AI… make it uncompelling and uncool.”

ZD Dochterman @zddochterman.bsky.social · 22d

Great article with a full throated, rage filled case against AI that only feeds the pockets of oligarchs at the expense of the environment.

Wm McKenna @wmmckenna.bsky.social · 22d

"When we use generative AI, we stuff the pockets of oligarchs with even more money. We agree that we would rather deplete our natural resources than make our own art or think our own thoughts."

www.nplusonemag.com/issue-51/the...

Large Language Muddle | The Editors

The AI upheaval is unique in its ability to metabolize any number of dread-inducing transformations. The university is becoming more corporate, more politically oppressive, and all but hostile to the ...

www.nplusonemag.com

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