• Essays

    The Gilded Age: On Invention and Excess

    Alyssa Maxwell on capturing the technologies of an unequal and rapidly changing era in historical fiction.

    September 11, 2023  By Alyssa Maxwell
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    Land Politics Can Be Murder

    Nina Simon on public lands in California, and how Attica Locke's words inspired her to change the direction of her first novel.

    September 8, 2023  By Nina Simon
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    On Adolescence, Awkwardness, and Safety

    Growing up as a refugee in the troubled neighborhood of Cabramatta, Lang Leav found safety in comparisons, and in love.

    September 8, 2023  By Lang Leav
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    When Teens Play Detective: The Influence of Golden Age Detective Fiction on YA Mysteries

    "An increasing number of young adult authors are bringing our love of puzzles and amateur detectives to high school..."

    September 8, 2023  By Lauren Muñoz
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    James Ellroy Reveals the Real Reason He Writes

    "Disingenuousness is a sin. I’m writing this essay in the spirit of atonement. My ongoing biography should be revised to reflect this..."

    September 7, 2023  By James Ellroy
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    Joyce Carol Oates on Women and the Roots of Body Horror

    In a new collection, the author is gathering women writers to explore A Darker Shade of Noir

    September 6, 2023  By Joyce Carol Oates
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    Dorothy L Sayers and the Thirty-Foot Drain: Searching for Peter Wimsey

    James R. Benn goes on a quest to discover the original inspiration for Sayers' iconic war-weary character.

    September 6, 2023  By James R. Benn
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    The Cowboy as Detective: Finding Charlie Siringo’s West

    Charlie Siringo’s frontier life filled five autobiographies. His book about his two decades “playing outlaw” as a Pinkerton operative provoked the agency’s long campaign to silence him, and inspired American crime writers such as Dashiell Hammett. “When the final call comes,” Siringo judged toward the end, “I shall have to take my medicine, with Satan holding the spoon.” 

    September 5, 2023  By Nathan Ward
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    From Punchline to Protagonist: Black Horror and the Monsters Who Hunt

    "Modern Black horror turns the mirror inward, putting the lens on societal dread and the monsters hidden in plain sight"

    September 5, 2023  By Lisa Springer
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    It’s All Relative: Horror’s Worst Families

    "All happy families are alike; every horror family is horrific in its own way."

    September 5, 2023  By Rachel Harrison
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