It’s been a while since I last published a monthly review. Summer, vacation, and some major other things have kept me busy, but also opened up many new avenues for me. Here is a short overview.
Podcasts
Rather unexpectedly, podcasts have become a pretty big deal in my life over the last three months. Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been hosting the occasional episode on the Retrogames podcast Stay Forever. This July, the episode “Die Welt von Pokémon” (‘The World of Pokémon’) was released; a few days ago, “Die Welt von Mittelerde” (‘The World of Middle-Earth’) was published. Another episode is already in the wings. In July, the German Lovecraft Society launched its very own podcast under the title dLG-Radio. This podcast is about all things Lovecraft, the society, and the current cosmic cultural landscape. Here, you will hear me both vigorously discussing and hosting every now and then. The next recording dates are already set for the coming weeks!
As if that were not enough, I was contacted by two other podcasts and asked if I would be interested in joining them as a guest for one or two episodes. They didn’t have to ask twice! Which podcasts those are, I will not reveal at this point yet.
Writing Projects
Two issues of VIRUS magazine have been published since my last monthly roundup. I have contributed a review of the queer horror movie Spiral: The Ritual as well as the feature “SKYND: True Crime Music” and the travelogue “Tombstone Tourism in Paris: Visiting the Montmatre and Père-Lachaise Cemeteries” for #108. Issue #109 features a short birthday salute to Stephen King, who celebrated his 75th birthday on September 21, 2022. For this article, I imagined what it would be like if King celebrated this birthday in his own fictional world…
In September, the new double issue of the dLG’s magazine Lovecrafter was published as well. While issue #9 focuses on “Lovecraft’s Geography”, issue #10 concentrates on his “Dreamlands”. I contributed articles to both issues: The feature “Irgendwo im Nirgendwo: Die Grenzen der Kartierbarkeit in Lovecrafts Erzählungen” (‘Somewhere in Nowhere: The Limits of Mappability in Lovecraft’s Tales’) as well as an interview with filmmaker Huan Vu (“Die Farbe”, 2010) about his current movie project “The Dreamlands” that I conceived of together with René Porschen.
I am particularly pleased that my monograph The Supernatural Media Virus: Virus Anxiety in Gothic Fiction Since 1990 is now available in open access. That means that the entire book can be read and downloaded online for free – 100% legally.
Other Projects
In August, the anRUFung of the German Lovecraft Society took place again. For me it was the first time that I could participate in this awesome horror roleplaying convention. I plan on attending every year from now on! If you want to know more about the anRUFung, you can listen to the respective episode of the dLG-Radio.
A little less than a week later, I was off on my two-week vacation in the US. One week Washington DC, one week Florida – just perfect! Nothing went as planned, but it was a wonderful adventure. The vacation was the perfect opportunity for me to finally buy a few magazines that you can hardly get your hands on in Germany. However, we urgently need to talk about United Airlines’ understanding of genre.
Outlook
Not only the next two issues of VIRUS, but of course also the next Lovecrafter are already in the development phase. And quite a few podcast episodes need to be prepared along the way. Let’s get to work on the research!