4/8/28
On yesterday’s hike, I saw a lone bumblebee flitting amongst a patch of lavender-colored wildflowers. I’ve always had a soft spot for bumblebees. They’re big, doppy, gentle giants. Their size is their protection and defense. A lot of folks will tell you that bumblebees can’t sting (and indeed, I have told people that during outdoor activities, so they’ll stop trying to kill the bumblebee investigating our outdoor activities) but the truth is — the female bumblee can indeed sting, and her stinger isn’t barbed so she can do it over and over again. Most times, bumblebees just choose not to sting, because they really are docile, gentle creatures. As someone whose grandfather and father were both beekeepers — something I helped them with and dabbled in myself until a few years ago — I’ve been stung countless times. Honeybees, yellowjackets, wasps, hornets, etc. But I’ve never been stung by a bumblebee. I’ve rescued them from spiderwebs, guided them into my hand to get them out of my vehicle or house, and let them land on my palm outdoors, but I’ve never been stung. They really are amazing little things.
Last night, the spring weather vanished and the temperatures here in Central PA dropped down below freezing, so that bumblebee is probably dead now. People will blame global warming (which is indeed something that exists) but people love to blame everything on global warming. Do that long enough and the other folks who you’re trying to convince to be more concerned about global warming will tune you out. There were spring cold snaps long before global warming came into existence. That’s why, no matter how warm it gets in April, you never plant your crops before Mother’s Day. You’ll probably get at least one more good freeze after the weather warms, because nature can be an asshole sometimes.
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And this is why the much anticipated release of the government’s UFO/UAP files will be as anticlimactic as the release of the JFK and MLK files were. Any technology retrieved from crashed UFO/UAPs was given to the private sector — companies like Lockheed Martin, Haliburton, etc — and the private sector is immune to things like Freedom of Information act and disclosure edicts. As we’ve seen from the Epstein files, if they want to cover something up, they’ll cover it up.
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Women In Horror Year: Day 7
Thrall by Mary SanGiovanni
The last thing Jesse Coaglan ever wanted to do was return to his hometown of Thrall, New Jersey. Tucked away in the wilds of the northwestern corner of the state, Thrall has always been a very strange place to live. The town was a poison that affected people's minds, their souls, their bodies, and their perspectives. So Jesse abandoned his friends and the one woman he loved, and left everything behind. --- Seven years later, Jesse has found a reason to return — a reason that, in spite of his best attempts otherwise, he can't ignore. His old love, Mia Dalianis, has left him a voicemail message begging him to come back, if not for her, then for the daughter Jesse never knew he had. Jesse needs to go back. He's been running for a long time — from relationships, friendships, everything he is afraid of and feels guilty over. He realizes that the nightmares will never stop until he goes to Thrall. With help from Nadia Richards and some old surviving friends from Thrall, Jesse intends to find his daughter or die trying. He goes looking for redemption, but what he discovers about his old hometown may destroy him and everyone he's ever cared about.
Okay, let’s start by heading off a criticism that at least one of my detrators is sure to level at me — it is not nepotism for me to talk about a book written by my wife. Mary and I have known each other for almost 30 years. We’ve only been together for 14 years. I was reading her work, and was a fan of her work, long before we ever became a couple. So no, it’s not nepotism or favoritism. I can’t very well spend an entire year talking about books by women in the horror genre and NOT talk about one if the most influential women writers of my generation. To not talk about her contributions would be unfair to ALL women, because I can’t tell you how many younger female authors I’ve talked to whose introductions to the genre and in particular cosmic horror were Mary’s Leisure Books paperbacks from back in the day.
One of those books was, of course, The Hollower, which was very influential and which we’ll get to later in this series. But today I want to talk about Thrall, which — while being the third novel she published — was actually the first novel she wrote, while still attending college at Seton Hill. It’s a fantastic blend of small town horror, monster horror, and cosmic horror, and an ode to her influences — John Carpenter, H.P. Lovecraft, Keiichirō Toyama, Ramsey Campbell, and Stephen King. If you’re new to mary’s work, this is the book to start with. And that iconic cover!! Thrall is currently available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook from Crossroad Press.
