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Stuff I have previously read: 'Gateways to Abomination' by @MattMBartlett 1/8
I've actually vaguely accidentally bought this book 3 times, and could not be happier. Kindle edition, physical copy (dirt cheap) and via @storybundle ages ago. https://www.matthewmbartlett.com/p/bizarre-radio-broadcasts-luring.html
I've actually vaguely accidentally bought this book 3 times, and could not be happier. Kindle edition, physical copy (dirt cheap) and via @storybundle ages ago. https://www.matthewmbartlett.com/p/bizarre-radio-broadcasts-luring.html
2/8
(Parenthetical about @storybundle - amazing collections of indie fiction for cheap. Currently noteworthy for obvious reasons, as well as being chock full of amazing books, are the Latinx Dark Fiction {ending v soon!} and the African Spec Fic bundles.) https://storybundle.com/latinx
(Parenthetical about @storybundle - amazing collections of indie fiction for cheap. Currently noteworthy for obvious reasons, as well as being chock full of amazing books, are the Latinx Dark Fiction {ending v soon!} and the African Spec Fic bundles.) https://storybundle.com/latinx
3/8
'Gateways to Abomination' is a collection of stories, vignettes and virtual prose poems all connected to the radio station WXXT, operating out of Leeds, Massachusetts, and principal media outlet/propaganda tool of a centuries-old witch cult. Can you beat that concept??
'Gateways to Abomination' is a collection of stories, vignettes and virtual prose poems all connected to the radio station WXXT, operating out of Leeds, Massachusetts, and principal media outlet/propaganda tool of a centuries-old witch cult. Can you beat that concept??
4/8
The unstable, analogue nature of radio broadcasting is central to Bartlett's work (kudos to @NBallingrud for this crucial insight). Intrusions occur, voices overlap, boundaries are breached. Bartlett's stories phase into and out of each other, and create a suffocating whole.
The unstable, analogue nature of radio broadcasting is central to Bartlett's work (kudos to @NBallingrud for this crucial insight). Intrusions occur, voices overlap, boundaries are breached. Bartlett's stories phase into and out of each other, and create a suffocating whole.
5/8
'Suffocating' is perhaps the word I associate most with this book - Bartlett is exceptionally good at creating a horrific atmosphere in just a few sentences. See this, from 'The Arrival Part 1' - the reincarnation of the warlock Ben Stockton in the form of a goat.
'Suffocating' is perhaps the word I associate most with this book - Bartlett is exceptionally good at creating a horrific atmosphere in just a few sentences. See this, from 'The Arrival Part 1' - the reincarnation of the warlock Ben Stockton in the form of a goat.
6/8
This is visceral horror; materially upsetting in that Bartlett makes you FEEL and SEE the things he exposes you to. But it is not gorn or splatter for splatter's sake. There are transgressive images and concepts here, certainly, but still, but still...
This is visceral horror; materially upsetting in that Bartlett makes you FEEL and SEE the things he exposes you to. But it is not gorn or splatter for splatter's sake. There are transgressive images and concepts here, certainly, but still, but still...
7/8
Another great anatomist of small town America wrote 'The past is never dead. It is not even past.' Bartlett's fiction literalises and weaponises that concept; revenants, literal avatars of the past's bullshit, return pathologically to Leeds to corrupt any attempt at progress.
Another great anatomist of small town America wrote 'The past is never dead. It is not even past.' Bartlett's fiction literalises and weaponises that concept; revenants, literal avatars of the past's bullshit, return pathologically to Leeds to corrupt any attempt at progress.
8/8
Bartlett's world is claustrophobic and manifestly unfair; malignantly uncaring at best, deliberately cruel at worst. It is one of the most singular and consistent fictional locales currently not actually existing. I hope it stays that way.
Bartlett's world is claustrophobic and manifestly unfair; malignantly uncaring at best, deliberately cruel at worst. It is one of the most singular and consistent fictional locales currently not actually existing. I hope it stays that way.
