"The editors I spoke to largely understood the difficulties facing women, and acknowledged that shrinking freelance budgets will hit the most marginalized writers – non-cis men and writers of color – first and hardest." @emilyprice.bsky.social argues against the status quo: buff.ly/t794SDX

What’s Really Scary? The Vanishing Number of Reviewers Who Aren't Cis Men - Unwinnable

Games criticism remains shallower and more limited than it could be because of these inclusion issues.

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I knew I didn’t like this movie but I didn’t realize how much I hated it until I wrote about it. Writing is iterative! Feel the hate in the November issue of @unwinnable.com!

Doc Ochs@nochshorn.bsky.social · yesterday

In the wake of the blue tsunami single people will be allowed to have sex more than one night a year again!

ICYMI: "The experience of reading it is almost like having a spell be worked upon you." Oluwatayo Adewole unravels Nick Harkaway’s novel Gnomon: buff.ly/LyTesaZ

Gnomon - Unwinnable

How do we fight for moments of private and personal existence? How do we live in our complex flowing realities without being swallowed by algorithms?

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Replaying A Memoir Blue reminded me of a couple things. One, that we can't rewind or redo, but we can remember and work through. Two, that @niuxyz.bsky.social & the team at @cloisters.bsky.social created something rich, vulnerable, and moving — both uniquely personal and enduringly resonant.

Unwinnable@unwinnable.com · 2d ago

"We all carry limited fragments of the events that shaped us, transforming those parts that remain anew with every chapter of our lives." @quiltedpoints.net dives into the depths of @cloisters.bsky.social's A Memoir Blue: buff.ly/b9wXZiO

Not only is Gone to the Wolves my favorite black metal coming-of-age novel, it might be the only black metal coming-of-age novel, and offers a rare incisive critique of second-wave black metal without beating a dead horse.

Unwinnable@unwinnable.com · 2d ago

"As much as second-wave black metal’s edgelord arm wanted to shock society, it instead replicated regressive and hateful attitudes that were already present along the fringes of mainstream society." @bensailer.bsky.social reviews John Wray's Gone to the Wolves: buff.ly/Ui7EQXn

"The experience of reading it is almost like having a spell be worked upon you." Oluwatayo Adewole unravels Nick Harkaway’s novel Gnomon: buff.ly/LyTesaZ

Gnomon - Unwinnable

How do we fight for moments of private and personal existence? How do we live in our complex flowing realities without being swallowed by algorithms?

buff.ly

ICYMI: "We all carry limited fragments of the events that shaped us, transforming those parts that remain anew with every chapter of our lives." @quiltedpoints.net dives into the depths of @cloisters.bsky.social's A Memoir Blue: buff.ly/b9wXZiO

A Memoir Blue: Resurfacing From The Deep - Unwinnable

This path of reconciliation is going to be different for all of us.

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ICYMI: "As much as second-wave black metal’s edgelord arm wanted to shock society, it instead replicated regressive and hateful attitudes that were already present along the fringes of mainstream society." @bensailer.bsky.social reviews John Wray's Gone to the Wolves: buff.ly/Ui7EQXn

Bag of Bones - Unwinnable

The genuine terror animating the antagonists in Gone to the Wolves isn’t the power of Satan, but toxic male rage that couldn’t find a productive outlet.

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"We all carry limited fragments of the events that shaped us, transforming those parts that remain anew with every chapter of our lives." @quiltedpoints.net dives into the depths of @cloisters.bsky.social's A Memoir Blue: buff.ly/b9wXZiO

A Memoir Blue: Resurfacing From The Deep - Unwinnable

This path of reconciliation is going to be different for all of us.

buff.ly

"As much as second-wave black metal’s edgelord arm wanted to shock society, it instead replicated regressive and hateful attitudes that were already present along the fringes of mainstream society." @bensailer.bsky.social reviews John Wray's Gone to the Wolves: buff.ly/Ui7EQXn

Bag of Bones - Unwinnable

The genuine terror animating the antagonists in Gone to the Wolves isn’t the power of Satan, but toxic male rage that couldn’t find a productive outlet.

buff.ly

ICYMI: Cold Nights. Hot Takes. The November issue of Exploits has writing on BWWM Romance, Margo's Got Money Troubles, The Death of Stalin + more. Buy: buff.ly/0demZml Subscribe: buff.ly/86t7nMJ Read Benjamin Blattberg on Manly Wade Wellman’s The Old Gods Awaken: buff.ly/OcqcZDb

Cold Nights. Hot Takes. The November issue of Exploits has writing on BWWM Romance, Margo's Got Money Troubles, The Death of Stalin + more. Buy: buff.ly/0demZml Subscribe: buff.ly/86t7nMJ Read Benjamin Blattberg on Manly Wade Wellman’s The Old Gods Awaken: buff.ly/OcqcZDb

ICYMI: "I’d already played the videogame and the first thing I thought was, 'This is an unfair game.' So, I loved it straight away." @stuhorvath.com talks to Dan Carter about @lostincult.co.uk's tabletop adaptation of World of Horror: buff.ly/q9NVFWm

Old Gods Wake - Unwinnable

Something is very wrong and only the kids from the local high school can figure out how to stop it.

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"I’d already played the videogame and the first thing I thought was, 'This is an unfair game.' So, I loved it straight away." @stuhorvath.com talks to Dan Carter about @lostincult.co.uk's tabletop adaptation of World of Horror: buff.ly/q9NVFWm

Old Gods Wake - Unwinnable

Something is very wrong and only the kids from the local high school can figure out how to stop it.

buff.ly

ICYMI: "A mall is certainly a type of cage for a human but I also got my photo taken with Santa in a space just like that. A place that used to have a Cinnabon can only feel so dangerous or foreign to me." @unwinnabledavid.bsky.social goes into the Backrooms: buff.ly/IfPcppm

The Backrooms - Unwinnable

Sure, any place abandoned long enough starts to get creepy. But I also remember these places full of life.

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"A mall is certainly a type of cage for a human but I also got my photo taken with Santa in a space just like that. A place that used to have a Cinnabon can only feel so dangerous or foreign to me." @unwinnabledavid.bsky.social goes into the Backrooms: buff.ly/IfPcppm

The Backrooms - Unwinnable

Sure, any place abandoned long enough starts to get creepy. But I also remember these places full of life.

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ICYMI: "They don’t really have a name. Call them 'YA horror.' Call them 'teen thrillers.' A lot of people do what my mom does with videogames and simply call them 'Fear Street books.'" @orringrey.com on “babysitter in peril” stories: buff.ly/AKfRslH

Paperback Nights - Unwinnable

What am I talking about? Odds are, if you grew up in the ’80s or ’90s, you already know.

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"They don’t really have a name. Call them 'YA horror.' Call them 'teen thrillers.' A lot of people do what my mom does with videogames and simply call them 'Fear Street books.'" @orringrey.com on “babysitter in peril” stories: buff.ly/AKfRslH

Paperback Nights - Unwinnable

What am I talking about? Odds are, if you grew up in the ’80s or ’90s, you already know.

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ICYMI: "The vast majority [of people], if not everyone, will say that the only way to defeat a werewolf is through the use of a silver bullet." @stuhorvath.com asks, why silver? buff.ly/skjJVtQ

Notes on Silver Allergies - Unwinnable

It’s delicious that a shapechanger so neatly illustrates the instability of folklore.

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"The vast majority [of people], if not everyone, will say that the only way to defeat a werewolf is through the use of a silver bullet." @stuhorvath.com asks, why silver? buff.ly/skjJVtQ

Notes on Silver Allergies - Unwinnable

It’s delicious that a shapechanger so neatly illustrates the instability of folklore.

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I'm going to go through every story in @unwinnable.com's October issue over the course of today. Before we do, though, let us once again contemplate the spooktacularness of Tyler Pennington's horrific cover art.

ICYMI: It's the scariest month of the year and Unwinnable's murder of writers are here with blood-curdling cultural commentary to turn your hair white while filling your brain with new ideas. Backrooms! Werewolves! Babysitters in peril! Buy: buff.ly/krs7Gl9 Subscribe: buff.ly/QW6Mdeu

i'm technically in this issue twice, once talking about what makes romance work and not work and once gently pushing back on the recent framing around "women in games." you know, scary halloween things!

Unwinnable@unwinnable.com · 2w ago

It's the scariest month of the year and Unwinnable's murder of writers are here with blood-curdling cultural commentary to turn your hair white while filling your brain with new ideas. Backrooms! Werewolves! Babysitters in peril! Don't miss it! Buy: buff.ly/krs7Gl9 Subscribe: buff.ly/QW6Mdeu

I wrote about the history and mysteries of "babysitter in peril" novels for @unwinnable.com's Halloween issue.

Unwinnable@unwinnable.com · 2w ago

It's the scariest month of the year and Unwinnable's murder of writers are here with blood-curdling cultural commentary to turn your hair white while filling your brain with new ideas. Backrooms! Werewolves! Babysitters in peril! Don't miss it! Buy: buff.ly/krs7Gl9 Subscribe: buff.ly/QW6Mdeu

this is a wonderful issue. i was fortunate enough to be one of ten queried by @emilyprice.bsky.social for a feature on the past, present and future of non-men in games media. it's an incredible piece, and worth subscribing for on its own. but, you know. subscribe for all of unwinnable too 💜

Unwinnable@unwinnable.com · 2w ago

It's the scariest month of the year and Unwinnable's murder of writers are here with blood-curdling cultural commentary to turn your hair white while filling your brain with new ideas. Backrooms! Werewolves! Babysitters in peril! Don't miss it! Buy: buff.ly/krs7Gl9 Subscribe: buff.ly/QW6Mdeu

I wrote about how Instagram manufactures coziness out of strange-ass failures like Practical Magic.

Unwinnable@unwinnable.com · 2w ago

It's the scariest month of the year and Unwinnable's murder of writers are here with blood-curdling cultural commentary to turn your hair white while filling your brain with new ideas. Backrooms! Werewolves! Babysitters in peril! Don't miss it! Buy: buff.ly/krs7Gl9 Subscribe: buff.ly/QW6Mdeu

I wrote about polar horror. I have a god damn book recommendation for you people.

Unwinnable@unwinnable.com · 2w ago

It's the scariest month of the year and Unwinnable's murder of writers are here with blood-curdling cultural commentary to turn your hair white while filling your brain with new ideas. Backrooms! Werewolves! Babysitters in peril! Don't miss it! Buy: buff.ly/krs7Gl9 Subscribe: buff.ly/QW6Mdeu

This month I talked to 10 women and nonbinary games reviewers about their experience freelancing in a gender-unequal market. You can probably guess why it’s in the “scary” issue:

Unwinnable@unwinnable.com · 2w ago

It's the scariest month of the year and Unwinnable's murder of writers are here with blood-curdling cultural commentary to turn your hair white while filling your brain with new ideas. Backrooms! Werewolves! Babysitters in peril! Don't miss it! Buy: buff.ly/krs7Gl9 Subscribe: buff.ly/QW6Mdeu

It's the scariest month of the year and Unwinnable's murder of writers are here with blood-curdling cultural commentary to turn your hair white while filling your brain with new ideas. Backrooms! Werewolves! Babysitters in peril! Don't miss it! Buy: buff.ly/krs7Gl9 Subscribe: buff.ly/QW6Mdeu

Also, a gentle reminder to subscribe so that Unwinnable Monthly, Exploits, and Unwinnable Web can continue to support their regular contributors and take more chances on new voices — insightful critique is needed now more than ever and there are fewer and fewer avenues to nurture it.