Nadia Bulkin

@nadiabulkin.bsky.social

Horror writer (SHE SAID DESTROY, RED SKIES IN THE MORNING, ISSUES WITH AUTHORITY). Co-editor of WHY DIDN'T YOU JUST LEAVE. 📍 DC, raised in Jakarta/Nebraska, she/her ♠️💜 https://linktr.ee/nadiabulkin

The first thing I remember someone doing while the towers were falling was a boy in class pulling open a world map "to find Afghanistan so we can bomb it." I guarantee that for anyone that could be in ANY way linked to Islam in the U.S. it was "stay invisible and stay the fuck out of the way."

Jared Yates Sexton@jysexton.bsky.social · last mo.

There are already articles circulating trying to rewrite history and say America was great after 9/11 and united and thoughtful and just a reminder that that period was marked by intense and insanely racist hatred, paranoia, and a frothing desire for unhinged violence and oppression.

Me talking about a retired tennis player: I hated him for no good reason. And then I never forgave him. The end. Roommate: That's the kind of storytelling I expect from a Shirley Jackson Award winner.

On the literacy crisis tip, shit’s bad but I have seen people posting videos under this topic of folks who know a word and what it means, but they pronounce it incorrectly. That’s not a literacy issue; we shouldn’t shame people for not having said something out loud before.

WHAT HAPPENED TO DOROTHY BELL: A woman tries to figure out why her grandmother, a beloved librarian, tried to kill her as a child. Has a little bit of everything - jump scares, sneaky background scares, analog scares - and it doesn't all work, but it's a creepy little watch. Grade = B-. (Shudder)

FACES OF DEATH: A video content moderator discovers someone is recreating deaths from the famous shock series, except for real! An attempt at meta commentary that doesn't end up saying much of anything before devolving into your typical bloody wrestling match. Grade = D+. (Shudder)

EXIT 8: A man trapped in a looping subway corridor has to find anomalies to get out. Technically, doesn't meet my criteria of a horror movie - it's more of a morality play - but it is irresistibly sweet (no, I haven't been kidnapped) and the anomalies are delightfully creepy. Grade = B+. (Shudder)

DESCENDENT: A man whose wife is about to give birth has an epic TAKE SHELTER-esque breakdown, except with aliens instead of storms. I do tire of movies about delusional men, but at least this dude doesn't attack people and the wife is portrayed very sympathetically by Sarah Bolger. Grade = B. (Hulu)

Can't overstate my agreement with Vajra here. The degradation of taste and skill is exactly what keeps me up at night. Frankly, I already see it happening with people who claim they can't tell if prose has been written by AI. If this is true for you, I beg of you: Read. More. Carefully.

Vajra Chandrasekera@vajra.me · 2mo ago

They'll flip when the output improves past the bar where they can no longer tell that it sucks. And as AI degrades taste and cognitive skills, and deskills writers, that bar gets lower and lower.

A few very pointed thoughts on "that" op-ed from the HWA newsletter: An organization with a published anti-AI statement should know better than to publish an inflammatory, antagonistic, racist, poorly researched, poorly argued, pro-AI op-ed in their newsletter. I have seen the statements that...

Have always appreciated Ruthanna Emrys (@r-emrys.bsky.social) and Anne M. Pillsworth's take on my stories. I based this one on a) my experience as a half-Indonesian in college/grad school, and b) mysterious trail disappearances (Trenny Lynn Gibson, Paula Jean Welden). reactormag.com/a-little-kno...

A Little Knowledge Is a Dangerous Thing: Nadia Bulkin’s “Things to Know Before You Go” - Reactor

This vacation carries a terrible curse...

reactormag.com

THE LONG WALK: In a destitute America, fifty boys walk under military guard until only one is left. Despite the premise this is neither YA hopepunk nor Lord of the Flies; the boys are all depicted fairly and kindly, making the perverse cruelty of the situation all the more searing. Grade = A-. (HBO)

What I find most hilarious* about the Graham Platner thing is that both "centrist Dems" and "leftists" are blaming the entire thing on each other. As well as claiming that the only people still supporting him are each other (I've seen supporters in both camps so don't even try that on me). *gross

Posting to mark the hilarity of a Moroccan player who plays for a Dutch FC sending the Netherlands home last night. -- "If a player of Moroccan heritage was good enough for Oranje, the assumption was they would choose the Netherlands. That assumption no longer exists." www.bbc.com/sport/footba...

World Cup 2026: How Morocco won the battle for Dutch-born talent

Morocco’s World Cup meeting with the Netherlands tells a story about migration, identity and the battle for Dutch-born talent.

bbc.com