Eldritch Texts, Obsolete Spaceships, and Reading Dealbreakers

To view this email as a web page, go [here.]( [Tor.com Newsletter]( [Forward to a Friend]( BABASHOOK [Haunting Texts and Eldritch Tomes: Seven Scary Books That Thankfully Aren’t Real]( Sadly, there are books we’ll never be able to read because they only exist within films and novels. And while Lorna Wallace would love to read George McFly’s A Match Made in Space, there are some fictional books that are so dangerous and/or cursed that she’s just as glad they’re only found on fictional shelves. From The Necronomicon to Invocations (from the movie Hereditary) to that children’s classic Mister Babadook , here are seven terrifying (fictional) books! [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( MARK AS READ [On Dead Dogs and Other Reading Dealbreakers]( “No one has to read everything. To believe that is to believe that people should, for the sake of some kind of intellectual argument, subject themselves to writing that dehumanizes them. There are arguments about classics, and canons; there are arguments about books that some people believe are necessary reading regardless of how dated they are. I’m not here to make or refute those. What I’m interested in is how personal some dealbreakers are—how sometimes we read right up to (or over) the edge of things that are painful or difficult or insulting, and sometimes we want to read away.” In her latest Mark as Read column, Molly Templeton looks at the way our reading habits change with us. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( WAVE OF THE FUTURE [Five SF Classics Featuring Soon-To-Be Obsolete Spaceships]( You know how it is—no sooner have you settled into the golden age of paddle-wheelers than someone invents screw propellers, and suddenly everyone has to shift to a whole new mode of transport! SF writers have gotten a lot of mileage out of constantly evolving modes of travel since the early days of the genre. James Davis Nicoll shares five vintage works in which characters must deal with the march of progress and once cutting-edge spaceships that have been rendered obsolete… [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( ICE FLOE NOWHERE TO GO [Fantasy’s Icy Tundra Problem — And How To Thaw It Out]( Anyone who reads a lot of fantasy is bound to hone their personal palate over the years, developing their taste for favorite ideas or tropes as well as recognizing the things that turn them off or take them out of the story. Cole Rush writes about his dread of a particular setting–and the jarring moment when a narrative whisks its characters away to the forbidding, barren, frozen north–and muses on why this fictional landscape in particular leaves him so, well, cold? [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( TIME FOR A DANCE BREAK [K-pop Videos Hold the Key to Better, Weirder Storytelling, and Here Is My Proof]( As a writer, Kali Wallace is often asked where she gets her ideas. Here, she explains why K-pop videos have become a favorite source of inspiration: “...[S]peculative concepts abound, so I never have to look very hard to find something that gets the thoughts churning: What if reality is not as it seems? What if there is no difference between human and monster? What if technology has fundamentally altered us in ways we barely understand? What if this is not the only universe? What if we linger on after death? What if our only chance of survival in the ongoing global apocalypse involves learning some really sick dance moves?” Come for the thoughtful discussion of storytelling, stay for a look at some of the most wildly creative, high-concept videos to ever hit the internet. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( SLOTHERHOUSE RULES [Ten Overlooked Gems To Kick Off Spooky Season]( Now that it’s finally October, it’s time to commence stuffing horror, in all its many varieties, into our eyeballs. With JR. Forasteros rounding up ten delightful pop culture gems that range from the ridiculous (Slotherhouse) to the brilliantly bonkers (One Cut of the Dead) to the lyrical (Julianna Baggott’s short story collection I’d Really Prefer Not to Be Here With You) to the interactive (Escape From the Aliens in Outer Space ), you’re bound to find something that’s perfect for your own personal Halloween extravaganza. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( AS THE WHEEL TURNS [The Wheel of Time Confronts the Nature of Fate in “What Was Meant to Be”]( It’s the season finale for the second season of The Wheel of Time, and it’s full of big confrontations! Whitecloaks vs Seanchan, Egwene vs Renna, Mat vs his own personal demons, and of course, Rand vs Ishamael. Moiraine and Lan get some closure while Nynaeve does not, and all in all, it’s a pretty exciting ride. Join Sylas K. Barrett for his discussion of episode eight, “What Was Meant to Be.” [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( THE RITE STUFF [The Exorcist: Believer Will Make You Doubt Your Faith in Movies]( The Exorcist was a landmark film. A classic of horror and psychological dread that became a pop culture sensation, and still stands as one of the most successful movies of all time. The rest of the franchise has had its ups (Exorcist III, the TV series) and downs (Exorcist II, possibly the worst film of all time). Which brings us to The Exorcist: Believer —meant to be the first in a sequel trilogy to bring the story into a new era, instead it’s muddled, milquetoast, and worst of all: not even slightly scary. Leah Schnelbach has an angry, angry review. [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( ORIGINAL FICTION [“Not the Most Romantic Thing” by Carrie Vaughn]( On one of their earliest Visigoth assignments, Graff and Ell stumble into each other’s secrets (and one significant surprise) while conducting a recovery mission on a mining asteroid scheduled for imminent pulverization... [Read more]( SHARE THIS: [Publish to Facebook]( [Publish to Twitter]( Follow Tor.com to get updates on all of our original fiction. FOLLOW US: [Follow Us on Facebook]( [Follow Us on Twitter]( [Follow Us on Tumblr]( [Follow Us on Pinterest]( This email was sent by: Macmillan 120 Broadway New York, NY, 10271, US We respect your right to privacy - [view our policy]( Macmillan believes piracy hurts writers, readers and everyone who loves books. Learn more and report suspicious activity [here.]( To subscribe to this or other email communications from Macmillan, please click [here](. 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