Beyond the Void

Mary SanGiovanni Newsletter, Issue 2 April 2023

Hi there! I’m horror author Mary SanGiovanni, and this is the second issue of my reimagined, rebooted author newsletter. Thanks for subscribing, and please forgive any weird text hiccups as I navigate the new system.

Last weekend, I dragged Brian to a dollhouse yard sale of sorts. I picked up all kinds of cool stuff for the castle I’m building (and which is currently serving as a shelf for wedding stuff until the end of next month).

I enjoy making little miniatures. I’m no artisan by any means, but I’ve gotten a little better over the years. I find it soothing to make them, to create beautiful new things from discarded old things. I like having a concrete way to create worlds, and to bring some type of physicality to that which otherwise only exists in my imagination. There’s a magick principle that by willing something into existence, you make it real and give it life. I’d like to think I’m willing a special, secret, beautiful part of the mind’s landscape into actual being.

Anyway, if folks are interested, I’ll post the occasional thing I make or find for the castle as we go.

So in writing news, in addition to planning the wedding (it’s 5 weeks away!), I am catching up on some final critiques for the STC Writers’ Workshop, working on personalized stories, catching up on Patreon, and working on my next part of the novella I’m writing with Ed Lee.

Further, I’m still working on the sequel to THRALL (tentatively titled NULL) and a novella called PARTIAL PLACES. Into 2023, I would like to compile written transcripts/notes for Cosmic Shenanigans episodes into a non-fiction book about cosmic horror in entertainment.

I’m pleased to announce that my cosmic horror haunted house novel, THE EVERYWHERE HOUSE, has been picked up by Thunderstorm Books! I’m so excited for this one. I hope you folks enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

I’ve received good news on the ALIEN front. New paperback copies are on the way — in fact, Ingram should be receiving them any day now, if they haven’t already. So yay! The tour continues.

I’ll be offering a workshop in June through Apex Publications on Cosmic horror, its history and popularity in entertainment. It’s only $30. You can sign up here: https://www.apexbookcompany.com/collections/online-workshops/products/the-history-present-and-future-of-cosmic-horror

This month’s cosmic horror recommendation: THE VOID. This 2016 indie cosmic horror movie is a master showcase of the cosmic horror element of change and fluidity. We have people changing into things as the most obvious example - the experimentation with changing the workings of the human body to transcend death and become something more. We have fluidity of place and even time, where we see the effects of the cosmic horror force actually reshaping the environment. And we also have change in the sense of how we grieve over loss, particularly death, and how it changes both us and our relationships with those who are also grieving. I was initially kind of put off by the abruptness of the ending, but the more times I watch the movie, the better I’ve come to appreciate its awesomeness. Definitely worth a watch.

That’s it, I think, for this month. Thanks for subscribing. I’ll see you in May.