Edward Bluemel Will Play Young Poirot in Upcoming Series, Hercule

Jun. 8th, 2026 05:45 pm
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Posted by Vanessa Armstrong

https://reactormag.com/edward-bluemel-young-poirot-hercule-series/

https://reactormag.com/?p=849997

News Hercule

Edward Bluemel Will Play Young Poirot in Upcoming Series, Hercule

The BritBox show will center on Agatha Christie’s iconic detective as he tackles his first cases

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Published on June 8, 2026

Credit: Mammoth Screen / Jonathan Ford

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<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Vanessa Armstrong</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/edward-bluemel-young-poirot-hercule-series/">https://reactormag.com/edward-bluemel-young-poirot-hercule-series/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=849997">https://reactormag.com/?p=849997</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-horizontal"> <div class="container container-desktop"> <div class="flex flex-col mx-auto post-hero-container"> <div class="post-hero-content"> <div class="post-hero-tags font-aktiv text-xs tracking-[0.5px] font-medium uppercase"> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/articles/news/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag News 0"> News </a> </span> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/tag/hercule/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Hercule 1"> Hercule </a> </span> </div> <h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1">Edward Bluemel Will Play Young Poirot in Upcoming Series, <i>Hercule</i></h2> <div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">The BritBox show will center on Agatha Christie’s iconic detective as he tackles his first cases</div> <div class="post-hero-wrapper"> <div class="post-hero-inner"> <p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&amp;_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/vanessa-armstrong/" title="Posts by Vanessa Armstrong" class="author url fn" rel="author">Vanessa Armstrong</a></p> <span class="post-hero-symbol relative top-[-2px] hidden tablet:block">|</span> <p class="text-xs uppercase post-hero-publish font-aktiv"> Published on June 8, 2026 </p> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-vertical [&amp;_a]:link"><p>Credit: Mammoth Screen / Jonathan Ford</p> </div> <div class="quick-access post-hero-quick-access mt-[17px] tablet:hidden"> <div class="flex gap-[30px] tablet:gap-6"> <a href="https://reactormag.com/edward-bluemel-young-poirot-hercule-series/#comments" class="flex items-center text-sm font-aktiv tracking-[0.6px] font-semibold uppercase translate-x-[1px] translate-y-[1px]"> <svg class="w-[22px] h-[22px] mr-[7px] icon-hover" viewbox="0 0 18 18" aria-label="comment" role="img" aria-hidden="true" aria-labelledby="icon-comment-quick-access-"> <title id="icon-comment-quick-access-">Comment</title> <g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"> <path fill="#FFF" fill-rule="nonzero" d="M6.3 18a.9.9 0 0 1-.9-.9v-2.7H1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 0 12.6V1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 1.8 0h14.4A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 18 1.8v10.8a1.8 1.8 0 0 1-1.8 1.8h-5.49l-3.33 3.339a.917.917 0 0 1-.63.261H6.3Z" /> <path stroke="#000" d="M5.9 14.4v-.5H1.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3-1.3V1.8A1.3 1.3 0 0 1 1.8.5h14.4a1.3 1.3 0 0 1 1.3 1.3v10.8a1.3 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9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" /> </g> <defs> <clippath id="clip0_1051_121783"> <rect width="17" height="17" fill="white" transform="translate(0.678711 0.414307)" /> </clippath> </defs> </svg> </a> </li> </ul> </div> </details> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-media "> <figure class="w-full h-auto post-hero-image"> <img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="740" height="494" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/image-740x494.png" class="w-full object-cover" alt="Headshot of Edward Bluemel" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/image-740x494.png 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/image-768x513.png 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/image.png 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-horizontal [&amp;_a]:link"><p>Credit: Mammoth Screen / Jonathan Ford</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </post-hero> <div class="wp-block-more-from-category"> <div> </div> </div> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><em><a href="https://reactormag.com/bbc-bringing-agatha-christie-hercule-poirot-television/">Hercule,</a></em><a href="https://reactormag.com/bbc-bringing-agatha-christie-hercule-poirot-television/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> the BBC and BritBox television series</a> centered on Agatha Christie’s Belgian detective, has found its lead.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Today, BritBox announced that Edward Bluemel (<em>We Might Regret This, My Lady Jane</em>) will play Hercule Poirot, the famous investigator known for sporting an extravagant mustache. <em>Hercule, </em>however, is more of an origin story for Poirot, and will cover the detective’s first cases. It’s not clear if the young Bluemel will sport the mustache or not.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">According to BritBox, the show will be “an intimate study of Hercule the man and an epic portrait of Britain between the wars.” It will focus on three of Christie’s “most celebrated stories” and also center on Hercule’s new friendship with Captain Arthur Hastings, his first run-ins with Scotland Yard’s James Japp, and butts heads with “one particular nemesis,” though BritBox is being coy on who the last will be.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Poirot, of course, has been played by several actors over the years, including Kenneth Branagh, John Malkovich, and David Suchet.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I feel very lucky to have been trusted with such an iconic character who has been played by so many great actors,” Bluemel said in a statement. “I can’t wait to continue Hercule’s legacy.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The new Poirot series comes from Benji Walters (<em>Code of Silence, The Leopard, Obsession</em>), with Jonny Campbell (<em>Am I Being Unreasonable?, Dracula</em>) directing the first two episodes. Filming will begin this summer primarily in Liverpool, with no news on when the show will make its way to BritBox. [end-mark]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/edward-bluemel-young-poirot-hercule-series/">Edward Bluemel Will Play Young Poirot in Upcoming Series, &lt;i&gt;Hercule&lt;/i&gt;</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/edward-bluemel-young-poirot-hercule-series/">https://reactormag.com/edward-bluemel-young-poirot-hercule-series/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=849997">https://reactormag.com/?p=849997</a></p>

The Rewrite Begins: The Vampire Lestat, “Detroit”

Jun. 8th, 2026 05:30 pm
[syndicated profile] tordotcom_feed

Posted by Molly Templeton

https://reactormag.com/tv-review-the-vampire-lestat-detroit/

https://reactormag.com/?p=849954

Movies & TV The Vampire Lestat

The Rewrite Begins: The Vampire Lestat, “Detroit”

“The fourth best thing a vampire can do to avoid thinking about the past is to have sex.”

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Published on June 8, 2026

Photo Credit: Sophie Giraud/AMC

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<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Molly Templeton</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/tv-review-the-vampire-lestat-detroit/">https://reactormag.com/tv-review-the-vampire-lestat-detroit/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=849954">https://reactormag.com/?p=849954</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-horizontal"> <div class="container container-desktop"> <div class="flex flex-col mx-auto post-hero-container"> <div class="post-hero-content"> <div class="post-hero-tags font-aktiv text-xs tracking-[0.5px] font-medium uppercase"> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/articles/movies-tv/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Movies &amp; TV 0"> Movies &amp; TV </a> </span> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/tag/the-vampire-lestat/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag The Vampire Lestat 1"> The Vampire Lestat </a> </span> </div> <h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1">The Rewrite Begins: <i>The Vampire Lestat</i>, &#8220;Detroit&#8221;</h2> <div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">“The fourth best thing a vampire can do to avoid thinking about the past is to have sex.”</div> <div class="post-hero-wrapper"> <div class="post-hero-inner"> <p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&amp;_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/molly-templeton/" title="Posts by Molly Templeton" class="author url fn" rel="author">Molly Templeton</a></p> <span class="post-hero-symbol relative top-[-2px] hidden tablet:block">|</span> <p class="text-xs uppercase post-hero-publish font-aktiv"> Published on June 8, 2026 </p> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-vertical [&amp;_a]:link"><p>Photo Credit: Sophie Giraud/AMC</p> </div> <div class="quick-access post-hero-quick-access mt-[17px] tablet:hidden"> <div class="flex gap-[30px] tablet:gap-6"> <a href="https://reactormag.com/tv-review-the-vampire-lestat-detroit/#comments" class="flex items-center text-sm font-aktiv tracking-[0.6px] font-semibold uppercase translate-x-[1px] translate-y-[1px]"> <svg class="w-[22px] h-[22px] mr-[7px] icon-hover" viewbox="0 0 18 18" aria-label="comment" role="img" aria-hidden="true" aria-labelledby="icon-comment-quick-access-"> <title id="icon-comment-quick-access-">Comment</title> <g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"> <path fill="#FFF" fill-rule="nonzero" d="M6.3 18a.9.9 0 0 1-.9-.9v-2.7H1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 0 12.6V1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 1.8 0h14.4A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 18 1.8v10.8a1.8 1.8 0 0 1-1.8 1.8h-5.49l-3.33 3.339a.917.917 0 0 1-.63.261H6.3Z" /> <path stroke="#000" d="M5.9 14.4v-.5H1.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3-1.3V1.8A1.3 1.3 0 0 1 1.8.5h14.4a1.3 1.3 0 0 1 1.3 1.3v10.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3 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9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" /> </g> <defs> <clippath id="clip0_1051_121783"> <rect width="17" height="17" fill="white" transform="translate(0.678711 0.414307)" /> </clippath> </defs> </svg> </a> </li> </ul> </div> </details> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-media "> <figure class="w-full h-auto post-hero-image"> <img decoding="async" width="740" height="493" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-violin-solo-740x493.jpeg" class="w-full object-cover" alt="Sam Reid as Lestat De Lioncourt - Anne Rice&#39;s The Vampire Lestat" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-violin-solo-740x493.jpeg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-violin-solo-1100x733.jpeg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-violin-solo-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-violin-solo-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-violin-solo-2048x1366.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-horizontal [&amp;_a]:link"><p>Photo Credit: Sophie Giraud/AMC</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </post-hero> <div class="wp-block-more-from-category"> <div> </div> </div> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Every single time I think about this show, I think about one <a href="https://www.tumblr.com/nothingbutroaringsound/739905659884240896" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">image</a>: the photo someone posted of the first page of <em>The Tale of the Body Thief</em>, but with “Hey guys, welcome back to my YouTube channel” written over the first line (which is “The vampire Lestat here. I have a story to tell you. It’s about something that happened to me.”).</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The vampire Lestat (Sam Reid) does not yet use YouTube. The vampire Lestat does not write a cheugy little book. He would never do anything so obvious as responding to Louis’ story—as told by Daniel Molloy (Eric Bogosian)—with another <em>book</em>. “No one reads anymore!” according to Louis (Jacob Anderson), and while that may not actually be the case, it <em>is</em> the case that Daniel’s book came out, everyone learned that vampires were real, and then they went, “Huh,” and opened TikTok again. Modern life, as a very different band once said, is rubbish. People are out there swiping left on gods. What’s a lovelorn drama queen who wants to set the record straight to do?</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Welcome to the show formerly known as <em>Interview with the Vampire</em>, in which the immortal Lestat is going to spend a good deal of time never giving a simple answer to the question “Why rock music?” In the season premiere, he is for much of the time incapable of giving a coherent answer to anything, having once again made very poor choices about which people on which to snack. The episode title/location of this week’s vampire concert, “Detroit,” summons up recollections of Tom Hiddleston’s modernity-avoiding vampire in <em>Only Lovers Left Alive</em>, but there’s none of his reticence here. No: We are here for flamboyance, tight pants, unsubtle lyrical double entendres, drug-trip fight sequences, and a story so out of order Lestat himself keeps getting mixed up.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">There are also about a million hints about a vampire queen and assorted suggestions that shit is going to go epically, globally sideways before long, but, like Lestat, I’m getting ahead of myself. This episode will make your brain do that. It was remarkably challenging, after one viewing, to line up the scenes in my head, make them sit still and solidify. Narrative, as has been shown over and over again on this show, is slippery. Stories are told; the teller makes all the difference.&nbsp;</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1100" height="733" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-Daniel-1100x733.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-849961" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-Daniel-1100x733.jpeg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-Daniel-740x493.jpeg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-Daniel-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-Daniel-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-Daniel-2048x1366.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Sophie Giraud/AMC</figcaption></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Now Lestat is doing the telling. But to whom? With a new season and a new name comes a new framing device (one that the more fluent-in-musical among us noticed is a direct <em>Phantom of the Opera</em> reference). At some unspecified point in the future, an auction takes place in an airplane hangar. Several known quantities arrive looking the worse for wear: Louis is missing a foot, Armand (Assad Zaman) an eye. There’s a cardinal? (The church guy, not the bird; IMDb lists him as “Vatican rep.”) Raglan James (Justin Kirk) looks just fine, though he gets up in apparent alarm when the second item goes up for sale: a “music box” curated by Lestat, containing a vinyl pressing of all his masters and 111 vinyl records containing an “omniscient history” of the album release and tour of the band The Vampire Lestat—and the global catastrophes that followed—as narrated by Lestat. The collection is called The Failures.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">There is also a bottle of port from 1863 and a bottle of Lestat’s blood. Armand and Louis both bid for this object, but it is not at all clear who obtains it.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">That’s a lot to process all at once, but there is no time to linger: It’s straight into Lestat’s version of events, picking up in Detroit, in the middle, he says. One must leave room for lots of flashbacks, after all. Lestat also makes a casual reference to the attempted extinction of the Y chromosome, which was not totally his fault, promise! It’s just teaser after teaser, and he hasn’t even gotten on stage just yet. Lestat’s voiceover has the distinct flavor of someone looking back from some distance, which does make a person wonder from how far in the future he’s speaking. Or, alternately, he’s just fucking with us—“us” including his unknown, in-show listener. Everything is a performance, darling.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Detroit” is a lush and chaotic tangle that asserts itself, repeatedly, dizzyingly, as a whole new show. It’s stage lights and dingy backstage spaces, black hallways and band flyers and stickers everywhere; it’s lush hotels and a mystifyingly spacious tour bus (complete with middle-of-the-room shower); it’s insistently of the now, giddy and replete with references to FOMO and Tiktok dances and how humans shouldn’t be allowed to swipe left on “a god.” Louis and Armand’s Dubai penthouse was almost as far from this as it was from Louis’ New Orleans flashbacks. This is a world where vampires said “Hey, we’re here,” and the world mostly just shrugged.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Lestat is here to shock us out of our anesthetized algorithm comas. He may be going about it rather oddly, but at the same time he’s fairly poetic about it all: “They came for cosplay and left converted and I baptized them the beautiful unwell.” If his poetry has the ring of the overpracticed, well, he did say he needed about 50 years of practice.&nbsp;</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Thrown into the chaos of Lestat’s narration of his pursuit of hedonistic delights are the practical details of vampiric life on the road with a band that doesn’t even really know there’s a vampire among them. There is a manager. There is a doofy body double (also played by Sam Reid) who is sent to strip-mall Applebee’s to take photos with fans in order to convince people that the vampire schtick is just a schtick. There is a familiar on-call doctor for blood transfusions. I am not entirely clear on the role of Dee (Amaka Umeh), but she seems to serve in several capacities <em>and</em> be on the payroll, if her unintentionally hilarious, deeply stressed-out recitation of a mantra about work-life balance is anything to go by.&nbsp;</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And then there is Daniel Molloy, now a vampire and quite chipper about it, who is directing a documentary about the tour. At present it mostly seems to consist of crowd scenes and Lestat being difficult to interview. The documentary, Lestat says, is the liner notes to his story. The band’s sound is what he hopes will “counteract Mr. du Lac’s portrayal of me as a mayonnaise villain with sociopathic tendencies.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Or is he just saying that?&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1100" height="732" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-the-band-1100x732.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-849960" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-the-band-1100x732.jpeg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-the-band-740x492.jpeg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-the-band-768x511.jpeg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-the-band-1536x1022.jpeg 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-the-band-2048x1362.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Sophie Giraud/AMC</figcaption></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">In <em>The Vampire Lestat</em>, the novel, it is rock that brings Lestat up out of the coffin where he has been sleeping for years. It is Satan’s Night Out, in part, that tempts him back to the world, where he decides to use music—and his own autobiography—to tell his side of the story. At the end of <em>Interview with the Vampire</em>’s second season, I had a theory about why he would do it this time: not just to tell his side of the story, but to take the heat off Louis, who closed out that season by basically inviting all the vampires in the world to come visit. It would, could, be a way of saving Louis again.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">But as far as we know, he’s still quite angry with Louis. The Montreal-at-Halloween flashback is charming as hell: vampire Facetime! Louis being naive about saving files in the cloud! Lestat’s outraged “NO THANK YOU!” at the bookstore clerks! Lestat’s editing binge!!! That moment may, in all honesty, be my favorite moment in this entire episode, especially for how it’s mirrored by his editing of the band’s painful song. But first: LITTLE TINY LOUIS HALLOWEEN COSTUME WITH HIS PERIOD-INAPPROPRIATE CAMERA! That poor kid. Bless. I hope one of his friends traded him for that Mounds. (The worst candy. He can have all of mine.)</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Lestat is reacting to everything: someone else’s version of him, someone else’s bad songs, someone else dressed like Louis. It’s Lestat’s version of the story, and yet he’s not at all in control. But the next performance demonstrates that sometimes, it’s better to not be in control: When his guitarist (Noah Reid) once again steps all over Lestat’s violin solo (!!!!!!), he tries, in a rage, to bite him, and instead gets slapped back by… what, exactly? The majesty of the song going somewhere unexpected? The rawness of his own feelings? I’m not a thousand percent sold on his sudden onstage moment of transformation, or the revelation that he was the one holding the band back. In concept, yes: if it’s a band, not a frontman with a backing group of paid players, it has to be <em>a band</em>. But nothing changes except that Lestat tries to bite one of them. The song remains the song. (The best of the songs, to be fair.)&nbsp;</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Our unreliable narrator feels extra unreliable here, when the muses come out. And he’s not even drugged to the gills yet. Lestat, Lestat, Lestat. I will take a million of his bad choices when they lead to scenes like the one in which Daniel and Dee are using blood and cocaine to revive drained Baby Jenks (Ella Ballentine), who meanwhile is floating on the ceiling, <em>Trainspotting</em> baby style, telling Lestat all kinds of things she could not possibly know. Why is Lestat so sad? Why does he keep coin-op dryering himself? And why is Daniel going to die badly?</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">When Lestat is on drugs he is especially incoherent, leaping around in time (the narrative voice that announces which of his 111 albums you’re listening to skips attentively with him). Puking blood in a motel toilet. Dressed to the nines in a pink corseted suit for the fancy hotel opening. Face melting. Pissing in eco-friendly urinals and making the locals mad. (I quite liked Rus. They were right about “Long Face.” Even Lestat said so.) Sex in the elevator, with bonus tangent about where sex ranks on the things that vampires enjoy (fourth place, no trophy). He keeps talking about the queen’s blood (we are very clearly setting up <em>Queen of the Damned</em>, which feels like it’s going to creep into this season for sure). He gets disrespectful about pronouns when he’s mad. He is very into all the things about the body, about the physiology of vampires, that Louis, so tasteful, left out.&nbsp;</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1100" height="732" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-lestat-high-1100x732.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-849958" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-lestat-high-1100x732.jpeg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-lestat-high-740x492.jpeg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-lestat-high-768x511.jpeg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-lestat-high-1536x1022.jpeg 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-lestat-high-2048x1362.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Sophie Giraud/AMC</figcaption></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">This—when he’s high as a kite and peeing and fucking—is when he gets the most overt about what Louis got wrong and elided. The writing in this episode is dizzying, poetic, dense, cramming things in one on top of another, like Lestat wants to change the record through sheer overwhelm. He talks about the wolves he fought as a youth, and how for a time he let that define him, while fighting the Tooth Team in the hallway. (The way he snarls at their outdated vampire biases, like he’s stuck at dinner with a homophobic uncle!) He tosses off some lines about how he probably owes Daniel his life for that hallway save <em>and</em> a bit about how probably a bunch of other people wouldn’t be dead if he’d died then. <em>He never stops talking</em>. Where Louis was measured and cautious, trying to control the narrative, Lestat just goes. He’s a wind-up toy of emotional damage.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And some physical damage, too. The hallway fight is great. There is a body stuck in the ceiling by the end of it. I do want to know about the cleanup, though. Lestat rolls back into the party, murders Tim, reveals his nature once and for all to his previously skeptical bandmates, and flies out the window while muttering about how gods hang out in the clouds alone. There are a LOT of bodies back in that hallway. These vampires don’t conveniently turn to dust like they did on <em>Buffy</em>. Did Daniel have to deal with them? Does the vampire themed hotel also have a handy incinerator?&nbsp;</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">I know these are not important questions. I know I’m supposed to be left gasping at the Gabriella (Jennifer Ehle) reveal. This is where my recent reread of the book is a detriment: I love book Gabrielle, who wants to fuck off to the wild places of the world and basically ignore the world of men (one of the texts Lestat gets hints at this). I am not sold on Ehle’s wig and I am not sold on focusing on this part of her character rather than her immediate embrace of trousers and freedom.&nbsp;</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">But! It’s just an introduction. And showrunner Rolin Jones—who co-wrote this episode with Hannah Moscovitch—has, by the end, pulled off something astonishing: When Lestat crawls across the bed and kisses his “fledgling, lover, mother,” it’s just one more moment of excess. One more variety of physical chaos; one more item on the long list of ways Lestat has used, discussed, abused, enjoyed, overshared with, his physical being in this episode. The physical excess is everywhere: OD’ing on drugs and blood; the bassist getting a blowjob in the middle of the backstage space; Daniel drinking from Dee; the long, <em>long</em> scene of vampire pissing. Of course Lestat gives out full-size candy bars for Halloween. If you’re going to do it, <em>do it</em>. And if you have an immortal body, you get to do it—whatever version of “it” floats your boat—more, harder, louder, longer. (Or not that long, in the case of the elevator. But he was on a lot of drugs.)</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Rock is where you go to do excess. It’s where you go when you admire icons like Bowie and Prince and Freddie Mercury. It’s a welcoming place when you want to join a long and storied and occasionally dubious tradition of songs that are just elaborate metaphors for sex (“Black Licorice” is going on that playlist along with “Little Red Corvette” and Warrant’s “Cherry Pie,” among ever so many others).&nbsp;</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1100" height="732" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-Lestat-and-Dee-1100x732.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-849963" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-Lestat-and-Dee-1100x732.jpeg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-Lestat-and-Dee-740x492.jpeg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-Lestat-and-Dee-768x511.jpeg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-Lestat-and-Dee-1536x1022.jpeg 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL-1-Lestat-and-Dee-2048x1362.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo: Sophie Giraud/AMC</figcaption></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">In the early pages of <em>The Vampire Lestat</em>, Lestat says:</p> <figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>I was enchanted by the world of rock music—the way the singers could scream of good and evil, proclaim themselves angels or devils, and mortals would stand up and cheer. Sometimes they seemed the pure embodiment of madness. And yet it was technologically dazzling, the intricacy of their performance. It was barbaric and cerebral in a way that I don’t think the world of ages past had ever seen.</p></blockquote></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">He also compares it to the Italian commedia. He compares it to a lot of things. Lestat has been a performer for centuries (though sure, yes, he spent one of those literally underground. Or so he says). He’s a theater kid who is also a vampire. Honestly I don’t think he could do anything <em>but</em> rock. (That doesn’t mean he’s doing it well.)</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">I have a million more thoughts on this—sorry not sorry, but you got as your <em>Lestat</em> reviewer the last unembarrassed rock-enjoyer on the internet, apparently—but I’m trying to stop myself from doing too much theorizing until I see more of what the mad geniuses behind this show are doing here. “Detroit” is a new paradigm, a new narrator, a new <em>everything</em>. It takes the beautiful, perfect two seasons of <em>Interview with the Vampire</em> and tosses them up into the air to scatter like cocaine-laced glitter. It’s carnal and lush and overtly destructive. This is what a quarter-millenium crisis looks like.&nbsp;</p> <div style="height:5px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>LITTLE SIPS</strong></p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>CORVALLIS. I am deceased that he got sloppy in <em>Corvallis</em>. Corvallis is a town in Oregon of about sixty thousand people. Corvallis is in between Portland (where a lot of bands play) and Eugene (where a decent number of bands play). Corvallis is not a place where a lot of bands play. Someone on this writing staff has been to Corvallis. </li> </ul> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>The way Sam Reid as Lestat pronounced <em>Red-DEET</em> just sent me.</li> </ul> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>I was quite charmed to find that Joey Chestnut is in fact a real competitive eater. </li> </ul> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>As a fan of the Scottish band Idlewild I was intrigued by the many posters for “Idyllwild.”</li> </ul> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Lestat noting that there are “no witches” in Montreal made my ears prick right up.</li> </ul> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>VAMPONS</li> </ul> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Really feel like that was entirely too casual a response to the entire city of Detroit going dark. </li> </ul> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>You absolutely know that Lestat calls Daniel “Dan” to annoy him. </li> </ul> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>“And yet it’s respectful, like silence at a urinal.”</li> </ul> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>“I am building a career that supports my well-being.”</li> </ul> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>If the Talamasca put Sam (Christopher Geary) at the Theatre des Vampires, and then he wrote that terrible play for Santiago—were the Talamasca involved in trying to overthrow Armand? I know that show got cancelled but I feel like I really need to go back and watch it. [end-mark]</li> </ul> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"></p> <p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/tv-review-the-vampire-lestat-detroit/">The Rewrite Begins: &lt;i&gt;The Vampire Lestat&lt;/i&gt;, &#8220;Detroit&#8221;</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/tv-review-the-vampire-lestat-detroit/">https://reactormag.com/tv-review-the-vampire-lestat-detroit/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=849954">https://reactormag.com/?p=849954</a></p>

It’s the End of the World Again in the Trailer for Ridley Scott’s The Dog Stars

Jun. 8th, 2026 05:24 pm
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Posted by Molly Templeton

https://reactormag.com/ridley-scott-the-dog-stars-trailer/

https://reactormag.com/?p=849984

News The Dog Stars

It’s the End of the World Again in the Trailer for Ridley Scott’s The Dog Stars

Nobody feels fine, though

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Published on June 8, 2026

Screenshot: 20th Century Studios

 

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<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Molly Templeton</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/ridley-scott-the-dog-stars-trailer/">https://reactormag.com/ridley-scott-the-dog-stars-trailer/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=849984">https://reactormag.com/?p=849984</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-horizontal"> <div class="container container-desktop"> <div class="flex flex-col mx-auto post-hero-container"> <div class="post-hero-content"> <div class="post-hero-tags font-aktiv text-xs tracking-[0.5px] font-medium uppercase"> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/articles/news/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag News 0"> News </a> </span> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/tag/the-dog-stars/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag The Dog Stars 1"> The Dog Stars </a> </span> </div> <h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1">It&#8217;s the End of the World Again in the Trailer for Ridley Scott&#8217;s <i>The Dog Stars</i></h2> <div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">Nobody feels fine, though</div> <div class="post-hero-wrapper"> <div class="post-hero-inner"> <p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&amp;_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/molly-templeton/" title="Posts by Molly Templeton" class="author url fn" rel="author">Molly Templeton</a></p> <span class="post-hero-symbol relative top-[-2px] hidden tablet:block">|</span> <p class="text-xs uppercase post-hero-publish font-aktiv"> Published on June 8, 2026 </p> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-vertical [&amp;_a]:link"><p>Screenshot: 20th Century Studios</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> <div class="quick-access post-hero-quick-access mt-[17px] tablet:hidden"> <div class="flex gap-[30px] tablet:gap-6"> <a href="https://reactormag.com/ridley-scott-the-dog-stars-trailer/#comments" class="flex items-center text-sm font-aktiv tracking-[0.6px] font-semibold uppercase translate-x-[1px] translate-y-[1px]"> <svg class="w-[22px] h-[22px] mr-[7px] icon-hover" viewbox="0 0 18 18" aria-label="comment" role="img" aria-hidden="true" aria-labelledby="icon-comment-quick-access-"> <title id="icon-comment-quick-access-">Comment</title> <g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"> <path fill="#FFF" fill-rule="nonzero" d="M6.3 18a.9.9 0 0 1-.9-.9v-2.7H1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 0 12.6V1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 1.8 0h14.4A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 18 1.8v10.8a1.8 1.8 0 0 1-1.8 1.8h-5.49l-3.33 3.339a.917.917 0 0 1-.63.261H6.3Z" /> <path stroke="#000" d="M5.9 14.4v-.5H1.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3-1.3V1.8A1.3 1.3 0 0 1 1.8.5h14.4a1.3 1.3 0 0 1 1.3 1.3v10.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3 1.3h-5.698l-.146.147-3.324 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https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/the-dog-stars-trailer-768x512.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/the-dog-stars-trailer.jpg 1500w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-horizontal [&amp;_a]:link"><p>Screenshot: 20th Century Studios</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </post-hero> <div class="wp-block-more-from-category"> <div> </div> </div> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Peter Heller&#8217;s 2012 novel <em>The Dog Stars</em> was a bestseller, which might explain why Ridley Scott (<em>Gladiator</em>) wanted to make it into a movie. But in 2026—after more post-apocalyptic movies and series than I can count on both hands—the story of folks trying not to be desperately miserable after the end of the world feels awfully familiar. It doesn&#8217;t help that this first trailer went for the painfully-on-the-nose song choice with Nine Inch Nails&#8217; &#8220;The Day the World Went Away.&#8221; If you can watch this trailer without snorting a little bit at the lyrics, you are made of stronger stuff than I. </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">But we are clearly meant to take this all very seriously. Jacob Elordi plays a pilot who thought himself very lucky before the end of the world. He had—but does not seem to still have—a wife. He hangs out with a haggard Josh Brolin and a very clean-faced Margaret Qualley. It seems like almost everyone else left in the world &#8230; really sucks.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">As the synopsis says:</p> <figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>The film tells the story of Hig (Jacob Elordi), a young pilot who, together with a military survivalist, Bangley (Josh Brolin), has carved out an efficient but isolated homestead in a brutal post-apocalyptic world. But when Hig receives a mysterious radio transmission, he ventures into the unknown in search of the hope and humanity he still believes exist.</p></blockquote></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">There is also a dog, and I can only assume nothing good happens to them.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Unlike a lot of other end-of-the-world scenarios, this trailer does have a handful of gorgeous shots of the world without humans, lush and green. But there are also empty cities shot in a chilly blue-brown light that recalls <em>The Walking Dead</em>. I don&#8217;t think there are actual zombies here—just desperate people resorting to violence and destruction, like they always do in the movies, no matter what the <a href="https://reactormag.com/what-really-happens-after-the-apocalypse/">facts tel</a><a href="https://reactormag.com/what-really-happens-after-the-apocalypse/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">l</a><a href="https://reactormag.com/what-really-happens-after-the-apocalypse/"> us</a>.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><em>The Dog Stars</em> has a great cast that also includes Allison Janney, Benedict Wong, and Guy Pearce. The world ends in theaters on August 28th.[end-mark]</p> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> <site-embed id="18681"/> </div></figure> <p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/ridley-scott-the-dog-stars-trailer/">It&#8217;s the End of the World Again in the Trailer for Ridley Scott&#8217;s &lt;i&gt;The Dog Stars&lt;/i&gt;</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/ridley-scott-the-dog-stars-trailer/">https://reactormag.com/ridley-scott-the-dog-stars-trailer/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=849984">https://reactormag.com/?p=849984</a></p>

Babylon 5 Rewatch: “Darkness Ascending”

Jun. 8th, 2026 05:00 pm
[syndicated profile] tordotcom_feed

Posted by Sarah

https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-darkness-ascending/

https://reactormag.com/?p=849787

Column Babylon 5 Rewatch

Babylon 5 Rewatch: “Darkness Ascending”

Lennier investigates coded signals, while Alexander continues Byron’s dream of finding a homeworld for telepaths…

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Published on June 8, 2026

Credit: Warner Bros. Television

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<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Sarah</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-darkness-ascending/">https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-darkness-ascending/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=849787">https://reactormag.com/?p=849787</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-horizontal"> <div class="container container-desktop"> <div class="flex flex-col mx-auto post-hero-container"> <div class="post-hero-content"> <div class="post-hero-tags font-aktiv text-xs tracking-[0.5px] font-medium uppercase"> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/articles/column/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Column 0"> Column </a> </span> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/tag/babylon-5-rewatch/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Babylon 5 Rewatch 1"> Babylon 5 Rewatch </a> </span> </div> <h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1"><i>Babylon 5</i> Rewatch: “Darkness Ascending”</h2> <div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">Lennier investigates coded signals, while Alexander continues Byron&#8217;s dream of finding a homeworld for telepaths&#8230;</div> <div class="post-hero-wrapper"> <div class="post-hero-inner"> <p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&amp;_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/keith-decandido/" title="Posts by Keith R.A. DeCandido" class="author url fn" rel="author">Keith R.A. DeCandido</a></p> <span class="post-hero-symbol relative top-[-2px] hidden tablet:block">|</span> <p class="text-xs uppercase post-hero-publish font-aktiv"> Published on June 8, 2026 </p> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-vertical [&amp;_a]:link"><p>Credit: Warner Bros. Television</p> </div> <div class="quick-access post-hero-quick-access mt-[17px] tablet:hidden"> <div class="flex gap-[30px] tablet:gap-6"> <a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-darkness-ascending/#comments" class="flex items-center text-sm font-aktiv tracking-[0.6px] font-semibold uppercase translate-x-[1px] translate-y-[1px]"> <svg class="w-[22px] h-[22px] mr-[7px] icon-hover" viewbox="0 0 18 18" aria-label="comment" role="img" aria-hidden="true" aria-labelledby="icon-comment-quick-access-"> <title id="icon-comment-quick-access-">Comment</title> <g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"> <path fill="#FFF" fill-rule="nonzero" d="M6.3 18a.9.9 0 0 1-.9-.9v-2.7H1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 0 12.6V1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 1.8 0h14.4A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 18 1.8v10.8a1.8 1.8 0 0 1-1.8 1.8h-5.49l-3.33 3.339a.917.917 0 0 1-.63.261H6.3Z" /> <path stroke="#000" d="M5.9 14.4v-.5H1.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3-1.3V1.8A1.3 1.3 0 0 1 1.8.5h14.4a1.3 1.3 0 0 1 1.3 1.3v10.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3 1.3h-5.698l-.146.147-3.324 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9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" /> </g> <defs> <clippath id="clip0_1051_121783"> <rect width="17" height="17" fill="white" transform="translate(0.678711 0.414307)" /> </clippath> </defs> </svg> </a> </li> </ul> </div> </details> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-media "> <figure class="w-full h-auto post-hero-image"> <img decoding="async" width="740" height="493" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/babylon-5-darkness-ascending-01-740x493.jpg" class="w-full object-cover" alt="Sheridan overhears Delenn&#39;s secret communication in a scene from Babylon 5 &quot;Darkness Ascending&quot;" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/babylon-5-darkness-ascending-01-740x493.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/babylon-5-darkness-ascending-01-1100x733.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/babylon-5-darkness-ascending-01-768x512.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/babylon-5-darkness-ascending-01.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-horizontal [&amp;_a]:link"><p>Credit: Warner Bros. Television</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </post-hero> <div class="wp-block-more-from-category"> <div> </div> </div> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>“Meditations on the Abyss”</strong><br>Written by J. Michael Staczynski<br>Directed by Janet Greek<br>Season 5, Episode 15<br>Production episode 516<br>Original air date: June 3, 1998</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>It was the dawn of the third age…</strong> Garibaldi has a nightmare that sees him walking through a trashed Zocalo and everyone is dead. Franklin blames him before he dies. Then he discovers that he himself, carrying a big fucking gun, is responsible for the carnage. He then “wakes up” in his cabin to see Alexander with glowy white eyes saying she’s experimenting with her fancy Vorlon-enhanced telepathy. Then he wakes up for real (or <em>does he????</em>) and is surprised by a visit from Lise. Once he gets past the confusion and annoyance of his nightmare—which he doesn’t tell Lise about—they fall into bed together.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Lennier covertly contacts Delenn from <em>Maria</em>. He’s detected a coded Centauri signal exactly 20 hours prior to every cargo ship attack. He’s working on decoding it. As they talk about how this is still a secret only between the two of them that even Sheridan doesn’t know about, Sheridan walks toward the open doorway, and then hides in the corridor, overhearing the rest of the communication. Delenn conveniently walks out of the office in a manner that prevents her from seeing her husband lurking right on the other side of the doorway.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Alexander is trying to convince a business person to employ some of Byron’s gaggle of rogue telepaths, the sweetener being that they can have as many telepaths as they want on each ship—Psi Corps only allows one telepath per ship. And in exchange, all they ask is to borrow a ship to find a homeworld. But that would violate their contracts with Psi Corps, so the business person has to decline. He suggests she find someone who <em>doesn’t</em> have contracts with Psi Corps.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Mollari is confused and annoyed, as the Royal Court is asking for information on trade deals with other IA worlds—which they don’t normally do—and important appointments for practical governmental matters with the Drazi and Gaim ambassadors have been cancelled.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Lise goes to prep some breakfast while Garibaldi is in the shower, and she discovers an open and half-empty bottle of booze. She confronts Garibaldi, who gets all defensive, insists he’s a different person now, and that Bester’s mindfucking him has left him feeling out of control, but he insists that he’s in control of this. Lise insists that he not drink as long as she’s there, and he agrees, pouring the booze into the sink.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">On <em>Maria</em>, Lennier and Montoya discuss his attempts to decode the Centauri signals. (Huh. Coulda sworn this was a secret covert mission…) Montoya also announces that they’ve been recalled to B5 by Sheridan.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">For his part, Sheridan confronts Delenn about her sending Lennier on this covert mission without telling her, but then Delenn short-circuits his high dudgeon by capitulating, saying he’s right, but also saying that she did it because if he knew about it, he’d have forbidden it, because Delenn and Lennier are friends. But Lennier is also the best person for the job.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Montoya then contacts Sheridan to inform him that Lennier absconded with a fighter and is now missing.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">In the stolen fighter, Lennier records a log entry outlining his plan to trace the signal. He then goes into a meditative state to preserve his air supply.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1100" height="825" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/babylon-5-darkness-ascending-02-1100x825.jpg" alt="Lyta Alexander speaks with G&#39;Kar in a scene from Babylon 5 &quot;Darkness Ascending&quot;" class="wp-image-849796" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/babylon-5-darkness-ascending-02-1100x825.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/babylon-5-darkness-ascending-02-740x555.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/babylon-5-darkness-ascending-02-140x105.jpg 140w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/babylon-5-darkness-ascending-02-768x576.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/babylon-5-darkness-ascending-02.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Credit: Warner Bros. Television</figcaption></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">On B5, Alexander goes to G’Kar’s quarters and revisits the transaction G’Kar requested of her way back in “<a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-the-gathering/">The Gathering</a>”: she’ll provide the genetics sequences of a whole mess of telepaths for the Narns to try to develop their own telepaths, in exchange for a few bottom-end ships to find a homeworld and total secrecy. G’Kar points out that the need for telepaths is less urgent with the Shadows no longer being a factor, but he will bring it to the Kha’Ri.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Garibaldi and Lise have a romantic dinner at Fresh Air. Garibaldi comments that he hasn’t eaten here since <a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-chrysalis/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sinclair and Sakai told him and Ivanova of their engagement</a>—shortly after that, Garibaldi was shot in the back and <a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-revelations/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">when he woke up</a>, <a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-points-of-departure/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sinclair was reassigned</a>. He also orders coffee to drink, which the server assumes is for dessert, not as part of the meal, which proves that the server is spectacularly incompetent (I’ve ordered coffee with my meal many many times, and never did the server bat an eyelash). Garibaldi then sneaks off to pour booze into the coffee under the guise of bringing it to the kitchen to complain about its poor quality.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Montoya contacts Sheridan and informs him and Delenn that they’re now past the point where Lennier’s air supply should have run out. However, Lennier has encountered a Centauri vessel and is able to tether himself to it while in stealth mode, also siphoning off some of its air supply. He sadly has to watch helplessly as the ship goes into hyperspace and then comes out and blows up a Brakiri ship, but he does record the whole thing. He disconnects when the attack is over, hiding as a piece of debris. Once the Centauri ship jumps to hyperspace, he sends out a distress call.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">On B5, Mollari gets a call from Minister Cholini, saying that the Centauri are being framed for being responsible for the attacks on the cargo ships.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">G’Kar tells Alexander that the Narns will go for the deal, but only if the telepaths psionically eavesdrop on other ambassadors from time to time. Alexander says that’s a deal-breaker and starts to leave, but G’Kar says that that was a test—if she’d agreed to that stipulation, the deal would’ve been off. They do, in fact, have a deal.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Montoya informs Sheridan and Delenn that Lennier is safe and sound and has irrefutable evidence of the Centauri’s responsibility for the raids. Delenn is hugely relieved and moves into the corridor so she can cry in peace. Mollari sees her, and Delenn hugs him, to his surprise.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Lennier arrives on the station and hands over the evidence, then goes to take a desperately needed nap. Sheridan calls a meeting for all the ambassadors except for Mollari. Vir informs Mollari of this, and Garibaldi also goes to Lise and tells her to leave the station immediately, as it looks like they’re about to go to war with the Centauri.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Get the hell out of our galaxy!</strong> Sheridan is justifiably pissed at Delenn for keeping him in the dark, but she gets him to apologize for being pissed in fairly short order, because she is way better at manipulating people than he is.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>The household god of frustration.</strong> Garibaldi is still drinking and still lying about it, even to the woman he loves. He hasn’t yet told Sheridan and the others that he plans to move back to Mars to help Lise run Edgars Industries, as he promised Lise he’d do, and he also has decided that he should never eat at Fresh Air because something bad always happens after he does so.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1100" height="825" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/babylon-5-darkness-ascending-04-1100x825.jpg" alt="Garibaldi argues with Lise in a scene from Babylon 5 &quot;Darkness Ascending&quot;" class="wp-image-849798" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/babylon-5-darkness-ascending-04-1100x825.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/babylon-5-darkness-ascending-04-740x555.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/babylon-5-darkness-ascending-04-140x105.jpg 140w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/babylon-5-darkness-ascending-04-768x576.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/babylon-5-darkness-ascending-04.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Credit: Warner Bros. Television</figcaption></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>If you value your lives, be somewhere else.</strong> Delenn is able to justify her keeping Sheridan in the dark, but at the cost of fear and grief over the possibility of Lennier being dead.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>In the glorious days of the Centauri Republic…</strong> Apparently, his experiences over the past few years have caused Mollari to lose all interest in casino gambling. This leaves him with no idea what to do with leisure time…</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Though it take a thousand years, we will be free.</strong> G’Kar and Alexander get to replay their conversation from “<a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-the-gathering/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Gathering</a>,” but this time it’s about 75% less sleazy, especially since G’Kar actually behaves honorably and nobly this time.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>The Corps is mother, the Corps is father.</strong> Psi Corps regs are apparently that only one telepath can be assigned to a post. (This also explains why Alexander and Winters were both the only telepaths officially detached to B5.) It takes Alexander a surprisingly long time to think of approaching non-humans with her proposal, since Psi Corps would cut off any human avenue.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>We live for the one, we die for the one.</strong> Lennier gets the evidence they need to prove the Centauri are behind the raids. Because he’s just that awesome.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>No sex, please, we’re EarthForce.</strong> Alexander reminds G’Kar of the fact that sexual congress was part of the deal when he first proposed it five years earlier, and she makes a lewd comment about her high sexual threshold to torment G’Kar in one of those scenes that was <em>so obviously</em> written by a man….</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Welcome aboard.</strong> Thomas MacGreevy commences the recurring role of Minister Cholini; he’ll be back next time in “And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder.” Richard Yniguez concludes the recurring role of Montoya (who is criminally underused in this one), back from “<a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-meditations-on-the-abyss/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Meditations on the Abyss</a>.” Denise Gentile continues the recurring role of Lise, back from “<a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-rising-star/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Rising Star</a>,” to return in “Wheel of Fire.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Wesley Mask plays the snotty Fresh Air server who annoys Garibaldi and Edmund Shaff plays the business person who disappoints Alexander.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Trivial matters. </strong>Garibaldi, had dinner with Sinclair, Sakai, and Ivanova at Fresh Air right before he got shot in “<a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-chrysalis/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Chrysalis</a>.” He says that he hasn’t eaten there since, though we did see him order takeout pizza from there at the end of “<a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-meditations-on-the-abyss/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Meditations on the Abyss</a>.” He may only be referring to eating in the restaurant—or he may not remember ordering the pizza, as he was <em>really</em> drunk when he ordered it…</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Garibaldi also comments that the other three people at that dinner are all gone. Sinclair was reassigned between “Chrysalis” and “<a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-points-of-departure/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Points of Departure</a>,” and he buggered back to the past to become Valen in “<a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-war-without-end-part-two/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">War Without End, Part 2</a>.” Ivanova was promoted to ship captain and left the station in “<a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-rising-star/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Rising Star</a>.” Sakai has not been seen onscreen since “Chrysalis”; Garibaldi mentions that she disappeared “over a year ago,” but that disappearance happened two-and-a-half years prior to this episode, as chronicled in the novel <a href="https://babylon5.fandom.com/wiki/To_Dream_in_the_City_of_Sorrows" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>To Dream in the City of Sorrows</em></a> by Kathryn Drennan.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">G’Kar proposed Alexander sharing her genetic sequence with the Narn so they could breed telepaths—and also proposed mating with her—in “<a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-the-gathering/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Gathering</a>.” Apparently, the pair of them hadn’t had a real one-on-one conversation since then until this episode.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Delenn sent Lennier on a covert mission to find evidence of who is responsible for the raids last time in “Meditations on the Abyss.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>The echoes of all of our conversations.</strong> </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I want you to get out of this part of the space and back home just as fast as you can. Because barring an act of God—and since I don’t believe in God, that kinda narrows the odds a bit—by this time tomorrow, we’re gonna be at war with the Centauri.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">—Garibaldi urging Lise to leave, the final line of dialogue of the episode.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1100" height="825" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Babylon-5-Darkness-Ascending-03-1100x825.jpg" alt="Sheridan and Delenn reconcile in a scene from Babylon 5 &quot;Darkness Ascending&quot;" class="wp-image-849797" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Babylon-5-Darkness-Ascending-03-1100x825.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Babylon-5-Darkness-Ascending-03-740x555.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Babylon-5-Darkness-Ascending-03-140x105.jpg 140w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Babylon-5-Darkness-Ascending-03-768x576.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Babylon-5-Darkness-Ascending-03.jpg 1440w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Credit: Warner Bros. Television</figcaption></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>The name of the place is Babylon 5.</strong> “I have been working up a good mad all day, and I am <em>not</em> about to let you undercut it by agreeing with me!” There were some comments in last week’s rewatch that talked about how absolutely horrid Delenn was to Lennier, using his infatuation with her to manipulate him. I didn’t get into it in the comments there, though I thought about it, but I actually want to talk about it here, because this episode also is a good showcase for Delenn’s ability to manipulate people and events.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Which is not only strong, but has been part of her character from jump. It’s easy to forget because Mira Furlan has that 50,000-megawatt smile and she and Sheridan have their incredibly adorable chemistry, but Delenn is <em>incredibly</em> manipulative and has a superlative capacity for cruelty. We were reminded in this episode of what G’Kar was doing in “<a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-the-gathering/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Gathering</a>” with Alexander, and it’s worth reminding everyone what else G’Kar did in that episode: approach Delenn about an alliance, but the moment G’Kar <em>mentioned</em> the Grey Council, Delenn nearly killed him in a particularly painful manner. She spent most of the first season manipulating Sinclair, she circumvented the wishes of the Grey Council whenever it pleased her, she’s barreled forward with her own plans whether or not they made sense.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Delenn is not a nice person. These last two episodes, in which she has played both Lennier and Sheridan like a two-dollar banjo, demonstrate that rather impressively.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Anyhow, this is a strong episode that moves things forward nicely—and, for a change, speedily. Lennier finally gets the proof that the Centauri are responsible, while the Centauri have already got their plausible deniability plan going. And the IA proves themselves to not be handling this at all well, as excluding Mollari from the meeting—especially since they’re fairly sure he has no knowledge of it—is not a great idea. But then, we had pundits spending ten minutes in “<a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-the-deconstruction-of-falling-stars/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Deconstruction of Falling Stars</a>” talking about how the IA shit the bed in their first year, and while their evidence was the <a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-phoenix-rising/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">botching of the Byron thing</a>, this qualifies, too…</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">It’s nice to see Garibaldi’s falling off the wagon (not getting on it as I stupidly said last week, sorry about that) is finally being dealt with directly. Denise Gentile hasn’t impressed me overmuch as Lise, though the scripting for her hasn’t done her <em>any</em> favors. However, she nailed this episode, especially the way her body language <em>completely</em> changes when she finds the half-empty booze bottle. Lise was <em>there</em> the last time Garibaldi left the wagon behind, and she knows more than anyone currently on the station how bad this can get.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">(Garibaldi also mentions at one point that he’s a war hero, and what the <em>what</em>? His primary role in the recent war was as Benedict Arnold, not as George Washington…)</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Finally, this episode is another reminder that Lennier is a total badass. Bill Mumy plays him with enough low-key modesty to mute the badassery, but that just makes it all the more effective when the badassery comes out to play.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Next week:</strong> “And All My Dreams, Torn Asunder.”[end-mark]</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"></p> <p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-darkness-ascending/">&lt;i&gt;Babylon 5&lt;/i&gt; Rewatch: “Darkness Ascending”</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-darkness-ascending/">https://reactormag.com/babylon-5-rewatch-darkness-ascending/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=849787">https://reactormag.com/?p=849787</a></p>

Eight Overlooked Characters from Lewis Carroll’s Alice Books

Jun. 8th, 2026 04:00 pm
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Posted by Sarah

https://reactormag.com/eight-overlooked-characters-from-lewis-carrolls-alice-books/

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Books Alice in Wonderland

Eight Overlooked Characters from Lewis Carroll’s Alice Books

Everyone loves the White Rabbit and the Cheshire Cat, but what about these weird and wonderful creations?

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Published on June 8, 2026

Illustration by John Tenniel

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Illustration of Alice holding a flamingo from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (art by John Tenniel, 1865, colorized c.1890)

Illustration by John Tenniel

There are few works of fantastic fiction as perennially adored and obsessed over as Lewis Carroll’s Alice Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and its sequel Through the Looking Glass (1871). While every Alice fan has their own darlings, the same character names always seem to be repeated. Fan art, spoofs, and merchandise are frequently focused on the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, The Queen of Hearts, and their ilk.

As someone who has read the books almost annually since childhood, I’m frustrated that so many brilliant characters are ignored. It’s wonderful that readers are still excited about a literary property from over 150 years ago, but the hyper-focus on a select few of Carroll’s creations gives short shrift to the rest of them. Both Wonderland and the world beyond the looking-glass are full of fascinating denizens, many of whom never seem to get their due. Some of them are rarely portrayed in film versions, and they’re certainly not emblazoned on tee shirts and coffee mugs.

Here are just a few of Carroll’s magnificent creations that could do with more attention and recognition…

Bill the Lizard

Illustration of Bill the Lizard from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (art by John Tenniel, 1865)
Illustration from “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” by John Tenniel (1865)

While the Alice books are loaded with wit, it’s primarily found in the form of word play. Puns, riddles, invented language, and parodies of well-known Victorian poems are Wonderland’s love language. That’s why the Bill the Lizard sequence is such a standout. When an oversized Alice kicks the White Rabbit’s reptilian gardener up the chimney, it’s not only an uncommon act of violence on her part, but a hilarious bit of physical comedy. The casualness of the onlookers’ “There goes Bill” is at odds with the fact that the poor creature is being propelled into the sky.

John Tenniel’s illustration provides a visual punchline. Carroll somewhat crudely drew his own version of Bill’s ousting in his early handwritten manuscript Alice’s Adventures Under Ground, and his lizard is also quite funny, with an expression of dopey despair. Bill turns up later in the book as part of the jury, once again a victim when Alice snatches away his squeaky pencil, leaving him to awkwardly attempt writing on the slate with his finger.

The lizard is briefly seen in the 1915 silent film, as well as the animated Disney film (though Alice sneezes him out of the house instead of kicking him, in that version). In the 1972 film he’s given a great comedy line with “What’s me tail doing in me hand?” Top prize for best Bill the Lizard has to go to stuntman Ernie F. Orsatti, whose claim to fame as the guy who falls through the skylight in The Poseidon Adventure no doubt prepared him for sailing through the air, as witnessed by Scott Baio in a guinea pig costume in the 1985 CBS version. (Note: If this character can be in so many films, where’s my Bill the Lizard merch?)

The Leg of Mutton

Illustration of the Leg of Mutton from "Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There" (art by John Tenniel, 1871)
Illustration from “Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There” by John Tenniel (1871)

Near the end of Through the Looking Glass, Alice becomes a queen and attends a banquet in her honor. Here she is presented with a leg of mutton which the Red Queen courteously introduces (“Alice—Mutton; Mutton—Alice.”). Even for a passage written by Lewis Carroll, it seems surprising when the leg of mutton gets up and makes a little bow. We’re used to talking animals in this world, but talking objects? Humpty Dumpty morphed from an egg, and Wonderland’s royal court is based on playing cards, but they’re all still more person than thing. Humpty Dumpty isn’t an actual edible egg. The cards are no longer literally cards. The mutton, however, is mutton.

The Leg of Mutton is in fine company with other anthropomorphic food in children’s lit, such as the title characters of both The Gingerbread Man (who tries to avoid being eaten) and The Magic Pudding (whose greatest pleasure is offering up slices of himself). Tenniel’s illustration is again right on the nose, from the meat’s smug expression to the jaunty paper frill on the bone-end of the joint. The Leg of Mutton gains a perfect partner when the Pudding turns out to also be alive, exclaiming “What impertinence!” when Alice cuts a slice.

In a perfect world, the Leg of Mutton (and the Pudding) would be featured in every film version, but they’re rare enough that seeing them in the 1933 production elicited a squeal of glee when I first saw it. (It’s well worth looking up, and the resemblance to Tenniel’s drawing is spectacular.)

The Wasp in a Wig

cover of The Wasp in a Wig by Lewis Carroll

During my first (pre-internet) years of college, I spent hours at the university library, poring over books I was thrilled to be able to access. One of the first things I looked up was The Wasp in a Wig: A “Suppressed” Episode of Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There to finally read a sequence that I’d heard about but never seen. The Wasp is an overlooked character for a good reason: Lewis Carroll cut the creature out of his final manuscript.

Scholars had long known about the excised segment from a letter Sir John Tenniel wrote to Carroll saying that he wasn’t thrilled about illustrating the wasp: “If you want to shorten the book, I can’t help thinking – with all submission – that there is your opportunity.” A wasp in a wig, he believed, was “altogether beyond the appliances of art.” Carroll capitulated. The cut content was long lost until the galley proofs turned up at a Sotheby’s auction in 1974, and though some question its provenance, the majority of scholars have accepted it.

The “Wasp in a Wig” would have followed the White Knight sequence, and has Alice performing what Martin Gardner calls “a final deed of charity that would justify her approaching coronation.” The Wasp is an elderly character who exclaims “Worrity, worrity!” and complains about the cold. A highlight is Alice reading to him from a wasp newspaper (“Latest News. The Exploring Party have made another tour in the Pantry, and have found five new lumps of white sugar …”). The sequence is plenty of fun, and it’s a pity now that it’s been found that it isn’t included in more projects. Ian Richardson plays the Wasp in 1998’s Alice Through the Looking Glass, and even wearing a yellow fright wig, his performance seems within “the appliances of art.”

The Ape

Illustration of Alice and the Dodo from "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" (art by John Tenniel, 1865)
Illustration from “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” by John Tenniel (1865)

As a child, I spent a lot of time reading Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, but I spent almost as much time staring at the pictures. A pair of John Tenniel’s original illustrations gripped me more than any of the others—the depictions of the creatures gathered for the caucus race after the flood in the “Pool of Tears” chapter. The group is primarily made up of birds and small woodland animals, plus a couple of crabs. There’s the Dodo, the Mouse, a duck, an eaglet, an owl… and an ape. Wait, what? It’s such an incongruous creature to find in this bunch, and it’s all the more strange because it’s never mentioned in the book.

It’s tempting to speculate that Tenniel created this ape from his own imagination, the same way he created the look of the Jabberwock or the Mad Hatter (his hat and price tag are not in the text, and in fact, he is not described at all). However, if you look at Lewis Carroll’s own illustrations from his original publication of Alice’s Adventures Under Ground, the group also includes an ape. The question that remains is: why?

Some writers have suggested that its inclusion may have something to do with the popular discussion of Darwinism during the Victorian era, but if Carroll wanted to make a commentary on something, he was far more likely to include it in the text. Others suggest that the ape is Pat, who appears at the White Rabbit’s house. My own theory is that perhaps he included it for Alice Liddell, who liked primates, and often fed nuts and biscuits to the monkey at the Oxford Botanic Garden. We may not know much about the ape, but that’s what makes it so compelling. It’s there.

The Gnat

Illustration of Alice and the Gnat from "Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There" (Art by Peter Newell, 1902)
Illustration from “Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There” by Peter Newell (1902)

While I was a Theatre student in 1989, a director asked me to replace some actors in his stage production of Alice in Wonderland. The show moved to a big venue, extending the run, but not all of the original cast could commit to the new dates. Thus, I was pulled in to play multiple roles and found myself wearing a number of hats (and masks and headdresses) as the Cheshire Cat, the Caterpillar, the Gryphon, the Walrus, and—most excitingly, to me—the Gnat.

The director had a deep understanding of the source material and its Victorian sensibilities (Tim Dial went on to become a professor, Shakespearean costumer, and a millinery expert). He envisioned the Gnat as a sort of decrepit music hall comedian, and the text supports this. The Gnat is pathospersonified (insectified?), a blend of humor and sadness, full of weak jokes that never really land. (It’s no wonder that after telling one joke, he tells Alice “I wish you had made it.”)

Tenniel neglected to illustrate the Gnat, which makes it easy for some to ignore it in favor of the bizarre insects he introduces. That may be why some film versions leave him out entirely. George Gobel, in the 1985 TV miniseries, looks less like a gnat than Sasquatch meeting the larval form of Mothra, but Steve Coogan fares better in the 1998 British film adaptation, sporting a handlebar mustache so long and thin that its upturned ends look like antennae. His intentionally-underplayed Gnat conveys the resignation of despair.

The Sheep

Illustration of Alice and the Knitting Sheep from "Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There" (art by John Tenniel, 1871)
Illustration from “Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There” by John Tenniel (1871)

For a creature that has its own chapter in Through the Looking-Glass, the Sheep doesn’t get near enough love. It may be that the main character of “Wool and Water” isn’t exciting enough for some people, being an older, bespectacled female that knits—someone that, if human, would be socially invisible. And yet, “Wool and Water” is perhaps the most explicitly dreamlike of all the chapters.

For starters, the Sheep appears after the White Queen abruptly begins baa-ing and bleating and abruptly transforms into the ovine knitter, and the scene is inexplicably transported to the inside of a shop where items on the shelf keep moving out of reach. The knitting itself is increasingly wild, with the Sheep sometimes using fourteen pairs of needles at once (“She gets more and more like a porcupine every minute!” remarks Alice). Suddenly the needles become oars, and the pair are in a boat gliding down the river. Once they’re back to the shop, Alice purchases an egg that becomes Humpty Dumpty. It’s one dizzying ride of a dream.

The Sheep’s shop itself was inspired by a real (and still existing) shop in Oxford where Alice Liddell used to buy barley sugar candy. It’s fun to consider the idea of a shop in this world. Its presence suggests a town where these creatures carry out everyday activities. Tenniel’s illustration shows delightful detail, with a window and shelves packed with shovels, a bellows, jars of sweets, hula hoops, dolls, and the soon-to-be-Dumptified eggs.

The Fawn

Illustration of Alice and the Fawn from "Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There" (art by John Tenniel, 1871)
Illustration from “Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There” by John Tenniel (1871)

After leaving the Gnat, Alice meets a fawn in the wood where things have no names. What’s extraordinary about this fawn is how much it seems to be a real fawn rather than some kind of Wonderland or Looking-Glass fawn. It’s not wearing clothes or carrying a pocket watch. It’s not doing human things like riding on a train, and unlike the snap-dragon-fly, its head isn’t on fire. It seems to be a fawn in the same way that Pluto is a dog in a Disney cartoon world that also includes Goofy.

And what a beautiful fawn! In Tenniel’s illustration, it’s all spindly legs, dappled fur, and wide eyes. In Peter Newell’s 1901 illustrations, the Fawn is just as splendid, perhaps more so, a little fuzzier and rounded, a little softer, with shining eyes. Alice connects with the fawn, and they proceed together through the wood with her arm around its neck. The Fawn is able to speak, but there’s a sense that its ability to converse with her is the result of its forgetting who it is.

Once they are out of the wood, the Fawn is instantly startled (“Dear me! You’re a human child!”) and it runs away “at full speed.” The sequence explores a philosophical idea: who are you if you don’t know who you are? There’s something else here, too. It’s a beautiful moment that’s lost in the blink of an eye, the same as when Alice picks the scented rushes that melt away. The Fawn, like the rushes, represents the fleeting nature of beauty.

The Fawn makes a rare appearance in the 1985 film. It’s accompanied by a treacle-y song, but the moment between an actual little girl and an actual fawn offers a nice reprieve from the otherwise-manic energy of the rest of the film.

The Oysters

Illustration of the Walrus, the Carpenter, and the Oysters from "Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There" (Art by John Tenniel, 1897)
Illustration from “Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There” by John Tenniel (1897)

There’s something gleefully absurd about anthropomorphic oysters. To begin with, they barely seem like an animal. There are other small creatures in Carroll’s works: the baby crab at the Wonderland caucus race, for example, and the caterpillar (which may seem large if you’ve forgotten how small Alice is at that point, but states his height as three inches tall). The oysters are not only the smallest creatures in the books, but they also don’t have a brain, or limbs, or eyes. They’re squishy rocks with a nervous system.

Yet even Alice recognizes that they’re the most important players in “The Walrus and the Carpenter.” They’re also the only characters to die in the text (the Queen’s various orders about beheadings and the probable fate of the bread-and-butterfly are things that either will happen or have already happened, and may not happen at all). It’s easy as a reader to feel the same sympathy as Alice over their being eaten, especially looking at Tenniel’s illustrations, which give them tiny legs and little shoes. Carroll himself felt enough sympathy for them after seeing an 1886 stage play that he penned a new ending for the sequence, having three oyster ghosts come back to exact revenge. (My kingdom for a ghost oyster tee shirt.)

In the 1933 film, though the rest is live-action, “The Walrus and the Carpenter” poem is an animated segment presented by Tweedledum and Tweedledee on a little television. An oyster mom and oyster babies are sleeping under the covers on an “oyster bed.” Walt Disney borrowed the idea for the 1951 animated film, but made each little shell its own cradle, with the top shell a baby bonnet. In the 1985 miniseries, the oysters are bizarrely played by adults, their long legs sticking out of the oyster shells. It’s certainly memorable. How is it that the oysters don’t have a bigger legacy?

Among the reasons Lewis Carroll’s books have endured so long is the strength of the characters, and not just the biggest or most obvious ones. Wonderland and the Looking-Glass world teem with incredible creatures in every wood, river, and tree. They’re hiding in plain sight in the details of the text as well as the illustrations. Take a closer look, and see what you can find—do you have a favorite character or scene? Let us know in the comments…[end-mark]

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A Prince Among Deer: Felix Salten’s Bambi: A Life in the Woods

Jun. 8th, 2026 03:00 pm
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A Prince Among Deer: Felix Salten’s Bambi: A Life in the Woods

The inspiration for Disney’s adorable fawn was not intended for children, and gets considerably darker…

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Published on June 8, 2026

Bambi, A Life in the Woods jacket illustration by Kurt Wiese (1929)

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<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Sarah</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/a-prince-among-deer-felix-saltens-bambi-a-life-in-the-woods/">https://reactormag.com/a-prince-among-deer-felix-saltens-bambi-a-life-in-the-woods/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=849911">https://reactormag.com/?p=849911</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-vertical"> <div class="container container-desktop"> <div class="flex flex-col mx-auto post-hero-container"> <div class="post-hero-content"> <div class="post-hero-tags font-aktiv text-xs tracking-[0.5px] font-medium uppercase"> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/articles/books/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Books 0"> Books </a> </span> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/tag/sff-bestiary/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag SFF Bestiary 1"> SFF Bestiary </a> </span> </div> <h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1">A Prince Among Deer: Felix Salten’s <i>Bambi: A Life in the Woods</i></h2> <div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">The inspiration for Disney&#8217;s adorable fawn was not intended for children, and gets considerably darker&#8230;</div> <div class="post-hero-wrapper"> <div class="post-hero-inner"> <p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&amp;_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/judith-tarr/" title="Posts by Judith Tarr" class="author url fn" rel="author">Judith Tarr</a></p> <span class="post-hero-symbol relative top-[-2px] hidden tablet:block">|</span> <p class="text-xs uppercase post-hero-publish font-aktiv"> Published on June 8, 2026 </p> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-vertical [&amp;_a]:link"><p>Bambi, A Life in the Woods jacket illustration by Kurt Wiese (1929)</p> </div> <div class="quick-access post-hero-quick-access mt-[17px] tablet:hidden"> <div class="flex gap-[30px] tablet:gap-6"> <a href="https://reactormag.com/a-prince-among-deer-felix-saltens-bambi-a-life-in-the-woods/#comments" class="flex items-center text-sm font-aktiv tracking-[0.6px] font-semibold uppercase translate-x-[1px] translate-y-[1px]"> <svg class="w-[22px] h-[22px] mr-[7px] icon-hover" viewbox="0 0 18 18" aria-label="comment" role="img" aria-hidden="true" aria-labelledby="icon-comment-quick-access-"> <title id="icon-comment-quick-access-">Comment</title> <g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"> <path fill="#FFF" fill-rule="nonzero" d="M6.3 18a.9.9 0 0 1-.9-.9v-2.7H1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 0 12.6V1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 1.8 0h14.4A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 18 1.8v10.8a1.8 1.8 0 0 1-1.8 1.8h-5.49l-3.33 3.339a.917.917 0 0 1-.63.261H6.3Z" /> <path stroke="#000" d="M5.9 14.4v-.5H1.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3-1.3V1.8A1.3 1.3 0 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0.678713 9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" /> </g> <defs> <clippath id="clip0_1051_121783"> <rect width="17" height="17" fill="white" transform="translate(0.678711 0.414307)" /> </clippath> </defs> </svg> </a> </li> </ul> </div> </details> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-media "> <figure class="w-full h-auto post-hero-image"> <img decoding="async" width="740" height="423" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Bambi-book-jacket-illustration-Kurt-Wiese-740x423.png" class="w-full object-cover" alt="Illustration of a deer in the center of a wreath of evergreen boughs from the back cover of a 1929 edition of Bambi, A Life in the Woods (art by Kurt Wiese)" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Bambi-book-jacket-illustration-Kurt-Wiese-740x423.png 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Bambi-book-jacket-illustration-Kurt-Wiese-1100x629.png 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Bambi-book-jacket-illustration-Kurt-Wiese-768x439.png 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Bambi-book-jacket-illustration-Kurt-Wiese.png 1400w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-horizontal [&amp;_a]:link"><p>Bambi, A Life in the Woods jacket illustration by Kurt Wiese (1929)</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </post-hero> <div class="wp-block-more-from-category"> <div> </div> </div> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Walt Disney’s beloved children’s film, <em><a href="https://reactormag.com/deer-ly-beloved-walt-disneys-bambi/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bambi</a></em>, is based on a novel that was published in German in 1923. Its author, Felix Salten, was a well-known journalist, novelist, and poet. His biography of a deer was not intended for children. It’s a meditation on the transformation of child into adult, on life in the wild, on the relationship between humans and animals.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">It is not a gentle book. Even Disney’s film, with its primary colors and its adorable animals and its saccharine songs, takes a dark turn. Salten’s book is considerably darker.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The broad strokes are similar. We begin with Bambi’s birth, heralded by a chorus of birds and animals. He grows and learns, first from his mother, then from other deer including his ancient and powerful father, along with friends and not-friends of other species that he meets along the way. He experiences the changes of the seasons, the stark contrast between summer’s abundance and winter’s scarcity. He falls in love. He suffers great loss.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">His best non-deer friend is a hare, but it’s not cute fluffy Thumper. This is a more realistic example of his species, with his own thoughts and feelings and a rather pessimistic outlook on life.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Bambi has an owl friend, too, who is as close to cute as anybody gets in this book. They have an ongoing thing, in which the owl creeps up on Bambi and lets go with a blood-curdling screech. Bambi is always careful to assure the owl that yes, it’s terrifying, he’s totally shocked. Bambi is a kind person and a good friend.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Fans of the film will recognize the lovely Faline, but here her mother has a name, Ena, and she’s Bambi’s aunt. Faline also has a twin brother, Gobo, who is not as healthy or as vigorous as his sister. Bambi and Faline look after him and protect him as much as they can.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The novel’s portrayal of the stags explains a few things about the remote and incalculable creatures in the film. The book calls them the princes, and talks about their crowns, which grow anew every year and are shed in the winter. Bambi meets and comes to know some of them as both friends and rivals, and he’s watched over by the one called the elder, the oldest deer in the forest.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The elder is a semi-mythical figure. The younger deer are in awe of him. He passes among them like a shadow. He never speaks.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And yet, when Bambi meets him, he has plenty to say. He has lessons to teach. Sometimes a rebuke, sometimes a warning or a bit of moral guidance.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">From Bambi’s perspective, he’s rather terrifying, and he seems to be judging Bambi harshly. Yet late in the novel, we get a glimpse of what he’s actually thinking. He cares about how he’s coming across. He worries that he’s coming down a little too hard on the kid.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">He loves his son and wants him to do well. He saves Bambi’s life more than once. He’s a strong father figure, picking up where Bambi’s mother leaves off—both in the natural way of teaching a child to be independent, and in the devastating fact of her death.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The film seriously cuts back on the body count. The novel is an ongoing saga of nature red in tooth and claw. Predators hunt and kill characters we’ve come to know. Winter freezes and starves the creatures of the forest. Bambi’s mother is far from the only deer to succumb to a bullet.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And there is the darkest heart of the story. In the film, he’s named. He’s Man. In the book, he’s simply HIM.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Everyone in the forest is terrified of Him. They spend their lives hiding from Him, running from Him, being hunted and killed by Him. Instead of a forest fire late in the story, there’s a mass slaughter, with hunters gunning down anything that moves.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The animals try to understand Him. They talk about what he looks like, how he walks on two legs, that the other two are different—like the squirrel’s front legs when he sits upright. They debate the question of a third leg or arm, the one that makes a noise like thunder, and kills from a great distance.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">It’s Gobo who finds out what He actually is. Gobo is caught in the mass exodus from a hunt, and everybody think he has died, but a few years later he reappears. He has the marks of a collar on his neck, and a completely different take on Him than anyone in the forest. He is good, he is kind, he feeds Gobo wonderful things and keeps him warm and sheltered in winter and in wet weather.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">He is, effectively, a god. He’s all-seeing, all-knowing, all-powerful. He’s benevolent, Gobo insists. Gobo goes so far as to try to prove it, approaching Him in the meadow in which so much of the action happens—and he pays for it with his life.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Later Bambi and the elder will discover something profound about Him. He has great power and a deadly weapon, and he kills anything that moves. But he is not a god. He’s as mortal as any other animal.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And yet, Bambi and the elder agree, there is something beyond Him, some force that shapes the universe. That’s the force that drives everything, that makes the world, that controls the seasons.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Bambi and the elder are part of that. When the elder’s life draws to an end, Bambi takes his place in the forest. Just as the elder met him as a young fawn crying for his mother, Bambi meets two fawns who are crying for their mother. The girl fawn, he thinks, looks very much like Faline. And so we circle back to the beginning, but multiplied by two.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">There’s a lot here, but Salten’s own history adds a whole new layer. Salten was Jewish. His books were banned by the Nazis in 1936 and he fled with his family to Zurich in 1939; he died there in 1945.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">(Sidebar: That’s sort of the plot of <em>The Sound of Music</em>, though the Von Trapps were not Jewish. Real-life Captain von Trapp was a dumpy little man, very disappointing if you’ve grown up with Christopher Plummer in the role. <a href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/82095043/photo/unspecified-austrian-author-felix-salten-vienna-photograph-1917-der-sterreichische.jpg?s=612x612&amp;w=gi&amp;k=20&amp;c=niPggsxxuU4C_qNulXznjyCIuUFmBp2MP9COo4v_RK8=" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Now look at Felix Salten</a>. I want an alternate timeline in which we get a biopic of Salten that includes his escape from Austria, starring 1960s Christopher Plummer.)</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">It’s been proposed that <em>Bambi</em> is <a href="https://www.europeana.eu/en/stories/felix-salten-the-jewish-author-and-hunter-who-created-bambi" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">to some degree an allegory of the life of a Jewish person in Austria</a> at the time the book was written. What’s also notable is that Salten was an avid hunter. When he writes about Him, he’s writing about himself.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Supposedly Salten loved to hunt, but as a writer he couldn’t help but see the other side. He put himself into the mind and heart of the animals he hunted. He took their point of view. He tried to understand how they felt about humans, about hunters, about surviving in a world that could be gentle and kind and nurturing, but it could also destroy you.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">I wonder how Salten reconciled the two sides. He survived the Nazis, but he was only allowed to leave if he promised to shut down his career as a journalist. He was exiled and silenced.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">But his work survives. Disney made it famous, however simplified and sanitized. The core of it is still there, the darkness at the heart of the forest, and the ray of hope that shines at the end.[end-mark]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/a-prince-among-deer-felix-saltens-bambi-a-life-in-the-woods/">A Prince Among Deer: Felix Salten’s &lt;i&gt;Bambi: A Life in the Woods&lt;/i&gt;</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/a-prince-among-deer-felix-saltens-bambi-a-life-in-the-woods/">https://reactormag.com/a-prince-among-deer-felix-saltens-bambi-a-life-in-the-woods/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=849911">https://reactormag.com/?p=849911</a></p>

Here Are the Winners of the 2025 Bram Stoker Awards

Jun. 8th, 2026 02:31 pm
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News Bram Stoker Awards

Here Are the Winners of the 2025 Bram Stoker Awards

Congratulations to the winners!

By

Published on June 8, 2026

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n Saturday, June 6th, the Horror Writers Association announced the winners of the 2025 Bram Stoker Awards, which recognize superior achievement in horror. The Stokers are voted on by the members of the Horror Writers Association and announced each year at StokerCon, which this year took place in Pittsburgh.

Congratulations to the winners!

Superior Achievement in an Anthology

  • Day, Julie C.; Bissett, Carina; and Gidney, Craig Laurance, eds. — Storyteller: A Tanith Lee Tribute Anthology (Essential Dreams Press)
  • Golden, Christopher and Keene, Brian, eds. — The End of the World As We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King’s The Stand (Gallery Books)
  • WINNER: Kulski, Kristy Park, ed. — Silk & Sinew: A Collection of Folk Horror from the Asian Diaspora (Bad Hand Books)
  • Murray, Lee and Jeffery, Dave, eds. — This Way Lies Madness: Stories from the Edge of Darkness (Flame Tree Publishing)
  • Ryan, Lindy and Wytovich, Stephanie M., eds. — HOWL: An Anthology of Werewolves from Women-in-Horror (Black Spot Books)

Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection

  • Chapman, Clay McLeod — Acquired Taste (Titan Books)
  • Files, Gemma — Little Horn: Stories (Shortwave)
  • WINNER: Langan, John — Lost in the Dark and Other Excursions (Word Horde)
  • Piper, Hailey — Teenage Girls Can Be Demons (Titan Books)
  • Tantlinger, Sara — Cyanide Constellations (Dark Matter INK)

Superior Achievement in a First Novel

  • Daly, Grace — The Scald-Crow (Creature Publishing)
  • Karella, Bitter — Moonflow (Run For It)
  • Pell, Tanya — Her Wicked Roots (Gallery Books)
  • Steel, Hester — The Faceless Thing We Adore (Page Street Horror)
  • Tennison, Kathryn — Molting (Uncomfortably Dark Horror)
  • Viel, Neena — Listen to Your Sister (St. Martin’s Griffin / Titan Books)
  • WINNER: Wehunt, Michael — The October Film Haunt (St. Martin’s Press)

Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel

  • Bunn, Cullen (writer) and Luckert, Danny (artist) – Jumpscare (Dark Horse Comics)
  • King, Sandy (editor) – John Carpenter’s Tales for a HalloweeNight, Volume 11 (Storm King Comics)
  • Kraus, Daniel (writer) and Dani (artist) – Athanasia (VAULT Comics)
  • WINNER: Mignola, Mike – Bowling With Corpses and Other Tales from Lands Unknown (Dark Horse Comics)
  • Tynion IV, James (writer), Foxe, Steve (writer), and Kowalski, Piotr (artist) – Let This One Be a Devil (Dark Horse Comics & Tiny Onion Studios)

Superior Achievement in Long Fiction

  • WINNER (tie): Ballingrud, Nathan — Cathedral of the Drowned (Tor Nightfire / Titan Books)
  • Ha, Thomas — “Uncertain Sons” (Uncertain Sons and Other Stories, Undertow Publications)
  • Langan, Sarah — “Squid Teeth” (Reactor)
  • Langan, Sarah — Pam Kowolski Is a Monster! (Raw Dog Screaming Press)
  • WINNER (tie): Wise, A.C. — “Wolf Moon, Antler Moon” (Reactor)

Superior Achievement in Long Non-Fiction

  • Borwein, Naomi Simone, ed. — Global Indigenous Horror (University Press of Mississippi)
  • Grafius, Brandon R. and Morehead, John W., eds. — The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Monsters (Oxford University Press)
  • Hieber, Leanna Renee and Janes, Andrea — America’s Most Gothic (Kensington Publishing)
  • Scrivner, Coltan — Morbidly Curious: A Scientist Explains Why We Can’t Look Away (Penguin Random House)
  • WINNER: Spratford, Becky Siegel, ed. — Why I Love Horror: Essays on Horror Fiction (Saga Press)

Superior Achievement in a Middle Grade Novel

  • WINNER: Dawson, Delilah S. — Ride or Die (Delacorte Press)
  • Kuyatt, Meg Eden — The Girl in the Walls (Scholastic Press)
  • Malinenko, Ally — Broken Dolls (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
  • Oh, Ellen — The House Next Door (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
  • Russell, Ally — Mystery James Digs Her Own Grave (Delacorte Press)

Superior Achievement in a Novel

  • Hendrix, Grady — Witchcraft for Wayward Girls (Berkley)
  • Hill, Joe — King Sorrow (William Morrow)
  • WINNER: Jones, Stephen Graham — The Buffalo Hunter Hunter (Saga Press / Titan Books)
  • Moreno-Garcia, Silvia — The Bewitching (Del Rey)
  • Wagner, Wendy N. — Girl in the Creek (Tor Nightfire)

Superior Achievement in Poetry (Collection and Long Form)

  • WINNER: Addison, Linda D. and Hodge, Jamal — Everything Endless (Raw Dog Screaming Press)
  • Gold, Maxwell I. — Songs of Enough: An Inferno All My Own (Hippocampus Press)
  • Kearns, Shannon — The Uterus is an Impossible Forest (Raw Dog Screaming Press)
  • Peebles, Cate — The Haunting (Tupelo Press)
  • Raguso, MarieAnn C., PhD — Allegories of Beauty & Violence: A Collection of Gothic Romance Poems (Analyze This)

Superior Achievement in a Screenplay

  • WINNER: Coogler, Ryan — Sinners (Warner Bros. / Domain / Proximity)
  • Cregger, Zach — Weapons (New Line Cinema / Domain / Subconscious)
  • Garland, Alex — 28 Years Later (Sony / Columbia Pictures / TSG Entertainment)
  • Hancock, Drew — Companion (New Line Cinema / BoulderLight Pictures / Vertigo Entertainment)
  • Philippou, Danny and Hinzman, Bill — Bring Her Back (Causeway Films / Salmira Productions / The South Australian Film Corporation)

Superior Achievement in Short Fiction

  • Daniels, L.E. — “Stomata” (Darkness Most Fowl, The Godmother of Horror Press)
  • WINNER: Joseph, RJ – “Inheritance” (Full Throttle: A Dark Dozen Anthology, Uncomfortably Dark Publishing)
  • Szczepaniak-Gillece, Jocelyn — “Saint Dymphna’s School for Borderland Girls” (Weird Horror #10, Undertow Publications)
  • Taborska, Anna — “[Ir]reversible” (Witches and Witchcraft: An Anthology of Stories, Poems, and Essays, Hippocampus Press)
  • Wongsatayanont, Champ – “Autogas Ferryman” (Nightmare Magazine #156, Adamant Press)

Superior Achievement in Short Non-Fiction

  • Barb, Patrick — “Deathwish Wolf Man: The Tragic Hero at the Heart of the Universal Monster” (Interstellar Flight Magazine, Interstellar Flight Press)
  • WINNER: Due, Tananarive — “My Long Road to Horror” (Why I Love Horror: Essays on Horror Fiction, Saga Press)
  • Jones, Stephen Graham — “Why Horror” (Why I Love Horror: Essays on Horror Fiction, Saga Press)
  • Moshaty, Mo — “Haunted Thresholds: Liminal Horror and the Psychological Disintegration of Women from Post-Partum, Grief, Trauma and Religious Fanaticism” (Darkest Margins: 24 Essays on Liminality and Liminal Spaces in the Horror Genre, 1428 Publishing Ltd)
  • Pelayo, Cynthia — “My Mother Was Margaret White” (Why I Love Horror: Essays on Horror Fiction, Saga Press)

Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel

  • WINNER: Chapman, Clay McLeod – Shiny Happy People (Delacorte Press)
  • Cheng, Linda — Beautiful Brutal Bodies (Roaring Brook Press)
  • Chupeco, Rin — We’re Not Safe Here (Sourcebooks)
  • Rodriguez Wallach, Diana — The Silenced (Delacorte Press)
  • Roux, Madeleine — A Girl Walks Into the Forest (Quill Tree Books)

Specialty Awards

Specialty Press Award: Bad Hand Books

Richard Laymon President’s Award: Marc L. Abbott

Karen Lansdale Silver Hammer Award: Sarah Read

Mentor of the Year Award: Eric Guignard

Lifetime Achievement Award Winners: Lisa Morton, Jonathan Maberry[end-mark]

The post Here Are the Winners of the 2025 Bram Stoker Awards appeared first on Reactor.

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Here Are the Winners of the 2025 Bram Stoker Awards

Jun. 8th, 2026 02:15 pm
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Posted by Molly Templeton

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News Bram Stoker Awards

Here Are the Winners of the 2025 Bram Stoker Awards

Congratulations to the winners!

By

Published on June 8, 2026

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On Saturday, June 6th, the Horror Writers Association announced the winners of the 2025 Bram Stoker Awards, which recognize superior achievement in horror. The Stokers are voted on by the members of the Horror Writers Association and announced each year at StokerCon, which this year took place in Pittsburgh.

Congratulations to the winners!

Superior Achievement in an Anthology

  • Day, Julie C.; Bissett, Carina; and Gidney, Craig Laurance, eds. — Storyteller: A Tanith Lee Tribute Anthology (Essential Dreams Press)
  • Golden, Christopher and Keene, Brian, eds. — The End of the World As We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King’s The Stand (Gallery Books)
  • WINNER: Kulski, Kristy Park, ed. — Silk & Sinew: A Collection of Folk Horror from the Asian Diaspora (Bad Hand Books)
  • Murray, Lee and Jeffery, Dave, eds. — This Way Lies Madness: Stories from the Edge of Darkness (Flame Tree Publishing)
  • Ryan, Lindy and Wytovich, Stephanie M., eds. — HOWL: An Anthology of Werewolves from Women-in-Horror (Black Spot Books)

Superior Achievement in a Fiction Collection

  • Chapman, Clay McLeod — Acquired Taste (Titan Books)
  • Files, Gemma — Little Horn: Stories (Shortwave)
  • WINNER: Langan, John — Lost in the Dark and Other Excursions (Word Horde)
  • Piper, Hailey — Teenage Girls Can Be Demons (Titan Books)
  • Tantlinger, Sara — Cyanide Constellations (Dark Matter INK)

Superior Achievement in a First Novel

  • Daly, Grace — The Scald-Crow (Creature Publishing)
  • Karella, Bitter — Moonflow (Run For It)
  • Pell, Tanya — Her Wicked Roots (Gallery Books)
  • Steel, Hester — The Faceless Thing We Adore (Page Street Horror)
  • Tennison, Kathryn — Molting (Uncomfortably Dark Horror)
  • Viel, Neena — Listen to Your Sister (St. Martin’s Griffin / Titan Books)
  • WINNER: Wehunt, Michael — The October Film Haunt (St. Martin’s Press)

Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel

  • Bunn, Cullen (writer) and Luckert, Danny (artist) – Jumpscare (Dark Horse Comics)
  • King, Sandy (editor) – John Carpenter’s Tales for a HalloweeNight, Volume 11 (Storm King Comics)
  • Kraus, Daniel (writer) and Dani (artist) – Athanasia (VAULT Comics)
  • WINNER: Mignola, Mike – Bowling With Corpses and Other Tales from Lands Unknown (Dark Horse Comics)
  • Tynion IV, James (writer), Foxe, Steve (writer), and Kowalski, Piotr (artist) – Let This One Be a Devil (Dark Horse Comics & Tiny Onion Studios)

Superior Achievement in Long Fiction

  • WINNER (tie): Ballingrud, Nathan — Cathedral of the Drowned (Tor Nightfire / Titan Books)
  • Ha, Thomas — “Uncertain Sons” (Uncertain Sons and Other Stories, Undertow Publications)
  • Langan, Sarah — “Squid Teeth” (Reactor)
  • Langan, Sarah — Pam Kowolski Is a Monster! (Raw Dog Screaming Press)
  • WINNER (tie): Wise, A.C. — “Wolf Moon, Antler Moon” (Reactor)

Superior Achievement in Long Non-Fiction

  • Borwein, Naomi Simone, ed. — Global Indigenous Horror (University Press of Mississippi)
  • Grafius, Brandon R. and Morehead, John W., eds. — The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Monsters (Oxford University Press)
  • Hieber, Leanna Renee and Janes, Andrea — America’s Most Gothic (Kensington Publishing)
  • Scrivner, Coltan — Morbidly Curious: A Scientist Explains Why We Can’t Look Away (Penguin Random House)
  • WINNER: Spratford, Becky Siegel, ed. — Why I Love Horror: Essays on Horror Fiction (Saga Press)

Superior Achievement in a Middle Grade Novel

  • WINNER: Dawson, Delilah S. — Ride or Die (Delacorte Press)
  • Kuyatt, Meg Eden — The Girl in the Walls (Scholastic Press)
  • Malinenko, Ally — Broken Dolls (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
  • Oh, Ellen — The House Next Door (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
  • Russell, Ally — Mystery James Digs Her Own Grave (Delacorte Press)

Superior Achievement in a Novel

  • Hendrix, Grady — Witchcraft for Wayward Girls (Berkley)
  • Hill, Joe — King Sorrow (William Morrow)
  • WINNER: Jones, Stephen Graham — The Buffalo Hunter Hunter (Saga Press / Titan Books)
  • Moreno-Garcia, Silvia — The Bewitching (Del Rey)
  • Wagner, Wendy N. — Girl in the Creek (Tor Nightfire)

Superior Achievement in Poetry (Collection and Long Form)

  • WINNER: Addison, Linda D. and Hodge, Jamal — Everything Endless (Raw Dog Screaming Press)
  • Gold, Maxwell I. — Songs of Enough: An Inferno All My Own (Hippocampus Press)
  • Kearns, Shannon — The Uterus is an Impossible Forest (Raw Dog Screaming Press)
  • Peebles, Cate — The Haunting (Tupelo Press)
  • Raguso, MarieAnn C., PhD — Allegories of Beauty & Violence: A Collection of Gothic Romance Poems (Analyze This)

Superior Achievement in a Screenplay

  • WINNER: Coogler, Ryan — Sinners (Warner Bros. / Domain / Proximity)
  • Cregger, Zach — Weapons (New Line Cinema / Domain / Subconscious)
  • Garland, Alex — 28 Years Later (Sony / Columbia Pictures / TSG Entertainment)
  • Hancock, Drew — Companion (New Line Cinema / BoulderLight Pictures / Vertigo Entertainment)
  • Philippou, Danny and Hinzman, Bill — Bring Her Back (Causeway Films / Salmira Productions / The South Australian Film Corporation)

Superior Achievement in Short Fiction

  • Daniels, L.E. — “Stomata” (Darkness Most Fowl, The Godmother of Horror Press)
  • WINNER: Joseph, RJ – “Inheritance” (Full Throttle: A Dark Dozen Anthology, Uncomfortably Dark Publishing)
  • Szczepaniak-Gillece, Jocelyn — “Saint Dymphna’s School for Borderland Girls” (Weird Horror #10, Undertow Publications)
  • Taborska, Anna — “[Ir]reversible” (Witches and Witchcraft: An Anthology of Stories, Poems, and Essays, Hippocampus Press)
  • Wongsatayanont, Champ – “Autogas Ferryman” (Nightmare Magazine #156, Adamant Press)

Superior Achievement in Short Non-Fiction

  • Barb, Patrick — “Deathwish Wolf Man: The Tragic Hero at the Heart of the Universal Monster” (Interstellar Flight Magazine, Interstellar Flight Press)
  • WINNER: Due, Tananarive — “My Long Road to Horror” (Why I Love Horror: Essays on Horror Fiction, Saga Press)
  • Jones, Stephen Graham — “Why Horror” (Why I Love Horror: Essays on Horror Fiction, Saga Press)
  • Moshaty, Mo — “Haunted Thresholds: Liminal Horror and the Psychological Disintegration of Women from Post-Partum, Grief, Trauma and Religious Fanaticism” (Darkest Margins: 24 Essays on Liminality and Liminal Spaces in the Horror Genre, 1428 Publishing Ltd)
  • Pelayo, Cynthia — “My Mother Was Margaret White” (Why I Love Horror: Essays on Horror Fiction, Saga Press)

Superior Achievement in a Young Adult Novel

  • WINNER: Chapman, Clay McLeod – Shiny Happy People (Delacorte Press)
  • Cheng, Linda — Beautiful Brutal Bodies (Roaring Brook Press)
  • Chupeco, Rin — We’re Not Safe Here (Sourcebooks)
  • Rodriguez Wallach, Diana — The Silenced (Delacorte Press)
  • Roux, Madeleine — A Girl Walks Into the Forest (Quill Tree Books)

Specialty Awards

Specialty Press Award: Bad Hand Books

Richard Laymon President’s Award: Marc L. Abbott

Karen Lansdale Silver Hammer Award: Sarah Read

Mentor of the Year Award: Eric Guignard

Lifetime Achievement Award Winners: Lisa Morton, Jonathan Maberry

[end-mark]

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Backlist Bonanza: 5 Queer YA Books for Pride Month

Jun. 8th, 2026 02:00 pm
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Posted by Sarah

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Books Backlist Bonanza

Backlist Bonanza: 5 Queer YA Books for Pride Month

Pride isn’t just a celebration, it’s a revolution.

By

Published on June 8, 2026

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Covers of 5 young adult SFF books with queer themes

As I write this, there are three book ban bills working their way through the House and Senate: H.R. 8705, H.R.2616, and H.R.7661. By the time you read this, who knows where these bills will be or what fresh hells are coming down the pike. There’s a good chance book bans are happening in your community. These aren’t grassroots movements but highly-funded and organized campaigns designed to push queer people back into the closet and chain the door shut. Traditional publishing was already a difficult hill to climb for marginalized authors writing diverse characters. With the increase in bigots banning and challenging books, publishers and agents are rejecting queer books at staggering rates; soft censorship by librarians and booksellers is also on the rise.

Defending the right to read may feel overwhelming, but there are lots of actions you can take right now in your community. If you haven’t contacted your political representatives yet about whatever awful book ban bills are happening when you read this, consider this your sign to pick up your phone. Kids deserve to see themselves and each other reflected in literature. They deserve respect and to feel seen as who they truly are. Authors, publishers, and other book industry folks are on the frontlines, and we need you, yes you, to join us. Whether queer or an ally, we all need to take a stand. You have more power than you realize. Pride isn’t just a celebration, it’s a revolution and a riot. Pick up your wallet, your phone, and a brick and get to it.

Ash by Malinda Lo

cover of Ash by Malinda Lo

(Ash #1 — Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2009) Authors like Malinda Lo helped kick the door open for queer YA. Much of the older queer YA was written by cisallohet people who often struggled (and even more often failed) at accurate or respectful representation. It was rare to get queer YA written by a queer author, especially a queer author of color. This “Cinderella”-inspired fairy tale has more in common with the Brothers Grimm than Disney. After losing both her parents, Ash is trapped in a house with her cruel stepmother and stepsisters. The fairy Sidhean offers her a way out, and it leads her into the arms of Kaisa, the King’s Huntress. The fairies offer her a deal she soon regrets, and she may lose Kaisa forever.

Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore

cover of Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore

(Feiwel & Friends, 2018) Partially a Latinx and queer remix of “Snow White,” “Rose Red,” and “Swan Lake,” this beautiful book explores the complicated relationships of a quartet of teens. The del Cisne sisters Blanca and Roja couldn’t be more different. One day the swans will come to claim one of them as their own, transforming her body against her will. When a local teen, Yearling, goes missing in the woods and his friend, Page, chases after him, they get pulled into the sisters’ orbit. I read this book for a Reactor review back in 2018. It was the first of Anna-Marie McLemore’s books I’d ever read, but certainly not the last. This was the story that helped me realize I was genderqueer. I’d been questioning my gender for a few years by that point; I knew what I wasn’t, but I didn’t know what I was. McLemore’s examination of the nuances of gender beyond the binary opened my eyes to the possibilities. They helped me see that, like with asexuality and aromanticism, I could define “nonbinary” however I wanted, that it wasn’t a third gender that was halfway between the binary poles but something more vast and uncategorizable and wholly unique to each of us under that umbrella. 

The Art of Saving the World by Corinne Duyvis

cover of The Art of Saving the World

(Amulet Books, 2020) There aren’t a lot of YA books with asexual and/or aromantic spectrums, especially not at the current moment when romantasy and romantic subplots dominate young adult speculative fiction. This book from 2020 is a must-read for ace rep. For some inexplicable reason, sixteen-year-old Hazel is connected to a rift that threatens to destroy the world. With the help of several Hazels from other dimensions—all of whom are in varying stages of discovering and coming out about their asexual lesbian flavor of queerness or dealing with mental health and chronic illness—Hazel Prime will try to save the world… and herself.

Ruinsong by Julia Ember

cover of Ruinsong

(Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers, 2020) Cadence is a singer with magical powers caught in the clutches of the wicked Queen Elene. Every year for the Performing, she sings a song that torments the nobles that survived Elene’s bloody purge. After the latest Performing, Cadence’s childhood friend Remi is brought back into her orbit. As rebellion simmers just under the surface, the girls fall in love. Soon they’ll have to decide what they’ll risk to stay together. Besides being a great novel, I think this book is particularly relevant for this moment in time because of its villain. Queen Elene came into power after a political coup and quickly filled the palace with toadies and sycophants. She delights in weaponizing her power over others and in crushing any opposition. She is entitled, callous, and dismissive. Obey or be destroyed. In other words, cruelty is the point. And yet, our queer protagonists keep fighting.

Infinity Alchemist by Kacen Callender

Cover of Infinity Alchemist by Kacen Callender

(Infinity Alchemist #1 — Tor Teen, 2024) There is very little YA fiction with a trans masc main character, and even fewer where the character is BIPOC. You can count the traditionally published trans masc authors of color writing ownvoices YA speculative fiction books on two hands and still have fingers left over. That makes Callender’s very fun and very queer Infinity Alchemist series even more worth reading. With a teen cast all over the queer spectrum, readers get to see identities that don’t get much representation in traditional publishing. Ash is so determined to learn alchemy even after being rejected by a magic school that he makes a deal with haughty Ramsey to find a powerful artifact. Gender goes on a wild ride in this book, as does the plot. This isn’t your average dark academia romantasy.[end-mark]

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Here Are the Winners of the 2025 Nebula Awards

Jun. 8th, 2026 01:50 pm
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Posted by Molly Templeton

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News Nebula Awards

Here Are the Winners of the 2025 Nebula Awards

Congratulations to all!

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Published on June 8, 2026

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The winners of the 61st Annual Nebula Awards were announced this past weekend during the 61st Annual Nebula Awards Conference in Chicago, Illinois. The Nebula Awards are voted on by members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) and, as the organizers say, “they represent the views of professional SFF writers on the state of their industry and recent excellence within it.”

This year’s categories include the first-ever Nebulas for Best Poem and Best Comic. As the SFWA website explains, “Like the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation and Game Writing Award, these new awards celebrate the writers at the heart of productions that also involve editors, artists, publishers, producers, and a wealth of other team members who make the magic happen.” In future years, the comic award will be called Best Comics Writing.

Congratulations to the winners!

Best Novel

  • When We Were Real by Daryl Gregory (Saga)
  • WINNER: The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones (Saga; Titan UK)
  • Katabasis by R.F. Kuang (Harper Voyager US; Harper Voyager UK)
  • Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor (Morrow; Gollancz)
  • The Incandescent by Emily Tesh (Tor; Orbit UK)
  • Sour Cherry by Natalia Theodoridou (Tin House; Wildfire)
  • Wearing the Lion by John Wiswell (DAW; Arcadia)

Best Novella

  • Disgraced Return of the Kap’s Needle by Renan Bernardo (Dark Matter INK)
  • WINNER: The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar (Tordotcom; Arcadia)
  • The Death of Mountains by Jordan Kurella (Lethe)
  • Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz (Tordotcom)
  • But Not Too Bold by Hache Pueyo (Tordotcom)
  • “Descent” by Wole Talabi (Clarkesworld 5/25)

Best Novelette

  • “Our Echoes Drifting Through the Marsh” by Marie Croke (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 1/9/25)
  • WINNER: “Uncertain Sons” by Thomas Ha (Uncertain Sons and Other Stories, Undertow)
  • “We Begin Where Infinity Ends” by Somto Ihezue (Clarkesworld 2/25)
  • “The Name Ziya” by Wen-Yi Lee (Reactor)
  • “Never Eaten Vegetables” by H.H. Pak (Clarkesworld 1/25)
  • “The Life and Times of Alavira the Great as Written by Titos Pavlou and Reviewed by Two Lifelong Friends” by Eugenia Triantafyllou (Uncanny 3-4/25)

Best Short Story

  • “Through the Machine” by P.A. Cornell (Lightspeed 5/25)
  • “Six People to Revise You” by J.R. Dawson (Uncanny 1-2/25)
  • “In My Country” by Thomas Ha (Clarkesworld 4/25)
  • “The Tawlish Island Songbook of the Dead” by E.M. Linden (PodCastle 2/18/25)
  • “Because I Held His Name Like a Key” by Aimee Ogden (Strange Horizons 6/16/25)
  • WINNER: “Laser Eyes Ain’t Everything” by Effie Seiberg (Diabolical Plots 5/25)

Andre Norton Nebula Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Fiction

  • The Tower by David Anaxagoras (Recorded Books)
  • Gemini Rising by Jonathan Brazee (Semper Fi)
  • Wishing Well, Wishing Well by Jubilee Cho (Atthis Arts)
  • Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
  • WINNER: Into the Wild Magic by Michelle Knudsen (Candlewick)
  • Goblin Girl by K.A. Mielke (self-published)

Best Game Writing

  • Spire, Surge, and Sea by Stewart C. Baker (Choice of Games)
  • WINNER: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 by Guillaume Broche & Jennifer Svedberg-Yen (Kepler Interactive; developer: Sandfall Interactive, Sandfall S.A.S.)
  • Hollow Knight: Silksong by Ari Gibson & William Pelen (Team Cherry)
  • Dispatch by Ashley Jeffalone, Suzee Matson, Chris Rebbert, Chad Rhiness, & Pierre Shorette (AdHoc Studios)
  • Hades II by Greg Kasavin (Supergiant Games)
  • Blue Prince by Tonda Ros (Raw Fury; developer: Dogubomb)

The Ray Bradbury Nebula Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation

  • KPop Demon Hunters by Danya Jimenez, Maggie Kang, & Hannah McMechan (Netflix)
  • Sinners by Ryan Coogler (Warner Bros. Pictures)
  • Severance: “Chikhai Bardo” by Dan Erickson & Mark Friedman (Apple TV+)
  • Pluribus: Season One by Vince Gilligan (Apple TV+)
  • Superman by James Gunn (Warner Bros Pictures)
  • WINNER: Murderbot: Season One by Chris Weitz (Apple TV+)

Best Comic

  • Second Shift by Kit Anderson (Avery Hill)
  • Carmilla Volume 3: The Eternal by Amy Chu (Berger)
  • Helen of Wyndhorn by Tom King (Dark Horse)
  • Fishflies by Jeff Lemire (Image)
  • WINNER: Mary Shelley’s School for Monsters: The Killing Stone by Jessica Maison (Wicked Tree)
  • Strange Bedfellows by Ariel Slamet Ries (HarperAlley)
  • The Flip Side by Jason Walz (Rocky Pond)
  • The Stoneshore Register by G. Willow Wilson (Berger)

Best Poem

  • “To Be the Change” by Nico Martinez Nocito (Strange Horizons 3/10/25)
  • “Though You Always Are” by Linda D. Addison & Jamal Hodge (Everything Endless)
  • “They Said Robots Are” by Casey Aimer (Penumbric 6/25)
  • WINNER: “The World To Come” by Jennifer Hudak (Strange Horizons 12/22/25)
  • “The Mourning Robot” by Angela Liu (Uncanny 9-10/25)
  • “Care for Lightning” by Mari Ness (Uncanny 1-2/25)

During the Nebula Awards ceremony, several other awards are given, including the honoring of the 42nd Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master, N.K. Jemisin; the Kate Wilhelm Solstice Award, which went to David Langford; the Kevin O’Donnell, Jr. Service to SFWA Award, given to Gay Haldeman; and the legacy Infinity Award, which went to Roger Zelazny.

[end-mark]

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The Vampire Lestat: How Sam Reid Brought Jarda to Life

Jun. 8th, 2026 01:37 pm
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Posted by Vanessa Armstrong

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News The Vampire Lestat

The Vampire Lestat: How Sam Reid Brought Jarda to Life

Sam Reid plays more than one character in The Vampire Lestat; the actor explains how he prepped for the other one

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<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Vanessa Armstrong</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/the-vampire-lestat-sam-reid-jarda/">https://reactormag.com/the-vampire-lestat-sam-reid-jarda/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=849757">https://reactormag.com/?p=849757</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-horizontal"> <div class="container container-desktop"> <div class="flex flex-col mx-auto post-hero-container"> <div class="post-hero-content"> <div class="post-hero-tags font-aktiv text-xs tracking-[0.5px] font-medium uppercase"> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/articles/news/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag News 0"> News </a> </span> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/tag/the-vampire-lestat/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag The Vampire Lestat 1"> The Vampire Lestat </a> </span> </div> <h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1"><i>The Vampire Lestat</i>: How Sam Reid Brought Jarda to Life</h2> <div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">Sam Reid plays more than one character in The Vampire Lestat; the actor explains how he prepped for the other one</div> <div class="post-hero-wrapper"> <div class="post-hero-inner"> <p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&amp;_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/vanessa-armstrong/" title="Posts by Vanessa Armstrong" class="author url fn" rel="author">Vanessa Armstrong</a></p> <span class="post-hero-symbol relative top-[-2px] hidden tablet:block">|</span> <p class="text-xs uppercase post-hero-publish font-aktiv"> Published on June 8, 2026 </p> </div> </div> <div class="quick-access 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9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" /> </g> <defs> <clippath id="clip0_1051_121783"> <rect width="17" height="17" fill="white" transform="translate(0.678711 0.414307)" /> </clippath> </defs> </svg> </a> </li> </ul> </div> </details> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-media "> <figure class="w-full h-auto post-hero-image"> <img decoding="async" width="740" height="493" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL_SG_0812_0632_RT-740x493.jpg" class="w-full object-cover" alt="Sam Reid as Lestat De Lioncourt - The Vampire Lestat -" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL_SG_0812_0632_RT-740x493.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL_SG_0812_0632_RT-1100x734.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL_SG_0812_0632_RT-768x512.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL_SG_0812_0632_RT-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL_SG_0812_0632_RT.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure> </div> </div> </div> </post-hero> <div class="wp-block-more-from-category"> <div> </div> </div> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong><em>Warning: This post contains mild spoilers for the first episode of </em>The Vampire Lestat</strong></p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">After much-deserved fanfare, <a href="https://reactormag.com/the-vampire-lestat-trailer-2/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">AMC’s <em>The Vampire Lestat</em></a> has finally premiered, and the season’s first episode brings us inside a night where Lestat is performing for a small-yet-fervent crowd.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">It’s also where we’re first introduced to Jarda Klapek, a construction worker from the Czech Republic who became Lestat’s human body double/alibi while the real Lestat went off on blood-draining benders.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Reid also played Jarda, a goofy goon who Lestat describes in the first episode as “Neanderthal me.” In a press conference hosted by the Television Critics Association, I asked Reid how he made Jarda so distinct from Lestat.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“It was mostly physical, because we had a very short period of time to change him around [from Lestat],” he said. Those changes involved a monobrow and using a set of test teeth originally created for Lestat in season one. “[We] filed the fangs off, and then they were slightly too big, so they gave him a bit of a buck tooth and [makeup artist Tami Lane] painted a gap in the tooth.”</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1100" height="734" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL_01_SG_0707_0360_RT-1100x734.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-849760" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL_01_SG_0707_0360_RT-1100x734.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL_01_SG_0707_0360_RT-740x493.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL_01_SG_0707_0360_RT-768x512.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL_01_SG_0707_0360_RT-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL_01_SG_0707_0360_RT.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo Credit: Sophie Giraud/AMC</figcaption></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Jarda also went through an unexpected transformation close to production. Originally, Reid said, Jarda was Swedish in the scripts. The actor prepped accordingly, working with a dialect coach and researching what a Swedish man that age would likely be like: someone who spoke English very well and had military training. Reid shared his polished accent with showrunner Rolin Jones, who hated it. “Rolin was like, ‘Oh no, that’s too clean. I want a thicker accent, so [Jarda] at the very last minute… he became from the Czech Republic, so we got a much thicker accent.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">All in all, Reid said, performing as Jarda was about “trying to bring him down a bit” and to “make sure he was grounded,” even though the actor said he was tempted to amp it up sometimes.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And then, of course, there were the wigs, which Reid pointed out could serve as a metaphor for the season. “We had double wigs going on, which was a really fun thing to do: a wig, on a wig, on a wig, which kind of felt like what we were doing with the show.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><em>New episodes of </em>The Vampire Lestat<em> premiere on Sundays on AMC and AMC+. [end-mark]</em></p> <p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/the-vampire-lestat-sam-reid-jarda/">&lt;i&gt;The Vampire Lestat&lt;/i&gt;: How Sam Reid Brought Jarda to Life</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/the-vampire-lestat-sam-reid-jarda/">https://reactormag.com/the-vampire-lestat-sam-reid-jarda/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=849757">https://reactormag.com/?p=849757</a></p>

How David Bowie Inspired Sam Reid’s Performance in The Vampire Lestat

Jun. 5th, 2026 05:13 pm
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Posted by Vanessa Armstrong

https://reactormag.com/david-bowie-sam-reid-the-vampire-lestat/

https://reactormag.com/?p=849732

News The Vampire Lestat

How David Bowie Inspired Sam Reid’s Performance in The Vampire Lestat

In a press conference hosted by the Television Critics Association, Sam Reid dished on his inspirations for Lestat’s onstage persona

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Published on June 5, 2026

Photo Credit: Sophie Giraud/AMC

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<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Vanessa Armstrong</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/david-bowie-sam-reid-the-vampire-lestat/">https://reactormag.com/david-bowie-sam-reid-the-vampire-lestat/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=849732">https://reactormag.com/?p=849732</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-horizontal"> <div class="container container-desktop"> <div class="flex flex-col mx-auto post-hero-container"> <div class="post-hero-content"> <div class="post-hero-tags font-aktiv text-xs tracking-[0.5px] font-medium uppercase"> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/articles/news/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag News 0"> News </a> </span> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/tag/the-vampire-lestat/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag The Vampire Lestat 1"> The Vampire Lestat </a> </span> </div> <h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1">How David Bowie Inspired Sam Reid’s Performance in <i>The Vampire Lestat</i></h2> <div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">In a press conference hosted by the Television Critics Association, Sam Reid dished on his inspirations for Lestat&#8217;s onstage persona</div> <div class="post-hero-wrapper"> <div class="post-hero-inner"> <p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&amp;_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/vanessa-armstrong/" title="Posts by Vanessa Armstrong" class="author url fn" rel="author">Vanessa Armstrong</a></p> <span class="post-hero-symbol relative top-[-2px] hidden tablet:block">|</span> <p class="text-xs uppercase post-hero-publish font-aktiv"> Published on June 5, 2026 </p> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-vertical [&amp;_a]:link"><p>Photo Credit: Sophie Giraud/AMC</p> </div> <div class="quick-access post-hero-quick-access mt-[17px] tablet:hidden"> <div class="flex gap-[30px] tablet:gap-6"> <a href="https://reactormag.com/david-bowie-sam-reid-the-vampire-lestat/#comments" class="flex items-center text-sm font-aktiv tracking-[0.6px] font-semibold uppercase translate-x-[1px] translate-y-[1px]"> <svg class="w-[22px] h-[22px] mr-[7px] icon-hover" viewbox="0 0 18 18" aria-label="comment" role="img" aria-hidden="true" aria-labelledby="icon-comment-quick-access-"> <title id="icon-comment-quick-access-">Comment</title> <g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"> <path fill="#FFF" fill-rule="nonzero" d="M6.3 18a.9.9 0 0 1-.9-.9v-2.7H1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 0 12.6V1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 1.8 0h14.4A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 18 1.8v10.8a1.8 1.8 0 0 1-1.8 1.8h-5.49l-3.33 3.339a.917.917 0 0 1-.63.261H6.3Z" /> <path stroke="#000" d="M5.9 14.4v-.5H1.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 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11.7513C4.78371 10.1926 2.89605 9.41364 0.678713 9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" /> </g> <defs> <clippath id="clip0_1051_121783"> <rect width="17" height="17" fill="white" transform="translate(0.678711 0.414307)" /> </clippath> </defs> </svg> </a> </li> </ul> </div> </details> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-media "> <figure class="w-full h-auto post-hero-image"> <img decoding="async" width="740" height="493" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL_SG_0701_0085_RT-ncg-740x493.jpg" class="w-full object-cover" alt="Sam Reid as Lestat De Lioncourt - The Vampire Lestat -" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL_SG_0701_0085_RT-ncg-740x493.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL_SG_0701_0085_RT-ncg-1100x734.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL_SG_0701_0085_RT-ncg-768x512.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL_SG_0701_0085_RT-ncg-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL_SG_0701_0085_RT-ncg.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-horizontal [&amp;_a]:link"><p>Photo Credit: Sophie Giraud/AMC</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </post-hero> <div class="wp-block-more-from-category"> <div> </div> </div> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">We’ve already gotten a solid dose of actor Sam Reid performing the rock star version of Lestat. There are the teasers we get in <a href="https://reactormag.com/nycc-vampire-lestat-first-look-trailer/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the trailers</a>, of course, and you can listen to original songs <a href="https://orcd.co/longface" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">“Long Face”</a> and <a href="https://orcd.co/Lestat-afd" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">“All Fall Down”</a> to get an extra dose of the vampire&#8217;s angst. It&#8217;s enough to make clear that Reid embodies Lestat’s musician persona well, and in a press conference hosted by the Television Critics Association that I attended, he shared how he channeled that sexy rockstar energy.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">In Reid’s mind, the core of Lestat’s penchant for performance goes back centuries. “His onstage persona is built in the 18th century… it is the French iteration of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commedia_dell%27arte" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Commedia dell&#8217;arte</a>, and that’s where I place him as a performer,” he said. “Anything that goes beyond that is an extension of that character, because I feel like that’s where he built his stage presence.”</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1100" height="732" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL_SG_0707_0392_RT-ncg-1100x732.jpg" alt="Sam Reid as Lestat De Lioncourt - The Vampire Lestat -" class="wp-image-849735" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL_SG_0707_0392_RT-ncg-1100x732.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL_SG_0707_0392_RT-ncg-740x493.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL_SG_0707_0392_RT-ncg-768x511.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL_SG_0707_0392_RT-ncg-1536x1022.jpg 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/TVL_SG_0707_0392_RT-ncg.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo Credit: Sophie Giraud/AMC</figcaption></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">One of those extensions involved Reid watching <a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/60c93Oxe19s9zzlDwCvBDq" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">David Bowie perform “Cracked Actor” at live concerts</a>. He did so, however, to “remind myself that [Lestat’s] not human… I just got to make sure that I don’t forget that sometimes, because there is a lot more vulnerability in this season than we’ve had before, so I just wanted to make sure we maintain that he is a kind of other thing, which I thought David Bowie just does extraordinarily.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Lestat’s stage presence also changes as the season goes on. “I wanted to make sure it felt still theatrical in a way, because he&#8217;s still performing the idea of a rock star, at least at the beginning. And as the show progresses, the performance starts to disappear, and then I just really focus on the books and [showrunner Rolin Jones’] work, and the songs that Daniel Hart wrote, and trying to hone in on that, and pull the guy out of those things.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">You can see Reid’s performance of Lestat’s performance (and then his performance of Lestat&#8217;s vulnerability) when <em>The Vampire Lestat </em>premieres on AMC and AMC+ on June 7, 2026. [end-mark]&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/david-bowie-sam-reid-the-vampire-lestat/">How David Bowie Inspired Sam Reid’s Performance in &lt;i&gt;The Vampire Lestat&lt;/i&gt;</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/david-bowie-sam-reid-the-vampire-lestat/">https://reactormag.com/david-bowie-sam-reid-the-vampire-lestat/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=849732">https://reactormag.com/?p=849732</a></p>

Indie Anime Jinsei Is More Conceptually Impressive Than Enjoyable to Watch

Jun. 5th, 2026 03:00 pm
[syndicated profile] tordotcom_feed

Posted by Emmet Asher-Perrin

https://reactormag.com/movie-review-jinsei-is-more-conceptually-impressive-than-enjoyable-to-watch/

https://reactormag.com/?p=849681

Movies & TV anime

Indie Anime Jinsei Is More Conceptually Impressive Than Enjoyable to Watch

It’s exciting to see anime getting wider distribution globally all the same.

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Published on June 5, 2026

Credit: Greenwich Entertainment

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<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Emmet Asher-Perrin</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/movie-review-jinsei-is-more-conceptually-impressive-than-enjoyable-to-watch/">https://reactormag.com/movie-review-jinsei-is-more-conceptually-impressive-than-enjoyable-to-watch/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=849681">https://reactormag.com/?p=849681</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-horizontal"> <div class="container container-desktop"> <div class="flex flex-col mx-auto post-hero-container"> <div class="post-hero-content"> <div class="post-hero-tags font-aktiv text-xs tracking-[0.5px] font-medium uppercase"> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/articles/movies-tv/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Movies &amp; TV 0"> Movies &amp; TV </a> </span> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/tag/anime/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag anime 1"> anime </a> </span> </div> <h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1">Indie Anime <i>Jinsei</i> Is More Conceptually Impressive Than Enjoyable to Watch</h2> <div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">It&#8217;s exciting to see anime getting wider distribution globally all the same.</div> <div class="post-hero-wrapper"> <div class="post-hero-inner"> <p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&amp;_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/reuben-baron/" title="Posts by Reuben Baron" class="author url fn" rel="author">Reuben Baron</a></p> <span class="post-hero-symbol relative top-[-2px] hidden tablet:block">|</span> <p class="text-xs uppercase post-hero-publish font-aktiv"> Published on June 5, 2026 </p> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-vertical [&amp;_a]:link"><p>Credit: Greenwich Entertainment</p> </div> <div class="quick-access post-hero-quick-access mt-[17px] tablet:hidden"> <div class="flex gap-[30px] tablet:gap-6"> <a href="https://reactormag.com/movie-review-jinsei-is-more-conceptually-impressive-than-enjoyable-to-watch/#comments" class="flex items-center text-sm font-aktiv tracking-[0.6px] font-semibold uppercase translate-x-[1px] translate-y-[1px]"> <svg class="w-[22px] h-[22px] mr-[7px] icon-hover" viewbox="0 0 18 18" aria-label="comment" role="img" aria-hidden="true" aria-labelledby="icon-comment-quick-access-"> <title id="icon-comment-quick-access-">Comment</title> <g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"> <path fill="#FFF" fill-rule="nonzero" d="M6.3 18a.9.9 0 0 1-.9-.9v-2.7H1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 0 12.6V1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 1.8 0h14.4A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 18 1.8v10.8a1.8 1.8 0 0 1-1.8 1.8h-5.49l-3.33 3.339a.917.917 0 0 1-.63.261H6.3Z" /> <path stroke="#000" d="M5.9 14.4v-.5H1.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3-1.3V1.8A1.3 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clip-path="url(#clip0_1051_121783)"> <path d="M2.67871 17.4143C2.12871 17.4143 1.65771 17.2183 1.26571 16.8263C0.873713 16.4343 0.678046 15.9636 0.678713 15.4143C0.678713 14.8643 0.874713 14.3933 1.26671 14.0013C1.65871 13.6093 2.12938 13.4136 2.67871 13.4143C3.22871 13.4143 3.69971 13.6103 4.09171 14.0023C4.48371 14.3943 4.67938 14.865 4.67871 15.4143C4.67871 15.9643 4.48271 16.4353 4.09071 16.8273C3.69871 17.2193 3.22805 17.415 2.67871 17.4143ZM14.6787 17.4143C14.6787 15.481 14.312 13.6683 13.5787 11.9763C12.8454 10.2843 11.841 8.80097 10.5657 7.52631C9.29171 6.25164 7.80871 5.24764 6.11671 4.51431C4.42471 3.78097 2.61205 3.41431 0.678713 3.41431V0.414307C3.02871 0.414307 5.23705 0.860306 7.30371 1.75231C9.37038 2.64431 11.1704 3.85664 12.7037 5.38931C14.237 6.92264 15.4497 8.72264 16.3417 10.7893C17.2337 12.856 17.6794 15.0643 17.6787 17.4143H14.6787ZM8.67871 17.4143C8.67871 15.1976 7.89971 13.31 6.34171 11.7513C4.78371 10.1926 2.89605 9.41364 0.678713 9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 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12.856 17.6794 15.0643 17.6787 17.4143H14.6787ZM8.67871 17.4143C8.67871 15.1976 7.89971 13.31 6.34171 11.7513C4.78371 10.1926 2.89605 9.41364 0.678713 9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" /> </g> <defs> <clippath id="clip0_1051_121783"> <rect width="17" height="17" fill="white" transform="translate(0.678711 0.414307)" /> </clippath> </defs> </svg> </a> </li> </ul> </div> </details> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-media "> <figure class="w-full h-auto post-hero-image"> <img decoding="async" width="740" height="415" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/jinsei-740x415.jpg" class="w-full object-cover" alt="Image of man looking down through circular opening in Jinsei" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/jinsei-740x415.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/jinsei-1100x618.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/jinsei-768x431.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/jinsei-1536x862.jpg 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/jinsei-2048x1150.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-horizontal [&amp;_a]:link"><p>Credit: Greenwich Entertainment</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </post-hero> <div class="wp-block-more-from-category"> <div> </div> </div> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">It surprises me how many times I’ve seen the trailer for <em>Jinsei</em>—not just in arthouses but at regular theaters. I thought this could be just my New York cinephile privilege (it has a limited opening at IFC Center on June 5), but the movie’s reported to be playing in over a hundred theaters nationwide starting June 12. That might not be a wide release, but it’s wider than the typical North American anime release from back in my day. No Satoshi Kon film exceeded 37 screens in his lifetime. The Oscar-nominated Studio Ghibli masterpiece <em>The Tale of the Princess Kaguya</em> never played in more than 29 theaters in its initial 2014 release. <em>Summer Wars</em>, as accessible a family-friendly crowdpleaser as any anime, maxed out at 11 theaters in 2010!</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">It’s cool that anime as a medium is now popular enough to sustain bigger releases (all aforementioned films have since gotten wider rereleases). But even in this era, <em>Jinsei</em> feels like something that would normally play in a dozen arthouses at most. This might be the least mainstream-friendly anime feature to ever get this big a release. It’s certainly the most outside the system.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">By “outside the system,” I mean that <em>Jinsei</em> is almost entirely the product of just one guy. First-time filmmaker Ryuya Suzuki wrote, directed, animated, and edited the film entirely by himself, as well as composing the music in collaboration with Yuki Hara. The only other names in the credits are the voice actors, the sound team (led by Shuji Suzuki), marketing people, a long list of Kickstarter backers, effects artist Taishu Tomita, and producer Kenji Iwaisawa. That last name you might recognize as the director of <em>On-Gaku: Our Sound</em>, another crowdfunded indie anime made with only a slightly larger team, and the bigger budget sports anime <em>100 Meters</em>. Iwaisawa spent seven years animating <em>On-Gaku</em>. Suzuki completed <em>Jinsei</em> in just 18 months.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">I realize I’ve spent a long time talking about the circumstances of <em>Jinsei</em>’s release and production without saying anything about the film’s story or quality. That’s because, disappointingly, those circumstances are more interesting to me than the film itself. I was intrigued by the premise of a single character (voiced by rapper ACE COOL) taking on different identities over the course of a century, reminiscent of Satoshi Kon’s <em>Millennium Actress</em>. I also appreciate how it bends genre, starting realistic before gradually evolving into psychedelic science fiction—the bold swerve recalls another one-man wonder of animation, Don Hertzfeldt’s <em>It’s Such a Beautiful Day</em>. <em>Millennium Actress</em> and <em>It’s Such a Beautiful Day</em> are five-star favorites of mine, so why did <em>Jinsei</em> leave me so cold?</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">For one thing, I don’t love how the film looks. It turns out the way one person can animate 95 minutes in 18 months is to barely animate anything at all. Limited animation, in my view, works best at extremes: either using graphic simplicity to heighten the appeal of stylized motion (as with something like <em>The Powerpuff Girls</em> or Hertzfeldt’s stick figures), or going the opposite route of providing such lavish detail that the art wows even when the animation doesn’t (the more common route for anime, taken to its furthest extreme with the 1973 erotic horror watercolor slideshow <em>Belladonna of Sadness</em>). <em>Jinsei</em> is neither fish nor fowl, its character designs caught in a bland middle ground between these two approaches, unable to overcome the jerkiness of their movements. At least Suzuki knows how to compose a frame well. The use of symmetry, color design, and different aspect ratios representing different eras call to mind the works of Wes Anderson. Is it coincidence or direct inspiration that the most striking scenes in both <em>Jinsei</em> and in Anderson’s <em>Isle of Dogs </em>juxtapose violence with sushi preparation?</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><em>Jinsei</em> divides its narrative into chapters, each using a different name for the protagonist. The first segment, “Se-chan,” makes some of the most effective use of its minimalist visuals, telling the story of the main character’s parents through a montage of car scenes leading up to a deadly accident. In the next chapter, “God of Death,” our protagonist is deep in mourning and subject to bullying but finds a friend in Kin (Taketo Tanaka), a classmate with a love for boy bands. The friends decide to try and become idols themselves (Se-chan/”God of Death” is the son of a famous idol), and so Se-chan becomes “Kuro” as he goes through five years of training under an abusive manager, Shiratori (Kanji Tsuda).</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Breaking away from his idol experience with a burst of violence, the protagonist’s next phase of life is as “Reito,” a host club worker who nearly gets killed but survives in an abandoned warehouse. He’s discovered as “Man A,” then gets a second chance at celebrity as “Zen,” somehow ends up getting together with Sakura (Miho Ohashi), a woman he refused to defend from a sexual assault… and then the movie gets <em>really</em> weird, hurtling our protagonist into bunker life during a far-future war and eventually engaging in a <em>2001: A Space Odyssey</em>-esque alien encounter.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">For all the dramatic changes throughout his long lifetime, <em>Jinsei</em>’s protagonist remains a blank slate throughout. Perhaps some might connect to him as a depiction of a certain type of depression, but I never found myself that invested in his journey – the gaps of how he gets from one segment of his life were left too vague for a satisfying character study. The supporting cast also goes underdeveloped. Kin is the most immediately sympathetic and compelling; I found myself wishing we got more time with him. The relationship with Sakura was just baffling. The extreme weirdness and more creative visuals in the gonzo third act make it slightly more entertaining, but the pacing of the film overall feels like a slog.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Despite all my heavy criticisms of <em>Jinsei</em>, it is objectively neat that this film exists. It’s cool that an outsider artist and true indie animator can make a movie like this and get such wide exposure! That doesn’t change how little I cared for the movie itself. Maybe next time, Suzuki can find a co-writer to help develop his big ideas and a few more artistically skilled animators to work with.[end-mark]</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"></p> <p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/movie-review-jinsei-is-more-conceptually-impressive-than-enjoyable-to-watch/">Indie Anime &lt;i&gt;Jinsei&lt;/i&gt; Is More Conceptually Impressive Than Enjoyable to Watch</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/movie-review-jinsei-is-more-conceptually-impressive-than-enjoyable-to-watch/">https://reactormag.com/movie-review-jinsei-is-more-conceptually-impressive-than-enjoyable-to-watch/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=849681">https://reactormag.com/?p=849681</a></p>

What to Watch and Read This Weekend: The Vampire Lestat Always Plays The Hits

Jun. 5th, 2026 02:35 pm
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Posted by Molly Templeton

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https://reactormag.com/?p=849807

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What to Watch and Read This Weekend: The Vampire Lestat Always Plays The Hits

Plus: Is Mads Mikkelsen a genre?

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Published on June 5, 2026

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<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Molly Templeton</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/what-to-watch-read-this-weekend-june-5-2026/">https://reactormag.com/what-to-watch-read-this-weekend-june-5-2026/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=849807">https://reactormag.com/?p=849807</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-horizontal"> <div class="container container-desktop"> <div class="flex flex-col mx-auto post-hero-container"> <div class="post-hero-content"> <div class="post-hero-tags font-aktiv text-xs tracking-[0.5px] font-medium uppercase"> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/articles/news/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag News 0"> News </a> </span> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/tag/what-to-watch/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag What to Watch 1"> What to Watch </a> </span> </div> <h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1">What to Watch and Read This Weekend: <i>The Vampire Lestat</i> Always Plays The Hits</h2> <div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">Plus: Is Mads Mikkelsen a genre?</div> <div class="post-hero-wrapper"> <div class="post-hero-inner"> <p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&amp;_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/molly-templeton/" title="Posts by Molly Templeton" class="author url fn" rel="author">Molly Templeton</a></p> <span class="post-hero-symbol relative top-[-2px] hidden tablet:block">|</span> <p class="text-xs uppercase post-hero-publish font-aktiv"> Published on June 5, 2026 </p> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-vertical [&amp;_a]:link"><p>Image: AMC</p> </div> <div 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0.678713 9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" /> </g> <defs> <clippath id="clip0_1051_121783"> <rect width="17" height="17" fill="white" transform="translate(0.678711 0.414307)" /> </clippath> </defs> </svg> </a> </li> </ul> </div> </details> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-media "> <figure class="w-full h-auto post-hero-image"> <img decoding="async" width="740" height="368" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Vampire-Lestat-740x368.png" class="w-full object-cover" alt="Image from AMCs The Vampire Lestat" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Vampire-Lestat-740x368.png 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Vampire-Lestat-1100x547.png 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Vampire-Lestat-768x382.png 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Vampire-Lestat-1536x764.png 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Vampire-Lestat.png 1588w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-horizontal [&amp;_a]:link"><p>Image: AMC</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </post-hero> <div class="wp-block-more-from-category"> <div> </div> </div> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">It&#8217;s June? It&#8217;s June. Does anyone remember what it was like when every turn of the calendar didn&#8217;t come as a peculiar shock? I guess that was maybe how we lived, once. But here we are in June—the month, the internet advertisers will have you believe, of dads and grads—and there are such things to look forward to. Sam Reid as <em>The Vampire Lestat</em>. Colin Farrell in <em>Sugar</em>. The season finale of <em>Widow&#8217;s Bay</em>, which seems to be the thing bringing together the oddest corners of my personal internet. Book discourse! The wary excitement of Knicks fans! A lot of things are very, very bad, but there&#8217;s a little hint of hopefulness in the air. Or maybe that&#8217;s just pollen. Remember your Claritin, hug your friends, worship your vampire rock gods, <a href="https://5calls.org/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">call your reps</a>—you know the drill.</p> <div style="height:10px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Love Bites: <em>The Vampire Lestat</em></strong></h3> <p><site-embed id="18673"/></p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">There’s one loud thought in my head this week, and it’s just LESTAT. Jealously, I have been reading every <a href="https://www.vulture.com/article/vampire-lestat-one-night-only-live-premiere-crowds-fans.html">account</a> I can find of the one-night-only <em>The Vampire Lestat</em> screening and concert at the Beacon Theatre in New York. Ravenously, I have been reading interviews with the cast from previous seasons. My Instagram feed is on to me; the usual cat videos are interrupted with the cast in increasingly lush outfits. I spent two days <a href="https://reactormag.com/rediscovering-rereading-again/">rereading</a> the novel on which this season is based. I rediscovered my love for this ridiculous dramatic child of a vampire. I am <em>ready</em>. To France! To the past! To a whole-ass tour, which is way more rocking than Lestat gets to do in the novel with his name on it! I cannot wait to see where this goes.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><em>The Vampire Lestat</em> takes the stage Sunday night on AMC+.</p> <div style="height:10px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>RIP Marjane Satrapi</strong></h3> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">I keep trying to come up with something succinct to say about Marjane Satrapi, who died this week at the far-too-young age of 56, and failing. But you don’t need me to talk about her; what you need is her art. Did you read <em>Persepolis</em>? No? Pick it up now. And watch the movie, too.&nbsp;</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">In 2023, the graphic novel turned 20 and got a fancy new edition; <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/08/17/1186975635/book-marjane-satrapi-persepolis-turns-20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">writing about it for NPR</a>, Tahneer Oksman said:</p> <figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>As a memoir told in comics that are both comical and also deeply serious, sometimes at the same time, what might potentially bewilder certain audiences is the unorthodox packaging of this complex and deeply moving story. Told through the eyes of a heroine whose moral compass is better defined than many of the adults around her, even as her naiveté is a source of endearment as well as amusement, <em>Persepolis </em>reminds its readers that children and teens are more often tuned in to the ways of the world than the adults around them are willing to admit. It&#8217;s exceptional — and perhaps for that reason a bit unsettling — when a piece of art, or literature, can so thoroughly capture that basic, but easily forgotten, reality.</p></blockquote></figure> <div style="height:10px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Ted Chiang: “No, Artificial Intelligence Is Not Conscious”</strong></h3> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">I keep reading this new <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/philosophy/2026/06/no-artificial-intelligence-is-not-conscious/687378/?gift=R2zbWGNBDp_xHqoa7Q8ZRp-EV6jGaHiamQBxQQlMJqI" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ted Chiang piece on AI</a> in little pieces, both because I need to stop and scream occasionally, and because there are just so many brilliant, biting, <em>necessary</em> bits that I need to take a little pause after each of them. He is clear and sharp and simply not messing around: He asks, “Should we seriously consider the possibility that Claude, or any large language model, might be conscious? And if it has feelings, is it capable of receiving moral instruction?”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And answers:</p> <figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>No. Absolutely not. Generative AI is harmful enough when we understand it as a conventional technology, but if we confuse fluency at generating text with consciousness or moral agency, we’re at risk of assigning responsibility to entirely the wrong parties whenever anyone uses a chatbot.</p></blockquote></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And then goes on to outline the careful reasoning and thought process behind this statement. Sometimes he’s funny even while making important points:</p> <figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>Being open to the possibility that LLMs are conscious is the same as being open to the possibility that Microsoft Word is conscious, or, more precisely, that multiple distinct consciousnesses are dormant in every Word document containing a conversational transcript, and that they are awakened every time the document is loaded.&nbsp;</p></blockquote></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">I’m not going to tell you everything good in this piece. I think you should just go read it.</p> <div style="height:10px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Is Mads Mikkelsen a Genre Unto Himself?</strong></h3> <p><site-embed id="18674"/></p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">No one is going to argue that the Danish film <em>Another Round</em> is genre. However, it stars Mads Mikkelsen, who feels, at this point, like the embodiment of some kind of mashed-up, unquestionably brilliant genre of his own: stone-faced, emotive, dramatic, swooping in as sad space dads and hit men and, you know, <em>Hannibal</em>. And also Le Chiffre! And I could go on. But the point is, the Danish film <em>Another Round</em> is now on Netflix, and I’ve been meaning to watch it for ages. It has a wild premise: a group of schoolteachers (all men, I feel compelled to note) decide to see what happens if they try to maintain a consistent blood alcohol level of 0.05%, which may perhaps make them more creative. This gives me a headache as a concept. It sounds like a recipe for disaster. And yet: I must know how it all plays out. It won the Oscar for Best International Feature Film! I mean, if you need a reason other than Mads to watch it.[end-mark]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/what-to-watch-read-this-weekend-june-5-2026/">What to Watch and Read This Weekend: &lt;i&gt;The Vampire Lestat&lt;/i&gt; Always Plays The Hits</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/what-to-watch-read-this-weekend-june-5-2026/">https://reactormag.com/what-to-watch-read-this-weekend-june-5-2026/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=849807">https://reactormag.com/?p=849807</a></p>

Finally, a Unit of Measurement for a Certain Kind of Moral Depravity…

Jun. 5th, 2026 02:00 pm
[syndicated profile] tordotcom_feed

Posted by Sarah

https://reactormag.com/finally-a-unit-of-measurement-for-a-certain-kind-of-moral-depravity/

https://reactormag.com/?p=849715

Books post-apocalyptic fiction

Finally, a Unit of Measurement for a Certain Kind of Moral Depravity…

We’ve all encountered this trope in post-apocalyptic fiction before. Let’s give it a name…

By

Published on June 5, 2026

Credit: American International Pictures / Amazon MGM Studios

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Ray Milland in Panic in Year Zero!

Credit: American International Pictures / Amazon MGM Studios

Remember this old essay? The morning after I finished writing the article below, Reactor published an article by Ruthanna Emrys titled “Ixnay on the Post-Apocalyptic Cannibals: Rebecca Solnit’s A Paradise Built in Hell.” Emrys’ column could have sent my mind down the path that led to the essay below… if I’d read it before writing the essay and not after. What a coincidence—I guess it’s “People Don’t Really Act Like Post-Apocalyptic Novel Protagonists” time!

So, I recently became aware of the absence of a potentially useful unit of measurement, one I could use in review after review. Its lack came to me as I was reading John Christopher’s 1956 The Death of Grass, which is rather counterintuitively about the death of grass and the consequences that follow. I don’t know how we’re supposed to get that from the title.

The property being measured is temporal: how long does it take protagonists in an existential crisis to embrace war of all against all, to start murdering their way towards refuge—or, having refuge at hand, to aggressively prevent others from joining them?

Obviously, crisis calls for resolute action. Imagine, for example, that you were on an escalator and that escalator halted. Provided you waited an acceptable time for the escalator to start up again or for rescue to appear—five or ten minutes—I don’t think anyone could reasonably criticize you for whipping out a machete to carve your way to freedom. Likewise, light cannibalism or establishing a Cosmic Circle commune working along proper Degleresque1 lines is just common sense under those circumstances. To quote A Mighty Wind’s Terry Bohner, “You would make that conclusion walking down the street or going to the store.”

Even granting the above, fictional characters seem to make the jump from conventional middle-class grudging coexistence to homicide and warlordism astonishingly quickly. For example, The Death of Grass’s heroes… well, no. Protagonists… conclude that impending famine means it’s every man for himself so quickly one might suspect they’ve been dying to hoist the Jolly Roger all along, and only waited for a pretext.

This is almost certainly true for gunsmith Pirrie, who allies with the central characters early on. Pirrie brings his wife Millicent along not because he loves her, but because he is afraid she might thrive without him. As soon as opportunity presents itself, he murders Millicent and replaces her with Jane, whose parents he has just helped murder. I would be in no way surprised to discover Pirrie was a serial killer (or worse) pre-famine.

While Grass’s characters might seem a bit hasty, an objective survey of works such as Varley’s Slow Apocalypse, Ward Moore’s “Lot,” Ing’s Pulling Through, Niven and Pournelle’s Lucifer’s Hammer, Tucker’s The Long Loud Silence, and others—too many to list here—suggests that in fact these characters are not really all that exceptional. Survival-oriented pragmatists abound! DO NOT BOARD ESCALATORS WITH THESE PEOPLE.

The lack of a formal measuring system makes it more difficult to compare works along that specific axis. Happily, I am here for you. More accurately, Ray Milland and Ward Moore were here for you, but I am going to steal their credit.

In Ray Milland’s film Panic in the Year Zero! (Based on Moore’s “Lot” and “Lot’s Daughter”), Los Angelinos Harry Baldwin and family set out on a camping trip. The Baldwins become aware something is wrong about 2 minutes, 45 seconds into the film. By about the 3-minute, 30-second mark, they see ominous flashes. At about the 6-minute mark, they witness a mushroom cloud rising over Los Angeles. At the 7-minute mark, emergency broadcast radio confirms atomic attack. At the 9-minute mark, Harry sees another man2 assault a gas station attendant. 10 minutes in, Harry abandons any thought of returning to rescue his mother-in-law. Over the next minute, Harry convinces himself civilization may have collapsed. At minute 13, Harry asserts survival will have to be on an individual basis. Finally, at just under the 23-minute mark, Harry commits his first survival-related crime.

Now, Panic was not filmed in real time. The 10 minutes between the Baldwins suspecting something is up and Harry concluding it is every man for himself is probably somewhat longer. An hour seems like a reasonable guess.

Therefore, I suggest one hour as the basic unit of measurement for the interval between characters discovering there is a crisis and them deciding to chuck every civilized value overboard in the name of survival. I further propose this unit be henceforth be known as “the Baldwin,” in honour of Harry, who with his family contributed absolutely nothing to the (entirely successful) US war effort in the course of the Baldwins’ post-apocalyptic crime spree.

I don’t know if the Baldwin will be useful to you all, as a concept, but I suspect I will get considerable use out of it.[end-mark]

  1. Researching “Cosmic Circle” and “Claude Degler” can only surprise and delight you. ↩︎
  2. Who also witnessed the attack and its effects. ↩︎

The post Finally, a Unit of Measurement for a Certain Kind of Moral Depravity… appeared first on Reactor.

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Devil in Silver: Aasif Mandvi Talks About Shooting Dr. Anand’s Major Scene

Jun. 5th, 2026 01:30 pm
[syndicated profile] tordotcom_feed

Posted by Vanessa Armstrong

https://reactormag.com/the-terror-devil-in-silver-aasif-mandvi-dr-anand-interview/

https://reactormag.com/?p=849810

Movies & TV The Terror: Devil in Silver

Devil in Silver: Aasif Mandvi Talks About Shooting Dr. Anand’s Major Scene

Reactor interviewed Mandvi about his character’s journey over the course of the show.

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Published on June 5, 2026

Photo Credit: Emily V. Aragones/AMC

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<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Vanessa Armstrong</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/the-terror-devil-in-silver-aasif-mandvi-dr-anand-interview/">https://reactormag.com/the-terror-devil-in-silver-aasif-mandvi-dr-anand-interview/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=849810">https://reactormag.com/?p=849810</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-horizontal"> <div class="container container-desktop"> <div class="flex flex-col mx-auto post-hero-container"> <div class="post-hero-content"> <div class="post-hero-tags font-aktiv text-xs tracking-[0.5px] font-medium uppercase"> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/articles/movies-tv/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Movies &amp; TV 0"> Movies &amp; TV </a> </span> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/tag/the-terror-devil-in-silver/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag The Terror: Devil in Silver 1"> The Terror: Devil in Silver </a> </span> </div> <h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1"><i>Devil in Silver</i>: Aasif Mandvi Talks About Shooting Dr. Anand’s Major Scene</h2> <div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">Reactor interviewed Mandvi about his character&#8217;s journey over the course of the show.</div> <div class="post-hero-wrapper"> <div class="post-hero-inner"> <p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&amp;_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/vanessa-armstrong/" title="Posts by Vanessa Armstrong" class="author url fn" rel="author">Vanessa Armstrong</a></p> <span class="post-hero-symbol relative top-[-2px] hidden tablet:block">|</span> <p class="text-xs uppercase post-hero-publish font-aktiv"> Published on June 5, 2026 </p> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-vertical [&amp;_a]:link"><p>Photo Credit: Emily V. 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11.7513C4.78371 10.1926 2.89605 9.41364 0.678713 9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" /> </g> <defs> <clippath id="clip0_1051_121783"> <rect width="17" height="17" fill="white" transform="translate(0.678711 0.414307)" /> </clippath> </defs> </svg> </a> </li> </ul> </div> </details> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-media "> <figure class="w-full h-auto post-hero-image"> <img decoding="async" width="740" height="493" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/DiS_100_EA_0723_0550-RT-740x493.jpg" class="w-full object-cover" alt="Aasif Mandvi as Dr. Anand - The Terror: Devil in Silver _ Season 1 -" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/DiS_100_EA_0723_0550-RT-740x493.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/DiS_100_EA_0723_0550-RT-1100x734.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/DiS_100_EA_0723_0550-RT-768x512.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/DiS_100_EA_0723_0550-RT-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/DiS_100_EA_0723_0550-RT.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-horizontal [&amp;_a]:link"><p>Photo Credit: Emily V. Aragones/AMC</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </post-hero> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong><em>Warning: This episode contains spoilers for the fifth episode of </em>The Terror: Devil in Silver<em>, <a href="https://reactormag.com/tv-review-the-terror-devil-in-silver-readies-us-for-a-final-teamup-in-vermillion/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">“Vermillion.”</a></em></strong></p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The fifth and penultimate episode of <em>The Devil in Silver</em> has more than one shocking moment, and one of them involves New Hyde’s managing psychiatrist, Dr. Anand.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Dr. Anand, who is played by <em><a href="https://reactormag.com/evil-season-two-appreciation/">Evil </a></em><a href="https://reactormag.com/evil-season-two-appreciation/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">alum Aasif Mandvi</a><em><a href="https://reactormag.com/evil-season-two-appreciation/">,</a></em> has a run-in with Dorry, New Hyde’s long-term patient <a href="https://reactormag.com/the-terror-devil-in-silver-one-flew-over-the-cuckoos-nest-judith-light/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">played with disturbing perfection by Judith Light</a>. That run-in involves Dorry crushing Dr. Anand’s face into a pulp and tearing him open with her bare hands. It’s not subtle, and it’s a scene that Light, in character as Dorry, would constantly remind Mandvi of on set.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“She would always just come up to me and secretly whisper [in a singsong voice], ‘I&#8217;m gonna kill youuuu… I’m gonna kill you…’ It was kind of a creepy thing that she would do to me,” Mandvi told me in an interview.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Mandvi talked more about Dr. Anand’s final scene, how the social commentary of the show attracted him to the role, and what he thinks his character on <em>Evil</em>, Ben, would think of New Hyde. Read on for our full discussion.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1100" height="733" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/devil-in-silver-ep1-3-1100x733.jpeg" alt="Aasif Mandvi as Dr. Anand speaking to police in The Terror: Devil in Silver, episode 1" class="wp-image-847762" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/devil-in-silver-ep1-3-1100x733.jpeg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/devil-in-silver-ep1-3-740x493.jpeg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/devil-in-silver-ep1-3-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/devil-in-silver-ep1-3-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/devil-in-silver-ep1-3-2048x1366.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image: Emily V. Aragones/AMC</figcaption></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><em>This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity</em>.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>What attracted you to the role of Dr. Anand from the get-go?</strong></p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">It’s a great role, and multi-layered, and there’s a lot of complexity to the role. As an actor, it felt like it was fun to dig in and sink your teeth into something like that, and then I just liked the social commentary that the series has. I’d done this show <em>Evil</em>, and that was a real mix of horror and social commentary as well, and this lived in a similar space. I also liked the idea of Dr. Anand caught between being a person who genuinely, I think, wants to do good, and then also being beholden and being imprisoned himself inside this institution. He’s a middle management guy who&#8217;s stuck in this place where he knows he has to compromise his ethics and sense of right and wrong in order to keep the institution going, and that&#8217;s an interesting conundrum that I think that we see a lot in our world right now.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>He’s interesting because as episodes go on, it&#8217;s not quite clear how much he acknowledges or knows about the supernatural component as well. Did you have a thought in your mind of how much he knew what was really going on in New Hyde?</strong></p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">I think he&#8217;s in denial about a lot of it. It was always a question for me: How much does he know? And then the question became: How much is he willing to look in that direction? I always got the feeling that he was a man who didn’t want to see the things he didn&#8217;t want to see. He wanted the institution to run smoothly, and with a certain level of consistency. For him, keeping the institution going was more important than losing the institution altogether, and so whatever he had to compromise in order to do that he would do. And then this other stuff with the devil and the supernatural, I don&#8217;t think he knows quite what to make of it, and I thought that was interesting, because I don&#8217;t think he buys into it 100%, but I think he knows that something is going on, and so I imagine it gives him an ulcer.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1100" height="647" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-3-1100x647.jpg" alt="Dr. Anand being short with Miss Chris in The Terror: Devil in Silver, ep 5" class="wp-image-849783" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-3-1100x647.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-3-740x435.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-3-768x452.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-3-1536x904.jpg 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-3-2048x1205.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image: AMC+</figcaption></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>It’s ironic too, because he gets punished for trying to do good at the end.</strong></p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And that&#8217;s the thing, right? As long as he just goes along with it and doesn&#8217;t take any action, he manages to survive. But the minute he takes action, the metaphor of the devil, through Judith&#8217;s character, kills him. I feel like that was a really powerful scene and moment in the show, but also a message about what the show was saying. At the end of the day, it&#8217;s all about just get in line, follow the rules, don&#8217;t speak up, just take your meds, non-compliance is not an option, all that kind of stuff. And when Dr. Anand decides to step out of line, the institution stamps down on him and kills him. And again, I would say we see more of that in the world today than we want to. It was an interesting and powerful metaphor.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>When did you know what would happen to your character?</strong></p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">I think I got all the scripts prior to shooting, so yes, I probably knew before then. And it was kind of fun, because Judith was always in character when we were shooting. I rarely saw her out of character and she would always just come up to me and secretly whisper [in a singsong voice], “I&#8217;m gonna kill youuuu… I’m gonna kill you…” It was kind of a creepy thing that she would do to me.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>That is creepy, especially from her.</strong></p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Yeah<strong> </strong>she was always Dorry, with the whole wig and the teeth thing. She was very much in that character the whole time.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1100" height="733" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-8-1100x733.jpeg" alt="Judith Light as Dorry - The Terror: Devil in Silver _ Season 1, Episode 5" class="wp-image-849792" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-8-1100x733.jpeg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-8-740x493.jpeg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-8-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-8-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-8-2048x1366.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image: Emily V. Aragones/AMC</figcaption></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Can you talk about actually filming that scene, just what that was like?</strong></p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">It was bizarre. There’s a lot of things that we do in this business where you look back on it, and you go, “Oh, right, that&#8217;s a weird thing that I had to spend the day doing.” That day I spent like five hours just [making grunting sounds, as one does when their face gets smashed in]. They had to shoot it at all different angles, and then they had a prosthetic, and they had a stunt guy. But I just remember Judith sitting on top of me just screaming for God knows how many hours.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Did she stay in character for that too, in between takes?</strong></p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">In character the whole time, yeah. It was a day. On one hand, I got to lay on the floor all day. On the other hand, I was basically told, “We just want the sounds of her hitting and smashing your face.” And I was like; I know a lot of things that I can call upon but that is not necessarily one of them… &nbsp;what does that feel like to have your face smashed in?</p> <figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1100" height="734" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/DIS_101_EA_0723_0527-RT-1100x734.jpg" alt="Aasif Mandvi as Dr. Anand - The Terror: Devil in Silver _ Season 1, Episode 1 -" class="wp-image-849818" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/DIS_101_EA_0723_0527-RT-1100x734.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/DIS_101_EA_0723_0527-RT-740x493.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/DIS_101_EA_0723_0527-RT-768x512.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/DIS_101_EA_0723_0527-RT-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/DIS_101_EA_0723_0527-RT.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo Credit: Emily V. Aragones/AMC</figcaption></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Have you seen end product of it?</strong> <strong>The final version on screen?</strong></p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">I haven&#8217;t seen that one yet.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>It must be a weird thing, to see yourself in something like that.</strong></p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Yeah<strong>, </strong>I don&#8217;t know how I feel about it. My wife was like, “I&#8217;m not watching it.” It&#8217;s a weird thing&#8230; I&#8217;m trying to think if I’ve died in many things. I don&#8217;t know if I have or not, but in this particular gruesome fashion, this was a first, although I did get to take a selfie with the guy who had my smashed-in face.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Well that’s good for memories! And for my last question, I have to ask: you mentioned <em>Evil</em>, and I’m a big fan of that show as well. Do you have a take on what Ben [Mandvi’s character on that show] would think of New Hyde if he ended up in there in some capacity?</strong></p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">I think Ben would have quite a field day trying to figure out what was what, and what was real, and what was not real. This show starts to become less ambiguous as it goes along, whereas <em>Evil</em> always remained ambiguous about what was real and what was not. And I think in this case, if Ben went behind that door and ended up in that other world back there, I wonder if it would be more like the episode we did on <em>Evil</em> where he gets stuck in the elevator down in the basement and is suddenly faced with his worst nightmare and fears. So, I don&#8217;t know, but I definitely think that Ben would be checking the entire place… he&#8217;d be checking into the air conditioning.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><em>The season finale of </em>The Terror: The Devil in Silver<em> premieres on AMC+ and Shudder next Thursday, June 11, 2026.[end-mark]</em></p> <p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/the-terror-devil-in-silver-aasif-mandvi-dr-anand-interview/">&lt;i&gt;Devil in Silver&lt;/i&gt;: Aasif Mandvi Talks About Shooting Dr. Anand’s Major Scene</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/the-terror-devil-in-silver-aasif-mandvi-dr-anand-interview/">https://reactormag.com/the-terror-devil-in-silver-aasif-mandvi-dr-anand-interview/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=849810">https://reactormag.com/?p=849810</a></p>

Read an Excerpt From The Exquisite Torment of Loving Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley

Jun. 4th, 2026 07:00 pm
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Posted by Stefan Raets

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https://reactormag.com/?p=849623

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Read an Excerpt From The Exquisite Torment of Loving Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley

The stakes are high, the love is forbidden, and the slow burn turns steamy…

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Published on June 4, 2026

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<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Stefan Raets</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/excerpts-the-exquisite-torment-of-loving-your-enemy-by-brigitte-knightley/">https://reactormag.com/excerpts-the-exquisite-torment-of-loving-your-enemy-by-brigitte-knightley/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=849623">https://reactormag.com/?p=849623</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-vertical"> <div class="container container-desktop"> <div class="flex flex-col mx-auto post-hero-container"> <div class="post-hero-content"> <div class="post-hero-tags font-aktiv text-xs tracking-[0.5px] font-medium uppercase"> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/fictions/excerpts/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Excerpts 0"> Excerpts </a> </span> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/tag/romantasy/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Romantasy 1"> Romantasy </a> </span> </div> <h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1">Read an Excerpt From <i>The Exquisite Torment of Loving Your Enemy</i> by Brigitte Knightley</h2> <div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">The stakes are high, the love is forbidden, and the slow burn turns steamy…</div> <div class="post-hero-wrapper"> <div class="post-hero-inner"> <p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&amp;_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/brigitte-knightley/" title="Posts by Brigitte Knightley" class="author url fn" rel="author">Brigitte Knightley</a></p> <span class="post-hero-symbol relative top-[-2px] hidden tablet:block">|</span> <p class="text-xs uppercase post-hero-publish font-aktiv"> Published on June 4, 2026 </p> </div> </div> <div class="quick-access 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srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/The-Exquisite-Torment-of-Loving-Your-Enemy-header-740x407.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/The-Exquisite-Torment-of-Loving-Your-Enemy-header-1100x605.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/The-Exquisite-Torment-of-Loving-Your-Enemy-header-768x422.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/The-Exquisite-Torment-of-Loving-Your-Enemy-header.jpg 1400w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure> </div> </div> </div> </post-hero> <div class="wp-block-more-from-category"> <div> </div> </div> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">We&#8217;re thrilled to share an excerpt from <em><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/768664/the-exquisite-torment-of-loving-your-enemy-by-brigitte-knightley/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><strong>The Exquisite Torment of Loving Your Enemy</strong></a></em>, the second book in Brigitte Knightley&#8217;s Dearly Beloathed romantasy series, out from Ace on July 7th.</p> <div style="height:5px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>Osric is a member of the Fyren Order, a guild of assassins who gleefully murder for money. Aurienne is a Haelan, a scholar-healer whose Order’s motto is <em>Harm to none</em>. Clear-cut absolutes separate them: good and bad, right and wrong, light and dark…<br><br>Until they don’t.<br><br>When Osric first bribed Aurienne to heal him, he never imagined those lines would begin to blur. But every healing session draws them closer together. He finds himself developing unwanted feelings for Aurienne as her capable hands heal his body—and his heart.<br><br>Aurienne’s perfect life has been flung into chaos in the form of a devastatingly handsome assassin. She should be in her research lab, not illicitly healing a Fyren every full moon—nor wrestling an attraction to him that threatens to slip into something else.<br><br>Things go superbly sideways when Osric and Aurienne discover more about the deadly Pox deliberately unleashed through the Tīendoms. The plague may be the work of another Order—an Order far nastier than either of them can handle.<br><br>As the lines between Osric and Aurienne continue to blur, the balance between peace and war, and love and hate, trembles, shifts, and hinges on a heartbeat.</p></blockquote></figure> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <div style="height:21px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">When Aurienne materialised at Rosefell Hall, she clung to the waystone to wait for her stomach to turn right way up. Waystone travel always made her woozy; successive dips into the graticule made her nauseated. The stars spun too quickly overhead. The gravel drive ribboned queasily away.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">A piece of darkness detached itself from the waystone. It said, “Hiya.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Aurienne did not pierce Mordaunt’s eardrums with a scream, but he would have deserved it if she had.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">He was dressed in his deepest hood and blackest cowl. Only his pale eyes were visible among the shadows, along with a few artistically placed strands of hair, silver white in the dark.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">He pulled down his cowl to uncover a scar-crossed grin. Aurienne had not foreseen the tingle of gladness that possessed her at the sight. As though she had missed it. As though it mattered to her. She quelled the feeling.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Mordaunt swept towards her in an elegant bow. “My saviour has returned. You’ll no doubt find it impertinent of me to tell you what a delight it is to see you again.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I wouldn’t if I thought you were sincere,” said Aurienne. “Spare me your theatrical ardours.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The smile gave way to a laugh. Mordaunt had cast off the softness of their rooftop talk. He was himself again: debonair, arrogant, mocking. There was, however, a new thinness to his face. Cíele was right—he looked like he’d been ill.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Have you been sick?” asked Aurienne. </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Why?”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Your face.” </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“How dare you?” </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Answer me.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I’m fine,” said Mordaunt. “Quite over it, actually.” </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“What happened?”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Stomach bug. Don’t start quizzing me about diarrhoea. It’s not manners.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“You should tell me when you’re not well,” said Aurienne. “I’m your Haelan.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“You’re my Haelan,” repeated Mordaunt. He passed a hand along his jaw. His smile lingered but his eyes were unamused.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Then, as one seeking distraction, Mordaunt gave Aurienne’s outfit a look of assessment—this she <em>did </em>find impertinent—and asked, “What look were you going for? Lonely Adventuress? Exploratrix?”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Aurienne gave his ensemble an identical look of assessment and asked, “And you? Widow in mourning? The remains of the deceased?” And then they were at each other again, irresistibly, a pin to a magnet.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Mordaunt, vexed, called her a Paroxysm.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">She informed him, on general grounds, that he was an Adhesion. </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">He called her a Vortex.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Fiasco,” said Aurienne. </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Crisis,” said Mordaunt.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Sybarite.” </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Malapert.” </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Furuncle.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Niminy-piminy.” </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“That’s not a noun.” </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Neither are you.”</p> <section class="wp-block-shop-the-book shop-the-book"> <h2 class="shop-the-book-headline">Buy the Book</h2> <div class="shop-the-book-content"> <figure class="shop-the-book-image-desktop image-cover"> <img decoding="async" width="300" 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It reminded Aurienne that Mordaunt was the most constitutionally irritating man she could possibly have been cursed with healing.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">They glared at each other; aggravation simmered and spat between them. Mordaunt said, “I’ve so missed the pleasures of your company.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">He led Aurienne into crumbling, rambling Rosefell Hall through the kitchens, where he shed his cloak and cowl to reveal a wildly unnecessary—though splendidly cut—silver suit.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Aurienne was greeted by his motley pack of dogs. Rigor Mortis (Great Dane), Arson (retriever), Perjury and Forgery (border collies), Outraging Public Decency (bulldog; prolific farter), High Treason (borzoi) and Crème Brûlée (whippet) all limped to her and collapsed around her feet. Tails flumped at the floor in greeting.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Diverse Felonies, an arthritic terrier who usually objected to Aurienne’s presence through vigorous, voiceless barks, greeted her with cheerful belligerence. Crème Brûlée, the timid one-eyed whippet, permitted himself to be stroked. Arson liberally coated her black clothes with cream fur. High Treason, possessor of a long empty vessel instead of a head, leaned into her from behind and buckled her knees.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Mordaunt snapped out an instruction to sit, which his pensioners ignored as they smeared wet noses all over her.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Aurienne was also greeted by Mrs. Parson, Mordaunt’s steward—a sturdy, sensible woman, out of place in the household of a Fyren—and Mr. Parson, the groundskeeper, kindly and shy.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Mordaunt opened the door of the house’s sole usable sitting room.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Perjury and Forgery herded Aurienne in.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The sitting room was in its usual state: it was a room of rococo exuberance in which an art gallery and an antique shop had fought. The antique shop had won; both had left debris upon every surface.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Aurienne cleared away the bric-a-brac on the coffee table—crystal bottles shaped like anemones, a terracotta horse—and replaced it with Grette’s pies from the Publish or Perish.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Did you buy me dinner?” asked Mordaunt. </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Yes.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Romantic.” </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Economic.” </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“What?”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“They were on offer, two for one,” said Aurienne. “Steak and ale or chicken and mushroom?”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Mordaunt chose the steak. They ate. Mordaunt said his pie was lovely and tender, unlike Aurienne. She said her crust was superbly flaky, just like him.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Aurienne extracted materials from her satchel. She laid a map of Glastonbury Tor—the outcrop upon which the Druids had built their stronghold of the Færwundor—on the table.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“We were meant to pool our information on the Færwundor tonight,” she said. “I brought what I could find. What have you got?”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I’ve got a plan.” </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Show me.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Mordaunt fished about in his pocket and pulled out a bit of paper, which he gave to Aurienne. It said:</p> <p class="has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph"><em>Plan: </em></p> <p class="has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph"><em>Make a plan.</em></p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Aurienne delved deep into the font of her patience. </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Your plan is to come up with a plan?” she asked. </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Bit shit, isn’t it?”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“It’s well shit,” said Aurienne. “You are riding my last nerve.” </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“My favourite place to be,” said Mordaunt.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“But at least you’ve been inside the Færwundor. That’s something.” </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Er—I haven’t, actually.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“You haven’t? But you killed the Druids’ Seer.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I killed him at a restaurant,” said Mordaunt. “In London.” </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“A restaurant?” repeated Aurienne.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“It was his birthday party.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“You killed a man at his own birthday party?” </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Obviously: I knew he’d be there. What?”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Aurienne and Mordaunt stared at each other in mutual incomprehension. The gap between their principles yawned wide.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“So many of the things you do frankly erode my faith in our species,” said Aurienne.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I’m not convinced we are the same species,” said Mordaunt. </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Immoralist.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Valkyrie.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Aurienne pressed fingertips to the bridge of her nose. “Right. Excellent. Perfect. So we’re going into the Færwundor blind.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Not that blind,” said Mordaunt, pointing to the table. “You’ve got a map.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Exterior only. We’ve got a few Druid contacts at Swanstone—they’re a major source of plantings for our medicinal gardens—but I daren’t ask for too much information about their headquarters. All this map confirms is Glastonbury Tor’s position over three ley lines and that two watercourses cross somewhere within it, which coincides with Widdershins’ translation notes for the Begbéam moon.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Widdershins was a professor who claimed to have translated the inscriptions on the Monafyll Stone, an ancient obelisk depicting a healing pilgrimage to be followed at the full moon. Aurienne and Mordaunt had harassed the man in his own home to obtain his translations, which described the pilgrimage in the vaguest and most unhelpful terms.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Aurienne was using Widdershins’ notes to guide her interpretation of the data—it being understood that by “data” she meant a quantity of ill-sourced, poor-quality, unverified anecdotes describing miraculous healings at the full moon.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">This was the sum total of the research project upon which Mordaunt’s healing was predicated: maps with scribbles on them, fabricated translations, and anecdata. Ludicrous.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Ludicrous, <em>and</em><em> yet</em>.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Frankly, the most ludicrous part of it all was that, following this poorly conceived “treatment,” Aurienne had arrested Mordaunt’s seith degeneration. Somehow, on the basis of fairy stories and healing sessions at the full moon, they had done something heretofore medically impossible and stopped the progress of an unstoppable disease. That was immense. A triumph. Or a coincidence. It was too late to be sceptical, but too soon to celebrate.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Aurienne looked up. Mordaunt had placed two heart-shaped nipple pasties over his eyes.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">No: the most ludicrous part of it all was him.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><em>“La</em><em> </em><em>vie</em><em> </em><em>en</em><em> </em><em>rose,”</em><em> </em>said Mordaunt, looking about.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Aurienne had been using the nipple pasties as markers on her map. She plucked them off his face. “Focus, please. The two watercourses may be subterranean. There’s a persistent legend that Glastonbury Tor is hollow—that there’s a large cave system within the hill. Some myths suggest that passage to Annwn can be found down there. The Celtic Otherworld,” she added, in the face of Mordaunt’s blank look. “A paradise of eternal youth, where disease is absent.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“What are all those wiggly bits going round the Tor?” asked Mordaunt, tapping at white lines circling the Færwundor. “Fortifications?”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“That’s the labyrinth I’d mentioned to you.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Not much of a labyrinth,” said Mordaunt. “Looks more like a spiral.” </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Whatever it is, we’ll have to go through it. It’s the only way to the entrance of the Færwundor.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“And what’s in the Færwundor itself?”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I don’t know,” said Aurienne. “It’s the Druidic headquarters, so I imagine it’s fairly rustic. A stone tower full of herbs and pestles and things, like an old-fashioned apothecary. Maybe an altar or two. Almost ninety percent of my data for the Begbéam moon points to dawn as the best time for a healing. I suggest we meet at three in the morning to give ourselves time to get into the Færwundor to attempt it. The nearest pub is the Hairy Hodmedod.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“All right.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I wish we could’ve entered the Færwundor by legitimate means.” Aurienne sighed. “This would’ve been so much easier.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Mordaunt emitted a disdainful tut. “Legitimate is boring. It lacks Incident.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“How do you propose we proceed, then?”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I’m going to shadow-walk the two of us right through,” said Mordaunt, in an extremely offhand way, given the ludicrousness of the suggestion.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Aurienne was a Haelan. Haelan did not walk the Dusken Path. She could not possibly have heard him correctly.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I’m sorry,” she sputtered, “shadow-walking? Me?” </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“No,” said Mordaunt. “Me. I’ll carry you along.” </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“You’re joking.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I’m not,” said Mordaunt. “Stop clutching your pearls. We’ll be in and out before you can blink.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Aurienne—who had actually been clutching invisible pearls at her throat—lowered her hands. “I follow the Bright Path. I don’t even know what will happen to me if I try to walk a Dusken one.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Nothing. You’ll be a passenger.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“You’ve shadow-walked others along with you before?” asked Aurienne.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Yes,” said Mordaunt. </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“How did they fare?”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“All right, I think. They hadn’t an opportunity to share how it felt afterwards.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“They ‘hadn’t an opportunity’?” repeated Aurienne. </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“No.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Because you murdered them?” </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Because I murdered them.” </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Brilliant.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I promise you’ll be fine. Let’s do a few practice runs. Come with me.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Mordaunt drew his cloak and cowl back on, and led the way to a high-columned ambulatory round the back of the house. Like most of Rosefell Hall, it was overgrown and derelict; poor Mr. Parson, solely in charge of the estate’s thousands of acres, had managed to keep most of the flagstones clear, but moss crept inexorably between cracks and up columns. It also made its way onto the statue of a kore at the far end of the ambulatory. The kore’s chiton was adorned now with green lacework. Her stone basket held scruffy dandelions and a single courageous daisy.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">There was a surprisingly lush, well-kept kitchen garden bordering one side of the ambulatory, which Mordaunt indicated was Mrs. Parson’s.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Aurienne remained unenthused by Mordaunt’s idea but, having no better suggestion to make, found herself limited to sprinkling a bit of disaster-mongering into the conversation. “I don’t think it’s wise of you to shadow-walk two people at once. Your seith system is fragile. You mustn’t push it to extremes.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Carrying you along isn’t extreme.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Is the carrying along literal?” asked Aurienne.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Yes,” said Mordaunt. “Do you want to be my sack of potatoes or my bride?”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Potatoes,” said Aurienne.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Unromantic choice, but you <em>are </em>starchy.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Have I got to do anything?” asked Aurienne. “Use my seith?” </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“No,” said Mordaunt. “I’m going to sweep you off your feet.” </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Which he proceeded to do. He slung Aurienne over his shoulder, exactly as though he were handling a sack of potatoes, which offended her. She hung there with her arse in the air. The chicken and mushroom pie she had just eaten sloshed into a new position.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I’ve changed my mind,” said Aurienne, tapping at Mordaunt’s back. “Bridal-style, please, or I’m going to lose my dinner.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Mordaunt slipped Aurienne into place accordingly. Now she found herself in the appalling position of being held like a lover by him. He smelled of blackthorn smoke and shaving soap. He radiated his usual warmth.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">She had desired to be In Control, and would have preferred anything to this intimate positioning. It felt perilously natural to be held by him. Such was Fate’s sense of humour. Aurienne wished that Fate would mind its own business and not meddle in her affairs.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The moon above was almost full. Lovelily she cast her light on Mordaunt, who held Aurienne like a paramour in the dark.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Ready?” Mordaunt squeezed her tight. “Don’t want to leave bits of you behind.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Leave bits behind?” repeated Aurienne.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Before she could ask for a more fulsome report of the risks involved in the shadow-walk, Mordaunt swept her into it. First they were here, at one end of the ambulatory, and then they were over there, at the other end. </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">About ten percent of Aurienne’s brain registered fascination with this feat. The rest of it sloshed against her skull in a nauseated stew. Mordaunt might’ve warned her that every moment in the shadow-walk would feel as though her molecules had spun out and joined the iniquitous dark—that she would lose all sense of sight; that her breathing would be oppressed by the thickness of his seith over her; that, after each discombobulating step, she would be left with a brain like a centrifuge; that she would want to spew out the entire contents of her GI tract, as well as the organs themselves, if they would kindly detach themselves for the purpose.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Aurienne came out of a near faint to find herself clinging to the front of Mordaunt’s cloak. Masticated chicken pie heaved ominously in her stomach.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">She would never eat again.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Bit vomity, eh?” said Mordaunt.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Aurienne disentangled herself from Mordaunt to stand on her own. Her triumph lasted but a moment; the world whisked itself out from under her feet and sent her scuttling sideways like an excited crab. She fell into a heap.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The world oozed. Presently it congealed. A swimmy eye cast in Mordaunt’s direction confirmed that he was trying not to laugh about as hard as she was trying not to vomit.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Also: he had lied. He had promised that she would be fine. She was not fine.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Mordaunt squatted next to Aurienne and said, “Down like a bag of spanners.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“This isn’t funny,” said Aurienne, clinging to flagstone and dirt. </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“It’s an unalloyed delight.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Aurienne could normally stem nausea with her tācn pressed to her own forehead. She tried. It didn’t work. This was not regular nausea. This was sickness born of walking the unwholesome Path. Her every fibre shook in revulsion; her very seith tingled in alarm at the wrongness of it.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“You’ve walked the Dusken Path now,” said Mordaunt. “You must be the first Haelan to do that.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Aurienne was not gratified by the honour. “I’m a d-disgrace to my Order.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“Let’s try again,” said Mordaunt. “Permit me to help you up.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">She flung a hand in his direction and said, tragically, “If I die tonight, see to it that someone feeds my cat.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Mordaunt’s gloved hand closed on her bare one. He pulled her up, took her in his arms again, and stepped back into the shadow-walk. Blackness came over Aurienne; the pressure of his seith pushed against her brain, against her guts. She was conscious, in ways she had never wished to be, of the exact shape of her pancreas and her eye sockets.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Aurienne and Mordaunt materialised a few feet away. Aurienne squirmed out of Mordaunt’s arms. She went down again, exactly like a bag of spanners.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Mordaunt knelt next to her. “You’re doing better.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">His confidence seemed imprudent to Aurienne, presently indisposed. The world continued its spin. She considered anchoring herself to it using her teeth, but didn’t, because she needed her mouth to say, “I wish to die.”</p> <div style="height:5px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <p class="has-sm-font-size wp-block-paragraph">Excerpted from <em>The Exquisite Torment of Loving Your Enemy</em> by Brigitte Knightley Copyright © 2026 by Brigitte Knightley. Excerpted by permission of Ace. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.</p> <p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/excerpts-the-exquisite-torment-of-loving-your-enemy-by-brigitte-knightley/">Read an Excerpt From &lt;i&gt;The Exquisite Torment of Loving Your Enemy&lt;/i&gt; by Brigitte Knightley</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/excerpts-the-exquisite-torment-of-loving-your-enemy-by-brigitte-knightley/">https://reactormag.com/excerpts-the-exquisite-torment-of-loving-your-enemy-by-brigitte-knightley/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=849623">https://reactormag.com/?p=849623</a></p>

The Terror: Devil in Silver Readies Us for a Final Teamup in “Vermillion”

Jun. 4th, 2026 05:00 pm
[syndicated profile] tordotcom_feed

Posted by Emmet Asher-Perrin

https://reactormag.com/tv-review-the-terror-devil-in-silver-readies-us-for-a-final-teamup-in-vermillion/

https://reactormag.com/?p=849666

Movies & TV The Terror: Devil in Silver

The Terror: Devil in Silver Readies Us for a Final Teamup in “Vermillion”

And we get another look at New Hyde’s past.

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Published on June 4, 2026

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<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Emmet Asher-Perrin</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/tv-review-the-terror-devil-in-silver-readies-us-for-a-final-teamup-in-vermillion/">https://reactormag.com/tv-review-the-terror-devil-in-silver-readies-us-for-a-final-teamup-in-vermillion/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=849666">https://reactormag.com/?p=849666</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-horizontal"> <div class="container container-desktop"> <div class="flex flex-col mx-auto post-hero-container"> <div class="post-hero-content"> <div class="post-hero-tags font-aktiv text-xs tracking-[0.5px] font-medium uppercase"> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/articles/movies-tv/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Movies &amp; TV 0"> Movies &amp; TV </a> </span> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/tag/the-terror-devil-in-silver/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag The Terror: Devil in Silver 1"> The Terror: Devil in Silver </a> </span> </div> <h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1"><i>The Terror: Devil in Silver</i> Readies Us for a Final Teamup in &#8220;Vermillion&#8221;</h2> <div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">And we get another look at New Hyde&#8217;s past.</div> <div class="post-hero-wrapper"> <div class="post-hero-inner"> <p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&amp;_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/alex-brown/" title="Posts by Alex Brown" class="author url fn" rel="author">Alex Brown</a></p> <span class="post-hero-symbol relative top-[-2px] hidden tablet:block">|</span> <p class="text-xs uppercase post-hero-publish font-aktiv"> Published on June 4, 2026 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15.1976 7.89971 13.31 6.34171 11.7513C4.78371 10.1926 2.89605 9.41364 0.678713 9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" /> </g> <defs> <clippath id="clip0_1051_121783"> <rect width="17" height="17" fill="white" transform="translate(0.678711 0.414307)" /> </clippath> </defs> </svg> </a> </li> </ul> </div> </details> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-media "> <figure class="w-full h-auto post-hero-image"> <img decoding="async" width="740" height="493" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-8-740x493.jpeg" class="w-full object-cover" alt="Judith Light as Dorry - The Terror: Devil in Silver _ Season 1, Episode 5" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-8-740x493.jpeg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-8-1100x733.jpeg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-8-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-8-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-8-2048x1366.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure> </div> </div> </div> </post-hero> <div class="wp-block-more-from-category"> <div> </div> </div> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">For the fifth and penultimate episode of this season, Dorry confronts her past, Pepper decides his future, and Miss Chris takes a stand.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">We begin with Dr. Cleave (Robert Sean Leonard) of the review board. He is ostensibly investigating the death of Coffee—real name Kofi—but is mostly just checking the boxes so he can shut down the unit. Josephine seems lost and worried, Scotch Tape is defensive, the patients will only say “I don’t know what happened. I was in my room.” I’ve given Miss Chris a hard time, but Coffee being executed by the state for the crimes of being disabled and Black has lit a fire under her feet. Good on her for calling out that “hospital brass” treat New Hyde like they “don’t exist at all” until “doo-doo hits the fan, if you’ll excuse my language.” Dr. Anand also has the chance to fight back, but instead he sulks and accepts his fate. The only person with any power at all, insignificant though it may be, sits there. He grows a bit of a backbone after he gets his walking papers, but too little too late. While he may not have an explicit deal with the Devil, he is nevertheless a willing partner. Anand keeps his job as long as he supplies the Devil with souls and the hospital board with cash (i.e. patients) and the moment he can no longer provide either, he is discarded. Violently.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Young Dorry—or Dorinda, as she’s known before being imprisoned in New Hyde—reminds me of Loochie, except when Loochie gets emotional they get violent and when Dorry gets emotional she cries. It’s obvious she has something going on with her brain, whether mental illness, neurodivergence, or some combination of the two is unclear. It’s also obvious that Dorry’s husband, Ralph, is a patronizing asshole. She can’t do anything right. He’s a saint for having put up with her, blah blah blah. To watch him lie to her about going to the eye doctor before a special date at a fancy restaurant and then betray her so cruelly, my God. </p> <figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1100" height="733" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-4-1100x733.jpeg" alt="Judith Light as Dorry, John Benjamin Hickey as Dr. Walter - The Terror: Devil in Silver _ Season 1, Episode 4" class="wp-image-849791" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-4-1100x733.jpeg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-4-740x493.jpeg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-4-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-4-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-4-2048x1366.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image: Emily V. Aragones/AMC</figcaption></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The real Dr. Walter reminds me a lot of Anand. He has moments where he feels bad about torturing Dorry… but it doesn’t stop him from shoving an ice pick into eye socket and digging around in her gray matter. He looks at Ralph like he’s trying to get him to take it back or talk to her first. But in the end he does what every staff member at New Hyde does: nothing. It doesn’t matter if the Devil is real or not. His job is to keep the money/patients coming in and he does his job well. He has plenty of chances to interrupt the process or stand up for his patients, and he takes none of them. Maybe he feels bad about it, but what good does that do Dorry or anyone else whose brains he scrambled? </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Speaking of lobotomies, Dr. Walter is likely named for Dr. Walter Freeman, the American doctor who popularized them. In 1936, Freeman was the first to perform one in the US. According to one <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5962395/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">survey</a>, by 1952 nearly 50,000 people in the US and Canada had lobotomies performed on them; the majority were women, with some being subjected to multiple surgeries. It goes on to say: “Five of the six patients in the case study by Freeman and Watts were women whose symptoms—apprehension, insomnia—seem incommensurate with their treatment, but whose status as women sanctioned it. A patient previously fearful of aging could now “grow old gracefully” and care for her home. She complained of a lack of spontaneity, but her husband praised the changes her surgery had wrought, declaring her “more normal than she had ever been,” possibly the least credible measure of therapeutic success in the annals of history. By 1942, 75% of the lobotomies Freeman and Watts had performed were on women.” Dorry got hers in the late 1960s, about the same time Freeman was banned from performing them after one of his patients died while being subjected to her third lobotomy. </p> <figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1100" height="647" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-3-1100x647.jpg" alt="Dr. Anand being short with Miss Chris in The Terror: Devil in Silver, ep 5" class="wp-image-849783" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-3-1100x647.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-3-740x435.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-3-768x452.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-3-1536x904.jpg 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-3-2048x1205.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image: AMC+</figcaption></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">This “now he knows he has to get out” business poses some intriguing questions about what happens if the Devil actually does get out. It isn’t trying to attach itself to the staff or Cleave but to patients like Dorry and Pepper, patients who will be transferred to a new facility. It wants to jump to a new food supply like a tick looking for a new host to gorge on. Setting aside the supernatural elements, facilities like Dr. Walter’s New Hyde are often one or two grants or greedy board members away from crumbling into Dr. Anand’s New Hyde. Even the so-called good hospitals are often bad for long-term patients. Dorry lived through New Hyde in both its good and bad years, and she has the psychological scars to prove it. When New Hyde was good, Dr. Walter used a mallet to crack her skull open and cut a chunk of her brain out. When New Hyde was bad, Dr. Anand overmedicated her and punished her for noncompliance. I’d bet good money if lobotomies were still permitted, Anand would’ve given all his patients one.  </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">These book club choices sure aren’t subtle. <em>The Letters of Vincent van Gogh</em> is a collection of letters from a man in a mental health crisis so severe he cut his own ear off then took his own life. It’s so interesting that Anand resonated with the passage where van Gogh talked about patients “helping each other” so much that he decided to become a doctor at a mental hospital. When I hear that passage, I don’t think “isn’t it nice that the patients were a little family,” but “conditions were so poor at that institution that the only people looking out for the patients were the patients themselves.” Anand inadvertently recreated the same conditions that failed to help van Gogh.&nbsp;</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Loochie sees themselves reflected in van Gogh. Both are artists stifled by their mental health issues. Both have violent outbursts they can’t control. Both feel insignificant and isolated. Loochie’s conversation with Nana, especially the part about what Loochie did to their brother, hits so much harder when you know the story of Vincent and his brother Theo. Theo always supported his brother’s artistic dreams, and even when he was hospitalized he never gave up on him. He had syphilis when Vincent died, and it’s widely assumed that Theo’s demise was hastened by grief. That relationship stands in stark contrast to Loochie and everyone else in her biological family.&nbsp;</p> <figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1100" height="733" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-7-1100x733.jpeg" alt="b as Loochie - The Terror: Devil in Silver _ Season 1, Episode 5" class="wp-image-849788" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-7-1100x733.jpeg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-7-740x493.jpeg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-7-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-7-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-7-2048x1366.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image: Emily V. Aragones/AMC</figcaption></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">While Loochie is desperate to connect to their family, Pepper is pushing his only biological family away. He doesn’t want what happened to Coffee to happen to Anthony, especially not after last week when the Devil went strolling through Pepper’s guilty memories. Anthony showing up to offer comfort to the dad who abandoned him is so sweet. It’s a strange experience to be the adult child of a deadbeat dad. You spend your childhood longing for the attention of a man who doesn’t want anything to do with you, but by the time you become an adult you realize you wouldn’t be the person you are if he had been in your life. You want the dad who didn’t exist but don’t want the man who did. In Anthony’s case, he’s lucky that Pepper turned out to be a pretty decent guy who made a shitty choice he regrets and is now trying to repair that damage.&nbsp;</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The-Devil-As-Louie gave Pepper various names for the malevolent force haunting New Hyde, and Miss Chris gives us another: duppy. Duppy are creatures from Black Caribbean folklore, based on supernatural beings from West African folklore. Miss Chris is smart enough to back out of Arnold Visserplein’s (Stephen Bradbury) room, but foolish enough to tell that duppy her big plan for trapping it in Northwest. Never tell the enemy your plan!&nbsp;</p> <figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1100" height="661" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-2-1100x661.jpg" alt="Miss Chriss calling Dr. Aanand aside into an office in The Terror: Devil in Silver, ep 5" class="wp-image-849785" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-2-1100x661.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-2-740x445.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-2-768x462.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-2-1536x923.jpg 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-2-2048x1231.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image: AMC+</figcaption></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Dorry has a complicated relationship with men. Ralph treated her like she was disposable. Pepper thinks he’s smarter than her. Anand thinks she’s a pathetic nutcase. The Devil (who isn’t a man per se, but often takes the form of men) thinks of her as nothing more than a cog in the machine that funnels food into its maw. Coffee was her only male friend who wanted nothing from her but companionship, and now he’s dead. Dorry has blood on her hands, but so do the staff and so does Pepper. Dorry didn’t cause the violence at New Hyde; she was forced by men and the Devil to do things against her will. But she also made the choice to try and stop people from stopping the Devil. She was compliant, she did “his dirty work.” She had good intentions, but people were hurt in part because of her. </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Maybe wherever the patients get moved to will be better than Northwest. Maybe it’ll be worse. Maybe intervention wouldn’t have mattered because it’ll be more of the same; new wing, new staff, same forced compliance and underfunding. Coffee might still be alive if Pepper had been compliant or Dorry had interfered earlier, but that life would have been as empty as Dorry’s. Before, Coffee and Dorry were alive but not living. Is half a life better than none, or would you rather go out early but on your terms? Coffee was murdered for trying to help his friends. Would he say that was a fair trade? Dorry took decades of suppressed rage—at the patriarchy, at the men who abused her, at herself—and fought back at the cost of her own life. Was it worth it? It’s up to Pepper, Loochie, and Miss Chris to make his sacrifice mean something.. </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Next week we find out if Pepper’s final boss fight is successful or if Loochie is right that they “ain’t going home.” The finale is going to be a doozy!</p> <div style="height:10px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <p class="has-h-5-font-size wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Quotes</strong></p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Cleave: “How long did you know the deceased?” <br>Dorry: “Which one?”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">I know that’s not supposed to be funny, but I admit I cackled.</p> <div style="height:10px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1100" height="733" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-6-1100x733.jpeg" alt="Dan Stevens as Pepper - The Terror: Devil in Silver _ Season 1, Episode 5" class="wp-image-849789" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-6-1100x733.jpeg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-6-740x493.jpeg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-6-768x512.jpeg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-6-1536x1024.jpeg 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/devil-in-silver-ep5-6-2048x1366.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Image: Emily V. Aragones/AMC</figcaption></figure> <p class="has-h-5-font-size wp-block-paragraph"><strong>Final Thoughts</strong></p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>The opening shot of the flickering bulb and the blood spatter is so haunting</li> </ul> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Hey! It’s Wilson!</li> </ul> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>The young man staring at Dorry when she arrives at New Hyde is a young Arnold. The way he looks at her makes me wonder if the Devil was in him back then? Maybe he uses Arnold’s body as a vessel now?</li> </ul> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Josephine does an excellent horror movie scream.</li> </ul> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>I’m soooooo excited for a Loochie, Pepper, and Miss Chris team-up.</li> </ul> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>That can’t be all we get of Robert Sean Leonard, can it?&nbsp;</li> </ul> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Poor Scotch Tape. The guy has been first on the scene for so much death.</li> </ul> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>If the Dr. Walter we keep seeing is actually the Devil in disguise and Arnold his (unwitting?) henchman, then who is the third entity in what Dorry and Coffee called the holy trinity? Was it Dorry?[end-mark]</li> </ul> <p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/tv-review-the-terror-devil-in-silver-readies-us-for-a-final-teamup-in-vermillion/">&lt;i&gt;The Terror: Devil in Silver&lt;/i&gt; Readies Us for a Final Teamup in &#8220;Vermillion&#8221;</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/tv-review-the-terror-devil-in-silver-readies-us-for-a-final-teamup-in-vermillion/">https://reactormag.com/tv-review-the-terror-devil-in-silver-readies-us-for-a-final-teamup-in-vermillion/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=849666">https://reactormag.com/?p=849666</a></p>

Embracing the Therapeutic Power of Katamari Damacy

Jun. 4th, 2026 03:00 pm
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Posted by Sarah

https://reactormag.com/embracing-the-therapeutic-power-of-katamari-damacy/

https://reactormag.com/?p=849599

Featured Essays video games

Embracing the Therapeutic Power of Katamari Damacy

Who knew that rolling giant balls of garbage around could be so joyful?

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Published on June 4, 2026

Credit: Bandai Namco Entertainment

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<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Sarah</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/embracing-the-therapeutic-power-of-katamari-damacy/">https://reactormag.com/embracing-the-therapeutic-power-of-katamari-damacy/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=849599">https://reactormag.com/?p=849599</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-horizontal"> <div class="container container-desktop"> <div class="flex flex-col mx-auto post-hero-container"> <div class="post-hero-content"> <div class="post-hero-tags font-aktiv text-xs tracking-[0.5px] font-medium uppercase"> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/articles/featured-essays/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Featured Essays 0"> Featured Essays </a> </span> <span class="mr-3"> <i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i> <a href="https://reactormag.com/tag/video-games/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag video games 1"> video games </a> </span> </div> <h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1">Embracing the Therapeutic Power of <i>Katamari Damacy</i></h2> <div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">Who knew that rolling giant balls of garbage around could be so joyful?</div> <div class="post-hero-wrapper"> <div class="post-hero-inner"> <p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&amp;_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/leah-thomas/" title="Posts by Leah Thomas" class="author url fn" rel="author">Leah Thomas</a></p> <span class="post-hero-symbol relative top-[-2px] hidden tablet:block">|</span> <p class="text-xs uppercase post-hero-publish font-aktiv"> Published on June 4, 2026 </p> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-vertical [&amp;_a]:link"><p>Credit: Bandai Namco Entertainment</p> </div> <div class="quick-access post-hero-quick-access mt-[17px] tablet:hidden"> <div class="flex gap-[30px] tablet:gap-6"> <a href="https://reactormag.com/embracing-the-therapeutic-power-of-katamari-damacy/#comments" class="flex items-center text-sm font-aktiv tracking-[0.6px] font-semibold uppercase translate-x-[1px] translate-y-[1px]"> <svg class="w-[22px] h-[22px] mr-[7px] icon-hover" viewbox="0 0 18 18" aria-label="comment" role="img" aria-hidden="true" aria-labelledby="icon-comment-quick-access-"> <title id="icon-comment-quick-access-">Comment</title> <g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"> <path fill="#FFF" fill-rule="nonzero" d="M6.3 18a.9.9 0 0 1-.9-.9v-2.7H1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 0 12.6V1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 1.8 0h14.4A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 18 1.8v10.8a1.8 1.8 0 0 1-1.8 1.8h-5.49l-3.33 3.339a.917.917 0 0 1-.63.261H6.3Z" /> <path stroke="#000" d="M5.9 14.4v-.5H1.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3-1.3V1.8A1.3 1.3 0 0 1 1.8.5h14.4a1.3 1.3 0 0 1 1.3 1.3v10.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3 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9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" /> </g> <defs> <clippath id="clip0_1051_121783"> <rect width="17" height="17" fill="white" transform="translate(0.678711 0.414307)" /> </clippath> </defs> </svg> </a> </li> </ul> </div> </details> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-media "> <figure class="w-full h-auto post-hero-image"> <img decoding="async" width="740" height="423" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/katamari-reroll-cover-art-740x423.png" class="w-full object-cover" alt="cover art for the video game Katamari Damacy Reroll" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/katamari-reroll-cover-art-740x423.png 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/katamari-reroll-cover-art-1100x629.png 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/katamari-reroll-cover-art-768x439.png 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/katamari-reroll-cover-art.png 1400w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-horizontal [&amp;_a]:link"><p>Credit: Bandai Namco Entertainment</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </post-hero> <div class="wp-block-more-from-category"> <div> </div> </div> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">“My,” my father says, “Earth is really full of things!”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">It does not feel like a criticism, even if the things he is referring to are mostly useless. In this colorful realm, it’s my job to tidy up a world that’s reminiscent of my real-world apartment any time one of my disorders compels me to upend every last drawer at once. The things in question are a broad range of objects that amalgamate in any living space: stationery, thumbtacks, toilet paper, batteries, orange peels, tubes of lip balm, potato chip cannisters, and spiders. While a few of these objects—such as Shogi tiles and Hina dolls—would be less commonplace in non-Japanese households, a cucumber is a cucumber regardless of where you’re from, and a mess is a mess.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Someone has to clean it up. Your father, who made the mess to begin with, can’t be expected to do it. He is the King of All Cosmos, and has other whimsical, catastrophic plans to look forward to. He has already broken the universe beyond repair, thanks to a naughty bout of drinking that resulted in him somehow erasing every star from the sky. It turns out this has made him very unpopular with the denizens of the universe, and he has to find new stars <em>somewhere</em>, so why not just make them from all those useless things piling up on Earth?</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">You might resent him for it, and certainly, when Dad asks you to tidy dozens of live crabs from a backyard only to then imply you’ve done a poor job of it, he is a hard person to appreciate. He may be the quintessential Bad Dad<img src="https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/17.0.2/72x72/2122.png" alt="™" class="wp-smiley" style="height: 1em; max-height: 1em;" />.&nbsp;Like many parents who are quick to delegate the terrible fallout of their selfishness to their offspring, the burden of fixing the universe falls to you. “You owe Us for your existence,” he informs you. “We collect on the debt. Yes?”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">How could anyone argue with that inane logic? Besides, in the charming, batshit world of <em>Katamari Damacy</em>, he’s the only dad you’ve got. And if it takes rolling trash, then furniture, then animals, then people, then vehicles, then cities into stars to earn his approval? Well.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">For all that this premise sounds bleak, anyone unwittingly exposed to the <em>Katamari</em> aesthetic would never suspect it. In <em>Katamari</em>, the world is made of bright colors, cubed edges (years before minecraft, mind you), and whimsy, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAA6hq9RL-4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">set to a fantastic Shibuya-kei soundtrack, which is some unlikely mishmash of genres ranging from jazz to rap to pop.</a> There is much to love about a cult-classic game franchise like <em>Katamari</em>. Whatever more I may say will be more junk rolled into the ever-growing sphere of its long-standing reputation as a triumphant pioneer in the indie-game canon.&nbsp;</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">But go on, kids! Make stars from the trash your parents gave you…</p> <div style="height:10px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Dust to Stardust?</strong></h3> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1100" height="629" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Katamari-Reroll-King-1100x629.png" alt="Screenshot from the video game Katamari Damacy Reroll: The King of All Cosmos holds the Prince in one hand and a completed katamari in the other; a speech bubble from the King reads &quot;If it were Ours, We&#39;d make it much bigger.&quot;" class="wp-image-849642" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Katamari-Reroll-King-1100x629.png 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Katamari-Reroll-King-740x423.png 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Katamari-Reroll-King-768x439.png 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Katamari-Reroll-King.png 1400w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Credit: Bandai Namco Entertainment</figcaption></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">I am very late to the game when it comes to admiring <em>Katamari Damacy</em>. The first game was released in 2004, and my family had only just purchased its first shared gaming console, a PlayStation 2. I remember <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQWmJQwnDh4" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the early ads for <em>Katamari</em></a> because they exist in the same surreal pantheon of bizarro advertising as <a href="https://youtu.be/55oVPn7sFuM?si=r0W6DX-1jhl08TzZ" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">that one wild Quiznos sub commercial</a> and the infamous <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0WBiME_fM" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Skittles Midas Touch</a> ad. In the commercial, a secretary walks into a beige lobby and tells a salaryman to follow her. He closes his briefcase and leans forward as if to stand—only to remain seated, pulling the entire sofa with him. The sofa folds into the woman, who becomes stuck to it as well, and then folds out the door and absorbs the cleaning lady. In essence, anything a katamari rolls into becomes part of the growing mass, kicking and mewling and flapping. The commercial is memorable because it breaks one barrier the game never does: the live-action commercial depicts this disturbing fate using human beings rather than pixelated cartoons. It’s a delicate line between dreams and nightmares.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The truth is that <em>Katamari </em>presents the goofiest of body horrors, but body horror all the same. We are all familiar with religions or creeds that tell us we return to the universe after death; or if we aren’t religious, we at the very least know the Law of Conservation of Mass: matter can neither be created nor destroyed. As creatures composed of organic stuff, we have a lot more in common with the junk in our houses—nail polish bottles and toilet brushes and our silly little tchotchkes—that we might like to admit. Eventually, we all decay and merge with the world again. Take your pick of oracles—Carl Sagan or Moby or any random fantasy novel—and consider the message they convey: we are all made of stardust.&nbsp;</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">And maybe it isn’t trying to be that deep, but <em>Katamari</em> goes one step further. What if the stars are instead made of <em>us</em>? I am oddly charmed by this more ambitious doom. Rarely is the transition from cognizant individual to squirming mindless mass so abrupt, or, well… amusing? I am delighted whenever I absorb a screaming schoolboy or a pompadoured Yankee. The twinge of guilt I feel when I roll over another tomcat and hear his questioning “Meow?” as he becomes one with my rolling hell-cluster is immediately quelled by the knowledge that he and all his new companions will make for a beautiful star.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">It might come as no surprise that this whole beautiful disaster of a game was the brainchild of an art student. The series creator, Keita Takahashi, was a talented graduate from Musashino Art University, the same university that produced auteur Satoshi Kon, <em>Hello Kitty </em>creator Yuko Shimizu, and horror author Ryu Murakami. Takahashi was known for his eccentric, playful sculptures, among which was a goat-shaped planter that drained water through its udders. He grew bored with sculpture and began working in the art department of Namco in the late ’90s, where he found himself brainstorming new games. According to Takahashi, the seed of the idea for <em>Katamari </em>began with fond recollections of an<a href="https://nikkeivoice.ca/arcade-origins-in-the-japanese-rolling-ball-how-tamakorogashi-shaped-the-world-of-modern-gaming/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> old arcade game—I mean, 1880s old—tamakorogashi. </a>You’ve played some iteration of it, probably; remember those plastic keychains with metal balls inside, and the objective was to spin or tilt the damn things until each ball rolled into a corresponding hole? Tamakorogashi is also credited as one of the major inspirations for modern pinball.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Perhaps it is a testament to the oddity of Takahashi’s brain that he realized his ambition to create a game that was “not formulaic” by designing a game around so mundane a concept as cleaning up a mess. Of course, we <em>could </em>all clean up our houses instead of playing, and find our lives better served: “You don’t need cleaning in a video game, son: we have cleaning at home!”&nbsp;</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">But that’s not the point. The point is that even the dullest, simplest chores in life can be reimagined and transformed into something playful. With a stable of young game designers at his side, the <em>Katamari Damacy</em> project slowly gained traction. It was not an easy sell, and Namco remained unconvinced until Takahashi secured a student aid grant to help develop the project further.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">It has since spawned a critically acclaimed franchise containing more than twenty games, and has been frequently cited as a major inspiration for independent game designers. This impact is probably greater than I have any real sense of—I have played a lot fewer indie games than most avid gamers, which is why it took me twenty years to fall for the Prince and his Bad Dad. Even so, I have felt the impact of <em>Katamari </em>in unlikely places. In the horror game <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inside_(video_game)" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Inside</em></a>, for example, there comes a point when the player character, a frightened little boy, begins merging with other human beings to form a screeching mass of rolling flesh.&nbsp;</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMH49ieL4es" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Na-naaaa, na na-na na-na na na, na Katamari Damacccccy!</a></p> <div style="height:10px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Ghost in the Slipper</strong></h3> <figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1100" height="619" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/katamari-reroll-desk-1100x619.jpg" alt="Screenshot from the video game Katamari Damacy Reroll: the Prince rolls a katamari ball across a table" class="wp-image-849645" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/katamari-reroll-desk-1100x619.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/katamari-reroll-desk-740x417.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/katamari-reroll-desk-768x432.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/katamari-reroll-desk.jpg 1400w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Credit: Bandai Namco Entertainment</figcaption></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The word “katamari” means “cluster,” and “damacy” means “soul.” That’s a great title, because this stuff has a real soul, buried under layers of sheep and shopping carts and a kraken or two. The objects we surround ourselves with do help us ground ourselves in the world and define who we are, after all—you can pry my collection of yokai-cat figurines or my Blythe dolls from my cold dead hands.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Here in Japan, there exists extensive folklore about a specific type of yokai (spirit) known as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsukumogami">tsukumogami</a>. The word translates to “object ghosts.” According to legend, objects that reach 100 years in age are granted sentience. While many yokai have sinister intentions, most tsukumogami are innocuous, playful creatures: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koto-furunushi" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the awakened koto</a> that plays forgotten memories at night, a talkative tea kettle used as a peace offering in a historic tale. While tsukumogami stories maintain a unique charm, most cultures share stories about magical objects. In the immortal words of a charming candlestick in one Academy Award-winning animated film, “Don’t believe me? Ask the dishes.”</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">While tsukumogami stories deliver a variety of moral lessons, many warn owners not to neglect their possessions. Things, however cheap or simple, should be taken care of. Culturally, this notion remains a core principle in Japan. Anyone who goes thrifting in Koenji can tell you that secondhand items are usually in impeccable, often brand-new shape. In general, despite the gachapon refuse and endless layers of plastic wrapping and disposable utensils, Japanese values place a lot of emphasis on the concept of mottainai: waste not, want not. Compounding this, perhaps? It is exceptionally difficult to get rid of trash in Japan, thanks to strict rules about rubbish sorting and specific pickup days. People who are overwhelmed, depressed, or busy are bound to miss these days and find themselves slowly surrounded by piles of plastic bags. You might be familiar with anime or news reports about <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikikomori" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hikikomori</a> dens, where people withdraw and live in isolation. While many families take part in a traditional deep cleaning before the New Year, those who don’t maintain bonds with family sometimes avoid any such activity. In Japan, it is quite rare to be invited into someone’s apartment, and much more common to meet in a third space. In short, it is all too easy for one’s home to become a guilt-ridden temple of hidden waste.&nbsp;</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">But there is zero shame in the messes of <em>Katamari</em>. Roads cluttered with cones and thermoses and yards buried beneath toys and cleaning supplies and appliances are vibrant landscapes, as fun to explore as they are satisfying to clear. Nothing is hidden away, and the larger your katamari grows, the more it can absorb, until even pets and people become part of it. If our stuff is junk and so, ultimately, are we, why should we feel bad about it? We are what we are. It doesn’t mean everything is meaningless. Every object is catalogued with measurements and a blurb as it joins your cause, evidence that a life is being lived, shedding candy wrappers like our bodies shed hair and skin. Gross? Who cares.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">I do not think that <em>Katamari </em>is trying to make one clear statement about consumption. Instead, I think it takes an insightful look at the chaotic world we’re all inhabiting and finds the beautiful levity in it. It might be impossible for us to really clean up our planet, and maybe it’s ludicrous to try, but by golly, this little guy is trying anyhow, so who cares if his dad is a hater? The true catharsis in <em>Katamari </em>comes not from tidying up a room, but tidying up the mind along with it.&nbsp;</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Don’t you ever stop, lonely rolling star! Keep going.</p> <div style="height:10px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Konmari vs. Katamari?</strong></h3> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" width="1100" height="629" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/katamari-damacy-family-1100x629.png" alt="Screenshot from the video game Katamari Damacy: The King of All Cosmos plays guitar while the Prince stands on his knee" class="wp-image-849646" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/katamari-damacy-family-1100x629.png 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/katamari-damacy-family-740x423.png 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/katamari-damacy-family-768x439.png 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/katamari-damacy-family.png 1400w" sizes="(max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Credit: Bandai Namco Entertainment</figcaption></figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">Professional organizer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Kondo" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Marie Kondo</a> suggests that every object thrown away should be thanked for its service before being disposed of. Teddy bears should be blindfolded before meeting the trash bag so we don’t incur guilt looking into their eyes one last time. Unwanted gifts on our shelves should be appreciated not for what they are, but for the sentiment, which frees us from having to keep that damn ugly sweater. Give each object a salute and <em>then</em> chuck it, until you are surrounded only by those things that make you happy. This approach to organizing a life has been effective for me and countless others.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The katamari approach is less mindful but just as satisfying. It does not hurt that it is imaginary. The therapeutic benefits exist all the same. The soundtrack alone is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pI5-LvbE4AE" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the aural equivalent of touching grass.&nbsp;</a></p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">The mess in these games is ultimately unconquerable, especially for a subpar player like me. <em>Katamari</em> is known for its unique controls. Using two Joy-Cons is as essential as rowing on both sides of a rowboat if you don’t want to go in circles. In real life, my coordination could <em>never</em>. But with practice, navigating that rolling adhesive ball becomes easier and easier. It’s rare to sense improvement so concretely in gaming. It’s weirdly encouraging, and maybe that’s another lesson: Managing the mess of daily life is a challenge, but it can get easier. The point is to keep rolling, because what the hell else can we do?&nbsp;</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">I should really clean my apartment. It will only get messy again, sure, but there will be a brief few days when the sunlight hits the apartment walls just right and the cat dander does not overwhelm me—and then I can sit on the sofa and play <em>Katamari</em> in peace.[end-mark]</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph"></p> <p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/embracing-the-therapeutic-power-of-katamari-damacy/">Embracing the Therapeutic Power of &lt;i&gt;Katamari Damacy&lt;/i&gt;</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/embracing-the-therapeutic-power-of-katamari-damacy/">https://reactormag.com/embracing-the-therapeutic-power-of-katamari-damacy/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=849599">https://reactormag.com/?p=849599</a></p>

Seven Deeply Unsettling Nautical Horror and Fantasy Novels

Jun. 4th, 2026 02:00 pm
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Books reading recommendations

Seven Deeply Unsettling Nautical Horror and Fantasy Novels

We’ve got mermaids, elder gods, ghost pirates, sunken cities, and more!

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Published on June 4, 2026

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detail from the cover of The Folly of the World by Jesse Bullington

The seas are dark, deep, and full of mystery. Older than much of the surrounding land (the Appalachian Mountains might be older, but that’s a different article), older than all life on Earth, oceans exert a primal allure over everyone who dares to explore the watery depths. Writers have always been drawn to the briny deep as well, finding inspiration for everything from high-seas adventure to terrifying stories of what lurks beneath the tides. As it can be difficult to navigate these busy waters at times, here are seven books about nautical journeys, and the mysteries and magic one might encounter above and below the roiling waves…

The Boatman by Alex Grecian

cover of The Boatman by Alex Grecian

June James boards the Maria Calypso on her honeymoon. It’s a perfect moment, setting sail with her husband just as she’s finished the draft of her first major novel, the two of them joking and leaving their anxieties behind on land. Then the sinister man in the white suit poles his way alongside the boat, the captain orders a gun taken out of the ship’s safe to shoot him, and the situation suddenly takes an eerie, unnerving turn. The Boatman represents death, and as long as he’s chasing the Maria Calypso around the world, that means everyone on the boat might be safe from death—at least in the minds of the mentally deteriorating passengers. Grecian’s story of desperate people running from death is fueled by the sinister appearance of the Boatman, but it’s in the immortal passengers where the horror lies, as they begin stockpiling weapons, throwing all their resources into the cruise ship, and eventually resorting to more sinister means of slowing their relentless enemy down. It’s a terrifying exploration of immortality and an interesting twist on the “lost ship” genre, all centered on the terrifying image of a lone man on a boat in the middle of the ocean.

The Folly of the World by Jesse Bullington

cover of The Folly of the World by Jesse Bullington

Bullington’s vision of the Middle Ages lends itself to crass, grotesque places. His tale of 15th-century Holland after a massive flood is no different. Beginning with a ram skeleton stuck to a moss-covered windmill and one of the protagonists contemplating how much he’ll enjoy his own hanging, Bullington introduces a new cast of ne’er-do-wells for his revisionist-Western brand of medieval misadventures, led by a con man on the trail of treasure in a flooded town. Aided by a murderous psychopath and an unwillingly indentured young woman with a talent for diving, the conniving Jan embarks on his doomed mission, one that’s filled with danger and treachery at every step even before they can reach the newly formed inland sea. While the abrasive and extreme nature of Bullington’s settings isn’t for everyone, the unusual balance between gothic imagery, alternate history, and noir that Bullington strikes here is perfect for a dark tale of dark deeds.

Devil of the Deep by Falencia Jean-Francois

cover of Devil of the Deep by Falencia Jean-Francois

Lu Ortega is a distinguished officer in the Fleet tasked with a mission to retrieve a sacred artifact from a young ocean-dweller. Pearl is a merwoman entrusted with an important talisman significant to Agwe, the god of the sea, currently stuck as a mute land-dweller on the run from a cult that wants to forcibly marry her to a dictator. Nnenna is a pirate warlord known as “The Devil of the Deep,” scourge to the Fleet and currently the protector of Pearl and Agwe’s conch shell. Jean-Francois’ tale of conspiracy, corrupt religions, dead sea gods, and nautical intrigue plays out in quick chapters switching between POVs, each one flipping breathlessly to the next with the pace of a serial cliffhanger, but it’s in her complex characters where the book truly shines, with Lu’s conflict between duty, faith, and the discoveries he makes over the course of the novel, Pearl’s crisis of faith and the body horror of her “curse,” and Nnenna’s pirate swagger juxtaposed with her anxiety-riddled dreams and personal relationships.

On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers

cover of On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers

A puppeteer named John Chandagnac is bound for Jamaica to reclaim his family’s honor when the boat is captured by pirates. Brought to an anarcho-syndicalist pirate haven in the Caribbean and rechristened with the name Jack Shandy, Chandagnac is plunged into a world of voudoun, alchemy, and the Satanic figure of the seas himself, Blackbeard. Powers’ classic adventure novel starts slow but gets weird very fast, as Shandy is forced to navigate competing sorcerers’ schemes, brushes with the undead, and a search for the fountain of youth. Once it gets going, On Stranger Tides turns into a swashbuckling dark fantasy adventure worthy of a matinee screen (and of course, it has served as the inspiration for a very loose film adaptation) with Powers’ customary eye towards adding real-world details—in this case, legends of the South Atlantic, folklore, and a surprisingly historical perspective on piratical political beliefs.

The Kingdom Beyond the Waves by Stephen Hunt

cover of The Kingdom Beyond the Waves by Stephen Hunt

Amelia Harsh, famed adventurer and archaeologist, is putting together a crew. Their goal? Discover the lost city of Camlantis, a utopia sunk beneath the waters of the treacherous jungle of Liongeli. Aided by a motley assortment of pirates, criminals, mercenaries, and her eccentric robot companion Ironflanks, Harsh pilots a decommissioned submarine into the unknown. What begins as a pulp story (the second in a seven-book series) that starts out somewhere between Jules Verne and jungle adventure quickly morphs into a power struggle for the secrets within Camlantis, as shadowy governments, masked heroes, supervillains, and cultists converge on the lost kingdom and its dangerous technology. While some might be daunted by Hunt’s kitchen-sink approach to adventure and fantasy, the bombastic way he mashes genres together at high speeds creates a story that wears its influences clearly but transforms them into something unique and compelling.

Sacculina by Philip Fracassi

cover of Sacculina by Philip Fracassi

Jim, his ex-con brother Jack, his brother’s boisterous friend Chris, and their emotionally exhausted elderly father charter a boat for a fishing trip. When the wind and waves are too heavy, the boat’s captain tells them of a perfect fishing spot about an hour out, a deep section of ocean full of fish and unnaturally still. Sure enough, they find their fish, but also attract the attention of something else…something that soon makes its presence known and pulls the men into a desperate struggle for their lives. The sudden onslaught of violence, Fracassi’s exploration of the deep bonds between the men on the boat, and their sheer loneliness and isolation out on the open water make this book an uncomfortable read even before the body horror and nautical terrors kick in, turning a story of survival on the high seas into a deeply upsetting story of alien horrors.

Tidepool by Nicole Willson

cover of Tidepool by Nicole Willson

On a business trip to the town of Tidepool, Henry Hamilton is enticed by the town’s wealthy matron Ada Oliver down into the basement, meets her daughter, sees something horrifying about her, and promptly disappears without a trace. Sorrow Hamilton, his sister, comes to Tidepool looking for Henry and begins her own series of encounters with the strange inhabitants of the town. While they do their best to get Sorrow to leave, Sorrow has her own agenda and the strange goings-on in Tidepool (including bodies washing up on the beach) do nothing to deter her. Willson’s belligerently rational heroine and the deadpan humor found in the descriptions of the town create an offbeat picture of Tidepool, a place where the general unnerving events, eccentric locals, and elder gods in the deep try their hardest to force a narrative, whether the protagonist wants to be a part of it or not.

While a complete list of works of nautical horror and fantasy would run as deep as the seas themselves, we hope this list offers some interesting places to dive in! And of course, please recommend your own favorites in the comments below.[end-mark]

The post Seven Deeply Unsettling Nautical Horror and Fantasy Novels appeared first on Reactor.

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