Dispatch 007
I’m nothing like my mother. Really, truly, we have very little in common. I have dark skin and dark hair. She is fair-skinned and bleach-blonde. My eyes are a combination of her brown and my father’s green; mine are light brown with green, flowery rings at the center of my iris.
It makes sense that we’re nothing like each other—I was raised by my dad (after my mom kidnapped my little brother and I rather than go through a custody battle. She eventually returned us, but that’s a story for another day, or maybe never). But my dad is dead now, and she’s the parent I have left.
If you’d asked me to describe my mother 5 years ago, I’d probably have said: drug addict, absent, selfish, loveless. But she’s not the person she was 5 years ago, and neither am I. Mom went through a Christian (cult) rehab program, and she came out having found Jesus anew. As annoying as it is to be utterly unable to have a conversation with her in which she doesn’t mention Jesus, I have a mom now, and I couldn’t say that until my late 20s. She’s never been clean this long, and I guess to God be the glory.
Parental relationships are tough. Mother’s Day is tough. Whether you have living parents or dead parents, good parents or bad parents, these days will bring forward a decent amount of reflection. What did I inherit from each of my parents? From my father: stubbornness, anger, compassion, guilt, the ability to see good in bad people, intelligence, ambition, a love of animals.
And from my mother: hope.
For all of you out there, whether Mother’s Day is a good or bad day, whether it brings pain or a sense of familial belonging, one thing is for sure: It’s over, and we don’t have to worry about it for another year.
xo Mae
Medusa Publishing Haus
We’ve received nearly 40 submissions for The Book of Queer Saints Volume II. Keep them coming! The submission period ends June 30, 2023. Submission guidelines here.
Open Submission Calls
Scissor Sisters: Sapphic Villains Anthology, an anthology from Brigids Gate Press edited by Rae Knowles and April Yates, will be accepting submissions May 1 - May 31. Scissor Sisters seeks to reclaim the trope of the predatory lesbian. Read more about their submission requirements here.
Why Didn’t You Just Leave, an anthology about people who stay in haunted houses, is set to be released by Cursed Morsels Press and edited by Nadia Bulkin and Julia Rios. They announced submission dates and guidelines today. The open call begins accepting submissions August 1, 2023. More information here.
Bury Your Gays: An Anthology of Tragic Queer Horror from Ghoulish Books, edited by Sofia Ajram, opens submissions on May 1. Submission guidelines can be found here.
The Pleasure in Pain, a collection of queer erotic horror edited by Roxie Voorhees, will accept submissions from June 1 to July 1. Submission guidelines found here.
Book Releases
House of Rot by Danger Slater, Deluxe Package **Preorder** From Tenebrous Press
The pink mold growing on the walls isn’t the worst thing about Elenya and Myles’ brand new fixer upper.
There’s also the inexplicable footsteps in the night; the sealed-over windows and doors; the neighbor that hears their screams but can’t be bothered to help.
Soon, there’s no leaving at all. No hope of cleaning. And that encroaching mold? It’s practically become a second skin.
Welcome to the House of Rot. You’re never getting out.
The deluxe package includes:
House of Rot softcover copy, signed by the author and cover artist
House of Rot eBook (PDF, ePub & mobi versions)
One (1) syringe of (non-psychedelic) liquid mushroom culture, with which to start your very own Mushroom Extravaganza. Choose from five (5) varieties.
Exclusive House of Rot t-shirt or tank top
Exclusive deluxe vinyl sticker and bookmark
What Draws Us Near Anthology, Little Ghosts Books
Why do we want what we should not have? Or worse yet, why are we captivated by what we know to be dangerous? Is it a self-destructive impulse that comes from inside of us? Or does something darker from outside pull us in?
From the images contained on a mysterious videotape, or the figures depicted in a medieval mural, to a conversation that might have been, or the last words a benefactor wants to hear on their deathbed. Each one of these stories explores what draws us near.
You should stop reading, but you know you won’t.
Check out this Mother’s Day double-feature. Stream both the 1980 version and the 2010 remake by Saw II director Darren Lynn Bousman. Both are streaming on Tubi.
Thank you for reading this week’s Dispatch From Heck.
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Have a great week!
Mae
Ooh I'm glad I came across this, I'll be checking out Medusa Publishing Haus, seems like my style!