When people ask Miri Zestler why she became a stand-up comedian, she tells them about Gill. She met Gill one evening at the tail end of her Physics and Philosophy degree when he performed at the Oxford Student Union. She watched him bewail and thunder onstage, fascinated by this man who had travelled the length
Anyone who’s seen City Lights by Charlie Chaplin will remember that heartbreaking final close-up when the Tramp realizes he’ll never be loved. He chews his fingernail, scrunches his eyes and smiles pleadingly/pathetically at the woman he longs for. We’ve been laughing for 80 minutes as he’s endured homelessness, beatings, persecution, all hilarious in wide shots
‘We asked one hundred people to name a source of family conflict – ’ In my mind: In-Laws But I didn’t say that. At the end you’re supposed to smile and wave moronically. Some teams get silly and pick up Les Dennis like he’s a roll of bargain carpet. Bugger that. I shuffled left and
Gerald Spokes was Sabrina’s landlord and lived in number three, across the hallway. His father had bought the faded Georgian townhouse after the war and converted the over-large rooms into single-bedroomed flats. Sabrina had never married and couldn’t seem to keep a boyfriend for much longer than a season. They came and went with the
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!! We are delighted to announce the publication of our apocalyptic anthology; Annihilation Radiation. Ebook available now and paperback available soon. Featuring the finalists of STORGY Magazines’s Annihilation Radiation Short Story Competition the Annihilation Radiation Anthology contains 18 short stories by an array of talented apocalyptic authors. Zip up your hazmat suit and hunker in
You better watch out You better not cry You better not pout I’m telling you why Santa Claus is Coming to Town Haven Gillespie, 1933 I’m the other side of that coin, the boogieman parents use to frighten their children, the Krampus from old
In the darkness, your hands outstretched before you, you are falling through eternity. Focus. Deep breath and hold. Release. Focus. You are perfectly alone and alone is perfect. The comforting veil of darkness becomes scratched with pinpricks of light. Soon the images will come. Focus. A shrill cry of surprise. He drowsily unfurled his hands
The Case of the Giant Carnivorous Worm (CGCW hereafter) is that rare breed of thing in the horror genre: an action comedy that is actually funny. While this is indeed more common in horror movies it is less frequently seen in the written word. Thomas E. Staples in his debut horror novel manages to pull
Each new door opening was a fuck-off heroin hit of excitement. It never got old, but the first was the best. He’ll never beat the first time. Each lift of the key to the keyhole was a fresh needle to skin. The metal on metal slide into the door. A soft, dull click and an
When I was four, I drew a stick man. A long figure in black crayon, with spider-like hands and a featureless round head, he stood on jagged grass like the blade of a saw, while behind him a yellow ball shone bright lines into the sky. Mum was thrilled when I gave her the picture.
