new writing: c.l. moore's "shambleau"
(at the point)
A while ago, my friend Becca Rothfeld asked me if I’d be interested in writing a column for The Point—four articles with some link among them. I was! (I did: here’s the first installment.) I decided to write about four “genre” stories. By “genre” I really mean what is loosely called “speculative fiction,” the umbrella term that covers weird fiction, science fiction, horror, and fantasy.1
Something I’m always trying to do when writing about stuff I’m into on here, whether it’s pop stuff or more niche material, is transcend the “slobs vs snobs” dynamic. The Point seemed like an ideal place to take this project elsewhere because it’s a little further along the snob side. And to make things a little harder and a little more interesting for myself, I decided to impose the following rule when selecting my four stories: they could not be stories by “crossover” writers.