In which we discuss "Demon in Aisle 6" by Matthew Kressel & "Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers" by Alyssa Wong, among other things, such as eternal recurrence, the dangers of metaphors, Orange County, Lynda Barry, William Faulkner, and Shirley Jackson.

In which we discuss

1. "Demon in Aisle 6" by Matthew Kressel, Nightmare Magazine



























 

2. "Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers" by Alyssa Wong, Nightmare Magazine



























Along with, among other things...

Eternal recurrence

What, if some day or night a demon were to steal after you into your loneliest loneliness and say to you: "This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more; and there will be nothing new in it, but every pain and every joy, and every thought and sigh and everything unutterably small or great in your life will have to return to you, all in the same succession and sequence? -- even this spider and this moonlight between the trees, and even this moment and I myself. The eternal hourglass of existence is turned upside down again and again, and you with it, a speck of dust!"

Death & The Dangers of Metaphors

”There are no metaphors, or everything is a metaphor”
“Metaphors are dangerous, Metaphors are not to be trifled with. A single metaphor can give birth to love.” - Milan Kundera
“The Cloud and Other Dangerous Metaphors”
“The Perils of Metaphorical Thinking”
“Metaphors” by Sylvia Plath

Love & Scarcity

“Lessons in Love, By Way of Economics”
”Maybe love is just an economy based on resource scarcity” - Father John Misty

Other things


That film Orange County, with Colin Hanks and Kevin Kline. Also, Jack Black.
Lynda Barry
As I Lay Dying
The Haunting of Hill House

'Her little cup,' the mother was explaining, smiling apologetically at the waitress, who was thunderstruck at the thought that the mill's good country milk was not rich enough for the little girl. 'It has stars in the bottom, and she always drinks her milk from it at home. She calls it her cup of stars because she can see the stars while she drinks her milk.'



The Nobel speech where William Faulkner mentioned “the heart in conflict with itself…”


Also. Also.


If you enjoyed this episode, two things.


1) Check out our Patreon page where you can support us in our mission to talk about all of the things about all of the stories. Any pledge gets you access to our patron-only feed wherein stuff. Also. If you pledge $3 a month, you can get Chris' monthly newsletter in which he reviews, more or less, everything.


2) Consider leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps more readers find their way to our sound space. Which is cool.


Thanks for listening.


Happy reading.