With the New Year still fresh and shiny, I'm just doing a simple episode talking about the state of this humble little podcast.

Today's case is about someone so cool, she didn't have to obey the rules of grammar! That's bell hooks and she was a writer who had several works that should be read by anyone identifying as human.

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James is a work that has no consensus from readers as to whether it's actually about ghosts or not. That just makes it more interesting.

We're talking about a great play in this episode! Cyrano de Bergerac is a terrific good time and I can't imagine you wanting to pass this one up!

In this episode, it's all about Emily Dickinson, one of the most important American poets of the nineteenth century.

Algernon Blackwood's classic The Willows is a great short story, a true tale of horror for nature-lovers!

This is another bonus episode recast, this one about a biography on Anais Nin titled, "ANAIS: The Erotic Life of Anais Nin" by Noel Riley Fitch. Check it out!

Octavia E. Butler's classic, Kindred is a work that transcends genre. I hadn't read it before, but I freaking loved it.

Aldous Huxley's dystopian novel, A Brave New World is today's subject. I almost departed from horror, but this still counts. Boy, does it ever.

In keeping with spooky season, I'm talking Edgar Allan Poe this week. But make no mistake, he wrote MUCH more than horror.