A closer look at one of the strangest, subversive and stylistic sub-genres around. — There’s something strange happening on TikTok. Grainy shots of abandoned hallways, glitching figures, and rumbling creatures with large eyes — so many eyes — flicker in and out of sight. In one video, a goat-headed man with a clipboard welcomes us to a meadow garden. He notes that “reality feels…

An ode to final farewells, onscreen Armageddons – and the humble video call. The video call, in better or worse circumstances, became one of the most emblematic touches spat forth from 2020. Once reserved for a polite FaceTime to far-flung relatives in enviable climes, or ditched in favour of the perfunctory phone call, we have collectively stared with starry, cybered eyes into the…

Imagine the best sundae your childhood can offer, with deep red veins of strawberry sauce. Dig your spoon in and come out with a slab of melt-in-the-mouth kidney. A gummy-worm intestine. An eye. — You think it’s going to last forever. …

On coming home, digging up skeletons and learning to lie with them. — My hometown lies smack-dab in the middle of a valley. It’s a soup-bowl filling with more and more people by the year, carved out of the Dark Peak over millennia. …

I have likely met God, but was too caught up in an otherworldly cup of hospital coffee at stupid-o’clock in the morning. — The Good Lord might have tried a second time to get my attention, taken the form of a kindly steward or spelled out a message in flickering lights – but I am taking five minutes luxuriating in the salty stretch of a halloumi focaccia. …

A short story about casting off your skin, fish-fingers, old carpet and a dog called Dennis. — There is a Selkie in our bathtub. She’s quiet now, but usually you can hear her moving about because the water splashes over the rim and Dad goes mad about the floor. “Fish don’t pay the deposit,” he says. “Miss McColl says seals are mammals, not fish,” I explain. We…

Mothers and daughters, strawberry juice and pomegranate seeds. — TW: allusions to assault and mild gore. This is a very loose retelling of Demeter and Persephone’s story, originally told as part of my ‘Mythstake’ newsletter series. It aches to love her. In every breath, in each day that passes, I think about our fates — rooted in flesh and…

A lesson in connection, horror, and fishing wire. — I haven’t read manga in a long time. My early teen years were spent feverishly tearing through shōjo series, such as Fruits Basket and Tokyo Mew Mew, all borrowed from my school’s library. …

When you lose a parent, your face can carry them with you. — Growing up, I took the inherited traits from my family for granted. The features I loved on them were apparently not available for passing down via genetic selection; my Mum’s sea-glass eyes and Dad’s strong jawline becoming things I’d envy from a distance. Instead I got my Dad’s nose and…