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Old Leech Speaks: An Interview with Laird BarronBy Julian Drury  Artwork By Dalton Rose Laird Barron is among this era’s most gifted conjurers of the weird tale. Playing heavy on Lovecraftian and noir horror, he has created his own terrifying mythos that invites readers to both shudder and perhaps grin in an ironic way. Laird Barron allows us to glance into mundane settings, with gritty characters, who uncover the true horrors just beyond the senses of mankind. He has several books published, including the short story collections The Imago Sequence, Occultation, The Beautiful Thing that Awaits Us All, as well as the novels The Light is the Darkness and my personal favorite The Croning.
I can say Laird Barron has been a huge inspiration in my reading and writing, and many others as well. He was kind enough to take some time to have a brief discussion with us at Quail Bell Magazine, sharing his thoughts on various topics ranging from Lovecraft to his writing endeavors. Thanks again, Laird. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
How To Make Vegan White Russians
In case you haven't heard the rumors, a sequel to The Big Lebowski just might be on its way. If you're vegan, you can still enjoy this Coen brothers' classic with a White Russian in hand. Your ethical diet needn't conflict with #dudeism. You’re not out of your element; The Dude abides. Get some coffee-flavored liquor, almond milk, The Big Lebowski, and let the magic begin with the best alcoholic drink ever!
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I'm My Own Pisces
By Ida Basilio
QuailBellMagazine.com 
My personal thoughts have always been that astrological signs only exist for psychological reasons. Being born in a certain month isn't going to determine everything about the rest of your life. They're just another stereotype that society wants to define us by so that no one can develop an individual personality.
I myself am suppose to fit under the stereotype of Pisces. Supposedly we're all supposed to be extremely emotional and generous. The first link to shown up in Google tells me that since I was born on February 20th that I should be kind, compassionate, intuitive, sensitive, selfless, idealistic, pessimistic, and lazy. I do fit in some of these descriptions, some I do not. For anyone that doesn't know me, I fit the idealistic and lazy description perfectly on most days. Some days I fit the compassionate and selfless description. The day I was born has nothing to do with any of that though. The way I act in my day to day life is just that, reactions to the day to day not a reaction to February 20th, 1996. I know people that aren't in the Pisces stereotype that fit the description better than I do, but society tells me this is how I should act because that was when I was born. We're so eager to stuff people into these stereotypes so that they can't develop as individuals. There's no way we can group thousands upon thousands of people into one stereotype just because of the day they were born. We can't tell them that this is how they should act because they were born on a specific date.
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#Real #What'sYourSign? #Pisces #Intuitive #Selfless #Lazy #Kind #Compassionate #TheFish
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The Butt Manifesto
By Leah Mueller
QuailBellMagazine.com 
I have a confession to make about asses.
I find myself staring at them a lot. It's hard to avoid when you're standing in any sort of line. I'm waiting for an espresso or something, and there's an ass in front of me. Sometimes it's a young ass, other times a much older one. The young asses are usually pert, as yet unravaged by the assaults of time and gravity. Ha ha, I think, it will get you sooner than you think. The older asses are more practical, clad in sensible gear, doing the admirable job of holding up the upper portion of the body. Young or old, however, everyone has a butt, and its main purpose is to act as a hinge that allows for both walking and easy sitting. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
A Stack of Books and a Stash of Hand Sanitizer
Walking into my room, I don’t know if you could figure out that I’m a Virgo. The mess—which consists of papers, books, stationary and other office supplies— is uncharacteristic of a Virgo.
My sign, a sign that is supposed to be cleanly and organized, doesn’t show it by the state of my living quarters, unless you were to look at my bookshelves or my computer’s media folders. My books are typically found by author and genre, maybe if it is a certain edition, all of those would be paired together (leather-bound Barnes and Nobles editions need to stay together at all times).Other interesting finds in my bookshelf are18th and 19th century poetry and studies anthologies, World War II Era works, and an entire shelf dedicated to Oscar Wilde. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
You Will Still Love Her Tomo-orrow
By Colleen Foster
QuailBellMagazine.com 
Though the quarter-gulping machines for which they are named are pretty predictable, jukebox musicals have varied widely in their success level. For something so seemingly formulaic, these tune-recycling pieces of musical theater have more the letter-number combo predictability of, say, a rolling bingo ball cage.
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Yard Full of Blonde Girls, Furlongs Ahead: That Alpha Phi Video Still Matters
By Christopher Sloce
QuailBellMagazine.com 
Retirement plan: buy a racehorse and name it “A Fraternity Fucking Up," because nobody's went broke betting on that yet. The fraternity system exists as a sort of petri-dish for faux pas and all it takes is tossing a rock. Sigma Phi Epsilon held a “Kanye Western” party where attendees covered their foreheads with charcoal. Sigma Nu brothers recorded themselves saying they “wanted to rape some bitches.” FIJI at James Madison sent out a guide to getting pledges laid that included room numbers and a hotness scale. Boys will boys, so it goes, etc.
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5 Practical Uses of Cinnamon And Their Benefits
Beauty, health, and wellness come in many manifestations. Cinnamon is one of them. Meet your new best friend: a fall spice that has many benefits to offer during any time of year.
Cinnamon can give you everything from a speedy metabolism to plump, kissable lips. Egyptians used cinnamon in the mummification along with other spices noted for their preservative properties. As little as half a teaspoon a day can give you energy, a faster metabolism, plump lips, reduced hunger, and improved concentration. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
The Bull to Reckon With
By Christopher Sloce
QuailBellMagazine.com 
5:44, September 23, I was writing this in the Plasmacare donation center waiting room, waiting to have a tube shoved in me that will remove my blood, extract the plasma, then shoot my blood back in my arm. For doing that I was paid $50.00. Sunday the 20th, they paid me the same. I had tried to get this done on Tuesday September 22 instead but they claimed my driver’s license wasn’t adequate enough a proof of address. The venting phone call afterward will not be reproduced in the event my current and future employer find this article. The last words I said in the center on Tuesday, after telling them their reasoning was ludicrous was, “Where’s another center?” They told me. “Good. I’ll be going there.” Then I realized the price for my time, which is what I’m really giving up, and for my plasma, which never crosses my mind, would be going down. So I wrote this on September 23rd at the Plasmacare center and I realized I budged over money. I put my stubbornness on retainer because of the $50.00. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Why "Women Against Feminism" Isn't Just About Internal Misogyny
Mari Pack
QuailBellMagazine.com 
I’m a die-hard feminist, and I agree with almost everything on the 'Women Against Feminism' Facebook page. Well, everything after the “I don’t need feminism because…” cut. I do need feminism – a lot. Strangely, I think that most of the contributors, who post selfies with signs that explain why they “don’t need feminism,” express concerns that are often inadvertently feminist in nature. So, why aren’t they feminists?
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7 Tips For Self-Care And Falling In Love With You
Don't forget you.
Have you ever looked in the mirror and not felt good enough? Sometimes we give up dreams, hopes and love out of fear, negative self talk and pain. We rob ourselves of the only thing that no one else can truly give us: love. Who better to love yourself than you? Through my own journey into womanhood and learning to fall in love with myself, I’ve learned these tips.
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Mother Monster Returns
Recently it seems Lady Gaga has emerged back into the public eye. With her new role as the hotel owner on American Horror Story: Hotel that recently premiered, 2015 has been a big year for Gaga. Her Instagram account is adorned with behind the scenes photos from the set, showing off a blood red pool—dyed red of course—for a cast party she hosted at her home. She is engaged to actor Taylor Kinney of Chicago Fire, and shows off her rock on social media when not raving about her AHS costars. The stunning performance of The Sound of Music on the 2015 Oscars shocked the world and impressed Julie Andrews herself. And of course, her new thought-provoking music video “Til It Happens to You” is something to talk about—not in the typical Gaga way, but the “typical” Gaga we knew has been reinvented.
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Following the Moon
Let me begin by stating aloud that I, in fact, do believe in astrology. However, I also believe that astrology is bullshit.
A summary explanation: I was born on July 18th, more than twenty but not quite thirty years ago, on the cusp but still firmly a Cancer, a word more commonly associated with crippling chemotherapy and walk-a-thons. The following summary can be attributed to Astrology.com, surely the Internet authority on such matters. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Coloring Dream Mandalas: A Coloring Book Review
This book review is not like other book reviews. It can’t be. How can one review a coloring book within the conventional categories, within the lines, if you will, of acceptable critical discourse and such? On one level, there is a book with pages that you can flip back and forth, yet it comes with few words, no plot or characters, and little in the way of facts and figures. What does one review exactly? “Ah,” you might be saying to yourself, “Why not review it like an art critic, since the pictures are, in theory, works of art?” The trouble is, they are all incomplete. The illustrations require color. Without it, they are nothing but skeletons made of ink.
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Stinging Strings
By Karl Stevenson
QuailBellMagazine.com 
I came into this world by a woman who was too lazy to put her legs into the stirrups, a father who was too interested in the surrounding women’s contracting vaginas, and a doctor who barely remembered that babies need oxygen.
Somehow, these reckless adults allowed me to live, although they had the parental skills of a cannibal in a morgatory. Luckily the stars were rightfully aligned, and I would soon get my revenge by indulging in the essence of a true Scorpio. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
A Backwoods Guide to Hurricane Preparation
By Gretchen Gales
QuailBellMagazine.com *Disclaimer: Though the following tips are fantastic, please make sure you follow the appropriate steps and precautions in regards to storm preparation. Follow the link to the Red Cross Hurricane Preparedness guide here. 
We may have dodged Joaquin, but hurricane season isn’t over just yet.
Sure, there are the essentials like first aid kits, water, extra food, and an evacuation plan are all very important, but how will you survive a hurricane without the skills of a real backwoods woman? I was born and still live in rural Virginia. I’ve seen a few storms here and there, and have lived to provide our Fledglings with quality hurricane training! The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Libra Expectations vs. Reality
By Garrett Riggs
QuailBellMagazine.com 
Zodiac says: “Libras are charming.”
My reality: I seem to be at my most charming when I have money or something other people want. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Lucky Thirteen
By Amy Joyce
QuailBellMagazine.com 
In the language of flowers, cyclamen means "resignation."
No one ever really talks about the ends of friendships. When it happens, it’s maybe mentioned briefly in passing by the respective parties involved, most often explained away with a simple, “We just drifted apart,” or a blithe reference to a “former friend” in conversation. When I hear the former turn of phrase, I imagine two hands outstretched towards the other, fingertips grazing, moving farther and farther away, and not for a lack of trying. But like the breakup of a romantic relationship, it can devastate so deeply; friends can break your heart, too. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Limitation As Transgression: The Subversive Politics in The Exorcist
By Shinjini Bhattacharjee
QuailBellMagazine.com 
Truth is a matter of the imagination. -Ursula K. Le Guin One need not be a chamber to be haunted ………………………………………….. Ourself behind ourself concealed Should startle most. -Emily Dickinson William Peter Blatty’s novel The Exorcist, first published in 1971 and later given a cinematic interpretation in 1973 by William Friedrich, became a massive cultural phenomenon: It propelled the horror genre within the ambit of mainstream discourse by using its stereotypical tropes to bring to surface the deep psychic anxieties arising from the various socio-political discourses in the-then society in a terrifying and violent form. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
Only Women Bleed
By Leah Mueller
QuailBellMagazine.com 
Barbie and I are exactly the same age. Both of us were born in the dark era of the late 1950s: a time in which the dolls had permanently arched feet, impossibly tiny waists, and color-coordinated wardrobes. My parents immediately bowed to the media hype that surrounded Barbie's birth, and purchased a complete doll set which included the coveted black carrying case filled with plastic shoes and seductive outfits.
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The One That's Screaming
By Jody Rathgeb
QuailBellMagazine.com 
When the movie “My Cousin Vinny” came out in 1992, I was unable to enjoy it. People told me it was hilarious, but I couldn’t get to the really funny bits because of the story’s set-up. The unjust accusation of two young men made me so nervous and angry that I simply couldn’t watch.
Yeah, I’m a Libra, alright. I’m the one screaming, “That’s just not RIGHT. It’s not FAIR.” In my utopia, everyone is equal and no one pulls strings to advance. That Fox News motto really belongs to me. The Breadcrumbs widget will appear here on the published site.
The Elephant in the Room
By Fay Funk
I stopped believing in our nation’s government after Sandy Hook.
I remember that day so well. I had graduated from college a few months before and was relentlessly applying for jobs, all day, every day. Once the news of the shooting broke, my day was a bust. I went home, laid on the couch, and cried. This is the only time in my life so far that a national news story has affected me on such an emotional level. When my parents came home we watched the news for hours. I saw my dad cry for the first time in my life, watching CNN. As horrific as that day was, there was a bittersweet sense of hope, that maybe now we could roll up our sleeves and really fix this, this multifaceted problem of glorified violence, poor mental health care, and availability of guns. Would it be easy? No. But could the United States of America, the most powerful, most progressive nation in the world do what was necessary to save its people, even if it meant facing a shameful reality? I had no doubt. |
© Quail Bell Press & Productions, 2021. Founded by Christine Sloan Stoddard. Executive Editor: Gretchen Gales. Senior Editor: Ghia Vitale. Based in Brooklyn, NY & Richmond, VA. Contact us.
