Weird Lit Magazine published another short story of mine in their Winter Issue and also interviewed me. Apparently, I’m weird enough to be their featured author. It’s a great honor, I hope you’ll agree.

My story is called The Scan, and they had this to say about it:

The most effectual dystopian fiction is both believable and disturbing, and Jon Swihart’s short story “The Scan” harnesses both qualities comfortably. Invoking deep questions about the far reaches of technology, patriarchy, intimacy, and reality, it feels a little too easy to read, and, importantly, still hard to digest.

— Fawn, Senior Editor

Intriguing? I should think so.

Please go read The Scan and support the independent literary scene.

Check out my interview with Senior Editor Dina Dwyer here.

And as always, thank you for your support.

Check out this short piece I wrote for Weird Lit Magazine, a literary magazine specializing in odd tales.

The story is called “It’s Not His Place to Scream.”

Click here to read!

What’s the endgame of modern therapy culture? The class divide? The future of tuna steak? I’m not claiming to have answers, but I AM claiming it will be kind of funny.

I’ve posted the first few paragraphs below. Please check it out, and stick around for some of the other weird stories as well.

It’s Not His Place to Scream

Before we start, it should be noted that Carlo Acevedo isn’t the kind of guy who goes around blaming yellowfin tuna for his problems. He’s pretty much like the rest of us, in that tuna rarely has anything to do with the happenings in his life, good or bad. Tonight, however, tuna will make him want to rend his shirt and maybe a pant leg or two. He’ll want to scream. But he must not scream. It’s not his place to scream.

Gertrude Price, on the other hand, is the kind of screamer you can’t train. It’s just raw, natural talent. That’s what her NeuroShrink 3200 therapeutic cerebral implant tells her.

“You just have to let it out, girl,” the implant says in a soothing voice that adjusts to match whatever pop star, influencer, or self-help guru is most popular at any given moment. “Good screams, good dreams.” 

Right now, it’s more accurate to say Gertrude is sobbing with great force and volume but rest assured the true screaming will come later. Tears pour off the angles of her perfect, sculpted face, and her cheeks flush red beneath streaks of running mascara. 

“I can’t even with this fucking fish right now,” she says between gulps of air, slamming her open palms onto the table, rattling the silverware. “I don’t even want to look at it.” 

Beneath Gertrude’s loathsome stare lies the culprit, a thick cut of Fijian yellowfin tuna steak, wrapped in a black sesame crust next to a neat pile of whipped purple potatoes. It’s the pride of Salted Sea, the restaurant where Carlo works as a server, and it’s not nearly pink enough in the center. This is Carlo’s fault. He meant to place the order with a “medium rare” label but accidentally selected “medium” in the restaurant’s finicky order ticketing system. To the untrained eye, the tuna steak would seem perfectly edible—delectable even. Back in the 2020s people ate overcooked tuna like this all the time, such was the abundance of seafood, but these days you’re lucky if your tuna is made from a substance that’s even seen a body of water, much less the real thing. You’d think this scarcity would lower standards but then you haven’t met the Price family. Carlo certainly wishes he hadn’t. 

Continue reading here.

I often wonder why the Venn diagram of war and horror films doesn’t overlap more. Death and the dark side of human nature prevail in both genres and the differences between them are often subtler than we give credit. This is particularly evident in war films that trade in gritty realism like 1917, which bears much resemblance in form and structure to a horror movie.

The dominant emotion that governs 1917 is fear and it does not let up for the entire two hours. Shot to appear as a single take, 1917’s narrative unfolds in real time so that the viewer is just as blind as the characters living through it. This makes you feel every single moment of danger that befalls Lance Corporals Blake and Schofield—and they are never not in danger. Whenever they stick their heads above the parapet or approach a door, you’re filled with that familiar urge to scream, “Don’t go in there!” because you know something awful must be waiting on the other side.

Read the rest of the article at Phantastiqa

It’s funnier to see these on the actual site with the visuals. Click here to go my author page on The Hard Times. I’ll add to this list if I write any more for them. Or just follow them on Instagram and see it all in the wild.

Opinion: Music Used to Be Way Better Back When I Was on Drugs

I hate to be one of “those guys,” but I’m starting to notice that music nowadays sucks. I can’t quite put my finger on it… Read the article

We Interviewed the Guy Who Puts Band Stickers Inside Urinals and He Touched a Lot of Stuff in Our Office

We’ve all seen them: band stickers inside of urinals, the part where pee goes, and wondered who puts them there and why. Read the article

If I’m Such an Alcoholic How Come I’m Still Good to Drive?

Listen pussies, I’m not going to “tone down” my drinking just because you claim I have a problem. Sure, my bar-top dancing got us kicked… Read the article

This Music Festival Just Released the Lineup of Drugs You’ll Be Taking

Although Coachella and Paradiso have come and gone, existing now only as a vape cloud of fragmented memories in our Instagram feed, there’s still a… Read the article

Help! I’m Pretty Good at My Job and It’s Ruining My Music Career

Boy, is my life in shambles these days. I just got promoted to district manager of Omega Printz and it’s been a huge disaster. Read article here

When This Vinyl Newbie Wanted to Share Our Enthusiasm for Records, We Banded Together to Make Him Feel Stupid and Inferior

We could tell the instant Jacob Spivey walked into Sunnyside Music that he didn’t know a single thing about records. Read the article