“I need a world filled with wonder, with awe, with awful things. I couldn’t exist in a world devoid of marvels, even if the marvels are terrible marvels. Even if they frighten me to consider them.” - Caitlin R. Kiernan

Hi, I’m Lucas Mangum, and this is the eighth issue of Less Than Pulp, a newsletter for fans of my work. You can catch up on previous issues here.

I’m sorry there wasn’t a newsletter last week. I was, and still am, working through some things mentally. From the continuous erosion of our rights to a constant barrage of mass shootings to a seemingly inevitable economic collapse, things are fucking scary out there. Trying to raise two kids in these uncertain times is a constant source of anxiety. It’s affected my writing and my overall outlook.

All that said, I am finding joys in my immediate surroundings. I’ve taken some time off from work to spend my days with my now eighteen-month-old daughter. She’s starting to say more and more words. And my God, she’s quick. Trying to keep up with her wears me out in the best way possible.

On Saturday, I took my son to a nearby cemetery. We talked about reincarnation, the netherworld between lives, and the idea of eternal return. I know I have a lot of atheists on my mailing list, but these are concepts I absolutely believe in. I’m not religious at all, but I am spiritual. Like Caitlin’s above quote says, “I couldn’t exist in a world devoid of marvels…”

My son’s at the age where I can actually talk to him about this stuff, which is super cool. Sharing pieces of myself with my kids, especially deeper things like my beliefs and “big ideas,” is too wonderful for words. Note that I said, “talk about this stuff,” not tell him that these are absolute truths. Because, yeah, who the fuck knows what the “truth” is. I sure as hell don’t.

Saturday night, I met up with friend and collaborator Wesley Southard, author Stephen Kozeniewski, and their respective partners. We talked shop, day jobs, and the newest season of THE BOYS. I’m still not used to going out and seeing people, but people Wes and Stephen make it easy.

On the writing front, I’m adding some touches to SNOW ANGELS, a novel that will be out next year with D & T Publishing. My hope is to improve the overall pacing and make the story more immersive. I also got some great news on my novella HAUNTED HEARTS that I can’t share just yet but will in due time.

Until then, my latest novel DIGITAL DARKNESS is out now in e-book and paperback. At the risk of sounding pretentious, I think it’s my masterpiece. Long ago, readers praised how my work embraces technology as opposed to setting stories in the past or contriving a way to do away with cell phones. In DIGITAL DARKNESS, I take things a step further. If you can imagine PHANTASM meets THE MATRIX by way of H.P. Lovecraft, you’ll get something close to this book. And, you know, if you don’t like the story itself, the paperback still makes for a nice blunt object you can use for home defense.

Anyway, our newest episode of MAKE YOUR OWN DAMN PODCAST is live. In it, Jeff and I discuss the criminally underrated meta-slasher DETENTION. You can download the episode here or listen by clicking the video below.

As always, thank you for subscribing and for reading. I’m still a few subscribers short of a hundred, so if you could share this newsletter with others, that would be great. Remember, I’m giving away a copy of the long out-of-print FEVERISH FICTION, VOLUME 2 to one of my first hundred. It’s a cool, pulp magazine full of flash fiction and transgressive art, including my rare short story “Canvases.”

Until next week…

Currently listening to THE BLACK TAPES PODCAST. It’s a narrative paranormal podcast that’s goddamn brilliant, and I can’t believe I haven’t checked it out until now.