The Hutt Recommends: The Past Is Red

 The Past Is Red by Catherynne M. Valente

   A novella set far into the future when we, the Fuckwits of the past, have finally destroyed the planet with our constant consumerism and greed. The ice caps are gone and the oceans have swallowed everything in blue endlessness except for small patches of human resiliance. Our girl Tetley lives on an island of garbage floating above the ruins of cities that were once taken for granted the way Garbagetown will never be. Especially not by Tetley who's sacrificing so much for its continued existance. She will tell you that Garbagetown is the most wonderful place, that it's full of hope but that there are some secrets that are better kept secret.

I LOVED IT THOROUGHLY.

   Beautiful language and imagery for a future we fear. Phenomenal pacing; everything fell into place right when I needed it to. It took me three days to get through in the middle of a work week and I'll gladly sacrifice some more sleep to read this again when time's right.

The Hutt Recommends: The Magnus Archives

 The Magnus Archives by Jonathan Sims

The Magnus Archives is a horror audio series written by Jonathan Sims distributed by Rusty Quill and can be easily accessed through Spotify.

I usually get bored with horror podcasts, but after being recommended The Magnus Archives from two independent sources I was ready to give it a try. My expectations were as low as they could get, but I'm ready to admit I was hooked after the first episode; lured in by the bait of an angler fish in a dark alley in Edinburgh... Every episode is a manageable 20 minutes long and consists of interweaving stories of paranormal experiences - on the one hand there are the witness statements, but then what really happened to the old Head Archivist of The Magnus Archives? And what was she looking for in all those old statements? What's going on in the basement?!

I've gone through three seasons already and am going to start on season four soon. It's an excellent balance between suspense and pure creepy.