Literature

Growing up as a monster kid, Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolf Man were basically the big three, the unholy trinity of spookiness. I tore through Stoker and Shelley, but wondered why there wasn’t an equally-iconic fictional take on the werewolf. Sure, there were the great Universal films—Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man is a yearly rewatch—but

Thoughts on Bloodletting by Maria Robinson 1. The first time I saw a leech, it was attached to the shin of a shrieking artist. It was not a lone hanger-on: she was dappled in bloodsuckers from her ankle to her inguinal groove. I have never birthed an artist (/anyone), but after nearly a decade of

As the political and cultural capital of Denmark, Copenhagen enjoys a vaulted status. Founded some 1,000 years ago by the Vikings, it has grown to become one of the most important cities in Europe. With its 650,000 + residents it is the second largest in Scandinavia, behind only Stockholm (when you include Greater Copenhagen in

Mrs. Morrison Corrects Her Obituary Mrs. Morrison Proofreads Her Obituary Amelia Morrison, beloved [neglected] wife and [disappointed] mother, [also, a limber and enthusiastic lover to several of her husband’s grad students] passed away last night [which dear hubby only noticed today]. Born locally in 1952, she loved [loathed] our little town. [After the pregnancy test

The world has always been filled with mysteries. Where does the sun go at night? Why is there lightning during a storm? What happens when we die? The fun thing about humans is we can’t just let those mysteries go unsolved. The unknown is frightening, maybe even dangerous, and we live on a whole planet

In 1993, I published my first decent story in a literary journal and a few months later received a letter from an agent whose name I recognized. I’d written short stories in college classes, sent them off, and typically the only thing that came back was a rejection, housed in the self-addressed-stamped envelope I’d sent

I don’t love fish. One thing this means is that people in my life who do love fish are constantly trying to introduce me to fish that I might like. The least fishy fish in the sea! Barely Fish™! This fish almost tastes like it grew up on land! They insist that I just haven’t

A Snowplow Parent Spinning Her Wheels on Summer Vacation Marian Crotty Share article Chincoteague by Marian Crotty Nora hated driving to begin with—especially highway driving, especially with a car full of teenagers—and that day it was raining. Not hard enough to delay the trip, just opaque gray skies and slick roads, a steady thrum of

The Lebanese civil war was a series of conflicts that lasted from 1975 until 1990, claiming an estimated 150,000 lives. Although it assumed a sectarian face, there were a number of underlying causes, including economic and political inequality, a power-sharing structure that privileged Christian elites, and a widening rift between those who supported the Palestinian

My career as a criminal didn’t last long. I’m not proud about it (that I was a criminal at all, not the brevity and ineptitude of my reign).  But in high school, I stole CDs and records. That was my thing. Here’s what I would do: I would take the meager bankroll I’d earned from

Fifteen years ago, Electric Literature started as a print and digital quarterly journal during the glory days of the print magazine era. Our very first issue surpassed 10,000 copies in sales, we were stocked in newsstands and bookstores, and as an e-book. We were one of the first to publish literary fiction using an online

I watched Bad Boys: Ride or Die on a long summer Sunday night in Malmö, Sweden, halfway between Midsommar and the Fourth of July. I was on vacation, visiting family and friends, but took advantage of a free night to see what summer blockbuster season felt like in another country. The theater was packed for

Taiwan is having a moment these days: in the headlines, in the culinary landscape, in the history books, and in our global literary imagination. Gone are the days (we hope) of mistaking Taiwan for Thailand, or automatically responding, “Oh, do you mean China?” No, we mean Taiwan! Taiwan is a beautiful island whose identity has

Possession by Charley Burlock The summer after eighth grade in 2012, I began working at a mental hospital at the very top of a very tall hill in San Francisco. I had gotten the job—the internship—because my mother was, at the time, a patient of a doctor who practiced there. Being a good doctor, or

A Three-Bedroom Victorian to Kill For House Hunting It’s Saturday, which means Greg and I are house hunting. We’ve done this every weekend for the past four years and it’s a miracle we’ve lasted this long. Of the other couples we know, only a few have managed to get an offer on the table; fewer

Don’t die wondering, the old yellow button told me, but of course this only made me wonder more: Who wore this pin? Who made it? Who said it first? The pin is from the Lesbian Herstory Archives. There’s three of them, two yellow and one pink, all in big commanding capitals, no metadata provided to

Electric Literature is pleased to reveal the cover of Awakened by A.E. Osworth, which will be published by Grand Central Publishing on April 29, 2025. You can pre-order your copy here. A coven of trans witches battles an evil AI in the magical coming-of-middle-age romp about love, loss, drag shows, and late capitalism. ​ On a morning

Horror novels function as a way of controlling our fears and the unknown, transforming it into something tangible and… temporary. There’s something comforting about picking up a book, feeling terrified and setting it back down, the fear always contained in the pages.  During Covid, while some people turned to baking, I sought out Latina writers