Phantompains

"Therese Estacion survived a rare infection that nearly killed her, but not without losing both her legs below the knees, several fingers, and reproductive organs. Phantompains is a visceral, imaginative collection exploring disability, grief and life by interweaving stark memories with magic surrealism. Taking inspiration from Filipino horror and folk tales, Estacion incorporates some Visayan language into her work, telling stories of mermen, gnomes and ogres that haunt childhood stories of the Philippines and, then, imaginings in her hospital room, where she spent months after her operations, recovering. There is a dreamlike quality to these pieces, rivaled by depictions of pain, of amputation, of hysterectomy, of disability, and the realization of catastrophic change. Estacion says she wrote these poems out of necessity: an essential task to deal with the trauma of hospitalization and what followed. Now, they are demonstrations of the power of our imaginations to provide catharsis, preserve memory, rebel and even to find self-love."--

Pulled back onto the Arcadia Project after losing her partner Teo to the lethal magic of an Unseelie fey countess, Millie must prove the innocence of her former boss, Caryl, when she is accused of murdering an agent, which draws Millie into an insidious, arcane terrorist plot that would leave two worlds in ruins.

An anthology of ten plays embodying the Russian literary movement that began in the late twentieth century. The plays selected for this anthology reflect the issues and styles typical of the new wave of dramatic writing in Russia. New drama flourished (almost) exclusively in small spaces, often in dingy basements that employed and accommodated small numbers of people. The big theaters largely turned a blind eye to what was happening on small stages and in backrooms in playhouses, libraries, and community centers in a few chosen hot spots around Russia: primarily Moscow, Yekaterinburg and Togliatti. In many cases, they took actively hostile stances toward it. This would change, however. And by the beginning of the century’s second decade, new drama was threatening to become a mainstream phenomenon. Not every theater staged plays associated with new drama, but almost every one began staging plays influenced by the themes, methods, and language of the new drama movement. Featuring work from Yury Klavdiev, Olga Mukhina, Pavel Pryazhko, Vasily Sigarev, Maksym Kurochkin, Mikhail Durnenkov, Vyacheslav Durnenkov, Yaroslava Pulinovich, Yelena Gremina, and Maxim Osipov. “Few people know more about what is happening on the Moscow scene than John Freedman (including few Russians). As Moscow Times theater critic throughout the post-Soviet period John could well have seen more theatrical productions in Russia than anyone else. I can’t imagine anyone who would do a better job.” —Blair A. Ruble, Director, Program on Global Sustainability & Resilience, Woodrow Wilson Center “While other existing volumes focus on 18th, 19th, and early 20th century Russian drama, Freedman’s edition would present the unique and important contributions of the new generation of Russian writers portraying the realities and experiences of a post-Soviet generation. John has carefully selected a representative cohort of ten of the most visible, productive, and influential of these writers for the volume.” —Thomas J. Garza, University Distinguished Teaching Associate Professor, University of Texas at Austin

Phantom Pains is a collection of poems that reflect on grief, loss, pain but mostly unconditional love and hope

In this sequel to the Nebula Award–nominated and Tiptree Award Honor Book that New York Times bestselling author Seanan McGuire called “exciting, inventive, and brilliantly plotted,” Millie unwillingly returns to the Arcadia Project when an impossible and deadly situation pulls her back in. Four months ago, Millie left the Arcadia Project after losing her partner Teo to the lethal magic of an Unseelie fey countess. Now, in a final visit to the scene of the crime, Millie and her former boss Caryl encounter Teo’s tormented ghost. But there’s one problem: according to Caryl, ghosts don’t exist. Millie has a new life, a stressful job, and no time to get pulled back into the Project, but she agrees to tell her side of the ghost story to the agents from the Project’s National Headquarters. During her visit though, tragedy strikes when one of the agents is gruesomely murdered in a way only Caryl could have achieved. Millie knows Caryl is innocent, but the only way to save her from the Project’s severe, off-the-books justice is to find the mysterious culprits that can only be seen when they want to be seen. Millie must solve the mystery not only to save Caryl, but also to foil an insidious, arcane terrorist plot that would leave two worlds in ruins.

"Therese Estacion survived a rare infection that nearly killed her, but not without losing both her legs below the knees, several fingers, and reproductive organs. Phantompains is a visceral, imaginative collection exploring disability, grief and life by interweaving stark memories with magic surrealism. Taking inspiration from Filipino horror and folk tales, Estacion incorporates some Visayan language into her work, telling stories of mermen, gnomes and ogres that haunt childhood stories of the Philippines and, then, imaginings in her hospital room, where she spent months after her operations, recovering. There is a dreamlike quality to these pieces, rivaled by depictions of pain, of amputation, of hysterectomy, of disability, and the realization of catastrophic change. Estacion says she wrote these poems out of necessity: an essential task to deal with the trauma of hospitalization and what followed. Now, they are demonstrations of the power of our imaginations to provide catharsis, preserve memory, rebel and even to find self-love."--

By rights, John Constantine should be the happiest magician alive. He’s just gotten married to the sexy young alchemist Epiphany Greaves and successfully fended off his demonic archenemies at the reception. He’ll have to replace the thumb he cut off during a bout of magic-induced madness, but hey, for Constantine, that’s not bad. But the honeymoon is about to end. His niece, Gemma, is out for revenge for an assault she holds her dear Uncle John responsible for-but in her quest for vengeance, she summons a demon she can’t control. Gemma’s missteps will take John all the way to Hell in this penultimate volume of Vertigo’s longest-running series. John Constantine, Hellblazer Vol. 25: Another Season collects issues #276-291 as well as the previously uncollected story “Exposed” from DC’s 9/11 anthology.