Episode 145: Waiting for the Miracle: On Vanessa Onwuemezi's "Dark Neighbourhood"

In this episode, Phil and JF discuss Vanessa Onwuemezi's, "Dark Neighbourhood," a tale of scintillant darkness from her debut collection of the same name. This strangest of strange stories is set in a vast encampment of destitute yet hopeful people whose lives consist entirely of waiting for their turn to step through the iron gates of the Beyond. Living off the dregs of civilization, they seem the last of our kind. They are the ones who, having made it to the front of the line, have the dubious honour of contemplating directly the mystery that awaits us all. Unlike anything we've covered on the show, "Dark Neighbourhood" is a chilling and moving story that elicits interpretation as elegantly as it resists it. Pierre-Yves Martel's album Mer bleue drops on May 1st, 2023! Support us on Patreon and gain access to Phil's ongoing podcast on Richard Wagner's Ring Cycle. Listen to volume 1 and volume 2 of the Weird Studies soundtrack by Pierre-Yves Martel Find us on Discord Get the T-shirt design from Cotton Bureau! Get your Weird Studies merchandise (t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.) Visit the Weird Studies Bookshop REFERENCES Show Notes.docx Vanessa Omwuemezi, Dark Neighbourhood Peter Breugel, Landscape with the Fall of Icarus Weird Studies, Episode 140 on “Spirited Away” Karl Marx, Capital Phil Ford, Dig Murray Bookchin, Post-Scarcity Anarchism Weird Studies, Episode 98 on “Taboo” Michael Wadleigh (dir.), Woodstock Samuel R. Delaney, Dahlgren Leonard Cohen, “Waiting for the Miracle Martin Esslin, The Theatre of the Absurd One red paperclip, story of guy who traded a paper clip for a house Weird Studies, Episode 101 on Tanizaki James Hillman, The Dream and the Underworld George Steiner, Real Presences H. P. Lovecraft, “Nyarlothotep” Alexander Wendt and Raymond Duvall, “Sovereignty and the UFO” Weird Studies, Episode 144 on Hellraiser Weird Studies, Episode 29 on Lovecraft