Welcome to diabolical, my new newsletter.

And now for something completely different.

Hello! Welcome to diabolical.

This is my brand new newsletter here on Substack, and a project that I’m really excited about. I hope you subscribe to it! Glances down at the big subscribe button…

I’ve been writing and re-writing this introductory post for quite some time now because this is all new, uncharted territory for me and I’m still getting used to the idea of writing a newsletter. I’m so used to writing a blog.

I’m still not entirely sure what shape this space will take. What form will the clay take when the knife has said its piece?

I do know that I’ve wanted for a long time now to write deeper, more thought-provoking work and to challenge myself and my readers, to ask bigger questions and stumble toward more satisfying answers. I know that I want this newsletter to be at once more personal and more interesting than what I’ve been writing elsewhere. Funnier, too, hopefully.

Elsewhere, so much of what I choose to write about comes down to driving traffic. This has been a steadily growing trend over the years, as various factors necessitated finding ways to get bigger and bigger hits, whether that was writing more provocative headlines, or simply finding topics that net the most clicks—like Fortnite guides. And while I enjoy making guides—it’s surprisingly zen, truth be told—it’s not exactly my dearest writerly ambition.

It’s also been about following rules. I’d like to break a few from time to time.

This is me wearing a sock on my head because I didn’t have a beanie and it was super cold at this Tye-Die festival we went to in New Mexico.

Here, in the pages of diabolical, I aim to write about many of the same things I’ve been writing about but in a new way. I want to write about how stories—in whatever form they take—impact our lives, what they say about the world, how they help us understand one another, or misunderstand one another. I want to write about our search for meaning and empathy and danger. I don’t want to limit myself to a specific kind of movie or show, or only the biggest AAA video games.

I also travel a lot—or used to before COVID-19—and go to live music and music festivals and I’d like to at least pepper this newsletter with some of those fun adventures. Interesting places and people and music and food. The stuff of life. To eat, drink and be merry. These are holy.

Crucial to this experiment is having a conversation with you, my dear droogies. And a newsletter will hopefully make that easier and more fun than ever. I want readers to be able to comment directly on posts and to ask questions and make suggestions and have rousing debates right here, in this newsletter’s comments section and discussion threads. I want to explore fandom and fanaticism and philosophy without worrying about how high or low-brow it might be. Or with how high you might be for that matter. It’s a free country.

The point is, I will be there in the comments with you as much as I’m able. It’ll be fun.

For years now, I’ve felt somewhat . . . muted, withdrawn. There are various reasons for this. I’m largely to blame, I suppose. I think that ever since Gamergate and the aftermath of that controversial flashpoint, I’ve been less prone to include politics or cultural analysis into my work, or to get involved in social commentary in my work, or to really deal with controversy. I don’t think I was “cancelled” per se, but I think that’s only because we were just on the cusp of “cancel culture” back then. Certainly various nefarious forces on Twitter did their level best to smear and blacklist and tell lies about me—but we can’t let lies told by our enemies define or defeat us.

We must be excellent to each other. And party on.

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If you’re reading this, you might be a subscriber to my Newsletter Of Doom. That will remain a separate newsletter with links to my work elsewhere (namely Forbes, where I will continue posting a good deal of work including video game news, guides and what-have-you). I’ve ported over the mail list and I hope you stick around, but if this isn’t your cup of tea I totally understand.

If you’re new to my work, I’m very pleased to meet you!

Here will be more cerebral, more diabolical fare, though if you’ve enjoyed any of my writing elsewhere I imagine (and hope) you’ll enjoy it here as well. This newsletter will contain original content, discussion threads, links to other interesting writers and content creators and artists and, eventually, a podcast and a movie club (and maybe a book club, too). I want to do fun things like pick an old movie as a group, watch it, then write something up and then have everyone discuss and debate. I think that could be really fun. Like I said, things are still taking shape. Clay and knife dancing dancing.

Also worth noting: this is an attempt by me to gain more independence as a critic and a writer by appealing directly to fans.

Much of this newsletter will be entirely free, but some content will be behind a paywall (at some point) for premium subscribers only. I hope you subscribe regardless of whether you pay. The more subscribers, the more time I can spend here with this very pleasant layout and user experience and on things like a podcast. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

I’m excited. Change can be unsettling—not that we have a choice in the matter. Change will happen. We just do our best to steer the ship.

I hope you choose to stick around. And whether or not you pay for a subscription, come hang out and let’s talk about the good things in life: stories, movies, video games, tabletop games, music and food, love and hate, history and adventure. Sex and death.

All that beautiful nonsense.