2025 In Review
2025 is almost over. I’ve got my tuxedo t-shirt and sweatpants on, and I’m about to cook a tasty little goblin feast to celebrate. But before I do that, I’m taking a look back at this, the first year I had a newsletter.
Is the newsletter the most exciting thing to happen this year? No, but it’s a symptom of it. 2025 was the year I finally decided to take myself somewhat seriously as a writer and really get my writing out there. I published three stories this year: “Reclamation” in The Promethean Archives published by The Words Faire, “The Beaver Weaves as the Beaver Wills” in Fearmoji published by Slashic Horror Press, and “Tire Me” in Volume 1 Issue 2 of Chthonic Lit. Considering that I hadn’t published anything aside from one poem ever in my entire life, that’s huge! I’m so grateful to be able to share these stories with you, and I’m working on sharing even more in 2026.
In general, this was a year of rebirth for me. I spent most of 2024 in active cancer treatment, and 2025 has been all about making peace with my post-cancer body and figuring out the shape of my post-cancer life. 2025 is not the year most people would pick to do that, but it’s the year I was given, and well, I did it and I’m still doing it! I’m queer and sick and strange and despite that I’ve felt so much love this year and experienced so much joy. My life is worth fighting for and worth resting for and worth living proudly and so is yours.
Also, as required by year-end post law, here are some faves of mine that came out in 2025. The book of the year was Moonflow by Bitter Karella, which was the absolutely wild ride I needed this year. The album of the year was The Spiritual Sound by Agriculture — queer Zen Buddhist ecstatic metal is what my soul needed. I also got to see them live opening for Boris(!!!) and it was a wonderful night. In general, The Flenser’s 2025 releases were all extremely on point and I love having a record label to love again. The movie of the year was Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, which gave me everything I wanted from it and then some.
Congratulations on getting through 2025, and I hope 2026 is your best year yet!
-Max