Anya Martin, Usman T. Malik
TOD 122 Usman T. Malik: Horror with a Sense of Wonder
The Outer Dark presents “Usman T. Malik: Horror with a Sense of Wonder,” a conversation with the author about his World Fantasy Award-winning debut collection, Midnight Doorways: Fables from Pakistan (KITAB Ltd, 2021) and more. This podcast’s content was recorded on March 20, 2023.
Show Notes
The Outer Dark presents ‘Usman T. Malik: Horror with a Sense of Wonder,’ a conversation with the author about his World Fantasy Award-winning debut collection, Midnight Doorways: Fables from Pakistan (KITAB Ltd, 2021) and more. Malik begins by sharing his own road to horror and spec-lit via folk and fairy tales, as well as the layers of story within story in his work, his embrace of horror, Weird, and uncanny fiction, and the role of the Covid pandemic in making Midnight Doorways happen. Discussion then dives into the stories behind his stories from an alley too narrow for death to cosmic horror set in a contemporary time of terrorism but rooted in ancient Indus Valley mythology. He reads (0:42:37) from his rom-com creature feature ‘#Spring Love #Pichal Pairi’ (Tor.com, 2021), talks about cofounding the Salam Award for Imaginative Fiction, and offers his reading recommendations including Urdu authors Naiyer Masuda and Khalida Hussain (Asghar), as well as groundbreaking American Noir pioneer Dorothy B. Hughes. This podcast’s content was recorded on March 20, 2023.
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Additional Links
LISTEN: TOD 113 State of The Weird Roundtable 2022
‘The Patli Gali, Narrowest Street in Lahore’ (Locally Lahore)
Clive Barker on his The Books of Blood
The Butler (2013, directed by Lee Daniels, trailer)
‘Writers on Writing: Creating Short Fiction by Damon Knight’ by Lee Mandelo (Tor.com, 2011)
Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff
Marvel Studios’ Miss Marvel (series, Disney Plus, 2022, trailer)
Partition: ‘Why was India split into two countries?’ – Haimanti Roy (Ted-Ed, YouTube)
Black Feathers: Dark Avian Tales, edited by Ellen Datlow (Pegasus Books, 2017)
The Mammoth Book of Cthulhu, edited by Paula Guran (Running Press/Hachette, 2016)
READ: ‘City of Red Midnight: A Hikayat’ by Usman T. Malik (tor.com, 2020)
READ: The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptis Jinn’ by Usman T. Malik (Tor.com, 2016)
The Book of Witches, edited by Jonathan Strahan (Harper Collins, August 2023)
Usman T. Malik (@usmantm) on Twitter
READ: ‘The Wagon’ by Khalida Asghar (Weird Fiction Review)
In Memoriam: Mysterious and Mystical Khalida Husain (dawn.com)
In a Lonely Place (1950, trailer)
‘The Origins of American Noir’ by Megan Abbot (The Paris Review, 2017)
Show Credits
Hosts/Producers: Scott Nicolay and Anya Martin
Co-Host, News from The Weird: Justin Steele
Co-Host, Reviews from The Weird: Gordon B. White
Symposium Assistant Director: Melanie Crew
Symposium Programming Coordinator: Jess Lewis
Symposium Logistics: Melissa Eisner
Logo Design: Nick “The Hat” Gucker
Music: Michael Griffin
