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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 20h

Love Ben Tanzer's writeup on Book of David. He def got how Lynch informs my writing and my love of horror that exposes the dark, macabre, and general fuckedness beneath everyday life. We talked about it on This Podcast Will Change Your Life. Out soon... bentanzer.substack.com/p/this-book-...

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 21h

Another day of horror at The Midnight Realm…

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

My idea of a productive evening is apparently staying up way too late watching a horror sequel from 1983 that I’ve been meaning to get around to for about twenty years…

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

New Textual Healing with Shane Kowalski 🎧 We talk weird fiction, absurdity, the trouble with literary labels, and why The Incredible Mr. Limpet might actually be a horror movie… open.spotify.com/episode/2HYE...

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Suburban gothic, on our way to check out the new coffee shop in the neighborhood…

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

It’s October 7th. Book of David is officially out. Whatever happens with Dave from here is between you and God… a.co/d/04cPBQvK

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Almost every interview I’ve done so far for Book of David has asked me why I used the Midwest as a setting for horror. The answer is Dave couldn't possibly come from anywhere else. malsmart.substack.com/p/out-of-the...

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

And David said unto them, Fear not the wind. Fear when the tail is gone. Rot Revelations 6:11 #BookOfDavid

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Shane Kowalski went on Off the Record with a reading of his work. Catch up on last week’s Textual Healing before a new episode drops Saturday. And hey, while you’re at it, maybe check out Billy Bragg’s cover of “Walk Away Renée.” open.spotify.com/episode/4alA...

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

This week on Textual Healing: Shane Kowalski keeps using the word “striking.” We let him. New episode Saturday.

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

My newest book comes out tomorrow so naturally I went looking for the person who wrote my first one… malsmart.substack.com/p/i-tweet-po...

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Just finished recording Method and Madness. We talked Book of David, the Midwest, David Koresh, parking lot hangouts, basement cousins, and criminally underrated books. The recording platform had some notes on my lighting aesthetic…

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Every copy needs its mark. Sigil stamping Book of David preorders…

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

The lit world I entered in my 20s doesn’t exist anymore. People left. Publications disappeared. The internet changed. But we’re still finding each other. I wrote about Printers Row, the scenes we lose, and what it means to build another one. zonamotel.substack.com/p/dispatch-p...

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Sunday ritual: signing and sigil stamping Book of David preorders before they head out into the world. If you missed the author-signed + sigil-stamped copies, you can still preorder through Asterism: asterismbooks.com/product/book...

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

A little bit of folklore about the price of leaving. I talked with Kyler Bingham on Salt Lake Dirt about where my weird came from, who David actually is, and what makes the Midwest such fertile ground for horror. Book of David is out October 7... open.spotify.com/episode/1k6D...

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Chai at one of my favorite St. Charles coffee shops on an aggressively perfect fall day…

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Every time a cat shows up in a horror movie, Starbuck appears like she’s been called in to consult…

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Tried to kick off spooky season by being seasonally useless and watching bad Ryan Murphy TV. Instead: insurance, sibling drama, book tour shit. I’m just a girl trying to watch my semi- true crime. Anyway, preorder Book of David… asterismbooks.com/product/book...

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Somewhere in the Book of David canon, this is absolutely how a prophet picks up their prescriptions…

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Aug Stone said I had to check this out so it’s now playing at The Midnight Realm…

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Printers Row: over. Vegan mint chocolate chip milkshakes: acquired.

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Waiting out the rain in the Small Press Tent with Aug Stone. We’re still at it, Printers Row…

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Devils in the White City is a wrap. Year two of our Printers Row offsites is in the books. So happy Meghan Lamb + Joshua Bohnsack joined us this year, with Scott Laudati + Ben Niespodziany hanging around till the end…

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Not saying my Printers Row offsite had this energy, but I’m also not not saying it…

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

The gospel has arrived at Printers Row. I have a very limited number of advance copies of BOOK OF DAVID from House of Vlad, out October 7, plus free David prayer cards while they last. Find me at the Maudlin House table in the Small Press Tent…

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Birthday night one at Printers Row: read from Book of David, packed into The Whistler with a bunch of writers, then capped the night with Practical Magic 2. Honestly, a pretty ideal way to turn 36…

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Apparently turning 36 means my Better Call Saul-induced Moscow mule era finally gets the correct vessel…

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

36. Husband understood the assignment…

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Somehow ran into Mike Nagel in Sofia, Bulgaria. Got Bulgarian food. Gave him Book of David. What are the odds?

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Turns out history is significantly larger in person…

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Alyosha, the Soviet Army monument overlooking Plovdiv. Some things outlive the country that built them…

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Happy birthday to my fellow Virgo, my publisher, and one of my absolute favorite people in the lit world, Brian Alan Ellis. Very grateful our particular brands of insanity crossed paths…

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Plovdiv has been incredibly patient with me…

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Found a witch bar in Bulgaria where you order by zodiac sign. Very on brand…

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Apparently Book of David is one of Our Culture’s Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2026. Sam Franzini called it “a Midwest horror showstopper.” I’ll take it. October 7 from House of Vlad ourculturemag.com/2026/09/02/f...

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Apparently going to Bulgaria turned into a writing residency against my will. “She’s Made of Iron, Sir” is up at A Thin Slice of Anxiety. Written in Bulgaria, naturally… www.athinsliceofanxiety.com/2026/09/fict...

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Bulgaria inspired me to write a story about how people in the Balkans handle catastrophes like the Titanic. Just submitted it to a bunch of places. I’d ask you to wish me luck, but Bulgarians don’t ask for luck. They ration it…

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

It’s giving ready to die taking a selfie at a Balkan fortress…

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

My bday is in 2 weeks, so I’m asking for one thing early: make the terrible financial decision of buying my book. It’s the LAST night to preorder Book of David and get your copy signed + stamped with the custom sigil. After midnight, the ritual ends. houseofvlad.bigcartel.com/product/book...

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

And the opening is without end for David remains… houseofvlad.bigcartel.com/product/book...

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Local politics going well for me. Made the mayor of Bansko’s Facebook page…

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Devil’s Bridge. Centuries of history behind me. Anyway, selfie…

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Communism collapsed but the playground equipment is doing fine…

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

The evil eye has been lifted. It took four ceremonies, but we got there. Book of David preorders may now resume without fear of supernatural consequences… houseofvlad.bigcartel.com/product/book...

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Mallory Smart @mallorysmart.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

My husband’s grandmother is a medicine woman. Tonight she performed a prayer to protect me from the evil eye. Anyway, preorder Book of David: houseofvlad.bigcartel.com/product/book...

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