iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 30/03/2026

Observation for authors of ghost stories: the only sense of dread inexplicable spreading stains on the ceiling evoke is the terrifying certainty you're going to need to shell out for a new roof.

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 19/03/2026

Leave the porridge outside the barn with the butter prominently displayed ON TOP and quietly walk away. Respect at a safe distance.

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 06/03/2026

Nothing takes me out of a story like the author assuming that people can find parking on -- or near -- the Berkeley campus. I can suspend disbelief for magic, but that's a bridge too far.

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 22/12/2025

I don't usually do rankings, however The Graceview Patient, Blood on Her Tongue, and The Lost Man were especially fabulous. And Something in the Walls was a genuine pleasant surprise.

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 22/12/2025

Harbor, by John Ajvide Lindqvist Long Bright River, by Liz Moore Something in the Walls, by Daisy Pearce Dirt Creek, by Hayley Scrivenor The Graceview Patient, by Caitlin Starling Blood on Her Tongue, by Johanna Van Veen

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 22/12/2025

Itch!, by Gemma Amour White Nights, by Ann Cleeves Black Flame, by Gretchen Felker-Martin The Lost Man, by Jane Harper We Used to Live Here, by Marcus Kliewer

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 22/12/2025

My reading habits have shifted unexpectedly in 2025. Still horror, but a surprising number of crime novels. So -- here are my top 10 (actually 11) favorite reads of the past year, alphabetical by author. What are yours? #booksky

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 13/12/2025

I'll Be Waiting by Kelley Armstrong. I... wouldn't. If I hadn't bought it I probably would put it down.

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 13/12/2025

So I'm reading a book where a paranormal investigator from a university in the US takes on a research project with a woman who recently lost her husband in a car accident. And I can't maintain suspension of disbelief because I can't accept that an IRB would ever approve this. What's wrong with me?

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Reposted by Adam D. Zolkover

Ergative Absolutive @ergative-abs.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

WELCOME TO THE DRACULA PAPRIKA DISCOURSE!! (meme from tumblr, not my own, original link seems to be dead now)

Galaxy brain meme.

Panel 1: Jonathan Harker found paprika hendl spicy because he is pathetically English.

Panel 2: Hungarian paprika ranges from mild to very spicy; it's perfectly possible our friend Jonathan was served the spicy stuff

Panel 3: "paprika hendl uses sweet paprika" recipes change quickly over time an dplace, Jonathan may have been served a regional variant

Panel 4 (text running off bottom): PAPRIKA USED TO BE SPICER holy shit it used to be spicier before sweeter peppers were cultivated in the 1920s. plus the machine to remove the spicy pith and seeds was only invented in the 1860s. 19th century Hungarian cuisine was simply spicier than its modern counterpart. not to mention how even "mild" paprikca can cause indigestion which is why it's so frequently served with sour cream

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 29/11/2025

It's been a dog's age since I ate at Langer's Deli. Their pastrami is absolutely as good as they say, though perhaps not quite as good as Hershel's in Philly's Reading Terminal Market. And it's the only place I know where you can get kishka. So that's worth the price of admission all by itself.

A wide-angle picture. In the foreground is a pastrami sandwich on rye with coleslaw. In the background is a second plate with 4 pieces of kishka and a cup of gravy.

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 29/11/2025

LA coffee adventure day, part I: Dayglow and Loquat both have delicious pourover and a delightfully well curated selection of beans. All told, though, Loquat wins on both atmosphere and pastry. I would definitely try either again!

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 26/11/2025

I've been thinking that I'm enjoying Ann Cleeves's Shetland books so much because they're mysteries for folklorists. Jimmy Perez is an ethnographic detective, piecing together the web of a community through its narratives, and through their multiple existence and variation. #booksky

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 25/11/2025

If you ever find yourself in Gallup, New Mexico, check out Java Drip Coffee. They're super nice and they're competing with a Starbucks across the street. So every coffee you buy from them is one less for Starbucks.

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 23/11/2025

A movie that takes place where you're from.

A movie poster for Absentia (2011). Features two women looking scared next to a missing poster.

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 18/11/2025

Apparently Abraham and Mary were far from the only prominent Flexner siblings. Thanks to a Wikipedia rabbit hole, tonight I learned about Simon and Bernard, as well as daughter Eleanor, and nephew Louis. They're like the Beechers... if the Beechers were a clan of Jewish scientists from Louisville.

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 12/11/2025

Godzilla: Final Wars is a bold top choice!

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 12/11/2025

Why Australian crime novels? That's a weird sudden obsession, right? That said... if anyone has any recommendations, I'd be happy to have them. I've got the basics -- the Jane Harper, Patricia Wolf, Candice Fox, etc. covered. But beyond that? 💙📚

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 10/11/2025

I wonder if Dolby Vision / HDR10+ might be part of what I'm reacting to... Not sure how to test that. AFAIK it's controlled by the streaming service. That doesn't account for the move toward cameras that are mounted, I can only assume, with gyroscopic stabilization on drones.

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 10/11/2025

OMG Sarah and I both yelled at the screen. The best part of the movie was the sequence with the cottagers, I think. It's not coincidental that it's the bit that hews closest to the source material.

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 10/11/2025

It's a good thought but the TV is calibrated. The issue is a turn in aesthetic in lighting and cinematography. Also, increasingly cheap-looking CG. Which is especially a shame in Frankenstein, because the practical effect bits are really well done.

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 09/11/2025

It's not just Frankenstein. I noticed this in the recent Nosferatu, too. And Last Voyage of the Demeter. It's like whatever visual nonsense infected The Hobbit back in the day has metastasized.

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 09/11/2025

One more Frankenstein (2025) thought: the aesthetic of big-budget fantasy/horror has changed in the past few years, much for the worse. Swooping camera work and 60fps VERY digital crispness has created a class of film that looks like a video game. And I am very much not here for it.

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 09/11/2025

Shelley knows that science is collaboration through sharing data, and incremental expansion of knowledge, and has Victor be dismissive of others' accomplishments and miserly about sharing his own. Whatever else about the new Frankenstein film, del Toro gets this part RIGHT and I love that.

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 09/11/2025

One of my favorite things about Frankenstein is that Shelley is like: Victor thinks he's doing science but nah. She has him talk about his genius for natural philosophy, then 1) list 3 occultists as his influences, and 2) dismiss Newton's followers as children picking up shells, ignoring the ocean.

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 01/11/2025

It's the cursed Gilmore Girls! That's why I love The Fog!

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Reposted by Adam D. Zolkover

Nome @nome.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

The Cortylorhynchus considers my problems, nods sagely, and says, "have you tried basking in the sun about it? While being as spherical as possible?"

A goofy looking quadruped, something like a shell less turtle, with wide-splayed legs and a vacant expression.

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 31/10/2025

You know, happenings aside, Antonio Bay seems like a nice place to live.

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 31/10/2025

With 2025 rolling to an end, maybe I can stop singing "if man is still alive, if woman can survive" every time I write the date. Stupid brain.

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 26/10/2025

Also, Peter Gabriel's version of My Body is a Cage, which just kills me

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 26/10/2025

Reddit is at it again. Another thread of "best" covers without Opeth's Bridge of Sighs. Tsk.

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 25/10/2025

So I'm not rendering any judgement until I've finished the book but so far, Harbour by John Ajvide Lindqvist reads like Stephen King and Koji Suzuki cowrote "Shadow Over Innsmouth." So far, I think I figured that vibe.

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 22/10/2025

Fun project that was more costly in time and blood than I bargained for. I really went all in on the inlays and I think it paid off. #woodworking

A hand mirror from the front. The frame is cherry, inlaid with geometric shapes in mahogany and maple. You can also see the mahogany clad handle.

The back of the handmirror. Most of it is cherry, with a mahogany crescent moon inlay.

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 21/10/2025

One thing I adore about Trent Reznor is his ability to reflect on his younger work. Listening to PHM through the lens of With Teeth transforms it. Same with NIN's collaboration with Boys Noize. Pretty Hate Machine is all the better as a living document.

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 21/10/2025

I have been listening to this album for more than 30 years and I still find there are new and subtle depths to plumb.

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 20/10/2025

Almost... Alien > Prometheus > Aliens > Covenant and Romulus > not worth mentioning

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 19/10/2025

They Bloom at Night by Trang Tranh Tran is excellent and original. Coastal horror without being Shadow Over Innsmouth. Microbial creep without being Mexican Gothic. Like its protagonist, it finds its own skin. @hollylynchez.bsky.social you might like this one.

The book cover of They Bloom at Night. A vietnamese girl underwater with red tendrils around her.

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 17/10/2025

I think I'm still mad about Solo: A Star Wars Story

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 17/10/2025

See how Pennywise got his ruffled collar! Experience the first time he saw Rodan! Did he ever meet the director of The Crawling Eye? Fans want to know!

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 17/10/2025

No! We don't need a detailed mythology for every old thing. Pennywise is scary when he's a mystery. Add in the Great Turtle, and the Crimson King, and whatever other BS, and he's just boring. Learn from the X-Files, people. The truth is only interesting and fun when it's an object of speculation.

A news headline that includes a picture of Pennywise the clown with the headline "It: Welcome to Derry Blows Open the Legend of Pennywise. It'll Shock You."

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Reposted by Adam D. Zolkover

Dr. Jim Getz @jimgetz.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

Hell yeah.

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Reposted by Adam D. Zolkover

Holly Fernandez Lynch @hollylynchez.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

"HHS--through the FDA--is conducting its own review of the evidence" re: mifepristone's safety + effectiveness. Signed by RFK and Makary. Given what we just saw w/ tylenol + leucovorin, I'm sure this will be done to the absolute highest scientific standards. democracyforward.org/wp-content/u...

democracyforward.org

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 24/09/2025

Obviously I am a sucker for anything with the Nine Inch Nails logo on it, even if it's plainly a marketing ploy. To be fair, the new songs on the soundtrack are *very* good. (I very much doubt I'll see the movie.)

The first record of the Tron:Ares soundtrack sitting on a gray turntable. In the background is the album cover. Both the record and the album cover have a red and black color scheme.

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Reposted by Adam D. Zolkover

👻madeline bOoOoOoOodent👻 @oldenoughtosay.com · 21/09/2025

one thing about me is that I will easily spend a morning going through contractors’ social media before deciding who to hire. and listen I also share a lot of content under my real government name but Christ I am still surprised by what people will happily share in public in 2025

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Adam D. Zolkover @zolkover.me · 19/09/2025

Tron:Ares sound track is excellent. I hope that its sound, plus the Nine Inch Noize set at Coachella, inspire a collab studio release with Boys Noize. I would really like to hear high fidelity versions of the Closer and Sin reinterpretations from the Peel it Back B stage.

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