Jef Rouner (he/she/they) is an award-winning freelance journalist from Houston, Texas. He is also the author of The Rook Circle an Stranger Words, and a former member of The Black Math Experiment.
Walking up the steps to the 134-year-old RavenWolf Manor, I start thinking about Anne Rice’s The Witching Hour. One of the protagonists, Michael Curry, would stare through the fence every day at a New Orleans mansion rumored to be the home of witches. If I had to pick one
It’s the third Saturday of the month at the Hardy & Nance Studios. Nominally, the crowd is here for the Portraits in June show, one of the many themed gallery events that Hardy & Nance host twice monthly. While that part of the gallery certainly draws a crowd thanks
It’s a scary time to be LGBTQ+ in Texas, but the state’s horror authors are using their voices to make sure the terror is felt both ways. Gabrielle Faust is among the loudest queer horror voices in Texas. Since 2008, she has released twelve novels and anthologies. Her
Outsiders call Burning Flipside an art festival; people who actually go there call it a burn. Set in the hill country around Central Austin, Burning Flipside is the Texas take on the Burning Man global phenomenon. Every May, thousands hike into the woods to live in what is essentially a
John Simons is the man who put Houston back on the comic convention map with Comicpalooza until he stepped away in 2018. Now, he’s back as an honored guest thanks to his new career as a fantasy and horror novelist. He’ll appear at Comicpalooza this weekend, hosting a
The line between a superhero costume and a fashion statement is razor thin and, at Houston’s Comicpalooza, it will disappear entirely thanks to a joint venture between Houston First and Houston Community College. Comic Couture is a competition between HCC design students for an opportunity to showcase their talents
There has been a mini renaissance of paganism in Houston over the last decade, a movement accelerated by the trauma of COVID and political unrest. Walking into the Rosewood Enchantikal Cottage feels like stepping into another world where there are fewer missiles and more fairies. “I want to have a
There is something unsettlingly medical about Deborah Jack’s exhibition at the Houston Center of Photography. Intertidal Imaginaries: The Resistant Geographies of the Shore(coast) in the Aftermath of Saltwater(storm) surges an exploration of the devastation that hurricanes wreak on the environment and human structures of her native Saint-Maarten.
Music legend Prince may be gone, but his legacy lives on through albums, film, iconography, and a college level course taught by Marc Newsome at the University of Houston this semester. “He is the perfect poster kid for any type of study,” says Newsome. “Like Michelangelo, he did all these
Texas’s premiere gathering of indie comic and tabletop creators, STAPLE!, is returning to Austin after a five-year hiatus brought on by the pandemic. It will be open April 13 and 14 at the Malbee Ballroom of St. Edward’s University. Tickets and more information can be found at their
Throughout the interview, Earl “Chan” Smith dodges calling himself an artist like it’s a rattlesnake in the bluebonnets, sounding almost afraid to name himself that. However, there’s no other word that captures what he does. Smith repurposes dollar store dollhouses and other items to create intricate, gothic mix-media
Even in the world of underground Texas comics, Paul Hanley and Matt Frank stand out. Their creation, Miss Medusa’s Monstrous Menagerie has been a runaway hit on Kickstarter thanks to its inventive and edgy premise, as well Hanley’s incredible art style. Now, it’s finally on sale for
The emotion that defines writer and director Sara Gaston’s debut short film, “I Was Gone For Awhile” is dread. In a way, it’s like watching a nature documentary, right down to the bright, summer lighting. Its story resembles seeing an insect crawl across a flytrap, with all the
The 1938 radio production of H.G. Wells’s novel The War of the Worlds, directed and narrated by Orson Welles, remains one of the most legendary moments in 20th century storytelling. The reported widespread belief that Welles was describing an actual alien attack is false, though some listeners did