Page Chewing

We've reached the conclusion of Stephen King's Pet Sematary!

After spending October reading the novel for the first time, I'm sharing my reactions to the ending, revisiting my predictions, and discussing why this might be one of the most emotionally devastating Stephen King books I've read.

In this final installment of the Page Chewing read-along, we explore the consequences of Louis Creed's decisions, the terrifying events surrounding the burial ground, and the unanswered questions about the Wendigo and the supernatural forces influencing the characters.

I'm also revisiting some of my predictions from earlier...

What do crime novels get wrong about real police work?

In this episode of Beyond the Page, Steve welcomes author and law enforcement professional R. L. Carpentier III to discuss his Overlook trilogy, beginning with Our Lady of the Overlook, and how nearly two decades working in law enforcement have influenced his approach to writing realistic police procedurals.

Carpentier explains the details that immediately reveal when a crime writer hasn't experienced police work firsthand, from terminology and investigative procedures to the unrealistic responsibilities sometimes given to rookie officers.

We explore how he creates...

A dark fantasy comic surprises both of us, Marvel makes changes to its digital comics strategy, and we finally have a week without trombones!

This week on Panel Chewing, Steve and Jarrod discuss Marvel's partnership with Webtoon, the value of digital comic subscriptions, and whether services like Libby and Hoopla offer readers a better alternative.

We review Fire and Ice: Dark Wolf #4, Shift #1, Hammerhead #1, Cruel Kingdom Vol. 2 #2, Ice Cream Man: Chocolate Vanilla Twist #1, The Omega Book #3, Regicide #3, and City of Demons #5.

For our Pick of the Week, we both choose The Karman Blade #2...

We're nearing the conclusion of Stephen King's Pet Sematary, and the atmosphere is becoming increasingly terrifying.

In Chapters 55–57, the supernatural elements surrounding the burial ground become more prominent, raising new questions about the forces influencing Louis Creed and the other characters.

This time, I'm discussing the Wendigo, the disturbing imagery surrounding the burial ground, and whether Louis is acting entirely out of grief or being influenced by something beyond his control.

We also explore the novel's recurring themes of mortality, desperation, and humanity's desire to control things that may be beyond our understanding.

s social media actually helping authors sell books, or is it taking valuable time away from writing?

In this episode of Beyond the Page, Steve welcomes author, entrepreneur, and publishing professional Jodi Cowles, co-founder of Blue Hat Pub & Print and Well Told Studio, for a candid conversation about the challenges of writing, publishing, and finding readers in an increasingly crowded marketplace.

With more than 25 years of writing experience across multiple genres, Jodi has witnessed enormous changes in the publishing industry. She shares how independent publishing has opened opportunities for writers while making book discovery and...

What are the best horror comics and manga I've ever read?

In this episode of Page Chewing, I'm counting down my personal top 10 horror comics and manga, featuring everything from psychological terror and extreme survival horror to cosmic nightmares and unforgettable body horror.

Some of these stories have stayed with me for more than a decade. Others feature artwork so disturbing that it's impossible to forget.

We'll explore why Scott Snyder's Severed has one of my favorite comic book endings, why The Walking Dead is worth reading even if you've given up on...

The Pet Sematary read-along continues with Chapters 51–54, and Stephen King takes us through one of the most heartbreaking sequences of the novel.

Louis Creed's determination to retrieve Gage and bring him to the burial ground forces us to confront the devastating effects of grief and the lengths someone might go to escape unbearable emotional pain.

This time, I'm discussing King's remarkable ability to build tension through Louis's exhausting journey, the possibility that supernatural forces are influencing his decisions, and the increasingly mysterious intentions of the burial ground.

I'm also questioning something that hasn't re...

Is fantasy becoming too complicated? Are enormous series and excessive worldbuilding discouraging readers? And why is horror experiencing such strong sales compared with fantasy?

This week on Page Chewing, I'm exploring these questions and sharing my thoughts on whether fantasy could benefit from more standalone novels, shorter stories, and less emphasis on elaborate worldbuilding.

I'm also wrapping up my first reading of Stephen King's Pet Sematary. What initially left me somewhat disappointed has become one of my favorite King reading experiences as I've had more time to reflect on the story.

Our special...

The Slog continues!

We're back with Chapters 5–8 of R. Scott Bakker's The Thousandfold Thought, the final installment of The Prince of Nothing trilogy.

This week, Steve, Shobz, and Shawn explore some of the most psychologically fascinating developments in the series as Cnaiür continues his descent into madness, Kellhus becomes increasingly mysterious, and the consequences of manipulation begin to reveal themselves.

Cnaiür has always been one of Bakker's most complicated characters. But as his memories, emotions, and identity become increasingly fractured, we're left wondering how much of his behavior is truly his own...

The tension continues to build in Stephen King's Pet Sematary as Louis Creed moves closer to making a decision that could change everything.

In Chapters 46–50, we follow Louis's increasingly desperate efforts to reach Gage's body, while Rachel races back toward Ludlow and Jud prepares to intervene.

This section showcases King's ability to build suspense through small obstacles, detailed descriptions, and the thoughts of a character overwhelmed by grief.

We also explore how grief drives the characters in different directions, whether Louis is being influenced by something beyond his own desperation, and whether anyone ca...

Grief is pushing Louis Creed toward a decision that could change everything.

In Chapters 41–45 of Stephen King's Pet Sematary, Louis sends Rachel and Ellie to Chicago while becoming increasingly consumed by the possibility of bringing Gage back from the dead.

We explore King's use of Louis's internal thoughts, the desperation driving his decisions, and the questions he doesn't seem willing to confront about what resurrection might actually mean.

Meanwhile, Ellie begins receiving warnings through dreams involving Victor Pascow, raising new questions about why she's being contacted instead of Louis.

Can Jud st...

This week on Panel Chewing #152, we're talking about disappointing comics, surprising discoveries, Halloween horror, and two outstanding Picks of the Week.

We open with a conversation about the health of the comic book industry. Are comics thriving, or are the big superhero titles hiding problems facing smaller independent publishers?

Then we jump into this week's reading.

Steve finally reaches his breaking point with Absolute Superman #24. Despite enjoying the early issues, the series has lost the qualities that initially made it interesting. Is it time to move on?

Jarrod has a similar...

After a few days of battling a cold, I'm back with another Page Chewing weekly update!

This week I'm announcing our November featured read-along: Shadow & Claw by Gene Wolfe. We'll be taking a slower approach with weekly Friday discussions and a special guest conversation at the end of the month.

I'm also sharing my changing opinion of Stephen King as I continue reading Pet Sematary, discussing why Tender Is the Flesh has been such a disturbing experience, and revisiting R. Scott Bakker's The Thousandfold Thought as part of our full-spoiler Second Apocalypse reread.

...

In this episode of Beyond the Page, Steve welcomes author, Army veteran, and podcast host Danno E. Cabeza to discuss his upcoming novel, The Return of Doctor Necropolis, a superhero crime-noir story about a brilliant but deeply flawed supervillain.

Danno shares how an experimental writing project unexpectedly became a novel that took nearly ten years to complete. We explore what makes morally questionable protagonists compelling, the relationship between identity and personal responsibility, and why readers can sympathize with characters who repeatedly make terrible decisions.

We also discuss the challenges of returning to a manuscript after...

Everything changes in Chapters 36–40 of Stephen King's Pet Sematary.

We've reached Part Two, and the story takes a devastating turn that I absolutely did not see coming. After the quiet, happy moments at the end of Part One, Stephen King delivers one of the most jarring developments of the novel so far.

In this episode, I discuss Gage's sudden death, the different ways Louis, Rachel, and Ellie process grief, and the enormous emotional pressure placed on Louis as everyone looks to him for strength when he needs support himself.

We also learn more ab...

The Slog continues as our full-series reread enters the final book of The Prince of Nothing trilogy: R. Scott Bakker’s The Thousandfold Thought.

This week we're discussing Chapters 1–4, and after the battles and brutality of The Warrior Prophet, Bakker immediately shifts the focus back toward philosophy, character, belief, and the increasingly complicated consequences of Kellhus’s rise.

At the center of the discussion is Achamian. He knows what Kellhus is capable of, he's increasingly troubled by what he sees happening around him, and when he finally contacts the Mandate about Kellhus, their response isn't quite...

We've reached the end of Part One of Stephen King's Pet Sematary, and Chapters 31–35 bring some of the most emotionally difficult moments of the read-along so far.

Norma's death forces Jud to confront the loss of his wife of sixty years, while Rachel finally reveals the disturbing circumstances surrounding her sister Zelda's death. Her story raises new questions about grief, guilt, and why death has always been such a difficult subject for her.

Meanwhile, Church continues to behave strangely, and I'm beginning to question whether he's a danger to the Creed family or whether there's so...

Something is very wrong with Church.

In Chapters 21–25 of Stephen King's Pet Sematary, the mystery surrounding the burial ground deepens as Church returns from the dead—but something about him has changed.

This time, I'm discussing Jud's increasingly suspicious behavior, the strange atmosphere surrounding the burial ground, and the consequences of disrupting the natural cycle of life and death.

I'm also beginning to question whether Jud and Norma have a much deeper connection to the cemetery than we've been told.

Join me for another installment of the Page Chewing Pet Sematary read...

What happens when a simple fantasy story written for your children grows into an interconnected multiverse spanning thousands of years?

In this episode of Beyond the Page, Steve welcomes author and retired Air Force veteran Terrence Rotering to discuss his ambitious Chronicle Series, an expanding collection of books blending epic fantasy, science fiction, military action, and Christian-inspired spiritual warfare.

Terrence shares how his writing journey began with stories for his sons and eventually evolved into a universe featuring seven interconnected worlds, time travel, wormholes, dragons, artificial intelligence, and a cosmic struggle between good and evil.<...

This week on Panel Chewing #151, Steve and Jarrod kick things off with a conversation about the rising value of Green Lantern #87, the Lanterns television series, and the difficult balancing act of adapting beloved comic book characters for new audiences.

Then it's time to dig into this week's comics!

Steve returns to Absolute Superman #23, a series he desperately wants to love but can't seem to quit. Jarrod explores another Conan adaptation with The Cimmerian: Xuthal of the Dusk #1, and both of us try to make sense of the surprising direction taken by The Seasons: Hammerfist #2.

In Chapters 21–25 of Stephen King's Pet Sematary, the mystery surrounding the burial ground deepens as Church returns from the dead, but something about him has changed.

This time, I'm discussing Jud's increasingly suspicious behavior, the strange atmosphere surrounding the burial ground, and the consequences of disrupting the natural cycle of life and death.

I'm also beginning to question whether Jud and Norma have a much deeper connection to the cemetery than we've been told.

Join me for another installment of the Page Chewing Pet Sematary read-along as we continue tracking our observations, questions, an...

What happens when a simple fantasy story written for your children grows into an interconnected multiverse spanning thousands of years?

In this episode of Beyond the Page, Steve welcomes author and retired Air Force veteran Terrence Rotering to discuss his ambitious Chronicle Series, an expanding collection of books blending epic fantasy, science fiction, military action, and Christian-inspired spiritual warfare.

Terrence shares how his writing journey began with stories for his sons and eventually evolved into a universe featuring seven interconnected worlds, time travel, wormholes, dragons, artificial intelligence, and a cosmic struggle between good and evil.<...

The Pet Sematary read-along continues with Chapters 16–20, and things are becoming increasingly unsettling.

Victor Pascow returns with a terrifying warning for Louis Creed, raising even more questions about what's happening in Ludlow and the mysterious Pet Sematary. Was Louis really dreaming? What does Pascow know? And what lies beyond the cemetery?

We also discuss Norma's health scare, Louis settling into his new life, and Stephen King's continuing exploration of mortality, grief, and the cycle of life and death.

As always, I'm reading Pet Sematary for the first time, completely spoiler-free, and using our si...

It's another weekly update from Page Chewing! This week I'm checking in on my progress through The Bonehunters, discussing the challenges of reading Malazan, and sharing why Tender Is the Flesh has become one of the most genuinely unsettling books I've encountered.

I'm also continuing my reread of R. Scott Bakker's The Second Apocalypse, exploring Stephen King's Pet Sematary, and enjoying the unexpected journey of Lone Wolf and Cub.

Beyond the books, I'm talking about upcoming Page Chewing videos, interviews, and the future of our read-along format.

I close with a memorable quote...

After months of reading, Page Burners dives into Chapter 22 and an explosive finale that brings storylines stretching across the Malazan series crashing together in Malaz City.

Erikson has spent an entire book moving pieces across the board.

Now they've arrived in Malaz City.

Join us for our full-spoiler discussion of Chapter 22 and the finale of The Bonehunters as we try to make sense of what just happened and what it means for the future of the Malazan Empire.

The Deck has been dealt. The Fourteenth has come home. The Empire will...

The Pet Sematary read-along continues with Chapters 11–15, and it feels like we've reached the moment when Stephen King's nightmare truly begins.

This is a relatively short section, but a major event involving Victor Pascow dramatically increases the creepiness and raises some big questions. Why does Victor know Louis's name? What exactly is wrong with the Pet Sematary? What does Jud know? And how much does the town itself understand about what's happening?

We also continue tracking the recurring ideas of death, grief, birth and the cycle of life while watching how those subjects affect Louis, Ra...

This week on the Friday Conversation, I'm joined by Jose from Fantasy Talks Live and author Alex French for an open discussion about genre burnout and whether fantasy is particularly susceptible to it.

We talk about massive series, thousand page books, taking breaks from our favorite genres, and why we inevitably seem to come back to fantasy anyway.

Along the way, the conversation expands into standalone fantasy novels, unfinished series, overly complicated worldbuilding and magic systems, science fiction, authors jumping between genres, and whether fantasy writers need to earn the right to ask readers to...

In this episode of Beyond the Page, Steve sits down with poet and author Andrea W. LeDew to discuss Polemics, a collection that grew from years of blogging, poetry, essays, and reflections on contemporary American life.

Andrea talks about her path from studying English and practicing law to homeschooling, blogging, and eventually publishing her work. We explore writing as a way of processing difficult subjects, using satire and metaphor in poetry, and the challenge of creating work about current events that can still resonate years later.

Andrea also shares stories from living in Germany during...

The Pet Sematary read-along continues with Chapters 6–10, and Stephen King is already turning our attention toward one unavoidable subject: death.

This time I'm looking at the developing friendship between Louis and Jud, the Creed family dynamic, Rachel's discomfort with death, our first trip to the Pet Sematary, and the increasingly eerie feeling surrounding Ludlow and the woods.

I'm also adding our first major prediction to the evolving notebook after a strange dream involving Louis, Gage, Church, and Disney World. Does it mean anything? I have absolutely no idea, but I'm calling my shot and saying we...

Panel Chewing has officially reached 150 episodes!

We kick off this milestone episode with a question for comic collectors and readers: does the physical format of a comic matter? From standard issues and oversized magazine format books to tiny Lone Wolf and Cub editions, we talk about size, paper quality, price, collecting headaches and whether publishers like DSTLRY are using larger formats as a gimmick, or genuinely giving readers something better.

Then we realize something pretty important: this is episode 150. So we take a moment to thank everyone who's listened, watched and joined us along the...

What are my favorite grimdark and dark fantasy books?

This isn't quite the usual list.

I'm counting down ten of the books and series that have stuck with me the most—from lesser-known indie fantasy to some familiar names that longtime Page Chewing listeners probably won't be surprised to see near the top.

We get into brutal worlds, morally complicated characters, dark humor, grief, violence, philosophy, unforgettable endings, and the books that have affected me enough that I literally needed to put them down and walk away for a while.

The li...

In this episode of Beyond the Page, Steve talks with Eva Levina, author of the two book Death Is No Reason to Stop Living series, about her experience in a 25-year marriage that she describes as involving covert emotional abuse and the difficult journey of rebuilding her life afterward.

Eva discusses the subtle warning signs she says she missed, including gaslighting, constant criticism, sleep deprivation, manipulation and financial control. She also talks candidly about trauma bonding, therapy, learning to trust herself again, and the process of rediscovering the interests and ambitions she had put aside.

...

The Pet Sematary Read-Along begins!

For the first episode, I'm discussing Stephen King's introduction and Chapters 1–5 as the Creed family settles into their new home and Louis begins an unexpected friendship with their neighbor, Jud.

This is my first time reading Pet Sematary, and I've never seen any of the film adaptations, so I'm going into the story almost completely blind. Using the same evolving-notebook approach from the Blood Meridian read-along, I'll be tracking six questions throughout the book:

• What stood out?

• What am I noticing about the characters?

• What the...

This week on Page Chewing, I’m wrapping up my September Blood Meridian read-along and looking ahead to October’s journey through Stephen King’s Pet Sematary.

I talk about how slowing down and reading Blood Meridian one chapter at a time completely changed my experience with the novel, what I’m currently reading—including The Warrior Prophet and Lone Wolf and Cub—and what’s coming up on Page Chewing.

I also share some thoughts on rewatching The Sopranos and One Hour Photo, including how differently One Hour Photo’s ideas about privacy hit in the age of so...

Think comic books are all superheroes, capes, and decades of confusing continuity? There’s a lot more to the medium than that.

In this episode, Steve shares 10 comics he’d recommend to someone who says, “I don’t read comics—where do I start?”

This isn’t a ranking of the greatest comics ever written. Instead, these are approachable recommendations covering fantasy, crime, science fiction, comedy, superheroes, and several very different flavors of horror.

The recommendations include (Amazon Affiliate links):

• The Sacrificers by Rick Remender & Max Fiumara Think comic books are all superheroes...

After 23 chapters, the Blood Meridian read-along is complete—but the questions certainly aren't.

For this special concluding conversation, I'm joined by Steven Frye, author of Understanding Cormac McCarthy, to dig into some of the biggest questions I was left with after finishing Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian.

What exactly is Judge Holden? Why is he so interested in the kid? Does the kid actually change? What does his refusal to completely embrace the Judge's philosophy tell us about him? And what really happens in the jakes at the end of the novel?

We also di...

We start with Jarrod's thoughts on Supergirl, which leads us into a larger conversation about superhero movies, shorter theatrical windows, interconnected universes, and whether Marvel and DC would be better served by worrying less about the bigger universe and simply making good individual movies. 149

Then it's time for this week's comics, including Lost Fantasy #2, Absolute Cassandra Cain #1, Detective Comics #1113, Absolute Green Arrow #5, The Hab #4, and Hellraiser: Resurrections #1. There aren't any complete disasters in the stack, but there are definitely a few books hanging on by a thread. 149 149 149

That brings us to what we're calling our “li...

We've reached the end of Blood Meridian.

Chapter 23 brings the kid, now the man, face-to-face with Judge Holden one final time, and suddenly so many things we've been tracking throughout this read-along begin connecting.

The dancing.

The kid's capacity for mercy.

The Judge's obsession with war.

Predators and prey.

Cycles of violence.

And the question we've been asking almost from the beginning: Why did Judge Holden take such an interest in the kid?

In this episode, I work through my immediate reaction to...

For twenty-two chapters, we've been asking the same question.

Why is Judge Holden interested in the kid?

We've noticed the smiles.

The conversations.

The Judge's attempts to influence him.

The kid's apparent resistance.

Holden hunting him through the desert.

And throughout all of it, we've wondered whether the Judge sees something in the kid that we don't.

Chapter 22 may finally give us the answer.

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Chapter 21 is short, but it gives us one of the clearest looks yet at who the kid has become.

Wounded and still being hunted by Judge Holden, the kid has multiple opportunities to abandon Tobin and save himself. Tobin even tells him to go.

The kid refuses.

He also gets an opportunity to fire at the Judge and doesn't take it, raising another question we've been carrying since Chapter 15: is the kid actually afraid of Judge Holden?

Then comes one of the great reversals of the novel. The kid and Tobin...