Her latest novel (in progress) is DARK FACTORY. She creates immersive fiction with a rotating ensemble of video artists, dancers, musicians and performers. Her novels – including THE CIPHER, BUDDHA BOY, TALK, and the UNDER THE POPPY trilogy–have won awards, been multiply translated, and optioned for film and performance. Her work combines and plays with genres, from YA to contemporary to historical to horror. Kathe Koja is a writer, director and independent producer. Take a peek inside the funhole and see what delicious perversion emerges.” You can check out the listing here if you’re interested. She describes the scent thusly: “A sultry, complex blend of mandarin, jasmine, and rich amber. I don’t have The Funhole, but I just might pick it up. Not an ad (I swear), just throwing it out into the universe because I’ve been extremely impressed by her work so far. I have a few of her candles, and they smell incredible. As a side note, author Kristi DeMeester runs an Etsy shop called ScentFromHell that actually makes a candle inspired by this book. This book is culty, it’s super goopy, it’s bleak, and strange and I absolutely loved it. Also, I hope you’re paying attention because the Funhole causes there to be DIVERGENT BANDS OF SYCOPHANTS. Although all of the divergent bands of sycophants are nearly as bad. “Nakota would rot differently from other people she would be the first to admit it.” I just love those unhinged, pointy, mean little DIY Trash Queens so god damned much. I also love Marla (who came to be a few years later than Nakota, so I’m solely making a comparison here – not throwing shade, ftr), so I guess in literary settings, I totally have a type.
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She even has the whole thrift-store extraordinaire thing going on. She’s like a bony, violently psychotic Marla Singer. He’s just some listless dude working at a video store. Nicholas is one of those people who is basically just existing – there’s nothing particularly interesting or likeable about him. I love that there is almost nobody here that you want to root for. I love inescapable, indescribable, indifferent horror, and this one is definitely all of that. But I couldn’t/didn’t want to put it down.
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She is consistently redefining the genre we would conventionally call "horror.I originally got an E-ARC of The Cipher by Kathe Koja from Net Galley (although I also received a physical copy in a Night Worms package shortly after requesting. She is currently working on a conceptual "book" that will utterly defy the boundaries of sequential pages between two covers, (it's called "Dark Factory.") Koja has been honored with the Bram Stoker Award and the Locus Award - she writes short fiction, young adult fiction. Koja has a new book of short stories, Velocities, coming out in April. We're chatting with Detroit-based author Kathe Koja about the immersive qualities of her writing - not only in the way in which she creates vivid descriptions and dynamic characters through her words but also through her own theatre company.