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We all remember fondly all those times when we were young and sat near the bonfire, joking and playing with each other before someone, or someones, also took a seat. Everything would go quiet as these persons, each taking turns to speak, started to narrate a story. Ghosts, vampires, aliens, and more peppered our experiences throughout the night as we passed around a sachet and sprinkled the Midnight Dust into the fire as...no, wait, that was a TV show. Anyway, The Haunted Den by Thurston Howl Publications follows a similar premise: seven authors, each bringing us a ghost story, all tied by a single overall theme. Hauntings.

CW: This anthology contains references and descriptions of, but is not limited to, suicide, death, gore, violence, dubious consent, domestic abuse, among others.

The anthology has a strong start with "The Well" by Anastasia Spinet. In this story, we follow Jonah, the patriarch of a family of ring-tailed cats, and his fascination with the eponymous deep well located in the garden of his new home, one that seems to have changed hands quite often. While I liked the slight The Shining vibes and the way the main character develops throughout the story, I think that what most makes it stand out is how it mixes its "furry" elements with its plot (surprisingly, something not as common in furry literature as you might think). However, I feel like this story could have maybe used a few more pages, as once the ball starts rolling it starts feeling quite rushed with everything that happens.

Next is "The Road to Kyoto" by Alison Cybe. In this story, we follow Roka, a fox-spirit-turned-Shinto-monk in a pilgrimage who, in a manner similar to Aura, soon finds himself at the mercy of an old innkeeper and her underage daughter. The story has tension written all over it, with the main character never getting a moment of rest as danger and dread follow him everywhere he goes; however, for a short story, I feel that there were several superfluous elements introduced. A few of them do kind of make sense, aiding to the tension of very specific scenes before being discarded altogether, but others just have no payoff or any bearing with the story at all.

Changing things up a little, we have "Postmortem Plundering" by Ferric. Unlike the rest of the anthology, the titular haunting refers to a person and not a place as we follow John, a blue jay who receives an unexpected visit from a former, not-so-dead lover. My biggest gripe with this stor is how, for the most part, it feels more like a paranormal romance and not bonafide horror, only changing that tone very near the end of it (though in a very effective way, I might add); but I guess that could be a big plus for someone else who's into the actions and type of relationship being portrayed. Also, in an unrelated tangent, this story has the honor of being the only one with an individual Content Warning right at the start of it.

Next, we have "Saturn in the Sky" by Will Sidel. Kind of following the same trend as the previous story, here we have a more personal type of horror as we follow Lou, a lioness who not only has to deal with the haunting memories of her dead father, but also with his rapidly expanding corpse. While I like the setup and the relationship of Lou with her father, especially regarding the mysterious rules he had her follow, I feel like there was not much of a payoff in the end. Though I'll admit that maybe it was just me as I get the feeling that there was some underlying symbolism I didn't understand, and that left me in the dark with no explicit explanation in the text itself.

Returning to our regular schedule, we have "Snowblind" by Robert Shelters. In this story, we follow a rescue team sent to investigate a remote research station after losing all contact with it. The vivid and detailed descriptions really make this story stand out, and that coupled with nice pacing really help set the mood of the story, yet, in spite of them, the story has an overall feeling of lack of tension. The research station, in all its dilapidated and dangerous glory, feels like an aftermath for the most part (which, to be honest, it is) rather than an actual setting, and Neil, our raccoon protagonist, never really feels like he's in any actual danger.

Next is "Old Callow House" by Nathaniel "LeCount" Edwards. In this story, we follow a trio of friends as they investigate the long-abandoned house of the Callow family, left like that after the mysterious disappearance of its previous occupants. Much like in the previous story, here we can see a lot of detail given to the description of the eponymous house, its current state, and history, which almost makes it feel like the house itself was another character. Overall a nice read, but the story at times gives vibes of something that you could find in r/noSleep, both in a good and a bad sense.

Last, but definitely not least, we have my favorite: "The Buccaneer's Bay" by Nathan Hopp. In this story, we follow the host of "Trent Explorers", an otter named Trent, as he ventures into the eponymous waterpark which was abandoned after the deaths of several parkgoers. The meta-narrative format coupled with a good use of dread and tension are what made the story for me, not to mention that it has the most likable protagonist in this anthology, which made me more invested in the story and his story as a whole. My only complaint would be the epilogue, which felt kind of unnecessary.

While the anthology as a whole had a few misses, overall I can say that I had a good time reading The Haunted Den. The different takes on what is a haunting and the ways the authors handled them was interesting, and I have to applaud the illustrations by Nik Raccoon both in art style and how well they fit their individual story. However, I feel that the anthology could have used a little more developmental editing, as many of the stories could have used some very small tweaks to better play to their strengths and fix their most glaring issues.

In an unrelated subject, if the editors of this anthology - or any editor for that matter - see this review, I'd like to bring up again the individual Content Warning of Postmortem Plundering. This was a great idea (even if it was weird that only one story had it) and something that I'd personally love to see in more anthologies; especially for cases like horror, where the content and subjects are meant to disturb the reader, and you risk having specific topics that might be too much for very specific readers.

The Haunted Den, eds. Tarl Voice Hoch and Thurston Howl

TigerTails Radio Season 13 Episode 08 Join the Discord Chat: https://discord.gg/SQ5QuRf For a full preview of events and for previous episodes, please visit http://www.tigertailsradio.co.uk. See website for full breakdown of song credits, which is usually updated shortly after the show.

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BIPOC FURRY EVENTS

On March 12th, '21 I interviewed Hanzo a half Japanese, half Irish drifter busy making beats in his studio. When he's not rapping, singing, making videos, or dancing with his crew Clawz N' Concrete Crew. He dishes his grievances towards the furry fandom and why he prefers to call himself a 'beastman' instead of a furry in this interview.

Hanzo doesn't pull punches when talking about "furry role models" and the lack of the accountability in the fandom. Not to mention fandom's obsession with EDM or what goes on in some of the room parties. 

Stepping outside of the criticisms of the fandom Hanzo touches on the anti-Asian rhetoric spread by 45, the model minority, and imperialism. Buckle in because things get heavy, but it's not all heavy! 

Thanks for listening! 

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Interview With Hanzo - Outcasts, Imperialism, & Fresh Beats

And one more from Simon & Schuster and the Glass House Graphics people, before we get away from that. Super Turbo is a new full-color graphic novel series written by Edgar Powers. Volume 1 is Super Turbo Saves The Day! “Turbo the hamster is the official classroom pet of Classroom C at Sunnyview Elementary… and he has a top secret identity as Super Turbo, crime-fighting superhero! He can’t believe it when he finds out he’s not the only superpet in town (or in school)! As he meets fellow superpets, such as Angelina the guinea pig (a.k.a. Wonder Pig) and Frank the rabbit (a.k.a. Boss Bunny), he also encounters a super villain: A rat who goes by the name of Whiskerface. Can Turbo and the Superpet Superhero League save the school from Whiskerface and his rat pack?”

image c. 2021 Simon & Schuster

The Annie Awards for 2020 were presented on April 15th — in an on-line virtual ceremony, of course. Presented each year by the International Animated Film Society (ASIFA), the Annie Awards are considered to be the Oscars of animation. Surprising no one, Disney/Pixar’s Soul was the big winner of the night, taking home seven Annies including Best Feature Film. (And hey, it’s got some anthro elements to it as well!). Wolfwalkers did quite well also, taking the award for Best Independent Feature back to Ireland, as well as honors for Production Design, Character Design, Directing, and Voice Acting (for Eva Whittaker as Mebh the wolf-girl). Cartoon Saloon, which created Wolfwalkers, also took home the award for Best Sponsored Production (eg “best commercial”) for their environmental PSA There’s A Monster In My Kitchen. Magic Light Pictures won the Best Special Production award for The Snail and the Whale. Over in the TV awards it was a good night for furry stuff, as Primal won for Best General Audience TV Series, Adventures of Paddington won for Best TV Production For Preschool, and Hilda won for Best TV Production For Children — as well as two other awards. Some single awards of note for furry fans include Looney Tunes for Best Storyboarding, Shooom’s Odyssey for Best TV Production Design, and Amphibia for Best TV Character Design.  All in all it was another good night for furries in the world of animation. Visit the Annie web site to see all the winners.

image c. 2021 Disney/Pixar

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THIS EPISODE CONTAINS WORDS AND SUBJECT MATTER THAT SOME FOLKS/FURS MAY FIND OFFENSIVE.  THIS EPISODE IS RATED NC-17

 Pepper Coyote visits with us this week. He talks with us about the Covid Vaccination kerfuffle twitterstorm that caused consternation.  Hear his thought process as well as his statements about the state of the vaccinations, his political leanings, and his thoughts about being a furry and a furry musician.  He chats about supporting other furry musicians and what about all that coffee? Taebyn explains about Math Awareness Month. Ace/Ink from Ireland, joins us for Five Minute Furs. Do kitties really like being on Roomba's? Lux Operon is brought up. This is our last regular episode of Season 1.  It is super long so we hope you stick around. Remember: Hilarity ensues.

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Thanks to all our listeners and to our staff: Bearly Normal, Rayne Raccoon, Taebyn, Cheetaro, TickTock, and Ziggy the Meme Weasel.

You can send us a message on Telegram at BFFT Chat, or via email at: bearlyfurcasting@gmail.com

Bearly Furcasting #51 - Pepper Coyote, Media, Five Minute Furs, Storytime and Trivia

[Papabear Note: This letter is from a furry with whom I have spoken before, so I know his history, including that he has OCD]

Dear Papabear,

So … do you sometimes ever just have very dark thoughts of doing something that you would never do for no apparent reason? Cuz, I did just now and it’s really disturbing me. Something to do with doing something really bad with animals that I would never do. I love and care about animals, I would never want to hurt them in any way, shape or form.

Anonymous

* * *

Dear Furiend,

This is a topic people don't like to talk about, so kudos to you for being brave and honest about such a disturbing thing.

Everyone has dark thoughts. I've had them myself. Sometimes, I have even wished death on a person. I'm not proud of that, but there it is. The difference between someone who thinks dark thoughts on occasion and one who acts on them is the difference between a normal human being and a psychopathic murderer. You see, a normal person has something in their brain (call it a conscience) that is a wall, a sign that says STOP!, that prevents them from acting out that aggression. You have that wall, so you're okay.

There is a difference between you and me, though, which can cause you to have recurring thoughts of hurting people. There is a subset of OCD called "Harm OCD," which is the fear of harming someone or yourself. You obsess about objects that might serve as weapons and worry constantly that you might harm someone either consciously or unconsciously, not even knowing you're doing it. 

These are obsessions that are symptomatic of your particular form of OCD. They do not reflect on your moral character as a human being, and they do not mean you will actually carry these actions out. They do not make you a bad person. Can't stress that enough.

To treat your Harm OCD, you need therapy. Therapists use a form of behavioral therapy called Exposure Response Prevention (ERP) in which you are continuously exposed to objects that trigger your Harm OCD until you become resistant to them. Repeated association with something and not acting out on it eventually establishes pathways in your brain that tell you that your fear regarding that object will not become reality. For example, say you are afraid you will take a kitchen knife and stab a person or animal. The therapist might instruct you to carry a plastic, dull knife around with you everywhere until you realize that you will never use a knife as a weapon.

Here is an excellent summary about Harm OCD you should read.

​Please seek the guidance of a professional to treat your condition.
​
Hugs,
Papabear

Fox and Burger Podcast #7: Staffing at FurPoint, Translating “Furry” to Chinese + More - Feat Carbon. ---- In this episode of the Fox and Burger Podcast, we’re taking you back to the beautiful island of Taiwan. Joining us today is Carbon the wolf. Carbon has served as a staff member for FurPoint in December 2020 (the con’s first year), serving as the con’s interpreter for FurScience. In this episode, we focus mainly on FurPoint, a new convention in Taiwan, which is also a con that both Burger and I have attended. Join us as we talk about our con experiences, translating certain furry concepts into Chinese, and much more! Social Media: Fox: https://twitter.com/foxnakh Burger: https://twitter.com/L1ghtningRunner Carbon: https://twitter.com/Carbon_The_Wolf https://www.facebook.com/carbon.the.wolf Furpoint: https://twitter.com/furpoint1 https://furpoint.furexp.com/ https://www.facebook.com/FurPoint/ https://www.plurk.com/FurPoint Footage Used: https://twitter.com/EinaDriving/status/1367675675239407617?s=20 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el3br0REh6o https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6r2SFT-Rp9M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuPp5Rwm07I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToFBcQbRovw Stock photos provided by PixaBay.

Also new from Simon & Schuster, the Pup Detective graphic novels are written by Felix Gumpaw and, once again, illustrated by Glass House Graphics. Volume 1 is called The First Case, sensibly enough. “Puppy PI Rider Woofson thought he was the only detective at Pawston Elementary, but while bringing down a pencil theft ring, he finds out that there are other super sleuths at school. Fortunately (or not!) there’s plenty of pet-ty crime happening at Pawston, so Rider joins forces with the other puppy PIs to form the PI Pack—the best (and only!) detective group at school. Their first case is high stakes because it hits every student in the belly…a lunchtime bandit is stealing the best food from the cafeteria! Will the Pup Detectives bring the noodle nabber to justice, or will the hungry students of Pawston be left to endure Soup Surprise for lunch every day?” Check out the rest of the series as well, in paperback or hardcover.

image c. 2021 Simon & Schuster

Your fursuit will outlive you. While we will enjoy our plastic pelts for as long as we can, they will inevitably end up in the garbage where they will remain for about 1000 years without degradation! Will fursuits outlive the furry fandom that inspired them? Maybe! Merch, Sweet Tees and stuff: http://www.culturallyfd.com https://teespring.com/stores/culturally-fd-merchandise Support Culturally F'd: https://www.patreon.com/culturallyfd Plus a Newsletter: http://tinyurl.com/gsz8us7 Listen in on TEMPO TALKS with Tempe O'Kun https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIPk-itLl1jPyIK2c7mK-LpbvfDNqfcSW Check out Tempe O'Kun's books "Sixes Wild" and "Windfall" here: http://furplanet.com/shop/?affillink=YOUTU2907 Here's a playlist of his other Culturally F'd videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIPk-itLl1jPS7tnT4hdJwBI-CeLF8Kb_

Out now from Simon & Schuster, there’s a new graphic novel series for young readers: The Dragon Kingdom of Wrenly, written by Jordan Quinn and illustrated by the team at Glass House Graphics. Volume 1, The Coldfire Curse, goes like this: “As the pampered pet dragon of the Prince of Wrenly, Ruskin has never known life beyond the walls of the palace. Until the day a young dragon from Crestwood comes to the palace to plead for help. An evil curse has been unleashed in Crestwood and threatens to destroy all of Wrenly. Ruskin has a choice to make: Stay safe at home in the palace, or try to help save his kingdom. For Ruskin, there is no choice. He knows he has to try and help if he can.” Several volumes are available now, in hardcover and paperback.

image c. 2021 Simon & Schuster

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BIPOC FURRY EVENTS

On February 21st, '21 I sat down with Rocky, a black individual with a lot to say about America and the way it upholds its systems of oppression. While I wasn't sure what to expect from this usually upbeat dancer things quickly turned into a lengthy conversation about how poverty keeps us poor, and how things got to where  they are now. It's honestly gut wrenching to come closer to understanding the faces of white supremacy and the many ways it snakes into our lives.

The police, for example, are meant to protect us. But when they're not held accountable for misuse of power, and BIPOC bodies hit the floor, who can we turn to? Rocky puts these things very eloquently, and with words that come from the heart. Things get real, and graphic in this episode, but Rocky's perspective sheds new light on things taken for granted by the common person.

This goes without saying but I'll say it anyway.

Black Lives Matter. All Cops Are Bastards.

Thanks for listening, everybody!

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Interview With Rocky - Poverty, Toxic Independence, & Personal Privileges

Dajan Tafari’s novella “Spin the Bottle” is unabashed vore erotica. If you don’t find furries swallowing one another whole and digesting them to be sexy, you should turn back now. The book presents a world where the consumption of furries by other furries is uncommon, but not unheard of, and at this one college, one fraternity house in particular is known for parties where many guests end up in guts. Our main character, a fairly small housecat, desperately wants to be a predator, so he goes to one of the frat’s parties with his roommate who is opposed to vore. There, they get into a party game with a twist, “spin the bottle” in which the spinner tries to devour whoever the bottle points at. Who will walk away? Who becomes dinner? The bottle decides. Now, I know this is the author’s first long-form story, and there were points where that much was obvious. After the first player gets eaten, the next spinner is selected using a random phone app, which is understandably necessary given how players kept getting eliminated, and could have played into the MC’s obliviousness to the game’s nature, but it felt like Dajan was pulling it out of his ass. **SPOILER ALERT** It’s also hard to see why prey anthros would willingly play the game knowing what it was, they say it’s their one possible chance to potentially be a pred for once, but we don’t see any prey species successfully eat somebody. The mouse and pig never even get a chance to spin before they’re nommed and the rabbit gags on her “prey.” **SPOILERS OVER** It gives more thought to the societal implications of vore than most stories and a couple well-known webcomics, but that’s not necessarily the kind of thing you want to read when you’re trying to wank off. A bit like erotic horror really. The setting is horrific, but in a kinky way that evokes seemingly contradictory feelings in you. If you've been looking for a novel-length vore story, and I haven't seen many of those, check this one out. But if you’re not a vorearephile, this book probably isn’t for you.

Spin the Bottle, by Dajan Tafari

TigerTails Radio Season 13 Episode 07 Join the Discord Chat: https://discord.gg/SQ5QuRf For a full preview of events and for previous episodes, please visit http://www.tigertailsradio.co.uk. See website for full breakdown of song credits, which is usually updated shortly after the show.

For those who thought that Furry Art got its start in the 1980’s…  meet T.S. Sullivant, who was doing this when Walt Disney was still in school. Now Fantagraphics Books have compiled many of his well-known black & white cartoons — along with words of appreciation — into a new book called A Cockeyed Menagerie. “Welcome to the cockeyed menagerie of Thomas Starling Sullivant. From the 1880s to the Roaring Twenties, Sullivant conjured up a whimsical world in pen and ink — riotous gag cartoons featuring anthropomorphic animals of all stripes; perennial American ‘types’ like hobos, hayseeds, and urban hucksters; and familiar characters from ancient myths and biblical tales. Imbued with infectious joy, his drawings have inspired generations of artists and countless Disney films.” It’s available now in hardcover.

image c. 2021 Fantagraphics Books

Back when we first talked about  The Chicken Squad book series, we made a silly crack about how one day they might be made into a “chick flick”.  Well… maybe a TV series is a good halfway point? “The Chicken Squad, Disney Junior’s new cg animated comedy adventure hits the airways on Disney Junior and DisneyNOW on Friday May 14. The series, which was inspired by the popular kids’ book series of the same name by Doreen Cronin, follows a trio of young chicken siblings—Coop, Sweetie and Little Boo—and their retired search and rescue dog mentor, Captain Tully. Together, they team up on problem-solving adventures in their backyard to help their animal friends, while modeling what it means to be good community helpers and finding the joy in assisting others.” Animation World Network has more information, and a preview trailer too.

image c. 2021 Disney Junior

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Cathryn Gandy from Sarvey Wildlife joins us today to talk about the work of the Sarvey Wildlife foundation.  Listen and learn all about what it takes to be a Wildlife rehabilitator and hear about her adventures of being one AND a Furry!  Taebyn teaches us a new way to count. Is Bearly a curmudgeon? Teabyn learns about Micronesia. Taebyn takes a long journey to Euler's Method, and takes Bearly to 5th term calculus!  As always, we share some really bad jokes too.  So join Bearly and Taebyn for a great time, and toss your cares aside! Moobarkfluff!

www.sarveywildlife.org

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Thanks to all our listeners and to our staff: Bearly Normal, Rayne Raccoon, Taebyn, Cheetaro, TickTock, and Ziggy the Meme Weasel.

You can send us a message on Telegram at BFFT Chat, or via email at: bearlyfurcasting@gmail.com

Bearly Furcasting #50 - Cathryn Gandy from Sarvey Wildlife, Euler's Method, and Really Bad Jokes.

Remember when we talked about Rivals of Aether, a very furry video game? Well now Dan Fornace and his creative team are exploring a new medium as they bring us Tales of Aether — Future Imperfect, a full-color comic book series slated to come out later this year. Over on YouTube they have a preview video that introduces a lot of the new characters and situations. Be on the lookout!

image c. 2021 Aether Studios

We’re sorry we didn’t hear about Rudek and the Bear before — but now creator Peter Donahue has a Kickstarter campaign running to get the second collection volume out, and it looks very interesting. “Rudek and the Bear is a webcomic featuring anthropomorphic soldiers and smugglers and their shenanigans along the Polish-Soviet border in 1929… Since Volume I came out, the story and characters have evolved so much. Rudek the fox faces his PTSD from the Polish-Ukrainian War; Masha the bear grapples with the moral consequences of smuggling stolen goods; and Malutki (the big bear) chooses which side he’s on.” The campaign has already reached its initial goal, so stay tuned to find out what stretches get added between now and the finish.

image c. 2021 by Peter Donahue

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BIPOC FURRY EVENTS

On February 20th, '21 I sat down with Teddy Wynton a black drummer outta Maryland who's been in the fandom for decades and has quite a few stories to tell. He pulls from his past to paint a detailed look at the fandom and how being a furry has changed his life in more than one way. Especially when it comes to accepting things about himself that were are to face alone like his sexuality.

Teddy also articulates the root of problems blerds (black nerds) have when it comes to anti-blackness and feeling cast out. Made understandable by the way he layers in with his own experiences. Not to mention the onslaught of judgement for trying to wear his hair "naturally" but getting turned away for being "unprofessional."  This is a perspective you're not going to want to miss.

Music really energizes Teddy and elevates him to a new plane of existence. It's obvious from the way he talks about his musical inspirations. As a "drum for hire" he's done everything from performing with MJ impersonators to collaborating with Louie Zong. Though, as you'll find out, he still considers himself to be a student. He also divulges how he feels about the lack of music diversity at furcons, and why it's so prevalent.  Turns out carrying your drums everywhere isn't that practical!

Thanks for listening, everyone!

----SONG CREDITS----
FULL SONG
Baddwill
Captain Nikko (NSFW 18+ SPICY)

----COVER ART ARTIST----
TeaCakes

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Interview With Teddy Wynton - Music Adoration, Authenticity, & Self Hate