Cover Story
The Seeker
Chapter 1 About the Artist Artist Liz Valasco says she discovered the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes when she was 7 and “never looked back.” Her comics, zines, drawings and prints can be gently haunting, but there’s a sympathetic wonder to them, whether they depict aliens, odd children, monsters, late-night horror queens like Vampira or…
UPDATE:‘All Hands on Deck’
Judges rule Trump admin must fund food assistance program but it’s unclear when payments will be made Two federal judges ruled today that the Trump administration must fund a food assistance program that provides a vital lifeline to 42 million people across the nation, including 30,000 low-income residents of Humboldt County, during the government shutdown.…
Two Bags of Apples
Doing what you can with what you have I am a perfectionist. A lot of the things I want to do don’t get done because I am afraid I won’t do them perfectly. This is why I don’t have a few dozen of my own novels on the bookshelf: I instead put my prodigious imagination…
‘A Matter of Life and Death’
McKinleyville district sues Trump administration after mental health grant revoked The McKinleyville Union School District has sued the Trump administration, alleging the federal government unlawfully discontinued a $7 million grant it was awarded last year to provide mental health services to students. Filed on behalf of the district against the U.S. Department of Education and…
The King in Yellow
Written in the last decade of the 19th century, Robert W. Chambers’ The King in Yellow inhabits a high-water mark in the lineage of weird fiction and is like nothing else in the canon, including the other published works by the author himself. Only a couple of the stories follow the titular theme to its…
First Saturday Night Arts Alive
Nov. 1, from 6 to 9 p.m. Experience the vibrant atmosphere as galleries, museums, theaters, bars and restaurants extend their hours for your enjoyment. C STREET ARTS ALIVE FEST C Street between Second and Third streets. Guest artists, musicians, performance groups, food trucks and more. 4TH STREET MERCANTILE 215 Fourth St. Various artists. ART CENTER…
Our Daughter Amantha
Attn: Milton G. Burg Junior High Principal Samantha Summers Re: Fair Accommodation Standards for all students, possible litigation Dear Principal Summers, I’m writing to you today to document our family’s struggles over the past few months to obtain a fair and equitable education for our child, your student, Amanthania BloodRoseoftheHeath Anderson. A copy of this…
Haunted Houses for Halloween
Editor’s Note: The North Coast Journal’s editorial staff would like to thank haunted house enthusiast Amber Saba for touring and scoring the local scare scene so we could cower in the safety of our newsroom. Below are her findings. Griffin Loch’s Scream-a-torium at the Scaregrounds Humboldt County Fairgrounds Thursday, Oct. 30, andFriday, Oct. 31, from…
Fresh Blood
Four horror reads off the beaten path Horror crosses human boundaries in a way other works of fiction struggle with. Humor, for instance, is notoriously difficult to translate, as the comedic power of wordplay doesn’t always work across cultures, and nothing kills a joke more than the expository annotations required to bridge the gap. Horror,…
A House of Dynamite’s Harsh Realities
A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE. “Not exactly escapist fare,” was my first thought, which was followed rapidly by the notion that maybe, in the face of racist, fascist theocracy on the rise internationally, a movie about mutually assured destruction by nuclear annihilation can offer some fleeting relief. I kid (sort of), because A House of Dynamite…
Beyond the Spectacle: The Real Threat to Democracy
Editor: While President Trump dominates headlines with theatrical antics, the true danger lies in the actions of those around him. His administration has become a magnet for individuals intent on undermining the Constitution and reshaping the nation into something unrecognizable. The president’s words may be erratic, but his allies are methodically setting the stage for…
Crap Dustin’
Editor: In a juvenile response to the recent No Kings rallies, President Trump released an AI-generated video depicting himself as a hero bomber pilot king wearing a crown who is dropping excrement on the No Kings protesters below. On the other hand, if one looks at this video symbolically, one can arrive at a totally…
The January Wake Up
I was a baby-faced eagle who woke in January. Flying near a screen, I had to stop before I could even start. I witnessed barricaded doors being torn apart. Subjects wielded weighty flagpoles. They smashed at the foundation; the shards were yelled out whole. Guards were knocked into crying arms, and eagles looked around for…
Orwellian Days
Editor: Many years ago, I read Animal Farm and 1984 never thinking that I’d be looking at comparisons to our own governance. Yet, here we are. I just reread both and found Animal Farm to have as much in common with Trumpian politics as 1984. I was surprised by that, at first. But totalitarianism isn’t…
‘Cruel and Unjustified’
Editor: I am a 76-year-old man living in Arcata. I have Social Security, Medicare and a supplemental medical policy. I have had a complicated form of heart tachycardia for a long time. My medications had stopped working and I had to go to Santa Rosa for an ablation. My preliminary appointment was via telemedicine. I…
‘Disappointed’
Editor: I began reading the cover article (“Protecting the Night,” Oct. 16) with enthusiasm and finished it disappointed. The new ordinance may shine a light on dark sky preservation, as the subtitle promises, but the article sheds no light on what the ordinance says or does or fails to do. We learn that the vote…
