Presented here, nearly 10 years of columns written for LitReactor, including topics such as comics, Demolition Man, libraries, Chuck Palahniuk, Halloween costumes, paperback cover gimmicks, self-publishing, and a whole lot more.

My first attempt to read Tyra Banks’ Modelland started in 2012. It also ended in 2012, somewhere about 20% into the book. I couldn’t take any more. There were so many other things I could enjoy, why spend time on Modelland? There were birds…trees…

Then, in 2015, I decided “screw birds and trees.”

I threw up a Kickstarter. Pete’s Exhaustive Review of Modelland. And with that, I answered the question, “How much would money would convince me to read Modelland?”

A hundo, it turns out. A well-earned hundo.

I read the damn book, and as part of the deal, I wrote a long, detailed, exhaustive review.

And here it is.

When you need a detective, call someone else. When you need help, call someone else. When you need someone to smash the bejeezus out of a possessed doll, call me.
 
 

And here it is.

A failing marriage, a cursed object. Once you find Harold, you see him everywhere…
 
 
“Mechanical Hearts”

The old World Record
for longest life
powered by mechanical heart
was three years.

Today
the old World Record was passed up
by another man
with a scar down his chest.

A man
just waiting
for that machine
to give out
any day now.

Not like
the rest of us.
 
 

One thief holds the key to the perfect crime. Only one problem: He holds the key in his butt.

This book was legitimately published on 4/20 and is 69 pages long. Sometimes things just work out.

Dear Reader,

You hold in your hands a bunch of love letters, none of which were sent. Letters to friends, family, people I loved, people who loved me. There’s an occasional famous person in there and the once-in-a-while clerk at the grocery store. They’re all here.

Best,
Pete

Hi. It’s me. I’m the guy who wrote this. No use pretending that this blurb was written by someone else.

Ever see the movie 3 Ninjas? Ever wondered where the stars are now? Yeah, me too. But then I did a quick Google search and found out.

More to the point, ever wonder why the dad in that movie was like, “Oh, yeah. It’s perfectly fine for my sons to fist fight adults as ninjas”?

I know I did.

We finally have the inside scoop thanks to this very stupid book.

[as a note on this one, I re-titled the Kindle version as “Stephen King is the new title for this book, formerly Ninja Sons” as a publicity stunt. So if you want the Kindle version, it’s here.

Are these poems? Are they cute little comedy routines, as my mom might put it?
Yes, kinda. Yes to both.
 
 
I own one VHS tape. Okay, four. Three of them are the original Star Wars trilogy in their original, Han shoots first glory. Mostly because I like the idea of TAKE THAT, LUCAS! Here’s what you get for informing and enhancing my childhood!

Anywho, the fourth tape is Army of Darkness.

It was my favorite movie when I was a kid. I created my own holiday, Ash Wednesday, just to watch Army of Darkness. Okay, I didn’t CREATE Ash Wednesday, but if it tells you anything about the role of religion in my upbringing, I was completely unaware of what Ash Wednesday was beyond the words on the calendar. And when I found it, I was horrified and disappointed.

There’s a scene in Army of Darkness where a bunch of skeletons are digging each other out of graves to make an army of the dead, and some other skeletons, early to pillaging, are bringing back these topless women from wherever they pillaged. One skeleton says, “We got plans for you, girly girl!”

I wondered, “Wait, what plans?

And thus, Skeleton Army was born.

Marvel at an army of skeletons who are too incompetent to build a battering ram, too lazy to carry swords, and generally mess it all up.

And one day, Bruce Campbell WILL sign my Army of Darkness VHS. One day…
 
 
Some of the earlier stories I worked up and sent out here and there. None of them were ever picked up, but in the interest of putting a nice bow on it, and so people can read them conveniently, here they are, bundled together with nice little intros.
 
 
 
A short essay plus introduction about a family meal after my grandmother’s death. Written for Tom Spanbauer’s 2013 Dangerous Writing workshop.
 
 
 
 
A short, heartmelting, facemelting tale.
 
 
An erotic adventure between two of your favorite flipping, machine-gunning, CONTRArian badasses. 8-bits of sexy.

Because nobody asked for it! Now you can finally read all the Helpful Snowman goodness in comics form! Reel with terror when you see the killing machine peace robot! Recoil in horror at really awful art, which is in pretty much the whole thing. Laugh! Laugh and rejoice at the, you know, the funny stuff.

The humble origins. A MySpace blog that would become the Helpful Snowman empire. Covering topics from Mr. Piss, a machine that converts any liquid into urine, to topics such as…eh, it’s only downhill from there, honestly.

If you found this, good on you for looking through the whole Santa costume. Keep looking. Check the boots, check the belt. Check in the hat. You’ll find everything you need to know. Everything that will help you survive Santa season.

In 2020 a letter titled “A Letter on Justice and Open Debate” appeared in Harper’s. The reactions were mixed, quick, mostly missed the point. Join this discussion of speech, intellectual freedom, and cancel culture.

An evergreen pamphlet for those who don’t feel represented by the top candidates.

 
 

I’m not saying FOR SURE that YOUR BABY WILL BE A MISOGYNIST IF YOU DON’T BUY THIS BOOK. But I do think any good feminist parent would buy this book, and if you didn’t, it’s not your fault, it’s just the embedded patriarchal feelings you’ve got inside you making your decisions for you. You could buy your way out of being the ruination of society, but hey, it’s your life.

 
 
Digitally Stimulated: a gaming magazine
Devil's Advocate: Kindle Vella

Welcome to this series of serialized essays that should’ve been called “How Many ‘S’ Sounds Can I Cram Into The First Sentence?” but is called Devil’s Advocate instead. It’s called Devil’s Advocate because the idea is to explore some topics that I feel we’ve made a cultural decision on, and I don’t agree with the cultural decision. Some are things that we’ve reached a scientific decision on, and I’ve got my doubts about the science. Let’s do this!