T.K. Wade -- Author

Wednesday, July 1, 2026

Kiss Me Goodbye [Short Story Review]

[I spoil the hell out of this story.]

"Kiss Me Goodbye" is s short story written by Gary K. Wolf. It was published as part of a collection in 2012. (I do not know the original publication date for this one.)

This story is set in Los Angeles in 1937. The main character is a cop/detective named Eddie. Now, I know what you must be thinking. A cop named Eddie, and it was written by Gary K. Wolf? Is his last name Valiant?! Well... no. In fact, his name isn't given at all. It could possibly be an earlier version of him. "Who Frames Roger Rabbit?" was set in 1947, after all. Either way, this information is not given.

Eddie is heading to the justice of the peace to get married to his girl, but when he confronts her he accuses her of stealing a priceless jewel in a mission they were both involved in. Spoiler: she actually did do this, rendering the whole marriage a non-event. Even more shocking is when she pulls a gun on him, and he is forced to defend himself, killing her on the spot. The scene is sad, dark, and brutal.

Now, what I find very interesting about this story is that it feels like the final chapter of a a lengthy noir book... but this is all there is. You do not get anything but the final play. This means everything that comes before it has to be hastily slipped into the narrative and dialog in this one chapter alone. It also has to be done as eloquently as possible, or else the reader might get a little suspicious!

Gary K. Wolf actually does accomplish this... but it still left me scratching my head. Why only write the final scene of a non-existent book? I don't have the answer to why he did it, but I don't think any harm was done. It was a neat idea, and I like that he bothered to try. Sometimes writing can be an experiment. Hell, I got a friend who is trying to write a musical as a narrative book. He's recording the music to be heard elsewhere. That's good, and this short story is cool in its own way. It proves that it might actually be possible to have an entire story... while only writing the final chapter. That's insane.

I really liked "Kiss Me Goodbye" for the experiment that it was, and I do recommend it. I encourage all writers to try a little experimenting once in a while. You might stumble onto a side of yourself you didn't know existed... and from there you may find your options in storytelling have broadened a bit.

This blog was written on June 15, 2026.

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Monday, June 29, 2026

Which Witch is Which? [Short Story Review]

"Which Witch is Which?" is a short story written by Gary K. Wolf. It was published as part of a collection in 2012. (I do not actually know when the original was published, but I can safely say it is somewhere around 1998 to the early 2000s based on subject matter.)

This story reads like an interview article written by Jessica Rabbit. She is interviewing the stars of the hit TV show "Charmed," which I have never watched at all. I barely even remember it. Anyway, Jessica goes on a little adventure with actresses Shannen Maria Doherty, Holly Marie Combs, and Alyssa Jayne Milano.

Calling this an interview is a little inappropriate. It never really adopts a transcript style like in "Here's Lookin' at You, Babs!". It just loosely talks about what it is like to hang around the three actresses as they go to various events.

The charm of the story is how much wit and bite Jessica's writing has. For one, she already has issues with them since she believes she was beaten out of one of those roles to begin with. Even so, she still has the strength to be their temporary girl pal.

Jessica was a little bit understated in the movie compared to this story. She was clearly a bad girl (drawn that way apparently), but her screentime was a bit limited. This story features her front and center and is entirely full of her opinions from beginning to end. There are people who might be interested in this, even without not caring about "Charmed" at all. What I am saying is that I think this world needs more Jessica Rabbit. She's awesome.

The whole thing is entirely fake and silly, and I am not even sure the real actresses even knew this thing was being written. I think Gary, once again, had an insane idea and just wanted to see it happen. If you have seen the show "Charmed" or not, I still recommend this story, especially if you like Jessica Rabbit.

This blog was written on June 12, 2026.

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Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Inspector Timber and the Three Pigs [Short Story Review]

[I spoil the main beats of the story.]

"Inspector Timber and the Three Pigs" is a short story written by Gary K. Wolf. It was published as part of a collection in 2012. (I do not actually know the original publication date of this particular story.)

This was a silly one. If the title doesn't give it away, this is a retelling of "The Three Little Pigs." It has its own weird lore to it. For one, the pigs don't seem to know each other this time around, and they are building very specific things such as a museums, a cathedral, and a fast food chain. The wolf is actually a building inspector who really enjoys his job, especially when he gets to condemn a building for whatever violations he can find.

The story seems to take place in a post-human world, where animals have taken over civilization. It is referred to as a "Fairy Tale" world regardless. But this story does not really progress in the same way as the original. The wolf does not consume the pigs, but instead he tries to get a piece of the action in exchange for letting the pigs continue with their endeavors. Quite a strange way of devouring someone, I guess.

This story is probably intended as satire. I do recommend it. It feels like Gary had a silly idea and just bothered to put it down on paper in his spare time. I liked it.

This blog was written on June 10, 2026.

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Monday, June 22, 2026

Who We Need Here is Mister Tom Edison [Short Story Review]

"Who We Need Here is Mister Ton Edison" is a short science fiction/western story by Gary K. Wolf. It was published as part of a collection in 2012. (Although I do not know when the original story was published, I feel like it must have been somewhere around the early 2000s because of its content.)

This story is kind of a rare breed. Scifi westerns are a bit uncommon, but I have run into a few here and there. The idea here is that a time-traveler from the distant future has come to the old west to trade high tech items to the people in exchange for their absolutely regular everyday items. Although this seems like a disproportional trade, the man intends to take it back to the future and sell them as mint condition antiques. It would actually be a very profitable thing to do.

The problem here is that, in doing this, he is absolutely ruining the past. It's a butterfly effect problem. People are straight-up not being born because of his actions, making him something like a mass murderer.

The main character is a man named Gristle who is not buying into the high-tech stuff and is continuing to live his life the way he was raised. He is confronted by another time-traveler, a beautiful woman, who explains to him that the first time-traveler is ruining the time-line and that he needs to stand up to him. Gristle, being a man who had killed a number of people before, chooses to make the confrontation, seeing him for the mass-murderer that he is. I won't spoil anymore than that though.

A brief explanation of the story's title is needed, I suppose. Gristle once had a good friend named Tom Edison, who really is the famous inventor. In this weird timeline, Edison died in an accident. Part of the story here deals with that, but I won't go into why, as I think this story is worth reading.

I do recommend this story. Although the premise is absurd, the author takes more care than you might think. It draws you in and ultimately comes out surprisingly satisfactory with its conclusion. I enjoyed this one a lot.

This blog was written on June 8, 2026.

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Wednesday, June 17, 2026

The Unhardy Boys in Outer Space [Short Story Review]

[I spoil some of the main points of the story.]

"The Unhardy Boys of Outer Space" is a lengthy short story written by Gary K. Wolf and Archbishop John J. Myers. It was published as part of a collection in 2012. (I don't actually know when the story was originally released, but it references things from the late 90's and early 2000s.)

The story follows two men living in a futuristic space station. Michael is a science fiction writer and his best friend is Father Jack who is a priest. They are both extreme fans of science fiction. Father Jack assists Michael with with ideas as well as writing and editing. The fun of the story stems from the fact that science fiction is being written from outer space. You can imagine how well those books might sell.

This story is a heart-warming tale of two friends that share something in common. A good portion of the story is slice-of-life, where they are simply dealing with their life working on a space station. They continually make scifi and movie references to each other. I recognized most of them, but I feel like a lot of people today might not catch them. This story is a product of its time.

The point of all of those references is just seeing these two dorks get along with each other. It's nice and surprisingly relaxing to read. I say this with a little bit of irritation. I tend to really dislike references made in stories, but I am not sure this one would have worked otherwise. Like I said: it is a product of its time. This story may not be relevant in another decade.

Even though the bulk of the story just deals with these two nerds enjoying each other's company, it does actually get serious towards the third act. One of the younger employees at the station likes to bully them, and his life ends up being in danger when he gets separated from the station in the vacuum of space. These two guys put all their hatred aside to go rescue him, and this turns out to be one of the most intense scenes I have ever read in literature. This was mainly because these two knew near to nothing about space walks. It was a good read, and I enjoyed its conclusion.

Despite the fact that the story has unfortunately dated itself by using so many scifi references, I still recommend this story for its very friendly and relaxing nature. Although it does have some exciting space adventure mixed into it, the core of it is a story about two inseparable friends.

I would also like to say that this story reminds me of stuff my friend Donald White has written. I kept thinking of him while I read this. He used to write stories that tossed constant references into it in a similar way that this story did. I bet he would probably enjoy this one too.

This blog was written on June 4, 2026.

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Monday, June 15, 2026

Backrooms [Movie Review]

"Backrooms" is a movie that was released in 2026. A week ago, in fact. It is the continuation of a freaky horror series that has been running on YouTube for many years. It was directed by the series' creator Kane Parsons.

When I heard he was making a movie for "Backrooms," I suddenly had a good feeling about it. I was a little sad to not have any new content on YouTube for a while, but I felt like it would all pay off eventually.

It did.

"Backrooms" is absolute peak horror as well as an all-around great motion picture experience. It does the very concept of film making some serious well-needed justice in an era that is just full of boiler plate crap.

Now, I don't want to spoil this movie. It's still out! I want to stick only to the bare summary rather than just spoiling everything about it. I may do that later, but this is not the time for that.

"Backrooms" is about a struggling furniture salesman named Clark who stumbles into a section of wall inside the basement of his store that he can simply walk through. On the other side, he finds a strange and surreal place that almost looks normal but really isn't at all. This area is the creepy place we all know as the Backrooms.

That's really all I feel comfortable telling you of the plot. I do want to say that the lead actor, Chiwetel Ejiofor [How the heck do you pronounce that name?!], did some of the best acting for the part of Clark I have seen in a long time. In fact, the entire cast did a fantastic job. I could just about believe these were all real people trying to deal with a place that should be impossible. I don't really have any complaints about this film. It has ended up becoming my favorite horror film of all time.

Naturally, I want to recommend this film, but a question still lingers in my mind: Who is this film for? Well, horror fans naturally. I also might ask if you happen to be a fan of Silent Hill. You may actually like this for similar reasons. "Backrooms" does something similar to Silent Hill, only the lights stay on. Nothing gets disgusting or grungy... they just get very strange and confusing. You have to see it to understand.

Either way, I recommend the film, and I definitely want more in coming years! Once some time goes by, I'll do a bigger breakdown about the finer points of the film, fully spoiling it. I just would rather people go see it right now.

This blog was written on June 3, 2026.

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Wednesday, June 10, 2026

The Moviegoer [Book Review]

"The Moviegoer" is a novel by Walker Percy. It was published in 1960.

I read this on a whim. I was looking through the classics section of the bookstore and just stumbled onto this. I do this sometimes. I had never heard of it or anything. I just picked it up and decided I'd read it, and so I did.

The story followed Binx Bolling, a well-to-do man who is a part of an upper-class family living in New Orleans. He loves going to the movies, but much of the book is him being extremely introspective while also being observant about how reality differs from how the movies present it. This is apparently how the author is as well. It was mentioned in the "About the Author" section. So Binx seems to be some sort of representation of the author in a fictional situation.

The book reads something like a mid-life crisis in progress... handled in a fairly mature manner. Binx is trying to figure out what is real and what is worth doing with the remainder of his life. This often involves trying to spark up sexual relationships with whatever secretary is working for him at the time. There is also a woman being taken care of by the family named Kate that has some major psychological problems. Binx is very attracted to her for different reasons. (Her problems have more to do with her fiancé being killed in an accident. The shock messed her up.)

The author will take you through nearly every aspect of his life in more detail than you probably want to deal with. I have to admit that much of it just about put me to sleep. He was really trying to paint a picture, but I was generally more interested in where the story was going. I can't really fault him for doing this. I think I just prefer things differently in my books.

I was somewhat interested in how a guy like this views religion, since much of his family were religious. He was mostly indifferent to it. It was just something he was uninterested in it, and I have to say that it might have fixed a number of problems for him a bit quicker. Either way, there did not seem to be much hate for it in this book, which is good. The author behaved himself.

I think my main beef with the book is that it barely had anything to do with going to the movies. I mean... it's there. It's very clear he likes the movies, but I kept forgetting it because of the wide gulfs between the redundancies. He would mention a movie or a celebrity, and I would suddenly think, "Oh, right! He likes movies! He's a moviegoer!"

Don't get me wrong. It is the main theme of the book. He just barely brought it up.

I won't be spoiling this one. You get the basic idea. Binx is a man who is trying to figure reality out. That's all. That's the book. It really was not for me. Does that sort of thing interest you? If so, I recommend it. If not, read something else. It just is what it is, and to be fair, it was written well enough for what it is.

This blog was written on May 26, 2026.

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