Lit Hub Daily: December 21, 2023

Drumroll, please: It’s the Biggest Literary Stories of 2023. | Lit Hub

For winter solstice, the authors of Spectral Evidence: The Witch Book discuss the contemporary echoes of centuries-old fears. | Lit Hub History

What Sabrina Orah Mark is reading now and next, from The Hearing Trumpet to The Ashley Book of Knots. | Lit Hub Annotated Nightstand

“He has remained true to his original, gritty vision of queer life, even as Hollywood executives clamor for a certain stripe of adult gay tragedy.” Andrew Quintana on Andrew Haigh’s new film, All of Us Strangers. | Lit Hub Film & TV

“This is the bleak testimony of the damned and blasphemed. It’s sanctioned by the culture of self-aggrandizement. It’s at once one of the great ballads in hip-hop and a manifesto about the insurmountable depravity of the industry.” Harmony Holiday on Madvillain’s “Accordion.” | Oxford American

How to experience LA like a poet, as told by the poets themselves. | LA Times

Natan Last on inclusivity in the world of crossword puzzles. | The New Yorker

“Whereas, in our world, neglect was the operative force, in Reed’s novel, public health becomes urgent if what’s at stake is hierarchy itself.” Melvin Backman on reading Mumbo Jumbo in the post-Covid age. | The Nation

Have a spooky-ooky Christmas: Isabella Kwai argues for bringing ghost stories back to Christmas. | The New York Times