Featured

Defenestration: August 2026

Welcome, one and all, to the August 2026 issue of Defenestration! School’s starting up again, the temperatures are still in the 80s or higher, and the only safe foods to eat in the United States are pretzels and candy corn. Things might seem grim, but at least funny things are still funny, and it’s not yet illegal to laugh. So let’s enjoy the next few months together, shall we? 

Defenestration: April 2026

Welcome to the April 2026 issue of Defenestration! It’s our first issue of 2026 and the start of our 23rd volume. You might be thinking, “Twenty-three years isn’t that long!” but let me tell you, gentle reader, that in the time Defenestration has been around, I got married, started a family, and now the oldest

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Defenestration: December 2025

Happiest of holiday seasons to you all! Welcome to the December 2025 issue of Defenestration, weary travelers. Pull up a chair or a futon, grab your beverage of choice, and stay a while. It’s a weird world out there, and we think you’ll be much more comfortable in here with us. I mean, it’s pretty weird in here, too, but it’s the nonthreatening kind of weird you can introduce to your pets and your parents.

Nonfiction

“Growing Up With Thrifty Parents,” by Steve Carney

Much of my parental direction during the decade of my preteen and teen years was focused on saving as much money as possible on life’s daily routines. My parents’ cost-saving and oft-puzzling directives sometimes gave rise to adolescent angst, but, in retrospect, were generally harmless.

Today, several decades later (six decades later for the benefit of full disclosure), these directives still resonate. Some elicit smiles, some trigger nostalgic memories, some prompt wonderment. In fairness to all parties, they were meant to be in the best interest of the entire family long-term, and not intended as punishment (at least that’s what I want to believe!).

Fake Nonfiction

“A Letter from Your Nemesis, the Wealthy Swamp Dweller,” by Justin Schwab

Dear Megan,

Hi. It’s me, Sharon. I know it’s been a while since you’ve been invited to my estate, but that’s what bitches like you who insult my swamp villa deserve. Anyway. I’m not writing this out of the goodness of my heart. Oh, no. My husband (Devon) wanted to invite you to some big get-together he’s hosting, and seeing as he’s illiterate, he asked me (begged me) to write it for him.

Fiction

“Fangirls of the Ancient World,” by Kathleen Bryson

At the amphitheatre gates, three girls had been queuing since dawn with amphorae of watered wine, figs, wax tablets and absolutely no chill.

“OMG,” said Livia, scratching HERCULES HAS RIZZ into the plaster with her hairpin. “I would let him clean my stables.”

Poetry

“The Tallest, Drunkest Pope,” by Axe Cornwell

back when men were men
and Popes were Popes
and mystery was still sublime
when the Pope came out to
check his shadow each winter
and it was long, vast, and feared across America

Visuals

“The One About the Lovers,” by Joseph Kinzer

For your Sunday amusement… a comic!

Ben & Winslow

Live Out Your Filthy, Goblin-Filled Dreams

Winslow has been involved in the fast-paced world of goblin erotica since at least 2012, when he hired a slightly defective Japanese robot to help him illustrate comics. Looking back at that older comic, it certainly seems… prescient.