Scene from a work in progress
Fort Klamath was behind him, and with it the diner where he’d asked the wrong question the right way. Not Do you know Ethan Morgan?
From the desk
Fiction, essays
& other evidence
The Moon Is Howling
In a time of universal deceit, the truth may first appear as graffiti. Which is unfortunate, because graffiti is also where you find the full spectrum of…
![Prologue [The Ghost and the Machine]](https://shawnroberts.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Prologue-The-Ghost-and-the-Machine-1024x571.png)
Prologue [The Ghost and the Machine]
The door was unlocked. Not because the target had been careless—men who built fortunes shorting stock and destroying other men's companies did not survive by…
Waiting for the Apocalypse (and Other Hobbies)
I'm not a doomsday prepper. I don't have a bunker stocked with freeze-dried meals and ammunition.
Pantone Color 11-4201
“The primary concern falls into three pillars: 1) The White Privilege of Movement.
The Fourth Estate is Dead, Long Live The Machine
OK, our national media has two basic functions. The media's primary function—the one it won't admit—is managing scandals, not exposing them.
The House Always Wins (Because The House IS The Machine)
By the time you read this, there'll be another scandal, another sport, another player who thought they were smart enough to beat The Machine.
The Joker as Failed Übermensch
Nietzsche's ideas have leaked into the cultural water supply. "God is dead" shows up in song lyrics, TV shows, late-night dorm room arguments.
The Joker’s Gospel of Despair
In the first post in this series, I compared Randall Flagg and the Joker as two faces of chaos—one building empires on the ruins he created, the other holding…
Demon King vs. Clown Prince
One is Randall Flagg, Stephen King's multiversal devil—smiling "like the last light of sunset," voice honey over broken glass.