Dear MAGA: Either grow up or shut up

As you can imagine, the MAGAts don’t like me very much. That’s OK. I don’t like them very much either.

They can’t really attack me for the content of my posts, so they attack me for my appearance – the fact that I’m of a certain age, that my hair is gray, and here lately because I have these spots on my forehead … age spots, liver spots, sunspots, whatever you want to call them.

It’s like being back in middle school – “FLINCH! No contact, no rebounds, no nothing!”

Very adult.

The fact is I live in Florida, where the weather is nice almost every day of the year. That means I’m outdoors most of the time. Also, the sun burns a little hotter down here because we’re closer to the equator than the rest of the continental United States. I’ve lived in Florida since 1964 so what’s that – 61 years?

You can’t live in an environment where you’re exposed to intense sunlight for 61 years without picking up a few sunspots along the way. It is an inescapable consequence of living in such a nice place.

Meanwhile, the people who are attacking me for my appearance often don’t have photos on their profiles. Nor do they have any videos that they’ve posted to their accounts. So you have no idea what they look like. They use a photo of a dog or a pickup truck, or they go with the default avatar provided by the social media platform. It’s almost as if they’re ashamed of who they are, which is perfectly understandable because I am ashamed of who they are too.

Just because they have the complexion of a pirogue doesn’t mean they’re genetically superior to me. What it means is they live in a hellhole where summers are only six weeks long and they spend the rest of the year cooped up inside their houses developing a world-class case of cabin fever which results in them doing stupid things like voting for a fascist and making fun of a guy because he has sunspots on his forehead.

The ones who do post their photos essentially look like me – they’re older, they’re male, they’re white, they have gray hair, they have the spots on their foreheads, but the difference is, they’re always scowling, because they’re always angry. And I can’t figure out what they’re angry about. They’ve always had the best of everything – the best jobs, the best money, the best opportunities. Why are they so pissed off? Is it because after centuries of dominance, they are finally having to share the stage with women, minorities, and gay people? Goodness! That is such a tragedy!

The MAGAts are welcome to argue the merits or demerits of my posts, but they’re not welcome to make fun of my appearance. That’s just immature and childish.

They need to either grow up, or shut up.

About the author:

Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”

Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.

As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.

Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .

Donald J. Trump, aka Mr. Compassion. Image by Gage Skidmore. CC license.

That was a really nice statement posted by President Liver Fluke when it became known Joe Biden has prostate cancer. For a moment – for a brief, shining moment – I had to ask myself: Have I misjudged that creature? Because beneath that withered, atrophied, Sunny D-stained exterior I thought I detected the beating heart of a human being, a whiff of compassion.

Well, THAT didn’t last long.

Within hours President Liver Fluke had confirmed yet again that he’s the human equivalent of a butt plug. He and the MAGAts began speculating about a cover-up. How could Joe Biden’s cancer diagnosis go so long without anybody knowing about – especially since he’s married to a doctor!

I think the next time President Liver Fluke, or any of the MAGAt males for that matter, need to have their prostates checked, they should make an appointment with Dr. Seuss. He’s a doctor, isn’t he?

While we’re talking about medical cover-ups, when are the MAGAts going to address the issue of President Liver Fluke’s obvious dementia? When is somebody going to talk about that? Clearly he’s suffering from cognitive confusion. No human being says the things he says without having a brain that looks like Swiss cheese.

I expect any moment he’ll start raving about other crazy things like alien abductions and being anally probed. Maybe that’s why he hates immigrants so much – because they’re illegal aliens who might keelhaul him off to their spaceship and stick a probe up his butt.

If that happened, at least he’d know how the rest of us feel.

About the author:

Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”

Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.

As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.

Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .

Are these the end times?

Scripture says the end times would be marked by the arrival of a false prophet who would seduce millions of the faithful to abandon the way of Christ and follow him.

That certainly seems to be happening. In fact, if you took President Lucifer, sat him down, parted that demonic comb-over and checked, you’d probably find the Mark of the Beast, a 666, inscribed in his scalp – although in his case it would be a 333 seeing as how he’s such a halfwit.

What I want to know is, how are the MAGAts going to explain it when the Rapture occurs and they’re all still here? It would almost be worth remaining on Earth to see the expression on their faces when they look around and realize the Jesus Train has left the station and THEY are not aboard.

MAGAts … you got some ’splainin’ to do.

About the author:

Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”

Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.

As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.

Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .

The other day, as President Brandon gleefully slashed funding for NPR and PBS, he posed a rhetorical question:

Why should a coal miner have to pay for PBS?

Ignoring the obvious implication that coal miners are too stupid to enjoy anything as intellectual as PBS, I would point out that when you use that kind of rhetorical gambit, you’d better be prepared to respond to that kind of rhetorical gambit.

So I have a few questions for President Brandon.

Why should I have to pay for you to play golf?

Why should I have to pay for your wife to live in splendor in New York City?

Why should I have to pay for a South African billionaire to wreck the government and steal our data?

Why should I have to pay the salaries of the criminals, morons, imbeciles, thieves, liars, cheats and scumbags you’ve hired to work in your administration?

You see, President Brandon, I don’t mind some of my tax dollars going toward any effort by our government to educate and ennoble the population. I feel like an educated and ennobled population makes for an educated and ennobled society, and that’s the kind of society I want to live in. You wouldn’t know anything about an educated and ennobled society, because you don’t know anything about education or nobility.

You’re just trash.

And by the way, President Brandon. I’ll bet there are lots of coal miners who enjoy PBS and NPR.

About the author:

Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”

Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.

As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.

Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .

This disgusting piece of trash is allegedly responsible for the rampage at Florida State University yesterday that cost two people their lives and left several others wounded.

It seems as often as not the people behind these tragedies are young, white, aggrieved males who have embraced a philosophy that celebrates hate, rage and violence.

It’s not just a cult. It’s a cancer, and it’s eating away at our society.

God, we need a cure … and soon.

About the author:

Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”

Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.

As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.

Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .

I’ve got a question for the MAGAts:

The other day I filled up the gas tank on my car. The price seemed kind of high so I checked – gas was 23 cents a gallon higher on Wednesday than it was on Jan. 20, 2025, when Joe Biden left office.

Why is that?

I thought your boy, Diaper Donnie, was going to fix all that! Isn’t that what he said? Prices will come down? On day one?

He can’t use the pandemic as an excuse. The United States is the world’s number one producer of oil, so he can’t use that as an excuse. America leads the world in exploring for new oil resources, so he can’t even use that for an excuse.

It’s like the price of eggs. Didn’t he say he was going to lower to the price of eggs? Because I checked this week – eggs are A DOLLAR higher now than they were when Sleepy Joe left office. A DOLLAR!

I don’t get it. Gas prices are higher. Egg prices are higher. Unemployment is higher. Inflation is higher. The only things lower are the stock market and consumer confidence.

Trump said he would lower the price of eggs. Then he said we might have to go through some temporary pain before prices come down. Now he’s saying he wishes people would stop bitching about the price of eggs.

Wow, what an accomplishment. I’m so glad you, ahem, “intellectually impaired individuals” elected Donald Trump president.

He really is making America “great” again.

Or is that “grate”?

About the author:

Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”

Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.

As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.

Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .

I can always tell when I’m under attack by a MAGA person because the first thing they do, always, every single time, is they attack me.

They ridicule me for my age. “Oh, look at the old coot. Isn’t it past your bedtime? Get back to the nursing home, Grandpa. You forgot your meds.”

Or they attack my being gay. “You’re just an old queen, a fudge-packer, a groomer, a pedophile. We don’t need to listen to you.”

Finally, they attack my appearance. “Look at your gray hair, the loose skin around your throat, those awful liver spots!”

They never, ever attack the content of my message, and that’s for two reasons: 1. I deal in facts, and it’s hard to argue against facts. 2. They don’t have the intellectual horsepower to argue with me. They’d rather name-call because that’s easy.

And if I respond in kind, if I give them a taste of their own medicine, they cry out, “Oh goodness! He’s calling me names. I’m a victim! Help me, Jesus! Help me!”

Many of the MAGAs I meet are childish halfwits who can’t tell the difference between a con artist and the Constitution.

There, MAGA. How’d you like that? Did it feel good? Ready to repent?

Pathetic.

About the author:

Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”

Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.

As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.

Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .

This is a screen capture from a video I took while marching in a protest in downtown Fort Walton Beach, Florida, on March 8, 2025. Image by Del Stone Jr.

Lately I’ve been crossposting some of my TikTok videos to Instagram. The reception they’ve gotten there has been less than friendly. In fact, I never knew there were so many assholes on Instagram, but boy, there sure are.

For instance, my video about marching in a protest. A number of commenters said things like, “You idiot, what a waste of time. What did you accomplish?”

Indeed, what did I accomplish?

As a matter of fact I feel like I accomplished three things:

1. By marching, we showed the community that not everyone here is a blood-drinking MAGAt extremist.

2. We emboldened others to join us next time.

3. By marching I felt like I had accomplished something. Maybe not much, maybe nothing at all, but at least something. I was determined not to sit on the sidelines bitching about things while doing nothing.

Don’t let anyone tell you protests don’t work. Next time they do, ask them if they remember the Boston Tea Party. Or the Vietnam War protests, which compelled this nation to extract itself from that goddamn quagmire. Or the Olympic athletes who held their fists aloft during the medal-awarding ceremony. Or Colin Kaepernick taking a knee during the national anthem. You may not agree with what they were protesting, but you damn sure remember the protest.

Besides, if protests don’t do any good then why bitch about them? Let the protesters march around, making fools of themselves. It’s no skin off your nose.

If you don’t want to march in support of what you believe in, fine. But at least have the decency to keep your mouth shut.

About the author:

Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”

Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.

As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.

Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .

Tesla stock prices have fallen dramatically, Tesla sales are plunging, protesters are gathered outside Tesla dealerships and Elon Musk is the second most-hated man in the world right now, the crown belonging to Donald J. Corleone.

And now The Lardfather wants us all to go out and buy Teslas to support the guy who just fired 200,000 to 300,000 civil servants. You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

Here’s an idea, President Corleone: How about not slashing my Social fucking Security.

And before any of you MAGA meatheads tell me, “Trump has said over and over again he won’t touch Social Security,” I’d remind you he also said he’d lower the price of eggs, end the war in Ukraine, build a wall between the United States and Mexico and have Mexico pay for it, replace Obamacare with something better, and sign an infrastructure bill that would rebuild America.

You can’t believe anything the man says.

By the way. Trump urging Americans to buy Teslas is a flagrant violation of federal ethics laws which forbid any member of the executive to endorse a product, ESPECIALLY the product of a subordinate acting in the capacity of a government employee. Will Trump be prosecuted for violating these laws? Will he even be investigated?

Hell no! The Supreme Court, that collective of three justices and six spineless, toe-sucking cephalapods, recently ruled the president enjoys immunity from prosecution for virtually any crime. What a sweet deal – for Trump. Not so sweet for us.

Meanwhile, he continued his anti-social antics this week, posting an image of a pink triangle with a prohibition bar over the top to his Truth Social account. The pink triangle was a symbol N-A-Z-I death camp commanders used to distinguish homosexual prisoners from other prisoners at their camps.

The MAGAts couldn’t believe their president would do such a thing and raced to Truth Social to find the post. They couldn’t, and from that they concluded it had never happened, despite the fact it was widely reported by media outlets and bloggers – with screen grabs for receipts. I don’t spend a lot of time on Truth Social but doesn’t that thing have a delete button?

Nor do I know the purpose of that post but as a person who could potentially be on the receiving end of such a hateful sentiment, I don’t feel reassured.

Also, Rachel Maddow is reporting that Congress had the ability to stop all this tariffs-on, tariffs-off bullshit, which is causing chaos in the economy and the stock market, and costing people their jobs. What did Congress do? Get this: The Republicans set aside that authority for the year, giving Trump a blank check to do whatever he wants.

They voted for Trump over your interests, and my interests.

Wow. If you needed even more proof the Republicans are scumbags, there you go.

Pathetic.

About the author:

Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”

Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.

As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.

Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .

I’m seeing lots of MAGA folk celebrate the firings of civil servants and the dissolution of federal agencies. They’re gloating about all the money being saved, as if any of that money will find its way into their pockets.

“Yeah, we’re going to get a big tax refund,” they say, or “The government is going to send us a check! It’s all over Fox News.”

By “Fox News” I assume they mean Fox Entertainment. That’s what Fox’s own lawyers argued during the Dominion lawsuit, that Fox News wasn’t really a news operation. It’s an entertainment company. So that’s where the MAGA folk are getting their information – from an entertainment company. Oh, and Fox lost that lawsuit and had to pay Dominion almost $800 million for lying about Dominion’s voting machines. So the MAGA folk are getting their information from a lying entertainment company.

But I digress. The MAGAts won’t see one penny of the savings because it’s all going to people like Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and other billionaires in the form of a big fat tax cut.

In fact, I’d like to ask the MAGA folk something:

Do you remember back in 2017? Does your miniature Christmas tree light brain go back that far? Do you remember Donald Trump’s tax cut, the one you thought was such a great idea, although it added about $7 trillion to the debt – remember that?

Well, it’s due to expire this year. Congress could vote to extend it but so far they haven’t. And if they don’t extend it, guess what? Your taxes will go UP 22 percent! That’s right, 22 percent. Some of you will have to file TWO returns with the IRS this year. How do you like them apples, MAGA?

Musk, Zuckerberg and Bezos are sitting back in their palaces and laughing at you, and you deserve to be laughed at. Because you’re MAGA morons.

You voted for this.

About the author:

Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”

Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.

As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.

Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .