It Could Happen Here: CZM Book Club - "Macramé Flames" by Eric Raglin

Host: Margaret Killjoy
Podcast: Cool Zone Media / iHeartPodcasts
Date: December 14, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode of the Cool Zone Media Book Club, hosted by Margaret Killjoy, features a vibrant reading and analysis of "Macramé Flames" by Eric Raglin. Killjoy returns to the tradition of sharing short stories, this time diving into a tale centered on a queer anarchist motorcycle gang and their apocalyptic, Satanic quest. The narrative is both a love story and a blackly comic adventure, balancing satirical touches, queer camaraderie, and darkly fantastical elements.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Format & Introduction

• Margaret reintroduces the Book Club series after a run of TTPRPG content, returning to reading short stories. Listeners are assured they don’t have to read along—she reads aloud and discusses the stories for them. (02:07)
• Tone is immediately set: “This is a romp. It is a hootenanny. That's what this story is.”
  (Margaret Killjoy, 02:32)

2. About the Story and Author

• "Macramé Flames" is from The Book of Queer Saints (2022), edited by Mae Murray.
• Author Eric Raglin writes horror/weird fiction with anti-capitalist, anti-fascist, and pro-queer themes. See his bio at the end of the ep for more on his work and presses. (28:05)

3. Main Narrative Arc: "Macramé Flames"

A. The Gang and Their Crimes

• The Nightmare Queers, a found family/motorcycle gang, target chain craft stores called "Hobby Bobbies" in a campaign of arson and (supposedly) Satanic prophecy.
• Rich details of queer outlaw life: Signal app for crime, knuckle tattoos, love of chaos contrasted with cozy, tender moments.
  • “Stories about gay people doing cult shit rule. But it also rules because of just how many rich details there are, like how they all use Signal, the app, when they're doing their texting for crime, or how they all have knuckle tattoos.”
    (Margaret, 02:46)

B. Central Characters and Relationship

• Thorpe: Once the crew’s most unstoppable arsonist, now living a stifling suburban life as a carpenter.
• Narrator (unnamed): Still embodies outlaw restlessness and deep nostalgia for Thorpe and their rebellious youth.
• Backstory of their relationship—a mix of passion, crime, and longing, with outstanding queer chemistry and dark humor.

C. The (Mis)Counted Mission

• The gang believed they'd accomplished their apocalyptic quest (to burn 666 Hobby Bobbies and bring hell to earth), but a miscount means they must reunite for “one last job.” (08:08)
• Satirical nods at queer anarchist organizational chaos:
  • “It's true what they say about queers and math.”
    (Story, 08:20)

D. Thorpe’s Suburban Dilemma & Reunion

• The narrator finds Thorpe in full suburban conformity, leading to an awkward and bittersweet rekindling.

  • [On Thorpe’s new life:] “His lawn was perfect. And by perfect I mean perfectly fucking boring, mowed and watered and monoculture as hell.”
    (Story, 12:12)
  • “Do you at least want to have sex for old time’s sake? ‘Sure,’ he said. ‘That would be nice. A good cum broke the ice.’”
    (Story, 13:10)

• The two share a night of intimacy and emotional vulnerability, hinting at regret and yearning for their lost wildness.

E. The Final Arson & Sacrifice

• The gang reunites outside a new Hobby Bobby in Omaha. There's warmth, dark humor, and nostalgia among aging outlaws.

• Thorpe is asked to throw the first Molotov (as ritual), but a panic-induced slip leads to him self-immolating as cops arrive. Chaos erupts—gunfire, police, panic.

  • “Thorp’s accidental sacrifice channeling satanic magic and feeding the flames' hunger. Firefighters would never put this one out.”
    (Story, 24:50)

• The fire triggers a literal apocalypse: the earth splits, cops are dragged to hell, and a massive Satanic beast emerges, bearing Thorpe’s beard—a surreal, unexpected apotheosis.

  • “Meeting my gaze from a mile above, the beast grinned with stalactite fangs hanging over a Gimli beard. The beard I’d longed to feel against my face for so long. A great warmth filled me. Love and hell would reign together for eternity.”
    (Story, 26:48)

F. Reflection & Analysis

• Margaret loves the story for its “joy in being bad,” its embrace of fun, mundane details, and the freedom in queer/transgressive fantasy.
  • “I really like this story...I don't believe in any of this shit. This is a terrible theology. Don't go do this. But whatever. This idea of wanting to see it all burn...”
    (Margaret, 27:13)
• Discusses how the opening line expertly sets up the story’s duality (outlaw past vs. suburban present) and hooks the reader.
  • “A good first line should set up what the main action in the story will be. And this line does it so masterfully...”
    (Margaret, 28:45)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On queers and crime:
  “Stories about gay people doing cult shit rule.”
  (Margaret, 02:40)

• On gang chaos:
  “It's true what they say about queers and math.”
  (Story, 08:20)

• Thorpe's dilemma:
  “I hate myself most of the time...I sold out for it. This life, it's comfortable and it's nice and it's so goddamn boring.”
  (Thorpe, 13:20)

• On love and regret:
  "Two years back I biked through this town that had a custom body pillow shop, no lie, and I seriously fucking considered getting one printed with a picture of you...So no, I can never hate you."
  (Narrator, 14:10)

• On Satanic fulfillment:
  “After the building burns, the ground will start shaking. Don't panic, Ripley said. That's supposed to happen. It means he's coming. Hail Satan, Zeena said. Everyone repeated after her. Even Thorpe. I grinned as if I were witnessing his satanic confirmation.”
  (Story, 22:10)

• The finale – love and hell intertwined:
  "Meeting my gaze from a mile above, the beast grinned with stalactite fangs hanging over a Gimli beard. The beard I’d longed to feel against my face for so long. A great warmth filled me. Love and hell would reign together for eternity."
  (Story, 26:48)

Important Timestamps

• 02:07 – Book club reintroduction, “Macramé Flames” intro
• 08:08 – Gang’s failed prophecy; the miscount revelation
• 12:12 – Thorpe’s suburban transformation & narrator’s reunion
• 13:20 – Emotional intimacy and Thorpe’s confession
• 22:10 – Gang’s final Rite/Arson; Satanic ritual begins
• 24:50 – Thorpe’s sacrifice and magical apocalypse
• 26:48 – Surreal ending: hell and love merged
• 27:13 – Margaret’s personal reaction/analysis
• 28:05 – Author bio and book recommendations

Additional Background

• Eric Raglin: Author of several horror/weird fiction collections; owns Cursed Morsels Press.
• Story’s Themes: Queer outlaw romanticism, nostalgia, apocalyptic fantasy, found family, societal conformity vs. anarchic freedom.
• Meta commentary: Margaret touches on the parallels with real-world Satanic panic myths and the joy of subverting reactionary hysteria in fiction.

Recommended Further Reading & Listening

• Margaret’s own book: The Immortal Choir Holds Every Voice (similar themes)
• Other Cool Zone Media shows, e.g., Behind the Bastards, for background on “Hobby Lobby”-adjacent real-world history.

Final Thoughts

This is a standout episode for fans of anarchist, queer, and apocalyptic fiction: rollicking, hilarious, heartfelt, and subversively hopeful—delivered with Margaret’s characteristic warmth and wit. Even if Satan doesn’t literally arrive, the revolutionary spirit (and the tender messiness of found family) definitely does.

(For more on short horror/weird fiction and anti-fascist queer literature, check out Eric Raglin and Margaret Killjoy’s works wherever books and zines are sold.)