When breaking the silence, is your voice the only one you hear?
So quiet here… Normally, a quiet spot is somewhere I find solace. But if said place is called The Chats of Maldoror, maybe it should feature some form of… chatter. Whether it be inane dialogue or an interminable monologue, words need to be uttered. So I’ll hold up my end of the bargain and fill this up with the raw thoughts shooting out of my head like a mechanical Pez dispenser on the fritz.
And what’s your part of the deal? Absolutely nothing. Though it would be greatly appreciated if you choose to stick around, subscribe, and keep coming back every chance you get. It’s as easy as adding your email address to the space below and hitting Subscribe. You can also bookmark the hub page chatsofmaldoror.com to keep track of it all from one page. The full site will launch on Tuesday, October 14th, 2025.
Still here? If that desperate plea didn’t turn you away, nothing will. So, welcome to The Chats of Maldoror, a digital realm for discussing storytelling across an array of mediums. It’s an evolving entity, a growing realm. Depending on when you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’re an early settler to this strange land. If that’s the case, I tip my hat to you while hiding my rations.
So what is this exactly?
Yeah, yeah, the whimsical prose is nice and all, but what does this all mean?
I’ll tell it to you straight. The Chats of Maldoror is a newsletter and media channel about:
Writer’s Craft (Insights into my process, examinations of others, and analysis of larger theories)
Literature (often delving into the metafictional, the modernist, the misfit)
Film & TV (with a taste for the surreal, the satirical, and the sinister)
Video essays and reviews (Definitely not coming to a theatre near you)
Ideas (A pretentious way of saying “miscellaneous musings.”)
You’ll find weekly posts here on the Substack relating to such matters and monthly video essays. At heart, this is an exploration of narrative: what stories do to us, what they hide from us, how they shape our sense of reality. If that sounds like a conspiracy theory, good. That means you’re starting to get it.
What you can expect
Over the next few weeks, you’ll see:
Posts on topics like unpacking the Russian-nesting doll we know as metafiction, can satire survive in a post-truth world, and whether or not getting an MA/MFA in Creative Writing is worth it.
Deep dives into novels by authors like Nabokov, Calvino, Vonnegut, and others who have written themselves into the maze.
Film essays on works like Adaptation, Barton Fink, and Mother Night (movies about the cost of telling stories).
General reviews of what I’ve been watching, reading, playing, and everything in between.
As time goes on, I’m looking to expand it into a podcast. A place to chat with writers and creatives, established and burgeoning, about the craft and whatever they have on their minds.
What’s a “Maldoror”?
Easy one. It comes from Comte de Lautréamont’s Les Chants de Maldoror, a fever dream of a book. One that helped birth surrealism. Because it reminds us that not all literature exists to comfort or explain. Some stories want to dismember you. Some truths might leave even your favourite conspiracy theorist gasping for air.
So I thought a little play on words felt refreshing.
And who am I?
Maybe you know the real me, maybe you’ve known me by other aliases, or maybe you had no idea of my existence, and you’re utterly perplexed as to why you’re still here when you could be watching cat videos, slop, or gorging on algorithmic polarization. Hmm… Can’t blame you. I’ll probably seek those out when I’m done here.
Therefore, I’ll keep this short. I’m Thaddeus Awotunde, just a guy who loves writing and storytelling. I’m in the middle of working on a novel, and want to create a dialogue in a world where the appreciation for storytelling and a comprehension of the mechanics of media literacy are on the wane. Hopefully, in enough time, you’ll get to know as much about me as you need to.
So stick around, subscribe, who knows, maybe I’ll even see you in a chat!