At the May 7th edition of Tuesday Funk, returning reader Suzanne Clores related the squirm-inducing tale of a car ride she took with a Brooklyn mobster, and it sounded a little like this...

And if you enjoyed that, please join us at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, June 4th, 2013, upstairs at Hopleaf, for an evening with Darwyn Jones, Heather Corallo, Lawrence Santoro, Mare Swallow, and G.P.A. (Greatest Poet Alive)!

Mare Swallow is the Founder and Executive Director of the Chicago Writers Conference, as well as a professional public speaker and public speaking coach. She's the author of "25 Ways to Engage Your Audience," and is currently writing a book that aims to help liberal arts majors get jobs after college.

Please join Mare and all our outstanding readers on Tuesday, June 4th, 2013, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

In 2001, Lawrence Santoro's novella "God Screamed and Screamed, Then I Ate Him" was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award by the Horror Writers Association. In 2002, his adaptation and audio production of Gene Wolfe's "The Tree Is My Hat," was also Stoker nominated.

In 2003, his Stoker-recommended "Catching" received Honorable Mention in Ellen Datlow's seventeenth annual Year's Best Fantasy & Horror anthology. In 2004, "So Many Tiny Mouths" was cited in the anthology's eighteenth edition. In the the twentieth, his novella "At Angels Sixteen," from the anthology A Dark and Deadly Valley, was similarly honored.

Larry's first novel, Just North of Nowhere, was published in 2007. A collection of his short fiction, Drink for the Thirst to Come, was published in December 2011. Before all that, Larry spent thirty years as a director, producer and actor in theater and television.

Since its inaugural show in January, 2012, Larry has been the host of the weekly horror podcast, Tales to Terrify, the sister show to the Hugo Award-winning StarShipSofa.

He lives in Chicago and is at work on two new novels, Griffon and the Sky Warriors and A Mississippi Traveler, or Sam Clemens Tries the Water. Stop by his blog, At Home in Bluffton.

Please join Larry and all our outstanding readers on Tuesday, June 4th, 2013, upstairs at Hopleaf at 7:30 pm. This 21-and-older event is free.

At the May 7th edition of Tuesday Funk, our almost monthly Poem by Bill repeated a question we've heard before, and it went a little like this...

And if you enjoyed that, please join us at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, June 4th, 2013, upstairs at Hopleaf, for an evening with Darwyn Jones, Heather Corallo, Lawrence Santoro, Mare Swallow, and G.P.A. (Greatest Poet Alive)!

At our May 7th edition last week, co-host Andrew Huff brought us a fistful of fine haiku ripped bleeding from current headlines:

Bombs, explosions, floods:
this April found our heartstrings
and pulled them hard.

April's heavy showers
brought destruction, but green too.
Just in time for May.

Three found in Cleveland:
Amanda, Michelle, Gina.
Three devils found too.

Ernest Hemingway
was known for daiquiries and
extreme brevity.

If you enjoyed that, we'll have more video from the evening coming up in the next few weeks. And please join us at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, June 4th, 2013, upstairs at Hopleaf, for an evening with Darwyn Jones, Heather Corallo, Lawrence Santoro, Mare Swallow, and G.P.A. (Greatest Poet Alive). Don't miss it!

We've put together a brilliant lineup for our next Tuesday Funk! The roster will feature Darwyn Jones, Heather Corallo, Lawrence Santoro, Mare Swallow, and G.P.A. (Greatest Poet Alive). Throw in a handful of our patented Haiku by Andrew, not to mention your pick of cold beers from around the world, and you've got all the ingredients for an evening that will glow in your memory for weeks to follow.

The evening gets underway with your host Andrew Huff on Tuesday, June 4th, 2012, 7:30 pm, in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf, 5148 N. Clark St., Chicago. (Bill will be on vacation.) Arrive early for a table and grab a beer from Mark at the bar (where credit cards are now accepted!). We start seating at 7:00 pm and no earlier. Admission is always free, but you must be 21 or older. And come early or stay late after for some great Belgian-style food downstairs.

Please bring plenty of friends, and become a fan of Tuesday Funk on Facebook so you never miss an invitation to one of our readings. See you there!

It was another packed room for this past Tuesday night's edition of Tuesday Funk at Hopleaf, and the standing-room crowd seemed to think it was a great show all around. If you couldn't be there, let's recap what you missed.

We kicked off the fun with Suzanne Clores, who brought us the true tale of a limo ride through lower Manhattan with a Brooklyn mobster. Our former co-host Sara Ross Witt followed that up with an excerpt from a story of a dysfunctional family of possible psychics. Co-host Andrew Huff continued his new monthly feature with a handful of Haiku by Andrew ripped from recent headlines. And Robert McDonald treated us to a selection of his poetry, including the greatest poem about the might rhinoceros that you'll ever hear.

After a break for beer, our Poem by Bill, "What Changed?," was entirely unlike his short story of the same name from last month. Next, returning reader Dion Walton told the heartfelt story of his battle with HIV and his attempts to escape the morgue door. And finally, Mary Beth Hoerner closed out our program with a delightful and powerful short story about pride and childhood secrets.

All in all, it was an amazing night, but if you couldn't be there, don't despair. We'll bring you plenty of video excerpts in the weeks to come, and then we'll try to top ourselves yet again on Tuesday, June 4, 2013, with a program featuring Darwyn Jones, Heather Corallo, Lawrence Santoro, Mare Swallow, and G.P.A. (Greatest Poet Alive). Don't miss it!

Now let's take a ten-minute break, people. Smoke 'em if you got 'em.

Don't forget—tonight is Tuesday Funk's 57th episode, featuring Suzanne Clores, Mary Beth Hoerner, Robert McDonald, Dion Walton, and Sara Ross Witt. Don't miss it!

Our readings take place at Hopleaf Bar, 5148 N. Clark St. in Chicago. We get started promptly at 7:30 pm in the upstairs lounge. Arrive early if you want a seat—but no earlier than 7:00 pm. Our readings are free, but only those 21 and over will be admitted. No food can be brought in from the restaurant. See you there!

Last month at our April 2nd edition, Jeremy Jasper dropped by to relate a powerful and terrifying tale from childhood, and it went a little like this...

And if you enjoyed that, please join us at 7:30 pm tomorrow night, Tuesday, May 7th, 2013, upstairs at Hopleaf, for an evening with Suzanne Clores, Mary Beth Hoerner, Robert McDonald, Dion Walton, and former co-host Sara Ross Witt. Don't miss it!

At the March 5th edition of Tuesday Funk, our monthly Poem by Bill raged against the ticking clock, and it went a little like this...

And if you enjoyed that, please join us at 7:30 pm on Tuesday, May 7th, 2013, upstairs at Hopleaf, for an evening with Suzanne Clores, Mary Beth Hoerner, Robert McDonald, Dion Walton, and former co-host Sara Ross Witt!