This Beautiful Darkness - a review

Flint author and arts activist Chris Ringler recently published his second book, This Beautiful Darkness. This Beautiful Darkness is a series of short stories that are dark and show the monsters hidden in our society.


This image is used with permission from the author Chris Ringler.

From a father teaching his son the art of killing to the demons trapped inside a haunted bed. This Beautiful Darkness has 13 stories that show the darkness in humanity. These are the kinds of stories that stay with you, and haunt you. This is a must read. Ringler is a self published author, so you can purchase his book through him via his MySpace, Amazon, or https://www.createspace.com/3386414. Ringler recently made This Beautiful Darkness available for Kindle, which is a wireless reading device distributed by Amazon Digital Services.

Ringler fell in-love with writing as a teenager, thus spawning his first book Back From Nothing in 1999. He has also been published in Bare Bone 6, 7, and 9 and Cthulhu Sex magazine, and has completed writing a children's series and novel. Ringler has also received honorable mention in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror twice.

Ringler is not just a writer, but he is also a painter and photographer.

What happened to my art scene?

Downtown Flint Skyline. Photo taken by Sarah Razak. This photo was acquired through the Creative Commons License on Flickr.

I remember 3-years-ago how fun the art scene in downtown Flint was. Art Walk was always fun and the galleries were full, but there were small indie shows as well that brought in tons of people. Granted I can be some what biased in this, given that I have helped put together a good portion of indie shows myself. But it makes me sad that the art scene is so cliche and not at all what the artists in the city deserve. Not everyone wants to be a part of the bigger galleries, or sometimes they aren't able.

I am definitely not knocking the major galleries, because lord knows I appreciate them and what they are doing for the community, but I miss the grittiness of those indie shows. I miss the feel of those shows. You could tell that the people involved put everything they had into making something different, yet respectful, than the norm.

I wish the artists in Flint would stop for a moment, and think about those little shows and what they meant for artists who couldn't get their work out there, and how some of these indie shows helped them get where they are, how they helped them get noticed.

I will never give up my passion for these shows, cause I have been the one putting them on, and I have been the one getting their work out there because of them. So, artists in Flint, here is your chance, lets kick it old school and do what we do best; keep the arts alive, and give 'em one hell of a show!

"Few things are as heart wrenching as watching someone you love die but I can tell you that watching someTHING you love die can elicit similar pain and heartache. It is torture to watch something you worked on and poured your passion into as it dies, worse when you see it dying but can’t stop it.

For me right now that THING is community art and it is dying…but it doesn’t have to."

Chris Ringler, Flint Arts Activist

Some punk rock kids with the idea to rummage

Churchill's Bar and Grill is the home of the Punk Rock Rummage Sale, a free event in downtown Flint.
Photo taken by Sarah Razak, acquired through Creative Commons License through Flickr.com.

The Punk Rock Rummage Sale popped up once again at Churchill's Bar and Grill in downtown Flint on Nov. 7. Founders Chris Ringler, Justin Zeglevski, Beth Nixon and Glen Birdsall once again have brought awesome music and hard to find items, best of all, it was free to come to.

The Punk Rock Rummage Sale was modeled after a similar event that Nixon has been a huge part of called the Baar Bazaar. Ringler, Zeglevski and Birdsall had previously been the sole group that put together the Guerilla Art Shows just down the street at 625, and decided that the shows weren't what they used to be and wanted something different. They came together in May of this year and did the first Punk Rock Rummage Sale, which brought in over 100 people. The show was free to the public and offered live music, hard to find collectibles and handmade crafts.

The show this past weekend offered all the same fine wears, but this time had the infamous DJ Michael A (Absher). Many people made their way through the event finding vintage clothing, DVD's, toys, and handcrafted jewelry just to name some of the radness of the night.

The group has decided to not make the shows a regular event in downtown Flint so that when they do come together it is something new and fresh. "We don't want people to get tired of us," said Ringler. "It's important to have a fresh and fun event."