It’s no wonder Seattle has been dubbed the “City of Music.” A small town, geographically isolated from mainstream record industries in New York, Chicago, and LA and steeped in the independent spirit of its northwest settlers, Seattle eventually gave rise to an innovative and wholly unique musical scene. In the late 60s, it gave the world rock legend Jimi Hendrix. In the late ‘80s, its underground hardcore punk and heavy metal influences fused to create grunge, made popular nationwide by bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam. As the ‘90s gave way to the aughts, it became a launching pad for a host of indie rock bands (think Modest Mouse, Death Cab for Cutie, or The Head and the Heart).

These enticing stories of darkness and intrigue are pulled from the shadows by the mind of prolific Seattle writer David Massengill. His recently published collection of short stories, Fragments of a Journal Salvaged from a Charred House in Germany, 1816 and other stories (Anvil Fiction), spins a series of foreboding tales that infect the imagination with both dread and unique descriptive nuances. Massengill was kindly enough to sit down for an interview with Highbrow Magazine to talk about his recent publication and his thoughts on writing in the exciting new world of digital books.

History was in the making last fall in the suburbs of Seattle. But voters didn’t know that when a young-ish, dark-haired blind man came knocking. “I wear sunglasses as do many people who are blind and I use a cane,” says Cyrus Habib, who door-belled 7,000 homes in his campaign for an open seat in the Washington state legislature. Habib raised more money to win election than any other Washington House candidate in state history. 

Seattle’s Mourning Market, a quarterly art show hosted in a city know for its rain and shadow, calls together those Pacific Northwestern artists who practice their own unique blend of the “dark arts.” Visitors to this experience could find one-of-a-kind pieces ranging from unseelie photography to vintage gothic posters and specially designed tarot card decks. With new artists joining the show every year, the variety of skill sets it brings together is both innovative and diverse.

Rising like vertical lines of steel against a backdrop of evergreen mountains and dark water, Seattle has a popular reputation for being a high-tech city with some very granola roots. Hosting the headquarters of a number of powerful, global corporations such as Starbuck’s and Amazon.com, Seattle and its vast metropolitan area – which runs mostly along the edges of Puget Sound and Lake Washington – is the largest urban center in the Pacific Northwest and it single-handedly sways the politics of the entire region. While most people think of grungy hipsters, delicious coffee or overcast skies when the name ‘Seattle’ is mentioned, one may wonder: How much of this is accurate and how much is exaggeration?