“Fourteen Questions with Judas Davis” by Alden Nagel
An Interview with an NHP-Associated Writer
ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)
Alden Nagel is the founder and editor of Nut Hole Publishing, and also a writer. You can find him on Instagram: @alden_nagel_. His debut novella FAG SYMPHONY is out now, via Nut Hole Publishing. He has an upcoming novella entitled Salination Mountains, and a (paired) novel entitled The Desalinated Exosphere.
Judas Davis is a writer, a musician, and so much more. You can find him on Instagram, Spotify, Youtube, Soundcloud, Neocities, and on Bandcamp.
Alden Nagel: Where do you hail from, Judas?
Judas Davis: It says on my website that I was born in Brooklyn and promptly dropped on my head, but I was actually born in Manhattan and promptly dropped on my head. My family moved around a lot, I’ve finally returned to the East Coast.
Alden Nagel: What do you make of elves—light and dark?
Judas Davis: I don’t know a lot about elves, but I know that in Irish folklore fairies are considered malevolent beings. I’m particularly fascinated by the concept of changelings—imps who steal human babies and replace them with their own young. People often turn to superstition when reality is too painful, or they want an excuse to “demonize” someone.
Alden Nagel: Are you aware of Xenofeminism, and if so, what qualities about the philosophy interest you?
Judas Davis: Many of my friends sing Donna Haraway’s praises. I never really “got it.” To have a gender abolitionist society, people have to want one first. And they don’t. You have these young American women cosplaying as 1950s tradwives and yearning for the good old days when women on the other side of the world aren’t allowed to go outside without covering their entire body. And the only reason why you’re allowed to become a pseudo-trad social media influencer is because years ago, women hated the world that you want to return to so much, they fought for your right to be independent.
Alden Nagel: Does a dove scream in the night when it has died?
Judas Davis: A scream always seems to echo louder in a confined space.
Alden Nagel: Have you ever raided a tomb, or been gifted a morgue?
Judas Davis: I used to go to the local cemetery and do tombstone rubbings. It doesn’t damage the tombstone, but people definitely look at you funny.
Alden Nagel: “Gargantuan spiraling of effervescence.” What does this sentence mean to you?
Judas Davis: It doesn’t mean much to me. I start spiraling every night.
Alden Nagel: What are you thankful for?
Judas Davis: I’m thankful that some people find my work relatable, because all I ever really wanted was to relate to someone. I always felt the loneliest in a room full of people.
Alden Nagel: What are you knowledgeable in?
Judas Davis: When I was a kid I Googled “commonly abused household substances” and made a list of everything you could possibly get high on. A lot of those things were more dangerous than actual drugs. If I had a kid, I’d much rather find out that they were smoking weed than abusing Benadryl to see the Hatman. Every attempt to “raise awareness” about drug abuse has backfired. I heard rates of drug usage skyrocketed after the DARE program started making PSAs. To this day you still see stoners walking around in DARE shirts.
Alden Nagel: What empirical element do you believe JD Vance to be most in alignment with?
Judas Davis: Silicon, probably. He looks more like a wax figure than anything, but wax isn’t an element. For a second I thought you were referring to the Avatar elements. He would be Earth, definitely.
Hillbilly Elegy has been on my reading list for a while. The couch thing was funny, but who am I to judge? I don’t know what I’d do in his position. I’d much rather be a politician known for fucking a couch than a politician known for doing anything I’ve written about.
You’d think that (supposedly) growing up working class would make him more sympathetic to the leftist cause, but the American people can’t seem to envision a system outside of the one that already exists, and their only point of reference is the state of the economy under past Democratic candidates.
Alden Nagel: Of all of the Christian saints, do you have a favorite?
Judas Davis: Saint Lucia. Her eyes were gouged out, but she still saw the light. No one can take that away from you. “Lucia” by Anthony Moore is one of my father’s favorite songs.
Alden Nagel: What are your thoughts on Satanic Panic as it exists in contemporary society?
Judas Davis: I don’t think the Satanic Panic ever really left. As long as America is one nation under God, the Satanic Panic will continue in some form or another. But weird kids don’t play Dungeons and Dragons or listen to Iron Maiden anymore, so the focus just shifted to other, more relevant targets (drag queens). I’ve been reading this book called Programmed to Kill: The Politics of Serial Murder and it’s hard to describe without sounding like I’m trying to sell you some Q-Anon bullshit, but the author makes a compelling case that the CIA manufactured the Satanic Panic to distract the public from their involvement with actual cults.
Alden Nagel: Do you ever wish you were a bird, a bush, or another form of life entirely?
Judas Davis: Every day.
Alden Nagel: What is loss?
Judas Davis: Everything that dies someday comes back. But only once you stop looking for it.
Alden Nagel: What is?
Judas Davis: Whatever’s still there when you close your eyes.