Berlin 2025 - Summer in the City

Even though the weather hasn't noticed it yet, the summer is supposed to be knocking on our doors, and that means more events, open air cinemas, new challenges and similar stuff. Let's take a look at what's up in Berlin and in my reading plans in the early summer 2025.

Well, as I mentioned before, the world's best bookshop Hammett turns 30 years old in the beginning of June, and we will celebrate for a whole week with fun games, alcohol-free drinks and little snacks. I'll be present Monday, Thursday and Saturday afternoons - plus, Saturday is really special as the whole crew will be present and for the first time ever, working together. The publishing houses showed us crazy support and contributed to our games with generous donations of amazing brand new crime books which we will be distributing, currently we have enough books to give away 9 books a day, so the chances are more than good you can win something! There will be two main ways to win books, the first is, the raffle game where you just draw from a bowl, and the second is a searching game, where you have to find something in the shop of which we have hidden 10 in between the shelves.

The rule is that you will be told what you have to find when you arrive in the shop, but I will give you the advantage of the Protean Depravity reader and tell you what it is; you need to find ten of the amazing bookmarks that Tom from the Otherland has personally hand-drawn for the occasion, see the picture on the upper right. So, come June, run to Hammett and start looking for them!

From June 6 to June 9 the famous Carnival of the Cultures will take place in and around Mehringdamm and Blücherplatz, so on that weekend you can go get stuffed with wonderful food from all around the world and then win some books and read them.

A week later, on Friday June 13th, Brian Evenson will be at the Otherland!!! I can't believe one of my favorite authors is finally here and we can chat! I already started thinking (and can't decide) on which book I should take and get signed. 

And the following week, June 18 again at the Otherland, author and tattoo artist Morgane Caussarieu will present her horror book Visqueuse. I already bought this book, but haven't taken a look at it yet, but it is illustrated and the premise sounds awesome, so my hopes are high.

As each year, on June 21st it is time for La Fête de la Musique, during which you can just grab a beer and wander around in Berlin because there will be musicians giving free concerts in every corner of the city, you just need to find your vibe.

What few people know is that Berlin has its very own book fair, only it is more like a feast, and it has food trucks and music, Berlin-style. This year the Berliner Bücherfest will be the weekend of June 28 and 29, on Bebelsplatz/Unter den Linden, where you can meet lots of representatives from various publishing houses and browse stands and buy books.

The open air cinema season is opening this month as well, and beside the usual movies that won awards at the Oscars or at the Sundance or other places, some cinemas are showcasing David Lynch movies, since the acclaimed auteur has died this year. The Freiluftkino Kreuzberg screens a David Lynch movie every Tuesday and the Freiluftkino Hasenheide every Wednesday, including movies like Eraserhead and Lost Highway.

And speaking about Lynch: Caro, Dorothy Scarecrow and I have discovered this Twin Peaks themed diner in Berlin, The Lonely Hearts Café, so if you want to go full David Lynch this summer, here's a recommendation from me, they especially have the famed cherry pie.

The Freilichtbühne Weißensee will continue with screenings of movies from former East Germany, GDR. I was really smitten by these screenings last year, not only is the cinema set in a beach-like setting, with sand on the ground, and the waves of Weißensee smashing to the shore in the background, the organizer also gave a little information about each movie they showed from a past country that doesn't exist anymore.

Some movies which will see theatrical release this summer that sound exciting are; 28 Years Later, Bring Her Back, Clown in a Cornfield, The Ugly Stepsister, and Together. There are possibly a ton more movies upcoming, so take this as the incomplete list it is.

As to the books I want to read this summer, the list is so long at this point, that it's complicated. I am joining the Summer Horror Challenge again, so I need to find lots of summer themed books. My prompts and the corresponding books I plan to read are as follows;

Horror on an island: I couldn't find a book set on an island that I'd like to read... Let me know if you have suggestions for me and if not I guess I'll cheat and read something set in England, which, ultimately, is an island.

Horror set on a summer holiday or vacation: Beta Vulgaris by Margie Sarsfield deals with a young couple from New York making use of their summer vacation and going to work on beet fields to better their finances a little. The girl really has issues with self confidence and self worth, so much it's kind of exaggerated, but I can see the horror in there.

Horror in a hotel, resort, or at a campground: Let me know if you have any recommendations for this prompt!

Horror involving heat or stormy weather: Let me know if you have any recommendations for this prompt!

Horror on a road trip: When the Wolf Comes Home by Nat Cassidy. As far as I know this is about a woman who runs away (is on the road) with a child whose father is a werewolf. I also intend to cross out many werewolf-themed prompts for other challenges with this book.

Horror set in a place you'd like to visit: Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud. Because it's set in an asylum for people with mental illnesses on the moon and I'd love to visit the moon.

Horror under the stars: Let me know if you have any recommendations for  this prompt!

Horror involving sporting events: The Gaia Chime by Johnny Worthen, in which a filmmaker and her cameraman need to re-think their film project when the tennis star whose life they have been documenting brutally murders his parents in front of the cameras. That's as close to sports as I'll come in fiction.

Horror in/on the water: The Off-Season: An Anthology of Coastal New Weird by Marissa Van Uden. I've been waiting to read this anthology for a very long time. The premise, the concept, the authors, everything about it looks very appealing.

Horror while hiking/climbing: Let me know if you have any recommendations for  this prompt!

And finally I have two books which will be published this summer that I'm insanely anticipating, like, I get really happy when I think about them. The first one of these is The End of the World As We Know It: New Tales of Stephen King's The Stand, and as you can see from the title, it comprises short stories set in the The Stand Universe. Editors are Christopher Golden and Brian Keene, Stephen King wrote an introduction, and some names I appreciate seeing on the cover are Gabino Iglesias, Hailey Piper, Sarah Langan, and Nat Cassidy. Publication date is August 18th.

The second book I'm anticipating was actually a surprise for me to see, as I had no idea that one of my all time favorite books by one of my all time favorite authors, Mona Awad's Bunny, is getting a sequel, and the title is We Love you, Bunny.

In Bunny, which by now has received cult status, protagonist Sam is an outsider kind of girl who joins a creative writing program in a New England university . She is mesmerized, but also confused and even repulsed by the sickly sweet clique, The Bunnies, and their methods to keep creative and successful.

Apparently We Love You, Bunny continues with Sam publishing her first novel and receiving critical acclaim, but is then kidnapped by the Bunnies who don't like the way they are portrayed in the book, and want to set the record straight by telling their sides of the story.

You know how you waited for important things as a kid, excited, not being able to sleep, and all? That's how I feel about this book, this will be so much fun. I feel like I will see old friends of mine!

So, my Bunnies, this is the plan for early summer, I hope we can meet at some point, and I hope the weather warms up soon, because it's too cold. Have a great time!