A Look Back at 2025 (Good Riddance)

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I took inspiration from friend and fellow writer Marya Gates (whose site you should also subscribe to) and wanted to get personal today. I wanted to examine what 2025 looked like for me, as a writer and as a person. I'm sure many of you are doing similar reflections as we all count down the days before this asshole of a year transitions into something, hopefully, better. God, even slightly less heinous would be an improvement.

If there was one word I'd use to describe me this year it was "adrift." I returned to freelancing full-time for the first time in four years and I was unsurprised by how bad things had gotten in the journalism game but couldn't have anticipated the wave of criticism layoffs and other attempts to fundamentally change the job I've loved doing since I was a teenager.

I got a lot of opportunities outside of TFM that were amazing. I actually won two National Arts and Entertainment awards from the LA Press Club for two pieces I wrote for Variety. One of them was from this year, a call for abled people in Hollywood to advocate harder for the disabled. This year I couldn't believe some of the places I wrote for, like Letterboxd, where I gave readers a crash course in movies about disability, and the L.A. Times! For the Times I got to interview director Derek Cianfrance and stars Kirsten Dunst and Channing Tatum about Roofman. I also did some work for the Golden Globes, covering their first-time nominees luncheon and interviewing the great Bill Condon.

But I also struggled severely with what it meant to leave a corporate job like the one I was doing. Despite all those amazing bylines you see above, trying to get access for TFM reminded me how low on the totem pole I was, and the issues many newly laid off journalists no doubt will feel as they try to create their own work in the future. I've talked about how publicists (here and here) need to start being realistic about publicity in this day and age. Because right now we're losing more entertainment journalists and critics than we're getting in. And we're certainly not getting more women or writers of color.

So while I tried to feel like I wasn't totally irrelevant I did the cliche thing and took my broken heart and turned it into art. Specifically, I turned it into The Film Maven. This year saw some big changes with the site, mostly that I went from writing things two to three days a week, to four and five days. There was so much stuff going on and, for the first time, the stress of writing kind of dissipated. I was writing the type of stuff I wanted to, with the spontaneity I'd missed. We got a new logo and name, transitioning from Kristomania to The Film Maven. But I wanted to do more to practice what I preached and brought on new voices like Lex Briscuso, Alyssa Valazquez, Emily Edwards and Athina Clarke who contributed some great stuff!

The biggest thing though was taking the leap off of Substack. This, more than anything else this year, stressed me out the most. I was going to give up the safety of Substack--whose social medium component helped people easily find and follow the site--for the relevant unknown of SEO and website management over at Ghost. Would I lose followers? Would I lose any more of the small income I was garnering? Would traffic crater? It was worth it, both ethically and financially. Since moving to Ghost we've hit over 1,000 subscribers (and, yes, I am prepping to watch and review Megalopolis) and my hope is that it will continue to grow!

Oh, hey, I also published a book this year. Popcorn Disabilities, my exploration on disability in film, debuted on Thanksgiving Day. It's a book I have mixed emotions about. On the one hand I'm happy it exists and that those who have read it really like it. On the other, the publisher really did let me down on a number of things. Hence, no reviews, little publicity (outside of my own creation), and a struggle to find the book in stores. If you're interested in purchasing a copy through me PLEASE let me know and I'm happy to hook you up.

I also wrote two additional books this year: the second volume of my Turner Classic Movies book, But Have You Read the Book, will debut in August 2026. And my baby, Welcome, Boils and Ghouls: The Complete Oral History of Tales From the Crypt, drops in 2027! These ones meant a lot to me but Boils and Ghouls is so special. I spent 2025 interviewing over 150 people associated with the show in some way. If Kristen as a kid knew who she spoke to this year she wouldn't believe it.

And, honestly, that's how I kept looking at things this year. Teenage Kristen would have died knowing she'd eventually meet Leonardo DiCaprio, Colin Farrell or Kirsten Dunst. Kristen in her twenties wouldn't believe she'd chat with Michael B. Jordan, or that she'd be at a Golden Globes event as an actual member of the press. These are moments that I still can't believe happen to me now and they did a lot to remind me of why I stay in this world and do what I do.

Before I close this out, I want to thank all of you. All of you who bought my books. Who read my work (whether here or anywhere else). Who subscribe to The Film Maven. Who talk to me or share my stuff on social media. All of this reminds that teenage disabled girl inside my head that what she's doing is worth it and matters. Even when our President is a shitbag and the world seems like it's on a collision course with doom.

So, please have a safe and happy New Year! Here's to another year of enjoying pop culture and getting through what the hell happens in 2026.

Closing it out with a reminder of why I write: to keep these two guys in kibble.

Happy New Year from Kristen, Elliott Stabler and Harlow