Cream Scene Carnival

A letter from your Managing Editor, the Resident Control Freak

Hello, dear friends, creatives, collaborators, and that one guy sitting outside my house in a ghillie suit!

You’re here because, for whatever reason, the universe (or a series of very convoluted web searches about “clown college,” “dessert recipes,” and “euphemistic-sounding independent magazines”) has sent you to Cream Scene Carnival, and for that, I could not be more grateful. 

I originally learned about the spirit of the project through its founder, Dia VanGunten. Dia and I met at another independent magazine, where it was her job to provide her usual brand of wacky, surrealist literature and mine to try to wrangle her into using a comma every now and then. Unfortunately, my mission failed, but something more important was created along the way: a friendship. 

Then, one day, while I was chewing my nails and ranting about fad diets or the government, she told me about Cream Scene Carnival, an old blog from the 2000s that she was hoping to revive. In my mind’s eye, I watched her adorn a little black Catherine Zeta-Jones wig and perform a choreographed rendition of “I Can’t Do It Alone,” and instantly I knew the opportunity to form something fresh and exciting was too good to pass up. We were going to need flapper dresses and machine guns.

Since then, Dia, I, our wonderful Art Director Katy, and Cream Scene’s blossoming team of vagabonds and ragamuffins have redesigned a website; coordinated a launch; solicited submissions; written an excessive amount of copy; released our first issue; digested some pasta; wept over WordPress; and felt a genuine excitement about being involved in the creation of something so unique, and we couldn’t have done any of it without you. If you’re reading this now, THANK YOU.

Even in the few short months that this project has been in the works, it has been an incredible journey filled with adventure and various parentally-restricted shenanigans, and I want to thank everyone who has contributed to the process, whether it is the wonderful artists and writers who have entrusted us with their work or Cyprian, my partner, who brings me chopped apples and tells me I eat like a horse.

You are invaluable.

My only goal now is to keep the momentum going throughout 2023 and beyond and to provide even more fabulous creators with the opportunity to express themselves however best they see fit. It’s going to be a wild ride, and I, for one, can’t wait to see what happens.

But, if there’s one thing to remember:

With all the love in the universe,

Cait