By: Ashley Cerasaro
Weekender Correspondent

During the fall of 2003, four students from the Bethesda Writer’s Center in D.C. would meet after class at a bar called The Big Hunt. It was during these late evenings, rather than engaging in drunken hookups, that these four intoxicated devotees of pop culture and literature conceived their “magical baby of love.”

Their idea was to print a magazine celebrating all that is good about pop culture, hoping to prove that literature can be as much fun as an episode of The O.C., and that there shouldn’t be a divide between what is considered elite art —literary classics, the opera, etc.-- and pop culture -- TV, comic books and rock n’ roll. Fittingly, they chose to name this invention Barrelhouse, which can mean “disreputable saloon or bawdy house.”

Joe Killiany, a native of Carbondale, is one of the founders. Killiany lived in Carbondale until 1996 when he graduated from high school and left for college. In 2000, he attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania and majored in English while also taking classes in film theory and art history. Upon graduation, his best friend Kylos Brannon was accepted into American University’s graduate film program, and he asked Killiany to move to D.C. with him. The rest is history. Killiany decided to take classes at the Bethesda Writer’s Center where he met fellow Barrelhouse founders Dave Housley, Mike Ingram and Aaron Pease.

I recently read Barrelhouse, and the only way I can describe it is a whole lotta fun. I guarantee you it is not what comes to mind when someone says “literary magazine.”

Everyone and anyone can relate to the stories. In the first piece, “Metal Church,” the narrator is in a bind. He cannot choose between his new love, a woman at work, and his love of metal. In “Reality x Reality,” a naive young girl enlists for a reality show gone bad. Also included is a segment called the “Barrelhouse Interview.” This first issue features country/folk artist Emmylou Harris.

While speaking with Harris, the guys wrapped up her interview by asking what her favorite Patrick Swayze movie was.

The purpose of this random question?

The answer reveals much about a person. “There’s a world of difference between ‘Roadhouse’ people and ‘Dirty Dancing’ people, ‘Donnie Darko’ people and ‘Ghost’ people,” he said. “Seriously, ask your friends what their favorite Swayze movies are. If you can guess ahead of time, you know them pretty well. It’s a good litmus test.”

In case you’re wondering, he’s torn between “Roadhouse” and “Donnie D.”

“Barrelhouse” will be hosting “Take that Hill,” an evening of readings and short films, at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday. It will consist of readings from the first issue of Barrelhouse and the Barrelhouse web site, along with five short films, some of which are directed by Brannon. And if it’s anything like the magazine, it’ll be a whole lotta fun.