Notes on Life, Death, and Family From a Hill Country Deer Blind
"We both watch the blood and steam spill out into the winter air. At this point, it is not unusual for at least one of us to cry."
Emily McCullar is an eleventh-generation Texan who was hired as Texas Monthly’s front desk receptionist in 2014. She soon charmed her way into the fact-checking department, before becoming a staff writer in 2019. She has written about celebrities, literature, music, film, politics, and history, and she likes to think of herself as a Matthew McConnoisseur. In 2018, she wrote an essay about deer hunting with her dad that was long-listed in The Best American Sports Writing, and the fact that this basically means she’s a “sportswriter” is the funniest thing in the entire world.
"We both watch the blood and steam spill out into the winter air. At this point, it is not unusual for at least one of us to cry."
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
To his 650,000 Instagram followers, he’s a pioneering “grandfluencer.” But to his adoring second-grade students, he’s simply Mr. Randle.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
Meatheads from around the country fly in to the 30,000-square-foot gym in the Houston suburbs where you’re no one if you’re not flexing, vlogging, or networking.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
Our hero reflects on hot dogs, ‘The Odyssey,’ and a killer Replacements track.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
When Adrian Layne saw her best-selling print on Target items, she was flattered. Then she was furious.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
A stubborn and savvy group of franchisees turned the Midwest-based dessert chain into a Lone Star institution beloved for its steak fingers and Hungr-Busters.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
May we suggest tickets to Cancun?
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
Dan Solomon writes about politics, music, food, sports, criminal justice, health care, film, and business.
Locals kitted out in wizard robes to shop for wands, chocolate frogs, and Hogwarts-themed holiday ornaments.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
Somewhere inside every story—including the one in which the Duke and Duchess of Sussex chose to step back from the royal family, as told on Netflix’s ‘Harry & Meghan’—lies a Texan.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
It’s furry and cute, but it can cause intense, throbbing pain for up to twelve hours!
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
Gridlock, brand activations, and Austrian funnel cake ruled the weekend’s U.S. Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
It’s impressive, really.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
In his new memoir, the Instagram star recounts his childhood in Austin and how he found his way in the fashion world.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
The band’s first Texas performance in six years celebrated family, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and (almost) harked back to the last time I actually enjoyed this music festival.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
We followed the actors of haunted house Purgatory Scream Park near Houston as they prepped for a day at work.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
The legendary actor was feted at a glamorously hammy gala celebrating the Center’s collection, which is a treasure trove of film history that every good fella should study.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
The classically trained Houston pop star played a two-hundred-year-old crystal flute at a D.C. concert, causing a meltdown in some corners of the internet.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
The 48th annual event in Brady rekindled both treasured and painful memories for a writer who’s been attending since infancy.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
Bobby Finger, host of the popular celebrity podcast ‘Who? Weekly,’ treats his subjects gently and imbues them with wit.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
Fancy a selfie with state icon Tex Randall? Perhaps a date with a llama? Pull over and stretch your legs at these can’t-miss pit stops.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
To his 650,000 Instagram followers, he’s a pioneering “grandfluencer.” But to his adoring second-grade students, he’s simply Mr. Randle.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
The Huntsville penitentiary wants to tear down the abandoned warehouse where a massive bat colony spends half the year. Locals and conservationists have banded together to find an alternate solution.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
Meatheads from around the country fly in to the 30,000-square-foot gym in the Houston suburbs where you’re no one if you’re not flexing, vlogging, or networking.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
Experts and an eleventh-generation Texan give advice on how to ensure safety and comfort in extreme heat.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
Lawrence Wright gives us the story behind his Texas Monthly story on Madalyn Murray O’Hair.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
John Davidson’s 1982 article on Enrico di Portanova was everything a high-society profile should be.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
While we wait for ‘Renaissance’ to drop on July 24, the Beyhive is frantically trying to decode clues about the album to come. The speculation is the point.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
Is that you, Buc-ee?
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
The Uvalde native took to the White House briefing room to talk about the lives of the victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting—and call for change.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
The visually stunning new nature documentary, narrated by Matthew McConaughey, is a delight.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
Jan Jarboe Russell reflects on an exciting moment in H-E-B’s (and Texas Monthly’s) history.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
CEO Jim Schwertner credits the persistent success of Capitol Land & Livestock to a data-driven algorithm.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
At Dig World, in Katy, anyone can drive a utility vehicle or go wild in a skid steer.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
We can’t let California win, y’all. Here’s everything you need to know about how to vote for Texas in the pop song competition.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
This is a film in which Academy Award nominee Jesse Plemons flirts with billionaire Rihanna, and for that it should be cherished.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
Join us as we watch over the Dillon High School graduate, who is nominated for Best Supporting Actor.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
No country music fan will be disappointed by ‘The Return of Tanya Tucker,’ which puts the focus on artistry and that one-in-a-million voice.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
One Texas Monthly reporter wages a battle between her blissful ignorance and her love of early-aughts teen soaps.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
‘Shouting Down Midnight’ is a hagiography of the state senator that tries to impose a triumph narrative for Texas Democrats where none exists.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
The joyful Sandra Bullock flick, chockablock with Hollywood’s finest, will lend itself to repeat viewings for many years to come.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
A San Antonio start-up rewards regenerative agriculture with the help of companies looking to offset their greenhouse gas emissions.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
Seventeen families are suing the Golden Gate Funeral Home for allegedly desecrating their loved ones' bodies.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
You need a (Sid Miller–type) hero.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
Cleaning crews dredged up creepy dolls, armored catfish, rental scooters, and a staggering quantity of chairs.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
Magnolia Network, helmed by Waco’s First Family, has already weathered its first scandal. Viewers will keep tuning in.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
Comedies must choose whether to punch up or punch down; watching ‘Search Party’ has always made me feel like I’m punching myself.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
Cod this story be any stranger?
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
Twelve tamales steaming, eleven Longhorns losing . . . and thirty to fifty feral hogs.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
The cringey Netflix show strikes the classic reality-TV balance of being both hard to watch and impossible to turn off.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
After enduring twenty months of takeout-only service, Franklin fanatics were thrilled to spend hours—up to ten of ’em—in line for Texas’s most famous brisket.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
After a year of solitary pandemic quilting, devotees of East Texas fabric mothership Stitchin’ Heaven take over Fort Worth, ready to bond—and spend.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
The Amarillo-based chain sells iced tea, and (almost) only iced tea. But it's in HTeaO's simplicity that we find its brilliance.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
Let's take advantage of this forced break between Texans and our Topo, and test out sparkling water brands that are—I hate to say it—even better.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.
Rebecca Muehl is on a crusade to get the ice cream company to sell Krazy Kookie Dough year-round.
Emily McCullar is a senior editor covering pop culture, news, and Texas history. One time she wrote about sports.