A man with spiked dark hair and red lipstick and black eyeliner wearing a dark suit and studded bracelet.

A man with dark hair wearing a black shirt and red lipstick against a light blue background.

Born on this day in 1959, Happy Birthday, ROBERT SMITH! 🎉

Read about more anniversaries and obscurities from Horror History in The Grim Reader, Rue Morgue’s bimonthly newsletter. ow.ly/7YRK50YzZos

Graphic with red, purple, and gold tentacles overlain on blue and teal illuminated striped that look like you're underwater. Text reads: ABYSS Creatures from the Deep Cherrywood Challenge 2025 Nature's creativity is rivaled only by your own. Join us on a deep dive into the ABYSS.

Check this out - a Cherrywood Fabrics had a quilting challenge last year with a set color palette and the theme "Abyss."

Hundreds of quilts were entered and they are *incredible.* Check out this amazing handiwork!

cherrywoodfabrics.com/pages/the-ab...

UK's migration crackdown risks care home staffing crunch Government plans to make it harder for migrant workers to settle permanently in Britain risk a staffing crunch in care homes for elderly people, where one employee in three is from overseas.

Good Reuters story on the government's "earned settlement" proposals and the care sector.

www.reuters.com/world/uk/uks...

THE MORBID MINDS MEET AGAIN… A Virtual Horror Symposium by NightTide Magazine NightTide Magazine’s Meeting of the Morbid Minds: The Horror of Control At NightTide, horror has always been more than a genre. It’s a lens through …

We've seen some incredible abstracts come in for #NightTideMag's second virtual horror symposium! This year's theme is: THE HORROR OF CONTROL
Got an idea on control in horror cinema, comics, television, gaming, and performance? 👻
Details below - deadline is May 18th!
nighttidemag.com/2026/03/31/h...

Jonathan Keir
Harker Starmer
🤝
Not having enough questions about
their good friend, the Prince of Darkness

hawking a line of branded Mountain Goats smart glasses. no matter where you look things look a little bleaker and also the wearer cannot remove the glasses once worn. I’m disrupting this sector

No it isn’t. And if it was, you’d be bad at your job

Why did BBC Breakfast give Reform UK a special graphic? A small detail in a brief report sparks some big questions about what the national broadcaster is doing during the run up to local and national elections.

NEW | On an odd choice…

WHY DID BBC BREAKFAST GIVE REFORM UK A SPECIAL GRAPHIC?

A small detail in a brief report sparks some big questions about what the national broadcaster is doing during the run up to local and national elections.

brokenbottleboy.substack.com/p/why-did-bb...

Also a reminder that Robert Smith has consistently leveraged against ludicrous ticket pricing, including obtaining refunds for fans who were conned with added on fees.

Fascinated by proper pop icons like Robert Smith and Prince, who seem to have woken up one day, thought 'I have an idea for a Look' and just 100% nailed it. Like that Look was already out there and they just walked into it somehow.

Long thread alert 🧵

1. Domestic abuse survivors who don't fit neatly within Appendix Victim of Domestic Abuse face a real dilemma. We've explored the options available and the risks each one carries.

Finally started reading Dungeon Crawler Carl. So far having a good time.

'Legendary' housing solicitor Giles Peaker dies after short illness Prominent legal blogger was also one of the architects of landmark legislation that ensured rented homes were fit for human habitation.

Last night I heard the very sad news about @nearlylegal.co.uk the much respected and admired Giles Peaker. He was a one of a kind housing lawyer, and I spoke to him only last month at the annual SHLA conference. A thoroughly decent human being. www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/legenda...

Known, Documented, and Ignored: Confronting the International Politics of Inaction Conflicts across Africa are well documented and analyzed, and they affect countless lives. What they lack is sustained action to address them — and the strategic interest needed to drive that action.

Across the African continent, wars and humanitarian crises are killing civilians, displacing millions and eroding already fragile institutions.

These are not “forgotten crises.”

They are crises the world has repeatedly chosen not to act on.

Changing that choice is the real challenge.

Kingley Vale: 'There are bodies beneath these trees' The Sussex woodland - home to some of the oldest living things in Britain - is steeped in folklore.

Now THAT'S a headline

Fans gather to bid farewell to Ianto's Shrine but is it the end? Fans of Torchwood and Doctor Who gathered together in Cardiff Bay on the weekend to bid farewell to an iconic tourist attraction which has attracted visitors from around the world. Ianto’s Shrine in M...

Sci-fi fans gathered together in Cardiff Bay on the weekend to bid farewell to an iconic tourist attraction which has attracted visitors from around the world - but a famous Welsh artist's cryptic message means this might not be the end.

Good policy should always begin by considering the needs of the most vulnerable and excluded people. I'm also interested in how this plays with tentative proposals in the digital ID consultation to introduce digital ID from either
birth or at the age of 13.

Home Secretary accepts she can grant further leave on the five-year route without the no recourse to public funds condition - Free Movement The Home Secretary has accepted she can grant leave on the five-year route without imposing a no recourse to public funds condition. The concession was made

New from FM: Home Secretary accepts she can grant further leave on the five-year route without the no recourse to public funds condition | Nakita Hedges

Well shit. I never actually got to meet Giles Peaker, but he was very generous with his time when helping me with some background questions for my thesis. His wit and sense of justice were true beacons in dark times.

Heaven has one hell of a housing team these days.

Awful news about Giles Peaker, @nearlylegal.co.uk, a brilliant legal blogger and a real pioneer.

A great figure in using the internet for the public understanding of law.

A picture from The Hobbit showing Bilbo with pointed ears and various dwarves - noted enemies of the elves. The caption reads: "Characters playing elves in the fantasy film The Hobbit: An unexpected journey (2012) wore prosthetic ears.

I was discussing the concept of mise en scene with someone and I couldn't remember the precise definition so I looked it up. I ended up on the BBC GCSE Bitesize website and found this picture. The error in the caption could start entire WARS.

Tim Curry in The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Tim Curry in Clue

Tim Curry in The Three Musketeers

Tim Curry in Muppet Treasure Island

Happy 80th birthday to Tim Curry who has always, *always* understood the assignment.

Centrepoint to cut ties with Sharon Osbourne after she backs Tommy Robinson rally Homelessness charity distances itself after Osbourne says she plans to attend far-right ‘unite the kingdom’ march

Good.

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

a mouse (?) eating cherries (?) and dyed purple around the mouth

girls want one thing, and it's to be this weird little dude absolutely lost in the sauce

High Court warns Home Office against imposing unrealistic evidence standards in trafficking cases - Free Movement The High Court has confirmed there is no minimum standard of detail required for a conclusive grounds decision for a potential victim of trafficking.

From yesterday: High Court warns Home Office against imposing unrealistic evidence standards in trafficking cases | Karen Staunton

Barack Obama and Zohran Mamdani sing ‘Wheels on the Bus’ to kids in NYC

I love this 👇

Also regularly quoted in our house

Christopher Reeve was the best Clark & Superman because of this wonderful scene where his change of posture, gestures & tone of voice are all perfectly calibrated within a beautifully composed shot.
No CGI required to show his transformation.
He & Margot Kidder are much missed.
#SupermanDay

Images taken before disaster in a Dark Heresy or Call of Cthulhu campaign: