Have just sent a proposal to a publisher of fiction anthologies that I love in the hope of contributing a collection that others may love too. The wait begins...

If you’re in Minneapolis and need a place to just BE right now, Big Hill Books and Birchbark Books & Native Arts are both open and ready to welcome you with open arms.

As always, and one of my favourite parts of Christmastime, a fab little haul to take me into the New Year.

The real question is whether you eat scones or scones...

DarkWinter Press New Release: The Wreckhouse by Christopher Butt! DarkWinter Press is thrilled to announce our latest release, the short story collection The Wreckhouse by Christopher Butt!

DarkWinter Press is thrilled to announce the release of The Wreckhouse, a short story collection by Christopher Butt! See below for details and how to purchase this awesome book in paperback or e-version for Kindle! www.darkwinterlit.com/post/darkwin...

What an absolute joy listening to the BBC Radio 4 Ghost Stories for Christmas with the Symphony Orchestra and getting a wonderful original from @classicghost.bsky.social Tony Walker. Proper treat!

Carol for Another Christmas | Rod Serling | TV Christmas Movie YouTube video by Classic Hollywood Movies

Mankiewicz/Rod Serling's Carol for Another Christmas (1964) is a remarkable take on the Dickens fave. Damning of how American politics uses warmongering, conflict and poverty to hold onto power. Not surprised it doesn't get dusted off every Dec.
youtu.be/QGaWta4dM44?...

1. Books are easy to wrap.
2. Books don’t need batteries.
3. Books don’t hurt when you step on them in the middle of the night.
4. Books never come in the wrong color or size.
5. Books never need ironing.
6. Books don’t need to be assembled before being given.

Heroes of Great Britain advent calendar - door 10

BEYOND TOMORROW (aka BEYOND CHRISTMAS) 1940. Three wealthy, lonely, and kindly old men befriend two young people in NYC on Christmas Eve. After becoming fast friends, the three men die in a plane crash and use their last remaining time on Earth trying to help their new friends. Fucking ADORABLE.

A black and white illustration of a small girl in ragged 18th century dress. Her feet are bare and she has white blonde hair. She's looking at the viewer and appears to be approaching. In the background a woman in a dark dress lurks under a tree (it's supposed to be a holly tree though you can't really tell from the picture). It's snowing.

Spooky Advent Day 6: The Old Nurse’s Story by Elizabeth Gaskell. A proper wintry chiller of a ghost story featuring various really horrible people.

Limited edition of the Folio Society's A Christmas Carol, illustrated by me. It's bound in red leather with embossed gold wreath and lettering, and the box is lined by and illustration of a snowy night time Dickensian city scene. Surrounded by stuff on my desk (pens, glasses, glue etc).

The standard edition of the Folio Society's A Christmas Carol illustrated by me. The book itself featured a view of Scrooge in a long black coat with a top hat and red scarf from the back, surveying the snowy London skyline. The slip case is green and has vignettes of relevent scenes and motifs in the style of Georgian wallpaper. One of the vignettes is a circular cut out, so when the book is in the slipcase you can see Scrooge's head through it. Surrounded by the loads of rubbish I have on my desk.

An illustration from the first stave of A Christmas Carol. Scrogge is sat by his fire eating his gruel when across his large but shabby drawing room, Marley's ghost appears.

An illustration of the fourth stave, featuring Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas yet to come (who is a Victorian widow in high mourning, completely draped and almost invisible in black net and bombazine). They are in a graveyard, which is based largely on St Cuthbert's Kirkyard in Edinburgh. She points to his grave, and he looks at it in horror. There is a smaller gravestone to his right, capped with snow which features a skull in bas relief and the words 'MOMENTO MORI' in a motto scroll over the top. The moon shines from an Atkinson Grimshaw-esque greenish winter sky, illuminating the dome of St Paul's Cathedral.

The big thing I did this year and haven't been able to say much about up until now is that I was SOMEHOW asked to illustrate the new Folio Society edition of A Christmas Carol, introduced by Simon Callow. Bit of a dream job. www.foliosociety.com/uk/a-christm...

‘It’s insanely sinister’: horror writers on the scariest stories they’ve ever read Bloodthirsty ghosts, sadistic supercomputers, creepy childhood games ... Mariana Enríquez, Paul Tremblay, Daisy Johnson and others on the tales that kept them up at night

The Guardian asked me and a bunch of amazing horror authors about the stories that scared us the most. I love any opportunity I’m able to talk about THE AUCTIONEER by Joan Samson.

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...

Wouldst thou step across the threshold, and dwell where walls do whisper and shadows keep their counsel?

These pages do not comfort. Ten voices, dark and diabolical, do bid thee enter… and once thou art inside, thou shalt not depart unchanged.

deadinkbooks.com/product/unqu...

Wet Screams: A Monsterfucker Anthology edited by Mindy Rose & Chris Krawczyk. Test the boundaries between your most lurid nightmares and your wettest dreams with twenty new stories of paranormal romance. Gargoyles spring to life, creatures emerge from the depths of the forests to claim you, and your television will be touching your dial in this inclusive collection that blends romance and horror to get hearts pounding. You may need to wipe your brow (or change your sheets) after giving yourself to dragons, tentacles, ghosts & more... This anthology includes first time authors and LGBTQA+ representation. Monster Erotica from... Kris Morra, Verna Lorne, Lena Moth, Tanya Pond, Cultivator Space, Grant Lange, Ramses Wolfe, Kari Kephali, Morgan Gage, D.O. Rackham, Lee Ohlson, Alex Appleton, Tristan Marlowe, Shannon Riley, Briar Ripley Page, Michael Louis Dixon, Bex Newton & Elle Waters, Megan Bontrager, Haven Valentin, LH O'Donoghue

Hey @canconsffh.bsky.social pals-

We have something extra special for you this weekend!
Wet Screams, our monstrously erotic anthology, doesn’t drop until Nov.1st… HOWEVER we have pre-release copies sliding their way onto our table in Ottawa!

Come by and cozy up with this in your hotel room.

😈🔥💦🥵

Kicking off this November, I'll be taking a look at the world of WRITING SHORT STORIES for four weeks - and it's all happening online, so you can join us from anywhere! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/writing-sh... #shortstories #shortstory #writing #writers #authors #fiction

Hurrah! Finally... the finest bok club is back ⬇️

Such a great idea but a missed opportunity. Rich pickings from Kid A and Amnesiac as a score but instead it played out like random jukebox cinema. Desperately wanted to love this being a big fan of both. Oh well, got to support indie cinema in the meantime.

Hey, the ebook of Devil is only $2.99 for a limited time! It’s a Stoker and Shirley Jackson winner and nominee for a bunch of cool stuff, but I know that’s not enough to convince folks, so here are some 1-star reviews. Hope they help. Have an awesome day!

www.amazon.com/Devil-Takes-...

The Leftovers
The Outsider
Channel Zero - Candle Cove

Might not be your typical choice for a holiday read on the shores of Lake Garda but hey, horror is for all seasons. And what a belting opener! Thanks @johnlangan.bsky.social

I need a good audio book recommendation... something that was a surprise, a shocker, a treat. Have recently enjoyed @briankeene.bsky.social, @pfracassi.bsky.social, @claymcleod.bsky.social, @ronaldmalfi.bsky.social so if you have a suggestion of something that reeeeally works on audio, send it on!

Post-hardcore Welsh band Mclusky playing very, very loudly live on stage in Bristol, UK.

Absolute first rate gig last night watching #Mclusky at the Electric in Bristol.

I love it when a book has you in the first couple of pages. Looking forward to what's to come @lphernandez.bsky.social !

Two Ghost Stories - a live-streamed event Join Adam Z. Robinson for two live-streamed original ghost stories - 'Girl, Dancing' and 'Plagued'

OUR NEXT ONLINE EVENT: Join us Weds 18 June for a live-streamed performance of two original short ghost stories 'Girl, Dancing' and 'Plagued'. The event is Pay What You Feel. Tickets at 2ghoststories.eventbrite.com

Wonderful to see Carys Davies' fab book Clear win the Odaatje prize. Stunning stuff.

Image from Ghostwatch: Three presenters look at the camera with screens in the background with the show's title on

A man holds an ice cube in front of a blindfolded woman

Poster for The Stone Tape. A woman looks seriously at us.

A ghoulish, white face with wispy hair and a wide-open mouth. A death mask.

In S2 E8, recorded in 2021, I was joined by writer and academic @bronteschiltz.bsky.social
and we discussed Television Ghost Stories. Do you have any favourites? Listen and subscribe to The Ghost Story Book Club wherever you get your podcasts 👻

open.spotify.com/episode/7BpN...

Woo! NIGEL KNEALE AND HORROR just arrived, exciting to see my chapter! And I now have a pile of actual things that have my work in! It still feels early days for me as a researcher, so this is a nice reminder that I have Done Some Stuff that's out in the world. And I work with some amazing folk!

Why should you buy direct from an independent publisher?

- Higher royalties (we don't have to give a 50-60% discount to retailers)
- Paid right away (otherwise we wait 60-90 days for payment from retailers)
- You get a groovy bookmark with your book post! (in the UK at least)
- We pay our taxes

Fab weekend on a self-directed collaborative writing retreat in the Cotswolds with my brother, working on an exciting horror project. Ended with a first draft of the first short story, which felt great.