Alix E Harrow, Starling House: a gothic novel I initially avoided because I assumed it was going to be too scary... I decided to give it a go, and maybe I don't need to completely avoid gothic literature? (Because I didn't find this terrifying.) randomalex.net/2025/09/27/s...

Greg! The Stop Sign!!

ICYMI!

Fungus and body horror: a delectably nauseating mixture. If you like that sort of thing (which I do).

Tobias Carroll on Alan Moore's new novel The Great When, and how it imagines alternate Londons, and how those are similar to/different from other alternate Londons... Subscribe now to read this & other essays: AUD30/yr (~USD19/GBP15). www.speculativeinsight.com @tobiascarroll.bsky.social

Today I'm taking a look back at Doctor Who's mid-season opener "Let's Kill Hitler". How did this frantic River Song-focused instalment work for you?

Tobias Carroll on Alan Moore's new novel The Great When, and how it imagines alternate Londons, and how those are similar to/different from other alternate Londons... Subscribe now to read this & other essays: AUD30/yr (~USD19/GBP15). www.speculativeinsight.com @tobiascarroll.bsky.social

How to summon a very particular cohort of people. "Hey it's Tunny on the Request Fest!"

This essay suggests avenues for further exploration of how cities become imagined & imaginary spaces... @tobiascarroll.bsky.social looks at London here, but by no means exhaustively. Subscribe now to read this & other essays: AUD30/yr (~USD19/GBP15). www.speculativeinsight.com

In which @tobiascarroll.bsky.social discusses his new essay looking at Alan Moore's new novel, The Great When, and its exploration of imaginary Londons... Subscribe now to read this & other essays: AUD30/yr (~USD19/GBP15). www.speculativeinsight.com

Alan Kohler seems to have basically given up hoping for real and effective change when it comes to climate action. I'm feeling pretty bitter right now. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

FINAL WEEK TO RECORD DETAILS OF PRECARIOUS ORAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS – FORM CLOSES 28th SEPT. The Identifying Precarious Victorian Oral History Collection Project is creating a list of precarious collections in Victoria, Australia. Learn more and get involved at precariousoralhistories.com

Kathleen Jennings – whose first novel, 2020’s ‘Flyaway’, won a British Fantasy Award and was shortlisted for the World Fantasy Award – imbues her narrative with a gloriously gothic sensibility. 'Honeyeater' is a book of real power and beauty. satpa.pe/Cc4uW0W

“Once you use ChatGPT, you don’t want to think for yourself anymore” that, in a nutshell, is why I avoid these things because no matter how convinced you are that it isn’t happening to you, it is happening to you these machines will suck your creativity dry and you’ll thank them for it

In which @tobiascarroll.bsky.social discusses his new essay looking at Alan Moore's new novel, The Great When, and its exploration of imaginary Londons... Subscribe now to read this & other essays: AUD30/yr (~USD19/GBP15). www.speculativeinsight.com

Always intrigued by the connections between different authors. @tobiascarroll.bsky.social joins dots between Alan Moore and others through their books about London in this new essay. Subscribe now to read this & other essays: AUD30/yr (~USD19/GBP15). www.speculativeinsight.com

Polish slasher flick 13 Days Till Summer (2025) is having its international premiere at Fantastic Fest. It's a surprisingly traditional and effectively performed work, with perhaps the most unsettling killer mask of all time. fictionmachine.com/2025/09/21/f...

Newsletter time! This week we have Task, Alien: Earth, Chief of War and The Morning Show! Temuera Morrison is going full Moopsy and Jennifer Aniston maybe started World War 3. You know, normal stuff.

When you read a book everyone's been hyping, and you can see that the ideas and the structure and overall narrative are awesome but the writing itself just doesn't work for you... randomalex.net/2025/09/21/d...

Thanks to @speculativeinsight.bsky.social for letting me go long on books set in other versions of London, with nods to the work of Alan Moore, Helen Oyeyemi, Iain Sinclair, and @steveaylett.bsky.social.

Always intrigued by the connections between different authors. @tobiascarroll joins dots between Alan Moore and others through their books about London in this new essay. Subscribe now to read this & other essays: AUD30/yr (~USD19/GBP15). www.speculativeinsight.com

General submission open on Monday 22 September. We are looking for speculative fiction 5000 words and under. Our remit is very broadly fun, but don't self-reject - a truly superb story offers an enjoyment of it's own.

We've been publishing some cool extras every now and then, like this listicle from @tansyrr.bsky.social about Discworld dads... you can see them at all www.speculativeinsight.com/extras. You'll also find a brilliant time travel (ish) short story, and Celia Lake and Freya Marske in conversation.

For me, a sequel needs to have some sort of chronological or narrative continuity. Just a character - or honestly, the same name and face - is not enough. Also Mad Max 2 is better than Mad Max (full disclosure: I only got 30 min through Mad Max. Maybe it improves?).

This is a cut paper silhouette, by me, for my book HONEYEATER, which just came out! The book is suburban, subtropical Gothic… USA: torpublishinggroup.com/honeyeater/ Australia: panmacmillan.com.au/9781761562303/

We are thrilled to announce the shortlist of the inaugural #TheIlseSchwepckePrize for women’s travel writing. Congratulations to our shortlisted authors! Read more about the shortlist here: ilseschwepckeprize.co.uk/2025-shortlist/

In this new subscriber essay @tobiascarroll looks at how Alan Moore's new novel presents an imaginary London - and how it's like and unlike other versions. Subscribe now to read this & other essays: AUD30/yr (~USD19/GBP15). www.speculativeinsight.com

It's here! Your chance to pitch an essay idea to Speculative Insight! If you're of Indigenous, Asian, Maori, Pacific Islander, Latinx or Black heritage, we want to hear from you! Only in September! All the VERY IMPORTANT details can be found here: www.speculativeinsight.com/pitches-open

Rjurik Davidson's 2024 essay about time travel, trauma, history and identity is such a spectacular look at the ways time travel works around individual and social trauma. Read it here: www.speculativeinsight.com/essays/critical-choices

Also, reading Once There Were Wolves straight after EJ Swift's (magnificent, amazing) When There Are Wolves Again induced whiplash. randomalex.net/2025/09/16/o...

That's grotesque. If this had happened when I was a student I would have been livid - the AI marking, and the workload too. ALSO, as a teacher I am HIGHLY dubious that this is in any way faster, or easier.

I truly love good essays about food. Diana Henry writes some good ones. randomalex.net/2025/09/17/a...

In which @brendaclough.bsky.social discusses the idea of historical science fiction, which she wrote an essay about for Speculative Insight: read it right now at www.speculativeinsight.com

Oh yes. Read this.

Today, Australia!

In “The Cultural Work of Fantasy in the Anthropocene" Marek Oziewicz celebrates the potential of fantasy to provide new models & patterns of thinking to counter the ecocidal status quo and underlines the genre's importance in educating citizens. Read for free here: fafnir.journal.fi/article/view...

Tomorrow in Australia!

ECRs: Don't forget that applications for the 2026 AHA ECR Fellowship close THIS WEEK! Get all the details here: theaha.org.au/awards-and-p...

EJ Swift's new novel, When There Are Wolves Again, just became one of my favourite novels of the year. randomalex.net/2025/09/15/w...

ICYMI!

This essay from Brenda W. Clough is a great overview of historical science fiction and its various permutations... www.speculativeinsight.com

ICYMI...

If you're up for some cool essays about SFF, the two ebooks compiling all of Speculative Insight's 2024 essays - and the two bonus essays! - are available for just AUD 10 each. Under USD 7! Under GBP 5!! www.speculativeinsight.com/buy-collecti...

@random-alex.bsky.social For you 😅😂 bsky.app/profile/amal...

… have I ever made the Buddy / Bob Dylan connection, in Soul Music? *headdesk*

For some reason charlesatan.bsky.social has been labeled a spam account. ‪@moderation.bsky.app‬ -this is ridiculous. He has done nothing wrong.

Rjurik Davidson's essay from Sept 2024 remains in my brain: discussing the connection between time travel and coping with trauma, on personal and social levels; ranging over a wide variety of time travel stories...it's A Lot. You can still read it: www.speculativeinsight.com/essays/critical-choices

@brendaclough.bsky.social says we should think about historical science fiction, so let's think about historical science fiction. Read the essay here: www.speculativeinsight.com

I enjoyed it a lot, too.

There's no point in beating about the bush: The Long Walk is hands-down the best film I have seen in 2025. fictionmachine.com/2025/09/10/r...