Happy Mother’s Day to all the women in the academy whose work asks them to parent incompetent colleagues, innumerable students and advisers; to do the service work that is disregarded and undervalued.

Let's just say, this pretty yellow and amazing volume came out this week in print, and will be available in open access soon (likely in June): www.harrassowitz-verlag.de/Schreibkalen... It is about #earlymodern almanacs of German-speaking Europe: the #Schreibkalender

Hwæt?!!!! 😳😳😳

Can people who have read The Lord of the Rings take a second to answer my poll question? This is for a conference presentation I am giving later this month! #Tolkien #LordOfTheRings

Cover Reveal! Coming soon, open access, with Taylor & Francis. Edited by @cordeliabeattie.bsky.social, Suzanne Trill and @hagenilda.bsky.social.

anna "maschine" spener hat einen sammelband herausgegeben, in dem auch ein aufsatz von mir zu marie gamillschegs "aufruhr der meerestiere" enthalten ist, schaut rein! digital.ub.uni-paderborn.de/hs/download/...

Just published! What an honor to be included alongside so many superb critics in this volume, which was so expertly conceived & edited by @denisoff.bsky.social. One funny thing abt collections is that sometimes you don’t get to read the other essays til it’s out—I can’t wait to learn from these. 🌿

Love how Darwin in the final sentence of his second last book is like "btw plants have brains". Lived for the drama.

You may have encountered many weird and wonderful illustrations of Grendel's mother, but have you ever seen the East German version? #WyrdWednesday

Eine neolithische Steinmaske aus der Levante. Ovale Form, schmale Nase, Augenlöcher und ausgeformter Bund. Es gibt ein paar davon, diese ist besonders für Halloween geeignet. 👻

So grateful to have an essay in New Directions in the Ghost Story: "Ghost Gear and Cetacean Bodies: Stories of Spectral and Material Entanglement in the Necrocene" 👻💙🐋💙👻 Thanks @joanpassey.bsky.social, @henrybartholomew.bsky.social, @jendeavour.bsky.social! link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

📣 Here it is, my new essay in Open Philosophy (@degruyterbrill.bsky.social), wherein I set out some ideas of my “ambient metaphysics”, drop in some @litvrgy.bsky.social, and even get that long promised @billorcutt.bsky.social epigraph in there! 🫡 Open access: www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...

Cocaine Bear, Thirty Years War edition.

Probably one of the most influential early modern woodcuts shaping our image of witches. This version is used in a pamphlet on Elizabeth Stile's trial. #WyrdWednesday

Modern witches/Brockenhexen in Wernigerode prefer to travel more comfortably nowadays. #WyrdWednesday

#WyrdWednesday The perfect centrepiece for any #Walpurgis party table: the Weeny Witch! From a free 1950 booklet out out by Swift's Premium Frankfurters.

Today is UK publication day for STORIES OF THE STONES!

*Very* excited that vol.1 of New Directions in the Ghost Story, edited by myself, @henrybartholomew.bsky.social & @joanpassey.bsky.social is out! Well done to all the contributors, and thanks for bearing with us! :) Please recommend to your academic libraries! link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

#earlymodern peeps! The good folks at UVic HCMC have created a static version of the Cambridge Edition of the Works of Ben Jonson Online, so this major work of scholarship remains ACCESSIBLE AND FREE. We're also working to remediate the editions themselves into the @lemdo-uvic.bsky.social ecosystem.

Eep! In all the #earlymodern excitement, I forgot to add the URL. hcmc.uvic.ca/eol/cambridg...

It’s giving something that Puck or Ariel snacks on in their respective plays.

When I visited Crystal Palace a while ago, the dinosaurs were being redecorated, which also creates a striking sight to behold. #FossilFriday

Welcoming the weekend like... #earlymodern #17thC

Word of the day: dew-bite. A morning snack. Sounds like a Hobbit euphemism for second breakfast.

When I visited Crystal Palace a while ago, the dinosaurs were being redecorated, which also creates a striking sight to behold. #FossilFriday

Word of the day: dew-bite. A morning snack. Sounds like a Hobbit euphemism for second breakfast.

St. Ninian's Isle is connected to Shetland's mainland by a tombolo during the summer. In 1958, St. Ninian's Isle Treasure was found here, a hoard of Pictish treasure from around 800 CE. #WyrdWednesday 📸 2024

For people who appreciate English/German puns - never forget that the Marburg Con awards the Vincent-Preis.

This paper instrument comes from Johannes Stabius (1450-1522), a cartographer-astronomer, who worked with Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528). What they had in mind with this, 1515 made Imperial Astrolabe (which is no astrolabe), was an experiment in visualisation:

2/2 Girl. Fish. Cat. What do you suppose story was there? By Jacob Cuyp, whose day is today.

Excited to share that our edited collection “Victorian Darknesses” is out now! 📚 Big thanks to all our contributors! link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

I just can't help thinking there must have been a Cybermen invasion around the Germanic Limes at some point... This theatre mask was found in Groß-Gerau and is from c.100/200 CE; you can see it at the Saalburg Museum today. 🏺

Stone crosses were erected outdoors in early medieval England, just like standing stones. Only the cross-shaft remains of this stone cross from c. 800, found in Sheffield in the early 20thC. It's in the British Museum now. #StandingStoneSunday

wæter-stefn, f.n: the voice or sound of water. (WAT-er-STEH-vun / ˈwæ-tɛr-ˌstɛ-vən) Image: Bestiary; Iran (Maragheh), c. 1297-1300; Morgan Library & Museum, MS M.500, f. 78v. #OldEnglish #WOTD

They haven't released a soundtrack for The History of Sound? A soundtrack, for which Sam Amidon was the consultant and contributed a song, too? Really?

Went to see The Wave Pictures last night (finally!) and they're such an utterly brilliant live band. I don't know when I last encountered so much applause and cheers during the songs. But then David Tattersall is the most amazing guitarist.

"Beautiful Place because Trees are Loved" is the title of Tolkien's letter to The Daily Telegraph (4 July 1972) A response to an article that used the phrase "Tolkien gloom" for trees, he insisted that he's always on the side of trees against their enemies. 1/4 #TolkienTrewsday #TolkienTuesday

Went to see The Wave Pictures last night (finally!) and they're such an utterly brilliant live band. I don't know when I last encountered so much applause and cheers during the songs. But then David Tattersall is the most amazing guitarist.

frēfrend, m.n: comforter, consoler. (FRAY-frend / ˈfreː-frɛnd) #OldEnglish #WOTD

Call For Chapters for an edited volume entitled “The Witch and Activism” is now live ✨ Please click the link below for further details on how to submit your proposal. Deadline for proposals is 22nd May 2026. blog.yorksj.ac.uk/interdiscipl...

gentle reminder that the deadline to submit an abstract is end of April! Caring for Non-Humans: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Care among Animals, the Environment, and AI 🗓️ Conference in Prague, October 12-14 2026 philevents.org/event/show/1... please share with interested colleagues!

*Three Year Post-Doc opportunity*: 'The Horror of Place-Based Harms’ Details here: tinyurl.com/5cfr8xnb Deadline: 05/07/2026, 11:59 PM #horrorNU

Unhallowed Gifts proves that fear comes in many forms – and not all gifts are given with your best interests in mind. Paul Tremblay, Charlie Higson, Evelyn Hollow, Eric LaRocca, Daisy Johnson, Laura Purcell, Jeremy Dyson, Muriel Gray, Robert Shearman, Lucie McKnight Hardy, John Langan & Matt Hill.

Very pleased to tell you that I will be appearing in human form as part of the Fiends In The Furrows folk horror film festival panel discussion, here in Edinburgh. I’ll be joined by the illustrious Drs Catherine Lester and Jonny Murray with host Morvern Cunningham. Full programme and tix linked 👇

Wir haben tolle Neuigkeiten 🎉der #CfP für unsere #Jahrestagung 2026 ist da 🐉 dieses Jahr mit dem Thema: Gewalt und #Fantastik 💥🐦‍🔥 wir bedanken uns bei den Organisatorinnen und freuen uns auf die gemeinsamen Tage in Köln 💫 1/2

Daisy Johnson is a genius in my opinion. Protean talent.

I'm so excited that my essay "Dissent and Secrecy in the Works of Shirley Jackson" has been published in _Democracy, Secrecy and Dissidence in Contemporary Fiction in English_ (Peter Lang, 2026). Huge thanks to editors Juan L. Pérez-de-Luque and Paula Martín-Salván! www.peterlang.com/document/149...