One of my favourite writing tasks is Kaffee (und Kuchen) Racer. I get to ride to cafés, eat cake, drink coffee, and write about it. And if no-one reads it? I've still got to have a fantastic motorbike ride, eat lovely cake and drink great coffee :) stevetoase.wordpress.com/2025/09/23/k...

#Mabon blessings to all.

Welp here we are again, fresh out of Archaeologists for Skype a Scientist matches. This fall, we have matched 248 groups with Archaeologists for online Q&As. I have 38 more groups who need a match, but I'm out of Archaeologists! Archaeologists! Please volunteer www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html

Early bird registration and bursary applications are now open for Theoretical Archaeology Group (TAG) conference 2025 in lovely York: tag2025.hosted.york.ac.uk/en/registrat...

Absolutely delighted to have a new story, co-written with Eygló Daða Karlsdóttir, CAUTIONARY PULSES, now published in Interzone 303. ashleystokes.net/new-writing-...

Close your eyes. Lower your head. Say aloud, 'Good day to all honoured friends, who I do not see.' #AskAFairySmith Artist: Evan Cagle

what movie do you consider "perfect?"

Someone was trying to take a portrait of their two fave Chickens, and this happened.

TIL what a Chromebook powerwash is, through a very practical demonstration. Would quite like to go back to before I knew what a Chromebook powerwash is. Note 1. I didn't lose anything too significant as I've been working off another box recently. Note 2. It's my own fault for not deleting stuff.

Horror folks, it's the middle of September, and the Stoker Recommended Reading List is looking extremely small. If you're a member of the HWA, go recommend something you've read that you loved! horror.org/awards/curre...

this exists it is called thinking

We also grew a honey melon that thinks it’s a squash.

We grew a bonsai watermelon!

Just going to repost this, because all the yes.

I think we'll spend the next few weeks looking at weapons for our Viking camps #FindsFriday posts: for all our talk of the 'Great Army', there are surprisingly few weapons from the sites. We'll start with these two pieces - Torksey finds DB 130 and 804. Both are broken ferrules from sword grips. /1

It's a brave person who invites me to talk on any topic I'm interested in - but I had a grand time with Howard last week, chatting to my heart's content about Viking camps and the Great Army. It was a hugely enjoyable hour-and-a-half for me: the link's below if you'd like to watch or listen 😊

Lovely news:

Before Gorillaz Jamie Hewlett as associated with another band. A very old Senseless Things T-shirt making an appearance for @bbc6music.bsky.social #tshirtday Would be great to hear Hold It Down on the wireless for my wife Annie, @laurenlaverne.bsky.social

Ready for a new issue? Pre-orders for The Mirror Issue are now open worldwide! ✨🪞✨ Mirror magic, ritual masks, films that cast a spell, doppelgängers and fetches, changelings, evil portraits, spirit traps and much more. 👉🏼 helleborezine.com

My ego is big enough to urge you to listen to my stories on podcasts but too fragile about mirrors and confrontation to have listened to most of them myself. I'm told the narrators are fucking hype. horrorsong.blog/online-ficti...

A second mass shooting of a homeless encampment in Minneapolis. Five more people died. Meanwhile, congress is working on passing the ability to jail homeless people for up to 30 days or charge them $500. It bans camping on public property. abcnews.go.com/US/people-hu...

Weird collections, everyone is saying they contain profane illuminations, the shocking realization that comes from seeing the ordinary and everyday of reality as supernatural, marvellous, weird, they’re the wave of the future

I hear people are talking about more short story collections. Yes, hello, I would like more collections by @seanbirnie.bsky.social, @casskhaw.bsky.social, @acwise.bsky.social, @thomasha.bsky.social, @stevetoase.bsky.social, @sillysyntax.bsky.social, and many others not on Bsky please and thank you 🖤

Come read my comics!

For a BBC feature, are there any horror aficionados and/or experts out there, particularly for the horror of the 80s, who might be able to answer a few questions about Re-Animator and its place therein within the next couple of weeks? Shares for visibility always appreciated. #journorequest

1 week until WHY I LOVE HORROR is released into the world (unless you are at Parnassus Books on 9/18, you all get it a few days early). My release event (& fundraiser) with @cynthiapelayo.bsky.social @librarylagrange.bsky.social only has 36 spots left! lagrange.librarycalendar.com/event/becky-...

Today's gladiator: Thraex a.k.a. "Cap'n Curvy" Like Murmillo but lighter and faster. Their curved sword, a sica, could reach around opponents to strike their backs!

Went to see The Long Walk last night. Enjoyed it a lot. Echoes of The Lottery for me, and while none of the twists were surprising, it was well told. I know comparisons are a lazy way of describing films, but it's early and I'm tired, but this felt very like Stand By Me with carbines.

“My life fades. The vision dims. All that remains are memories. I remember a time of chaos... ruined dreams... this wasted land . A wooden dog kennel. A small yellow bird. But most of all, I remember The Road Warrior.”

I don’t normally by ‘joke’ T-shirt’s but the idea of a Mad Max 2 remake with Snoopy amuses the hell out of me.

We all know ‘tragedy’ comes from Greek. ‘tragos’ = goat ‘aeidein’ = to sing So ‘tragedy’ originally meant “goat song.” Not to be confused with the GOAT song, which is probably “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman.

CASTING CALL We are seeking a female voiceover for animation with a playing age of 40-50. Indian heritage is a requirement for the role, with particular interest in applicants with a Sikh background. Regional NI/ROI accents please. This is paid work. Get in touch via [email protected]

If you want to dress well this fall, imagine yourself as Big Jim Collie, a Scottish crofter in the 1970s who lived alone in a bothy and rode a rickety old bicycle through the Lairig Ghru, the highest mountain pass in the highest mountain range in Britain, while sustaining himself on a bit of dram.

DO NOT GIVE PLANTS WEAPONS

My next GW novel, VOIDSCARRED, is up for pre-order this coming Saturday! Get your pirate space elves here! And yes, for those of you with keen eyes and good memories, the Princess Tishria mentioned here is the same one Lelith "met" in her novel... www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articl...

Do you have a story of yours, you wish more people had read. Mine is Crumpled at @thedeadlands.com, an intensely personal story inspired by a devastating dream. Quote and share yours to get these stories a wider audience. psychopomp.com/deadlands/is...

Finished the first draft of an archaeology themed horror story. Now to write an art inspired horror story. I could write about other subjects, but I don't want to*. The circle turns. *I also write about motorbikes for a bit of variety...

I was on the BFS blog at the weekend, talking about my influences, my books, my writing, & all that good stuff. Sharing properly now because it went live while I was away in fantasy land, fittingly 😄

They’re making clay effigies of me. My worshippers increase in number daily. My sect grows in the shadows…

Footsteps in the dark

As I'm using it for MULTIPLE examples of great writing this year in my talks/presentations, this is your occasional reminder that if you have not yet read THE DEATH OF MOUNTAINS by @kurellian.bsky.social what are you even DOING with your life GO READ IT

What, and I can’t stress this enough, the actual fuck.

If there was a prize for the next fantasy book cover I’ve seen this weekend, this would definitely win.

In case you missed it earlier this week, I have a #youtube channel up now where I discuss #horror & #darkfantasy in #publishing. I plan on doing a main video a week, there abouts. Tomorrow I'll be live streaming for a little bit from the Lake Erie Literary Festival #booksky

I've said it before, but I love how the camps challenge our ideas about Vikings - showing them trading, developing identities, coming up with unique objects. They fascinate me. As ever, if you'd like to know more, it's all in our book 'Life in the Viking Great Army', available through the OUP. /end

Well, I've had two weeks away - so I'd better get back with another Viking camps #FindsFriday! We're going to look at ringed pins today - starting with this find, DB entry 1627 from Torksey. This was probably a cloak pin, with a cord tied to the swivelling ring used to hold it in place. /1

Okay, I'm at the stage with this novella where I've got a key photo that's a major inspiration the story as my desktop. Not sure if it's inspiration, distraction, or procrastination. We'll see at the end of today's writing...

@premeemohamed.com I once discovered bugs can write, or is that only bugges? (By xkcd)

You join us live from Danny Dyer’s birthday drinks.

Tiny, colorful baby scallops — a total cuteness overload in one dish! You might think, “This person posts the same creature every year!” But honestly, seeing the same life return year after year is something truly wonderful𓂃🫧‪