New review of ATMOSPHERIC DISTURBANCES by @helengrantsays.bsky.social : “Grant’s tales invoke that atmosphere of genius loci, that sense of the uncanny central to the successful weird tale.” – Ghosts & Scholars Signed, limited hardback available here: swanriverpress.ie/srp-title/at...

If there is ever a zombie apocalypse and we have to live on what we can scavenge, I might eat these. But otherwise, really not.

This arrived - I grieve to say, the last issue ever. 😢

Received an email from Dunelm: "Get darkness on demand". I was getting quite excited about that until I opened the email and discovered that it was about blackout curtains rather than

It's actually Les Misérables' Monster

Gosh is it really 30 days since I muted that one annoying person on FB

How I arrived on Bluesky

There are wonderful things in this world and the fish doorbell is one. A nice Dutch bloke explains. visdeurbel.nl/en/

As if recent news had not made me despair of our species, I watched THE ZONE OF INTEREST yesterday.

Just stabbed myself in the hand with a kitchen knife while trying to remove the film from a bottle of squash. Recycling is a dangerous business...

I'm on a roll now Le Fanu fans...

Oh, I do hope so! What fun! Make your own headline at tinyurl.com/tnw-heath

Starting at 8pm! We are currently involved in Dog Management Strategy so we don't have to take her out halfway through...

Woke up fairly early and between checking my phone in bed and checking it again in the bathroom, war had been reported. I despair of our species.

Reminder! This is on tonight! This is my absolute favourite MRJ story so you can bet your life I'll be tuning in.

The tiny doggo has a tactic we call the "weaponised flop". If you are administering a back scratch and she senses you are about to get up and go about your business, she flops over on her side and puts her legs in the air, thus rendering herself so cute that you have to keep on scratching.

Just a reminder that if you like supernatural stories, this is still available - and about half are set in Scotland, if that's your thing! swanriverpress.ie/srp-title/at...

Everyone knows something about Lorna Carrington But no one knows everything If they did they'd be very, very frightened robmcinroy.co.uk/barvick-falls #WritingCommunity #CrimeFiction #HistoricalFiction #ScottishFiction

Love the glimpse into the beautiful mind that notated this used copy of Moby Dick I got

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Coming soon: 'The Haunted Archive - The Annotated Ghost Story Manuscripts of M.R. James'. Beautiful facsimile autograph manuscript editions of MRJ's ghost stories, annotated by leading Jamesian scholars. Volume 1: 'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad' coming to Kickstarter soon... >>>

The Vanishing (Dutch version).

When I was a kid we had milk deliveries in glass bottles & blue tits were renowned for piercing the foil to get at the milk. About 5 yrs ago we started getting milk deliveries in glass again but the blue tits have not tried to get at the milk. I'm thinking the gap was too long & they've forgotten.

Watching HARDWARE (1990)

Possibly unpopular opinion but this is my favourite M.R.James story. I thoroughly recommend tuning in!

Daughter and I went to see SEND HELP last night. If you've ever had a boss you couldn't stand, especially one who dealt out a lot of crap while talking like a LinkedIn post, this movie will gladden your battered heart. www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4wi...

Grim. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

OK, I'm on the hunt for experts/knowledgeable people once again. If this sounds like you / someone you know, please get in touch! 👽X-Files obsessive who can talk to its cultural impact ⚱️Someone who can do a 101 talk on mystical/philosophical/John-Dee style alchemy More requests soon: stay tuned!

Tempted to go and visit this again! We lived in Barcelona briefly when our daughter was a baby and I took her up one of the towers, but we came down again sharpish because there was no glass in the windows up there and I was terrified of dropping her out!! www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

Still reading WAR AND PEACE, as I shall be for some time to come. Today I had to look up "caisson" and discovered that it is "a usually 2-wheeled vehicle for artillery ammunition attachable to a horse-drawn limber". There were green ones, apparently.

At 5am I awoke with a start to the sound of a door closing. It made me think of that bit in M.R.James's COUNT MAGNUS: "After that they hear a great door shut." Only it wasn't a f**k off great door, it sounded sort of like a kitchen cabinet. Guess the Count was downstairs making himself a cuppa.

Happy Chinese New Year - Edinburgh Castle and a few other buildings are lit red tonight to celebrate #ChineseNewYear2026 #Edinburgh

😱

Defrosting daughter's car for her. There is a large quantity of snow frozen onto the windshield. Ah, Scotland in winter.

A recreated Roman watchtower from Burgsalach on the German frontier. Similar structures existed across the Gask Ridge in Perthshire

Oh, honey. We're all confused about Sam Neill. He's just that good.

The other day daughter and I watched JURASSIC PARK (the first one) and tonight we watched EVENT HORIZON and now I am very confused about Sam Neill

Pffft. Red roses for Valentine’s Day? German supermarket Edeka is out here making sausage bouquets.

The dog was discovered snoozing on a pee pad put down for our elderly cat. I told her to get off, as that was disgusting. Daughter says it's probably an instinctive thing, concealing her own odour under another one. I said I wouldn't sleep on a cat's pee mat even if a velociraptor was hunting me.

I'm making very slow progress with reading this, because I don't want to read it in the bath for fear of dropping it! But I just read "Kittycat", and what a bittersweet story that is. It feels very plausible too.

It has been raining here (or occasionally sleeting or snowing) for about as long as I can remember. Every time we get a slightly less horrid patch, I take the dog on a nice walk. Otherwise, she is very reluctant to go out at all. She is prepared to go to a café but that can get expensive...

I called this a while ago. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Idly watching ANACONDA on Netflix and this couple just went off into the jungle and started snogging. Then they started taking their clothes off but WHERE could they possibly lie down without getting bugs on them?!

Remembering the time we stayed at the Mull of Galloway lighthouse & the dog needed to poop so urgently at 2am that I didn't have time to grab a torch, & I was standing there in the rain with the poop bag waiting for the lighthouse to flash every 20 seconds so I cd see where the poop was. Fun times.

Being a writer, not sure where I'd work if not at home...

Continuing our season of superannuated horror flicks, daughter and I are watching THE DEVIL'S MEN on Netflix. Peter Cushing and Donald Pleasence star. Daughter is cackling at the staggeringly awkward camera zooms.

Massive great debate on my FB about the new Lord of the Flies adaptation, because I said I couldn't face watching it, in the current stressful climate (I have enough to worry about, ta very much). One person *has* seen a bit, and liked it. Anyone else?

I sometimes write stories for a very fine publication and they have occasionally included stories about a supernaturally sensitive dog. The upcoming issue seems to feature a different dog and now I am wondering if I ought to do one about OUR dog too. However (cont'd)

I'm up to page 252 of WAR AND PEACE (I'm supposed to be doing a chapter a day throughout the year but I'm a bit ahead because I can't always take it away with me when I go). I suppose trillions of readers have expressed this before me, but it's brilliant, isn't it?

Have made more pendants with #Shetland seaglass and have been experimenting with other beach finds like pottery and buttons! Available now on Etsy and will be adding some earings later today. Link in comments