Nobody was around to tell me not to start a new online horror and sci-fi magazine, so. Stay tuned.

A selection of great indie books I read this year. I highly recommend all of these!👇📚 (See list below, left to right)

The Lion of the Desert by MatthewJBenecke Sick Girl Screams by @sjtownend.bsky.social The World of Vile Wonder (antho), edited by @coyhall.bsky.social Harrowfield by @stephellis.bsky.social Mad Days by @elfordalley.bsky.social The Skin We Feel Most Comfortable In by @craigwallwork.bsky.social

I stuff cottonwool in my ears when I write so I can fully immerse in my story. What weird stuff do you do when you write?

My story, YELLOW CAR, is now available to read, along with many other horrifying journey-themed tales, in this anthology from Hell Bound Books: www.amazon.com/HellBound-Hi...

Fancy a Bristol-based Christmas horror story from me? Check out WHEN ONE DOOR CLOSES published by Horrific Scribes here: horrificscribblings.com/when-one-doo... You can read more horrifying tales by other authors too at horrificscribblings.com

My nine-year-old son, unprompted, just broke into the robot dance for the entire of his one hour long school carol service performance. No other kid was dancing. Made my Christmas! 🤣

Writing the Occult's 2026 season is now officially on sale! Explore the events: www.eventbrite.com/cc/writing-t... 🧵⬇️

On the 13th of December, your Trash Cat gave to you... a reduced price on our charity anthology until Christmas Eve 🦝 Grab one, gift one, read one for less of your penny-monies. All proceeds to The Wildlife Trusts for the badgers and stuffs. mybook.to/WhatComesToL...

Massive thanks to @sjtownend.bsky.social for reviewing this anthology and singling out my story as the reason for picking it up in the first place! Hiding Under the Leaves is still available from @theslabpress.bsky.social as a great Chrissy pressie for the folk horror fan in your life...

A short review of HIDING UNDER THE LEAVES (an anthology of folk horror from The Slab Press) here, from me: www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I have no idea if these award eligibility posts actually DO anything other than lay bare the good and silly work I've been lucky to achieve in 2025. 11 short stories published (on top of finishing my first novel)! I'm very grateful to all the editors and publications who've given my words a go!

last couple weeks of december when things slow down is usually when i try to catch up on short spec fic (try, being the operative word, always behind). if you've got recs for strange stuff in semi-pro mags that stuck out to you and that you think flew under the radar would def be interested to know.

TWO blocks of cheese in the fridge? Well played, Past Me, well played.

Happy Christmas panic-buying onset for those who celebrate! Must be time to bump this, suitable for anyone in your life who likes a) charity and b) animals. And optimally c) reading. 27 snack-sized stories curated by @trashcatlit.bsky.social for The Wildlife Trusts: trashcatlit.com/what-comes-t...

Calling British short science-fiction writers who have had stories published this year - window closing soon for Best of British Science Fiction 2025. Get your story in under the door!

Show me your pets! But balanced on your arm.

🎄🎁🎅📚 Give books this Christmas. (Ideally, give them MY book, Your Final Sunset. Available now at a special seasonal-discount rate!) #horror shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?params...

Like #writing? Love quiet horror? My interview with @storyradio.bsky.social is out today, featuring an incredible reading by @terryholland.bsky.social. We talk about the Silent Screams charity anthology and whether horror can ever be literature. Listen here: pca.st/episode/bb24... #writingcommunity

I'm incredibly proud of every author Strange Wilds Press has published in our debut anthology. This is the first year we've nominated stories for the Pushcart Prize. Congratulations Akis Linardos Nicole Lynn, @neilwilliamson.bsky.social, @marisca.bsky.social, @sjtownend.bsky.social, and Kuzma Mac.

Hubby @kundalinisteve.bsky.social and I have collected donations to a charity fund for those in need at the holidays. Reach out if you need a little extra money via PayPal to get by. It's not enough for rent or a car payment, but it's enough for groceries and smaller gaps.

Nineteen Little Stab Wounds will be available 11.26-11.30 to raise money for Transgender Law Center. Paperbacks $10 (shipping included) ebooks $5. Every cent goes toward TLC. Link goes live tomorrow so keep your eyes open—there are limited quantities of paperbacks. More info in alt text.

Woke to a sweet acceptance for a ghost story in my haunted inbox this morning from Frost Zone Press! Thank you for taking on my work, @frostzonestories.bsky.social :)

A Goodreads review by me of Blood in the Bricks from New Con Press (ed. Neil Williamson). City Folk Horror done well!

Unquiet Guests - 10 smashing stories. From Dead Ink Press, edited by @dancoxon.bsky.social

The UK Ghost Story Festival 2026 line-up is up, and I'm thrilled to have been invited to run a workshop on experimenting with form in stories. Guests also include @catrionaward.bsky.social @unheimlichmanvr.bsky.social @dancoxon.bsky.social @willmac23.bsky.social! www.derbyquad.co.uk/ukgsf/

My review of This Way Lies Madness from Flame Tree Press 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

IT’S HERE! Our first volume of strange and supernatural stories for the darker half of the year. Nine new tales by masters of the genre: Ramsey Campbell, Helen Grant, Reggie Oliver, Ally Wilkes, Steve Toase, Verity Holloway and more. 👉🏼 Get your copy on www.helleborezine.com

If you'd like to be emotionally scarred (and also maybe fired up?) today, may I recommend my recent story in Nightmare magazine?

You have one more day to preorder my novel, Imperfect creatures at a 31% discount! Just enter CREATURES at the checkout. diachroneitybooks.com/Imperfect-Cr... Now check out what some awesome folks have been saying about it:

❄️ Now Taking Submissions! Frost Zone Stories Books 3 & 4 seek Dark Literary Fiction, Quiet Horror, and Literary Horror. 💰 $15 CAD + copies 🗓️ Deadline: Nov 1, 2025 Send your subtle, chilling, and strange tales. 👉 horrortree.com/taking-submissions-frost-zone-stories-book-3-and-4/

New story - GIVE AND TAKE - by me, available now to Sley House Publishing Patreons. :) www.patreon.com/posts/give-a...

There's just 17 DAYS LEFT to back the 2026 Apex Magazine Kickstarter! We've been supporting outstanding authors writing strange, shocking, beautiful stories for 20 years...help us keep doing it for 20 more! 💜👽 www.kickstarter.com/projects/ape...

Contract signed :) Pleased to announce that my story, YELLOW CAR, will be published in HELLBOUND HIGHWAY by Hellbound Books. Do you want to play a game? Do you want to play the yellow car game? Coming soon!

The Programme for World Fantasy 2026 is now live! worldfantasy2025.co.uk/programme/

Whizzed through this collection by Alison Moore today. So bleak. Loved it.

October not haunted enough for you yet? After some spooky stuff? There's a creepy story in here by me called GIVE AND TAKE that might unsettle you nicely:

The Night Ship is up on Netgalley for those of you so inclined! Reviewers, friends, enemies, anyone, if that's not accessible for you drop me a line, I *am* keeping a list of who has asked and will be dropping emails shortly. ♥️ www.netgalley.co.uk/catalog/book...

Tomorrow will see the release of LMS in Carnage House. A story about the End of the World, a rare topic for me. Did you know I once tackled the subject in I'm a House but I must Scream, published by Bag of Bones - edited by @sjtownend.bsky.social - in their Step into the Light anthology? Links 👇

I've just queued up tomorrow's @thisishorror.bsky.social news, but while you wait, take a look at last week's edition: www.thisishorror.co.uk/news-round-u... Your Last Sunset by @sjtownend.bsky.social - out now @sleyhouseeditor.bsky.social ... 1/2

⭐⭐⭐⭐ review of Step into the Light, from Bag of Bones Press, ed. @sjtownend.bsky.social "A clever and consuming anthology of daylight themed horror, proving once and for all that evil and fright are not merely shadows, but irrepressible and diurnal." www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

"From inside, came the tips of fingers, then the hand, like a houndstooth glove extending between the folds of crumpled clothes in the bottom of the closet..." read Houndstooth now in the Patterns anthology edited by @sjtownend.bsky.social. mybook.to/patternspape...

If you're feeling rushed today, why don't you slow down a bit and read the first free story from Issue 4 of Die Laughing Mag? No, slower than that. Slower. Slooooowwwwwwer..... Check out "You Always Drive Too Fast" by @sjtownend.bsky.social! dielaughingmag.com/2025/07/25/y...

Out now! YOUR FINAL SUNSET is the 2nd short story collection by the eminently talented @sjtownend.bsky.social . Includes “I Have Seen Seven Bad Things” as the lead tale, a haunting story you won’t soon forget.

Happy to say that my story, QVC, has just been selected for reprint by the most excellent Penumbric Magazine! 🖤

Thank you #Waterstones for stocking my debut horror collection SICK GIRL SCREAMS! www.waterstones.com/book/sick-gi...

This issue includes work by @sjtownend.bsky.social, @joellekillian.bsky.social, @lilliekoi.bsky.social, @acbauer.bsky.social, @timidwerewolf.bsky.social, and Randall Madden! You do not wanna miss this! 🤡🔪

NEW SCRIBE ALERT! @sjtownend.bsky.social joins HORRIFIC SCRIBES! Her story "QVC" adds to our #domestichorror, #quiethorror, and #psychologicalhorror, describing a parent who has high hopes for a new air fryer... hopes feeding on dreadful circumstances. Read at horrificscribblings.com