Horrific Scribes, Exhibit Five, "They F**k You Up," is now open! #Horror about parents f**king up their kids and vice versa. horrificscribblings.com @timbrownwrites.bsky.social @zaryfekete.bsky.social @matthollingsworth.com @sjtownend.bsky.social @pammerdrums.bsky.social @awhcolumbus.bsky.social

***Short Story Rec!*** (horror/weird fiction): “I Have Seen Seven Bad Things” by @sjtownend.bsky.social . Thoughts gravitating between “that was so weird” and “that was brilliant”. I’ve read this one probably half a dozen times, never gets old. You can read it in any one of these three books:

From @BagBonesPress over on X: Dear Bone Bags, Greetings. It's been a while... Our bones are itching to put out another charity horror story call. Is there anybody out there? Are you still writing? We're open to call-theme pitches. Please share your ideas in this thread. Love and darkness, BoB.

Second story in the TOC spotlight: "Good Jeans" by Andrew Humphrey @andyhumphrey11.bsky.social Frost Zone Stories 3 eBook may be ordered, releasing March 3. Paperback will be available around the same time. books2read.com/u/mvgvoJ

🔥SALE🔥 In honor of announcing the Table of Contents for BRAVE NEW WEIRD: The Best New Weird Horror Volume Four, Volume THREE is on sale now for 20% off at our webstore for a limited time🖤☠️ store.tenebrouspress.com/products/bra...

Spring's coming early to the Frost Zone, with book 3 tentatively planned to release on March 3rd. TABLE of CONTENTS and COVER:

Alex & I have 1 last cage match before we announce the final BRAVE NEW WEIRD ToC later this week. As usual the hard part’s the fun part: there’s SO MUCH AMAZING WEIRD to choose from. This scene’s amazing. Meantime: why don’t y’all check out our winners from years past? store.tenebrouspress.com

It is never not exciting to see your own story-words in print, on paper, in an actual book. AN ACTUAL BOOK! (Tales of Sley House 2025, Sley House Publishing.) @sleyhouseeditor.bsky.social

Jim writes great horror. Highly recommend his Changes collection.

@markpeters.bsky.social Thanks for all your editorial support with this anthology. You're a star x And thanks to all the wonderfully creative authors who submitted stories to us at Bag of Bones Press for our Skin call in 2024.

Frost Zone Stories Book 3 is out this spring with 10 awesome stories by the authors: (order subject to change) Jay McKenzie Andrew Humphrey Thomas Nicholson Damir Salkovic E.F. Ritter Rex Burrows Mike A. Rhodes Alistair Rey Isabelle Nygren SJ Townend

I've just discovered a new cupboard in my classroom that I swear wasn't there last term. Should I open the cupboard door? I'm going to open the cupboard door. If you don't hear from me again, please tell someone to check the cupboard.

Mission accomplished.

Stunned to find my horror story on Ellen Datlow's Best Horror Recommendations list 😍 Scratch is one of my favourite pieces, published in Bag of Bones Press (@sjtownend.bsky.social) SKIN anthology and my horror collection, Sick Ink (links in thread) To see it highlighted in this list is amazing 🖤

Congrats to all of the wonderful Skin authors (Bag of Bones Press, edited by me and Mark Peters) who got a mention in Ellen Datlow's Best Horror of the year recommended list! JP Relph, Rob Shearman, Jim Horlock, to name a few! SKIN, a charity anthology, is available to buy here: amzn.eu/d/asR60dC

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

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.

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: