The problem with @bsky.app's new content rules is that mainstream hit Nosferatu (2024) violates them in at least 4 ways (depicting violence to adults, violence to children, violence to animals, and implied non-consensual sex). A platform that caters to artists simply cannot be that restrictive.

ETCH CAST is LIVE! @swordcandlebell.bsky.social recalls how Gremlins delivered his first cinematic terror. We dig into the films and books that scarred us young — and why genre isn’t a cage but a toolkit. 🎧 Listen on Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/6fo7... #etchcast #gremlins #horror #podcast

THE LORD OF THE RINGS (1978)

ICYMI! This is the final chapter. Fourteen weeks. Chaos, myth, and memory. Spine Summer ends here — with @swordcandlebell.bsky.social reflecting on The Spine of Night and the worlds still waiting in shadow.

@heavymetalofficial.bsky.social just called our own Philip Gelatt “one of the leading names in working adult animation and speculative entertainment.” We couldn’t agree more. From THE SPINE OF NIGHT to FIRST WORD ON HORROR, Philip continues to shape the future of genre storytelling with ETCH.

Before the rotoscope, before the blood — there was cardboard armor, yoga mats, and a warehouse full of nerds armed with nothing but imagination. Part IV of The Making of The Spine of Night takes you inside the live-action shoot that became the bones of our fantasy epic.

Oh, thou clear spirit, of thy fire thou madest me, and like a true child of fire, I breathe it back to thee.

It began with a maze. With a Minotaur. With limbs flying and music swelling. And with the question: why do anything at all? Part III of The Making of The Spine of Night is here — exploring Exordium, the short film that started it all.

This song is 60 years old, referencing Israel's colonial violence against Syria and Egypt - 'even the Jordan River has bodies floating' - that ended in them seizing the Gaza strip. All the fury of this and it's not anything even close to the horrors of the last year. www.youtube.com/watch?v=_38S...

Pulp Fiction, The Empire Strikes Back, Romeo & Juliet, Dracula, Psycho, Beauty & The Beast, Game of Thrones, Kill Bill, Taxi Driver, Juno, American Beauty, Promising Young Woman, Ghostbusters, Dirty Dancing, Interview With the Vampire, Crimson Peak, Taken, Oldboy, Royal Tenenbaums, Rocky Horror...

“Let’s shoot this f***ing thing.” 🎬 Step into the freezing warehouse where The Spine of Night began. Part One of our behind-the-scenes series is here. Chaos, rotoscope, and chicken guts included. @swordcandlebell.bsky.social

Wild to go out just after your planned final gig. Sabbath are core to the soundtrack of my life. I've long told my wife that if she never needed to pull me out of a coma, there's only one song guaranteed to do it: www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7UZ...

ICYMI: The final chapter of THE SPINE OF NIGHT is here. Tzod. Ghal-Sur. The mountain. The end. Director @swordcandlebell.bsky.social reflects on the film’s long road — lost files, festival runs during lockdown, and the strange, beautiful cult following #TheSpineofNight has found.

Would that I could keep squeezing that sperm for ever!

Closest I've got is Gone Girl, which I thought was surprisingly awful.

ICYMI! 🌑 SPINE SUMMER: CHAPTER FOUR — The Road of Straw Director @swordcandlebell.bsky.social shares how a lost festival short became the spark behind The Spine of Night, plus behind-the-scenes insights on bold visual choices, what was cut, and why this chapter had to feel different.

Post a song from the year you turned 12. Feels like cheating to pick something I didn't actually listen to back then, so...

So, like... Rainbow's Stargazer - an absolute all-timer - is such a deeply anti-capitalist epic that I just can't wrap my head around how Dio ended up so suckered into a bunch of Ayn Rand bullshit. She's clearly the villain of his best song!

The AI-slop-ification of the internet is reminding me quite a bit of when cable TV became nothing but no-effort 'reality' garbage and discerning audiences began seeking quality elsewhere.

Chapter 3 of #SpineSummer is here. Lovers, war, and the return of a long-lost song that shaped the scene. @swordcandlebell.bsky.social shares what was cut, what remained, and why it still matters. 💀 Watch now + subscribe to support indie film: etchstudio.substack.com #etchfilm #TheSpineofNight

⚔️ “In Doom I Am Reborn” — Chapter Two of The Spine of Night is now live. Director @swordcandlebell.bsky.social unearths lost lines, forgotten versions, and the strange origins of what could be the film’s sequel.

The best thing going on right now www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWKm...

We're doing this neat thing with my film over on the Substack:

A little milestone I've been keeping an eye out for, for a while. Not bad!

Always been really partial to The Bewlay Brothers www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8IG...

A nice Q&A with myself over at the Etch substack: etchstudio.substack.com/p/building-w...

Look at this fun guy - 'L'evesque de mer (The Sea Bishop)' François Desprez, 1562

If you have never seen that sight, then suspend your decision about the propriety of devil-worship

This Horror author documentary series we made through Etch is reaching it's finale up soon - check it out on our Substack: etchstudio.substack.com

Got to be this one, for me

Mushroom clouds, monster movies, and the roar of Godzilla — @elizabethhand.bsky.social grew up surrounded by visions of the world ending. In #FirstWordOnHorror, she reflects on how apocalyptic media shaped her childhood and seeped into the haunting stories she tells today.

Age yourself with a cartoon you watched as a kid.

A stab at a vampiric #ColorJam the other night

Posted some project updates over on Substack. Mostly I wanted to write a big essay about the 1860s novel Salammbo, but it felt weird to make that the first post instead of, like, something about what I've been up to, so... open.substack.com/pub/swordcan...

Movie you've watched more than 6 times, gifs only

if you see this, post a skeleton

Thought this looked fun - was looking at some old Soviet propaganda posters to get something really warm.

$250M and this kerning ends up on its own screen? Ridley: I am available to help.

Sign up for our Substack to watch the first 3 eps of this with literally-coolest-dude-on-the-planet Stephen Graham Jones @sgj.bsky.social : etchstudio.substack.com #documentaries #horrorlit #stephengrahamjones

We interview the director of the docuseries FIRST WORD ON HORROR @etchfilm.bsky.social #substack #firstwordonhorror #philipgelatt #horror cinemascholars.com/first-word-o...

Veilgrave is looking pretty sick - can't wait to get in my hands!

You're not going to live to be 100 - 'mid-life' is 30-35, and the odds of a disability that limits your ability to travel and work increases exponentially after 50, so plan accordingly.

Dark times are here. You will have a chance to perform a heroic deed in the days to come. Take it.

Feast your eyes on the limited edition Paperface poster crafted by Trevor Henderson for #FirstWordOnHorror. A perfect blend of chills and art, this poster belongs on your wall…but only if you’re brave enough to claim it. 👉 Want one? Head to Instagram or Substack for your chance to win. Links below!

We've been working on a lot of new things, but just hypothetically... how would people feel about something like this, one day? It's less Bakshi, and maybe its absurd to keep tinkering with it, but... I do love a lot about it.

This is the cool thing we're working on over on the substack: etchstudio.substack.com

A shame to see 2024's actual best picture not get nominated for anything.

👀 See full clip from Stephen and other horror authors on our Substack. #FirstWordOnHorror premieres this February with exclusive episodes you won’t want to miss. Subscribe now: etchstudio.substack.com #finalgirl #horror #horrorfiction #stephengrahamjones

Still thrilled I got to do this movie poster for The Spine of Night. Working with Phil and Morgan was great. If you like old school fantasy animation like Heavy Metal or Fire & Ice, this is worth checking out.

A really fun, thorough, delve into Xena - always love José's essays, and it was so awesome to have Lucy Lawless in The Spine of Night: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vCg...