Another Friday, another case of procrastination making me leave the house way too late and now I’ll have to deal with Friday peak hour on the motorways. Ugh! Anyways, see you in Bedford for the Innsmouth Literary Festival! I’ll be the one at the @britfantasysoc.bsky.social table all day 🔮

This week feels like a good 'un to talk about authentic autistic characters in fiction. Nice work, @davidgreenwriter.bsky.social 🙌

Hey, look: It's David Cartwright!

The depressive spiral is gaining force, so I’m back at the BL today on the research train. Get behind me, depresso lauren!

A month until the veil is lifted and THIS WORLD OF VILE WONDER: HORROR TALES OF THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION is unleashed! Nine tales of horror & dread that put candle flame to the underbelly of this mortal coil. Amazon & Kobo ⬇️

I'm doing a talk in Bath! Come and join me at Komedia on the 4th November 2025 for a whistlestop tour of women in the Gothic across four delirious centuries! It will be fast, furious, and hair raising! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gothic-fic...

This is a great bursary and it remains really important in terms if increasing accessibility and access.

Hi, it’s cold now. I don’t like it.

I don't believe I've ever done one of these "Hi, it's me!" posts, and I've met an awful lot of new people lately, so strap yourself in... It's gonna be a long 'un because, frankly, I do waaaaay too many things. 🧵⬇️

So I'm kinda unexpectedly out of work after a contract went kaput early, so figured I should update my website/s and make things easier and more profesh-looking. But I might've just killed my WordPress... Attn: @bethkesh.bsky.social I might be in touch imminently!

Also calling all my women in horror for this!

Made it home from Derby, ever glad to have taken the not-climate-friendly driving option so I didn’t have to deal with post-storm train shenanigans. Also thanks to everyone I spoke with/at over the day & eve; very glad to have caught the bar-con just as I was finishing dinner & so had many chats ❤️

Team @horrortree.com representing at Edge-Lit 11 in Derby today: newsletter editor @corinnepwriter.bsky.social, interviews coordinator & unholy trinities editor @sarahelliottwriter.bsky.social, and editor-in-chief of Trembling With Fear, yours truly. Always a pleasure, ladies ❤️

If you need me today, I’ll be here. Incoming Edge-Lit thread…

Note to self: the absolute worst time to get in a car in London is 4pm on a Friday. It took me 3 hours to get from Sutton to Hanger Lane … still not in bloody Derby, either! 😩

OK, Derby. I'll soon be hitting the motorways towards your general vicinity so I can be at Edge-Lit tomorrow. Please be nice to poor, socially awkward, world's-worst-networker me (if you see me; I may be hiding in corners).

BFS member profile time! Here's Hero of Monstrous Productions, one of the talents behind the Monstrous Agonies and Travelling Light audio drama podcasts.

Opportunity here for a writer on a low income to get access to a nine week novel writing course taught by the great @silvanhistorian.bsky.social www.curtisbrowncreative.co.uk/course/break...

We're delighted to be presenting this fascinating live event - FREE - on Oct 7, 2025. Reserve your place via bit.ly/flaevents #FolkloreThursday #folklore #survey #NationalFolkloreSurvey #WhatsOn #Devon #Crediton #custom #tradition #superstition #story #storytelling #sayings

Thanks to Kayleigh for being in this month's expert spotlight! Here's everything you ever wanted to know about working with book bloggers and BookTubers...

Just had the most intense massage ever. Told her that my neck was sore & giving me headaches. She spent so much time smoothing out every possible knot on every tiny muscle in my neck, shoulders, arms. Totally killed but I already feel better. Almost made up for this arvo’s 2 job rejections 😭

Percival would like it very much if you would purchase a copy of Strange Finds, my LGBTQIA+ horror/strange fantasy short story collection. So he can have his table back.

Happiest of book birthdays to @haileypiperfights.bsky.social! Her absolutely fantastic new collection, Teenage Girls Can Be Demons is officially out today! 😈 www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/790249...

Allen Ashley is training his eye on classic genre films, looking at not just the film but the context in which they were released. For the latest instalment in his new blog series, he's travelling to Jules Verne's Mysterious Island. britishfantasysociety.org/classic-genr...

A whole 12 years since we made it legal, and he still somehow puts up with me. (aka he’s changed his look more than me over the years)

Just watched the most bizarre, surreal, beautiful film. Anyone else seen Sasquatch Sunset? 😍

Time to meet Andy!

Did you pre-order yourself a copy of my new @nationaltrust.org.uk book Britain’s Folklore Year and had it arrive? If you’d like to post a picture I’d love to see them. It’s always fun to see people reading your books in the wild Available now at all good bookshops, or online

Dad's been gone for a whole quarter century as of today. I still miss him every day, even if I fled to the other side of the world a few years after he passed.

What an exhilarating day! Thanks to all our speakers for Writing the Occult: Belief - Wole Talabi & Sarah Elliott, Deborah Hyde, Chris Hawton, Dr S Jonathon O'Donnell, Lilith Dorsey, Ella Snyder, Brandon R Grafius, Dr Francis Young, and Jordan S Carroll. Your brains are immense (mine is buzzing).

One of the drivers behind tackling 'belief' at Writing the Occult was our ongoing fascination with why people are drawn to cults and conspiracy theories, so we asked the crew to share the things that capture their attention. Here's what famed skeptic @deborahhyde.bsky.social told us ⬇️

See you on Zoom at 1pm UK time, believers and skeptics alike.

So what will you be in for when you log on for Writing the Occult: Belief TOMORROW, Saturday 6 September? A whole bunch of fascinating discussions about belief and speculative fiction, including this one with @jordanscarroll.bsky.social ⬇️

Mere hours until ticket sales end... Go straight to the ticket site: www.eventbrite.com/e/writing-th...

It happens tomorrow. Get the full details, and your tickets, via writingtheoccult.carrd.co

So what will you be in for when you log on for Writing the Occult: Belief TOMORROW, Saturday 6 September? A whole bunch of fascinating discussions about belief and speculative fiction, including this one ⬇️

Ben launches his debut solo collection at Edge-Lit later this month!

We're two weekends away from the return of Edge-Lit, with a huge line-up of horror, fantasy and sci-fi talent joining us for a loaded day of panels, workshops, interviews and much more here in Derby! www.derbyquad.co.uk/events/edgel...

One of the drivers behind tackling 'belief' at Writing the Occult was our ongoing fascination with why people are drawn to conspiracy theories, so we asked the crew to share those that got their attention. Here's what @bgrafius.bsky.social, scholar of religion & horror, told us ⬇️

TWO DAYS. Until we gather for worship. Until we embrace our fate. Until we find out who's really in charge. Or maybe just until we talk about all things belief in speculative fiction with the help of writers, academics & a voodoo priestess. Details/tix via writingtheoccult.carrd.co

Full line-up and schedule in the bag for our wintry weekend of folk horror this December - check out what's on tap at DARKNESS IN THE FIELDS: MIDWINTER 2! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/darkness-i... #folkhorror #horror #winter #midwinter #folklore

So what will you be in for when you log on for Writing the Occult: Belief on Saturday 6 September? A whole bunch of fascinating discussions about belief and speculative fiction, including this one with @deborahhyde.bsky.social ⬇️

We're super lucky to have some amazing and talented humans joining us for Writing the Occult: Belief this Saturday - including the acclaimed SFF writer @wtalabi.bsky.social! Details below or via writingtheoccult.carrd.co 🧵⬇️

The devil is tempting you to get your ticket to Writing the Occult: Belief before it's too late... writingtheoccult.carrd.co

are you ready for some big news? WE ARE OPEN for BIPOC subs for issue 100! and we are celebrating with a special theme: Transition, Migration, and Borders: Movement in, and of the Body 💖for those of us who find home in liminal spaces💖 find out more here: psychopomp.com/fantasy-maga...

Themes of faith show up in all sorts of speculative fiction; sometimes you might not even realise it. We asked Writing the Occult: Belief's speakers to share their favourite SFFH works based on belief, and here's what Chris Hawton, co-host of @andwbcpodcast.bsky.social, offered up: 🧵⬇️

Special access! Keith B Walters chats with Lindsey Bowden, creative director of @tpukevents.bsky.social's A Gathering of the Angels—a celebration of David Lynch to be held at London’s iconic Genesis Cinema later this month. Here be much coffee and donuts. britishfantasysociety.org/a-gathering-...

One of the drivers behind tackling 'belief' at Writing the Occult was our ongoing fascination with why people are drawn to conspiracy theories. We asked the crew to share the theories and cults that capture their attention. Here's what poet & cult survivor @poetella.bsky.social said:🧵⬇️

We're into the week-of countdown! Just FOUR DAYS until we gather for worship. Until we embrace our fate. Until we find out who's really in charge. Or maybe just until we talk about all things faith and belief in speculative fiction. Details & tix via writingtheoccult.carrd.co