I’m reading with Charlotte Tierney, author of The Cat Bride, July 22nd at 7 pm edt West Coast and 10 pm edt East Coast.

Me and Derek are going to be at Necronomicon in Providence this year from the 14th to the 16th of August. Derek will have a table in the dealers' room, selling prints and paintings, and I'll be doing a panel about Ray Bradbury and a reading. Both Friday -- check the schedule. Stop by and see us.

I've plugged this one six ways to Sunday, but it's out and on the loose today. From Heresy Press, edited by Bernard Schweizer and Adam Szetela. Never would have predicted I'd someday be in an anthology with Alice Walker. My story in here is a new one -- "The Book Life."

Having a few with Lynn on the back patio and watching night come on.

I'll be reading with Charlotte Tierney, author of the fabulous Cat Bride, for Story Hour www.storyhour2020.com, July 22nd at 7pm PST and 10 EST. If you've not read this book, definitely check it out.

Hanging with my pal, Bosi, tonight.

Lindsey Graham dead. Somebody pass me a box of tissues.

Me and Lynn hanging last night at the Woodbury with Tremblay, John Chu, Jake Wyckoff, and Jed Berry, deep in the heartless heart of Ohio. Paul’s being interviewed today at the Columbus Book Festival, and the other guys are selling their wares. There’s supposed to be 40,000 people attending.

Afternoon

Lynn was stung by a wasp. Mac to the rescue, applying first aid.

Lily in the porch garden.

An evening visitor.

Borges on Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles -- "What has this man from Illinois done, I ask myself when closing the pages of his book, that episodes from the conquest of another planet fill me with horror and loneliness?

Wheel of Genre. The two guys on this show are going through the entirety of the VanderMeers' anthology -- The Weird. In this episode, they bs about my story "The Delicate." I'd forgotten a lot about it. So, I enjoyed hearing what they had to say. www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDWL...

"Steve Gibbon’s Lipsnitch Snilly is one of the most unique and engaging Fantasy novels I’ve read in recent years. Wonderful writing that makes you feel immediately at home in a strange, fabulist world, and characters that, although odd, remind us of the people in our lives.” -- Jeffrey Ford

@chanelleloftness.bsky.social Hey, Chantelle!

SP is one of the best writers and sweetest people I know. (But don’t get on her bad side!) We all need a little bit of help from time to time. Pitch in if you can!

So yeah, my desk is clear at the moment, so if you're looking for an in-depth developmental edit--annotated m/s, overview report & Zoom call Q&A after--or for mentoring sessions which I also do, feel free to hit me up here or email direct: hal AT halduncan DOT com. #AGoodManAndThorough

WTF?

Review of Pandemonium Waltz by Sam Reader at Ancillary Review of Books ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2026/06/25/a...

Axe: Stories That Cut Deep a.co/d/0ip78YlI

Signed a contract with PS for a hard and soft cover omnibus editions of The Well-Built City trilogy. First time these books will have appeared in this format in print. I've always wanted to do an edition like this. Derek will do the cover and interior illustrations. Look for it in the Fall of 2027.

Last night, Lynn and I watched Walkabout, directed by Nicolas Roeg. Jenny Agutter, David Gulpilil, and Luc Roeg. A simple yet intense story. Amazing Outback photography. It's on Criterion now.

Last I saw Magoo through the winter, he was out cold, wasted on the porch from guzzling Sterno. Good to see him back in the pink and having a drop of the good stuff to celebrate.

Mac wondering where the rabbit went.

On the way back to Ohio from Maine, we had to stop in Henrietta, NY to have breakfast with our old friend, Kurt (Chester), who also lived in that motel we lived in back in the early days.

New novel from Steve Gibbon. Check it out.

Watched the black and white version. A lot of fun. True to its comic book origins with plenty of 1930’s and 40’s detective flick influence and reference. Also a great Orson Welles tribute. The black and white with Carol Reed shadows and lots of rain. I’m not a huge Cage fan but he was terrific.

Holy hraka!

Going away to Maine early next week to teach a fiction workshop. Thought I’d post this while I have the chance. I have a new story, “The Book Life,” in this antho — AXE, from Heresy Press, edited by Bernard Schweitzer and Adam Szetela. The list of authors is on the cover. Will be out June 23rd.

Blue Jay grabbing a peanut off Ganesh 🥜

Almost Home

In the mail today, The Book of the Dead, edited by Jonathan Strahan for Harper Voyager, cover and interior art by Galen Dara. Looks amazing. My story in here is, “Walk the Earth.” Fellow authors are all on the back cover. I think you can blow it up and see them all. Quite a lineup!

Looking North

In the mail today — All Hallow’s Eve, edited by Ellen Datlow for Titan Books. My story in here is “The Thinning of the Veil.” It should be out September 6th. Check out the contributors on the back cover.

“As I was going to St. Ives, I met a man with seven wives” Mother Goose by Arthur Rackham, 1913. Arthur Rackham

Back to Nope. I love this freakin movie. The western vistas and the cinematography are worth the price of admission. Great characters and acting all around. Also love the way the saucer morphs into a living organism. And Keith David who makes any film better even if he’s only in it for 15 minutes.

1st lousy hummingbird photo of the season. I can’t ever get a good shot of them. There’s at least two so far this season.

Came across this old pic today. Me, my dad, and my son, Jack at Long Beach Island, NJ, circa 1990's. Loved all those summer days at the shore.

One of the GREAT horror books of 2026! All-new stories by genre heroes like @stephengrahamjones.com @joshmalerman.bsky.social @almakatsu.bsky.social @cgolden.bsky.social @brianevenson.bsky.social @claymcleod.bsky.social @johnlangan.bsky.social @jeffreyford8.bsky.social and... Livia Llewellyn?! 🤩

Jeffrey Ford (along with Brian Evenson) is the GOAT.

A comic series based on a novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Monster Men.

Hot bird on bird action.

In the mail today, How I Make Comics by the great Kim Deitch. Can’t wait to get into it.

Powder Pink Twilight

Found on a bookshelf in my office. They say you can’t judge a book by its cover. I didn’t but I did buy it and read it because of the cover. And amazingly enough the story exceeded the cover. A genuinely idiosyncratic, weird af novel. Both the story and the cover are never too far from my memory.

My good glasses busted a while ago and so I’m using my cheap second pair. Laird Barron told me I look like Joe Pesci in The Irishman. You know, what are friends for?