The 4th story in Saros SF #5 is "Solitary, Not Alone" by @roberthelfst.bsky.social. Editor @arielmarkenjack.bsky.social says: "It won my heart with colour and light and the wondrous/awful tangled sensory experiences of spring and sickness and transformation."

Happy Pride Month!

Celebrating today, as we do every year, the birthday of Michael McDowell (1950-1999), who would have been 76 today. Sadly he is not still with us, but fortunately his great books still are. Read and cherish them, and if you haven't read them, now is a good time!

We crave that which you fear the most. Now open to submissions. talestoterrify.com/submissions

You can get a physical copy of CHM for $14.99/month! Every issue contains 7-8 of the best new cosmic horror and weird fiction stories! Learn more here: zurl.co/R86j9

If you don’t know how to use AI in your everyday life, congratulations, you’re on track to remain a functioning human being.

Good morning and Happy Friday! I am thrilled to share this anthology with you: COLLECTIVE: THE COLLABORATIVE ART OF THE ANTHOLOGY

NIGHTMARE ABBEY 10: includes my latest story, "The Bane of Colmonell", about a couple of Scottish tour guides whose intentions towards their clients are not what you'd expect... www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0GXFVGCR...

Hmmm. What will I watch to fuck up my sleep tonight?

so, this is deeply, deeply horrifying thedreydossier.substack.com/p/i-found-a-...

This is what Trump's done to the people's house: A third of it is rubble. Another third is a cage match. What a metaphor.

Sometimes I’ll get a personal rejection on a story that’s almost nicer than an acceptance.

Looking at what he's done to the People's House (without Congressional approval, of course), I feel equal parts rage & embarrassment for our country. The Midterms can't come soon enough... #Register&VOTE 🌊

Watching the crows nesting outside our window harass the living shit out of a pair of turkey vultures. This is some high drama entertainment.

New title: NOCTURNAL MIRRORS | Richard Gavin Drawing upon the literary traditions of the Gothic, fin de siècle, Decadence, and Surrealism, Nocturnal Mirrors gives form to the conviction that our world is most vitally experienced viewed through a glass darkly. swanriverpress.ie/srp-title/no...

I’ve apparently crossed some age threshold at which algorithms are programmed to convince me I need a “tactical cane”

New story day (and on an appropriate date, no less)! Enjoy my new flash, "Foreign Objects" www.typebarmagazine.com/foreign-obje...

The 3rd story in Saros SF #5 is "Root Words" by @yasmeenfahmy.bsky.social. Editor @arielmarkenjack.bsky.social says: "A wonder of efficient worldbuilding. This story reveals so much of itself in so few words, and does so very beautifully indeed."

Sunshine is the best disinfectant, so of course these dimly sentient mold creatures despise it. www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...

Just back from an AFI screening of one of the few remaining original 70mm prints of Terminator 2. Cool experience; it’s easy to forget how great this movie looks on a really big screen.

[Muttering to myself] You will not become a rare book guy, you will not become a rare book guy, you will not become…

Semi-annual offer to any #BookReviewer I offer complimentary book copies of anything I put out via @darkmoonbooks.bsky.social www.darkmoonbooks.com/Books.html or that I write: ericjguignard.com/works.html All light-horror, dark/ spec fiction. DM or email: eric dot guignard at gmail dot com

I’m not financially qualified to give this advice but I think you should quit your job and just come read all day.

A couple of nice used bookstore finds.

The 2nd story in Saros #5 is "On the Matter of Homo Sapiens" by @kcolemanwrites.bsky.social. Editor @arielmarkenjack.bsky.social says: "Both the funniest and the scariest story in the issue. Coleman [is] a writer with great capacity for narratives holding a whole heap of emotional complexity.

Late this summer Frost Zone Stories book 4 will be released. Stories by @kristalstittle.bsky.social, Ian Inglis, @hvpatterson.bsky.social , @phenryward.bsky.social , James Hobbs, Christian Macklam, Elizabeth Guilt, Mark Keane, Nissa Harlow, Kimberly Y. Choi, Lawrence Dagstine

“Where are you traveling?” “That way.” “That way? Over that way?” “That way.” No more than three words at a time. Each of my sounds short and crisp, repeating often and in as uninteresting a manner as possible. “The Mub.” Clarkesworld, Issue 206. Nov. 1, 2023. (3600 words, Horror/SF/Fantasy.)

"When someone offers you a seat on the rocket ship, you do not ask which seat" Correct! You ask, who built this ship? Do they have a good track record of building ships? Is my safety a priority, or were safety measures too time-consuming or costly? Do the people in charge care about my wellbeing?

It's liberating to realize that - as an artist, writer et c - we are not creative springs from which new ideas flow ex nihilo, but nodes in a network. We form connections from previous artists by consuming their work, and contemporary artists by consuming their work and working with them.

Final day to get your submissions in for Saros #6!

Neither my headphones nor sunn O))) are a match for the kids at the next table. I’m actually impressed.

Last night’s dream featured a fully developed story; plot points, character arcs, the whole shebang. It was also hackneyed, trope-laden crap. I’m disappointed in my subconscious.

naturally

ICYMI: in the past month, I've had new small strange pieces out in hex, Keep Planning, and The Bulb Region. Listed here for your convenience: ivyivyivyivy.com/stories/

Currently parked on the turntable: Laurel Halo’s Midnight Zone. Gorgeous piece of music (if you like droney weirdness).

Totally uncool as in "global warming, whatever." Climate change is an economics issue, a health issue, an ag issue, a housing issue, a refugee issue, a public safety issue; you can talk about it in those terms, but not talking about it is not addressing the largest crisis of our time.....

Yes, The Best Weird Fiction of the Year, Vol. 2 has a new cover. The first iteration was fine, but the art had been used on several books already. I am way behind on this. Still reading. Hope to have a ToC by July and publication in October/November.

Thanks as always to hex and hex editors and hex supporters and hex fiduciaries, you just can't get enough hex

We've now entered the final week of this reading period! Get your stories in at sarossf.com/submissions/

5 days remaining The Haunted Archives: The Ghost Story Manuscripts of M.R. James Volume 1: 'Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad' https://bit.ly/OhWhistle 300 signed and numbered editions. Get your name in the book as a supporter when you pledge.

“Schrödinger’s cats,” he said, tenting his fingers. “It’s Schrödinger’s cats all the way down.”

happy motherless day to all who celebrate. here is a book full of effed-up moms. I wrote it and I love it and maybe you’ll like it, idk. here bookshop.org/p/books/our-...

New arrival for the creaking bookshelves: Nightmare Abbey #10. A who’s who of my favorite writers on the TOC and just a really cool package in general as a physical magazine.

Someone described one of my stories as “not for the faint-hearted” and my work here is done.

A bit of timely and broadly applicable wisdom.

There’s a guy on the train who’s dressed totally normally except for a pair of chromed, rainbow-tinted goggles hanging around his neck. Quite the accent piece.

He found the whistle. He worked out the Latin. He blew it anyway Whistle and I'll Come to You (1968) is proof that the best horror is mundane and quiet. Jonathan Miller's 1968 classic, the foundation for BBC's Ghost Stories for Christmas https://link.content360.io/wcty #folkhorror

If you have recently read and enjoyed The Cellar Below the Cellar, you might enjoy these other indie books of mine:

John Langan new novelette is now up on Reactor: reactormag.com/this-fleshy-...