Thanks to countless scenes of peril in films, TV shows, books and comics, I thought quicksand would feature in my life a lot more than it did. Parker Bros. even released QUICKSAND the board game in 1989! The playing pieces cleverly came apart to replicate sinking into oblivion...

This early 70s Sesame Street animation is my very first childhood scar! Aged 3 (I think - it's also one of my earliest memories), I *really* didn't like the numbers rushing towards me, or the sounds they made. I think I thought they'd smash through the TV screen! What was your earliest telly scar?

Raise a glass of blood to the televisual horror of the Scarred For Life era...

A quick reminder that this 15% discount ends at midnight tomorrow!

DARKADE IS OVER 70% FUNDED! Big thanks to all who've backed so far, Darkade is officially over 70% funded. Hoping me and @christiandibari.bsky.social get to share our nasty story. We've also a host of exciting additional extras such as artwork from @thisisfunart and @scarredforlife.bsky.social

A rich vein of Folk Horror ran all the way through WORZEL GUMMIDGE (1979). And one of its most horrific characters was Worzel's own creation: Dafthead!

Christmas is coming, and our books make perfect pressies! Get a huge 15% discount off our print books with the case-sensitive code CUSTOMBOOK15 until midnight on Friday November 14! Also available as colour eBooks. Store link: linktr.ee/scarredforlife

Fresh meat was as precious as gold bullion back in the 70s. According, that is, to Letraset's dizzyingly exciting THE SWEENEY Super Action Transfers, which allowed kids to create violent scenes based on the classic post-watershed cop show. This meat blag is *carnage*, guv!

GRIM TALES (1989): Rik Mayall is magnificenly unhinged (of course!) as the storyteller in this glorious children's show, performing the Brothers Grimm's fairy tales like a live action Looney Tune. Written by Anne Caulfield and Anthony (Dramarama, Robin of Sherwood, Crime Traveller) Horowitz.

Check out the brilliant teaser for PLAY TO DEATH, @manoghosts.bsky.social new podcast about the dark side of videogaming. The first guest is... me! youtu.be/QCYP3ioRYFU?si=KuAImj9oSYzMmCN0

Christmas is coming, and our books make perfect pressies! Get a huge 15% discount off our print books with the case-sensitive code CUSTOMBOOK15 until midnight on Friday November 14! Also available as colour eBooks. Store link: linktr.ee/scarredforlife

LEVI'S - THE STRANGER (1971): This psychedelic Levi jeans advert is a beautifully animated work of art (rotoscoping in action!). Spoken word jazz legend Ken Nordine provides the cool voiceover.

The Scarred For Life Folk Horror show is coming to Leeds @oldwoollen.bsky.social on Thursday 12 February 2026! Me and @bobfischer.bsky.social will don our goat masks to talk about witchcraft, stone circles, and suburban sex orgies (calm down at the back)! Tickets: bit.ly/483H8JA

THE NIGHTMARE MAN (BBC, 1981): Dr Who legend Robert Holmes adapted David Wiltshire's novel Child of Vodyanoi, in which a Scottish island is plagued by murders after a strange craft is found on the beach. Are they dealing with an alien predator or something far more tragic...?

Fans of @scarredforlife.bsky.social will find plenty of 70s/80s childhood neuroses in my upcoming book Capture Spiral. Preorder your copy now! temporalboundary.bigcartel.com/product/capt...

Cyber Baroque chamber orchestra RONDO VENIZIANO's incredible animated video, 'La Serenissima', would often pop up unannounced on afternoon telly in the early 80s. Here they are performing live on Kafka-esque gameshow 3-2-1, and it's an amazing sight to see (and hear)!

This image from the 1986 'V' annual has so much to unpack

This 15% discount ends at midnight on Friday!

ULYSSES 31 - THE KINGDOM OF HADES (1981): CBBC Broom Cupboard-era favourite, famous for its sing-a-long theme tune, had more than its share of dark moments. Here, the dead of Hades literally turn their back on the living, their touch decaying everything in their path...

New! Ste from @scarredforlife.bsky.social on Grange Hill, @sugarraybuzzard.bsky.social on The Adventure Game, @superjules84.bsky.social on The Sooty Show, @dannykodicek.bsky.social on Big John Little John and @paulwhitelaw.bsky.social on The Monkees. timworthington.org/2025/11/05/t...

What was Ste Brotherstone from @scarredforlife.bsky.social's best era of Grange Hill? You might be surprised by the answer. Or indeed answers... timworthington.org/2025/11/05/t...

Get a huge 15% discount off our books with the case-sensitive code 15WRITER till Friday November 7! You *must* sign in as a guest during checkout to activate this code and grab our trilogy of enormous tomes! Store: linktr.ee/scarredforlife

THE VALIANT BOOK OF MYSTERY AND MAGIC (1975): The brilliant last gasp for Valiant comic, this horror-themed book spotlights 'supernatural Catweazle' The Spellbinder, but The Final Victim's Amicus-tinged black comedy and Of Thee She'll Sing's MR James homage are the real highlights.

Fireworks PIF countdown: number one! HAND (1976) This all-time classic PIF featured bandages that haunted a million nightmares and turned sparklers into something to be feared. It worked on me. Happy Bonfire Night!

Get a huge 15% discount off our books with the case-sensitive code 15WRITER till Friday November 7! You *must* sign in as a guest during checkout to activate this code and grab our trilogy of enormous tomes! Store: linktr.ee/scarredforlife

Fireworks PIF countdown: WHERE'S YOUR LAD (1976) Two messages for the price of one in this PIF. Dodgy deals, grimy 70s aesthetics, Penny for the Guy (Bonfire Night was 1000 times bigger than Halloween back then), and Patrick 'Dr Who' Troughton and Jean 'Bread' Boht!

Fireworks PIF countdown: PARENTS (1975). The blink-and-you'll-miss-them shots of the twitching, convulsing, burnt kid caused so many complaints that this PIF was banned. It was considered lost media until the BFI tracked down a copy in 2014!

Fireworks PIF countdown: BLIND CHILD (1974) feels like a mini horror movie...

Fireworks PIF countdown: in at number five is FIREWORK GIRL (circa 1975), a cautionary tale about flinging bangers around willy nilly...

Episode five is live. It’s a micro episode with some extra bits from my Jane Hazlegrove interview and a few bits of news about the pod. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/j... @bangpodcast.bsky.social @scarredforlife.bsky.social

Tonight's double-bill here at the Scarred For Life bunker. 🎃Happy Halloween, all!🎃

#horrorsky #horrorwriterschat #doctorwho Plenty of 70s/80s horror and Doctor Who related content in my new book! Also right up the street of anyone who loves @scarredforlife.bsky.social Preorder a copy now!

This big 20% Halloween discount ends at midnight tonight! Our enormous books will last you through to Christmas, at least!

Happy Halloween! Here's how classic BBC Schools show WORDS AND PICTURES celebrated in 1975. The Witches of Halloween song is a bop! All together now...

TOTTIE - THE STORY OF A DOLL'S HOUSE (1984): Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin's Smallfilms, home to Bagpuss and The Clangers, gave us this charming series about the inhabitants of a doll's house. Young viewers weren't prepared for a favourite character's death by immolation...

A huge thank you to all the lovely Scarred folk who came to last night's Ghost Story Special at Lancaster with me and @bobfischer.bsky.social. You were an amazing crowd, full of great stories (the Cronenbergian telephone/baby was an all-timer!)

A quick reminder that this massive 20% Halloween discount off our books ends at midnight tomorrow!

Tonight at 7.30pm! 👻

Our Ghost Story Special at Dukes Theatre, Lancaster, is tomorrow evening! What's your favourite childhood ghost? Have you ever had a spooky experience? Who'd win in a fight, Willo the Wisp or Timothy Claypole? Share your stories tomorrow with me and @bobfischer.bsky.social! Tickets: bit.ly/3HK5duQ

The nightmarishly surreal title sequence to SHADOWS OF FEAR (1970), ITV's incredibly nasty psychological horror/thriller anthology. Heavily reminiscent of Yellow Submarine, it's accompanied by Roger (Hammer House of Horror, George & Mildred) Webb's queasy cocktail jazz theme tune.

DRACULA ANNUAL (1972): New English Library's reprint collection of a gorgeous Spanish horror comic. The work of Esteban Maroto, Alberto Solsona, Jose Bea, and Enric Sio scared the life out of me when my mum bought me this book. I was five years old.

Our books are 20% off until midnight on Friday. Discounts this big don't come along very often - if you've never read our enormous tomes, now's the time!

Two days to go!

This Friday…

A remote village? An outsider from the big city? A local coven? Devil worship and a human sacrifice? It must be Folk Horror, erm, classic K-9 AND COMPANY, a festive treat from 1981!

Just three days to go till our Unplanned Ghost Story Special comes to Dukes Theatre, Lancaster! Join @bobfischer.bsky.social and me for an evening of... well, just look at all the lovely things we can talk about... Tickets: bit.ly/3HK5duQ

Four days to go till our Ghost Story Special! Tickets still available at the link below...

In 1982, brilliant Saturday morning kid's show No. 73 hosted legendary, and extremely charming, ghost hunter Peter Underwood. Here he is, telling the young audience that ghosts unequivocally exist, like a walking talking Usborne Book of Ghosts.

@scarredforlife.bsky.social after seeing the PG Tips ‘Unexplained Mysteries’ cards in your book - it got me on the lookout for the full set. Had a few back in the 80s but not all (who did?!) and definitely not the book. But I’m now the proud owner of a minty full loose and completed book set! 🤩

DRINK DRIVING WRECKS LIVES - SUMMERTIME (1992): Tonal whiplash is the order of the day in this classic 90s PIF. Using Mungo Jerry's 1970 hit 'In the Summertime', and its infamous lyric "Have a drink, have a drive", it pulls no punches in the final scene...