The Two Ronnies 1987 Christmas Special ended in fine style with PINOCCHIO II: KILLER DOLL, a horror film parody played for laughs, but which gave younger viewers nightmares. The Ronnies had form for dark comedies: Teeny Todd and the Phantom Raspberry Blower were horrifying!

ONE WEEK left! FREE download (+ bonus tracks) Contact on Bandcamp with proof of purchase. 180g clear vinyl 'We Need Fiction' ONLY AVAILABLE for ONE MORE WEEK then the order window will CLOSE PERMANENTLY. fairsound.com/product/british-stereo-we-need-fiction/ thebritishstereocollective.bandcamp.com

BLATANT ADVERT BECAUSE I LOVE IT SO! 'Page and Screen' by John Mabey. A gorgeous visual history of the TV tie-in books that provided Extended Universes for The Sweeney, Grange Hill, The Prisoner, Space: 1999, Murphy's Mob... ooh, *everything*. It's available from Amazon now. Treat yourself!

Psst! Wanna buy a trio of enormous books chock full of the darkest, weirdest and most shocking pop culture of the 70s and 80s? Get a huge 15% off with the case-sensitive code MAKEBANK15 till Friday May 22! Tell 'em Lefty sent you.. Shop: linktr.ee/scarredforlife

TERRAHAWKS (1983) villain Zelda, and her children Cy-Star and Yung-Star, were three of the decade's most terrifying bad guys. And she could spit bars with the best of 'em. Move over Nas, Rakim, and KRS-One, here comes the Zelda rap!

Double whammy! Me and @bobfischer.bsky.social have been summoned, and now we're bringing the Scarred For Life Folk Horror Show to Burton and Carshalton on the 28 and 29 October, just in time for Halloween! Burton: bit.ly/3P5MT36 Carshalton: bit.ly/4tGK9qS

BUILDING SITES BITE (1978): growing up in the big city, I was never subjected to any farm-based PIFs. Instead, we had the likes of this notorious little nasty, which plays out like a British Final Destination as daft Ronald dies again and again. Don't worry viewers, it's all a daydream!

THE TRIPODS (1984): BBC adaptation of John Christopher's YA novels about a future England under alien occupation. The population is 'capped' at 16, becoming thralls to the tripods, but one group of plucky teens decides to join the French resistance... Where's series 3, lads?

New issue on sale! Woodland witches, folklore favourites, Britain's oldest ghost, Wycombe Wyrm, Nick Pope remembered, return of the penis thieves, Epstein UFO files, flying pig, tool-using animals, missing scientists, female shaman vs the Nazis, and much more! shop.forteantimes.com/current-issue

Enjoy this montage of televisual nuclear anxiety from the 1980s, soundtracked by The Dubliners' protest song 'Protect and Survive'. Special guest appearance by the Patron Saint of Nuclear War at the end, there. "'Ad it, inya?"

Before pop videos were a Proper Thing, a 1973 episode of Top of the Pops illustrated Barry White's 'Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up' via this startling video, which feels like an avant-garde student film. I don't think it could capture the mood of the song less, but I love it!

RIP Alan Rothwell, the laid back, soothing face and voice behind countless soap operas, drama roles, and Scarred For Life favourites Picture Box and Hickory House (and his role as heroin addict Nicholas Black in Brookside was an all-timer)

ROBBIE (1979): a replacement for the graphic and extremely controversial 'The Finishing Line', this PIF, about a boy whose feet are amputated after an encounter on train tracks, had quite the ending! Talk about a constant reminder...

AFTER THE HOLOCAUST - THE NUCLEAR DEVASTATION OF AMERICA: RECOVERY AND REUNIFICATION (1977) One of SPI's complex boardgames set 20 years after a nuclear war: players must rebuild America through trade, diplomacy, and combat (history repeats, etc). Fancy a quick game after the King's speech, Gran?

I was honoured to get a preview of some of the things Ste has been working on for this and it's a superb new extension to the SFL universe. Expect fascinating diversions and in-depth looks at some of the less talked about elements of the era, all presented beautifully and at a pocket money price!

🧵 I've been working away like mad, getting ready to launch my new Patreon next month: 'STEPHEN BROTHERSTONE IS STILL SCARRED FOR LIFE'! There'll be BRAND NEW and exclusive Scarred For Life essays, videos, and a 'radio show' to boot! Let's take a look at what Patrons will be getting... (1/5)

@scarredforlife.bsky.social This eerie music was used for the Murder Mystery Suspense series of films on ITV in the mid-80s. Short as it is, the sound and the imagery had me running from the living room, but I was never quick enough because it lasts about 12 seconds! www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7KH...

The 180g clear vinyl edition of 'We Need Fiction' by WHITE DOOR'S Mac Austin and THE BRITISH STEREO COLLECTIVE's Phil Heeks is ONLY AVAILABLE for another TWO WEEKS then it will literally be GONE FOREVER. There won't be any run-ons on Bandcamp. fairsound.com/product/british-stereo-we-need-fiction

THE LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK (1972): Docudrama horror about the 'Fouke Monster' sighted in Arkansas, and tying into the Bigfoot-mania of the 1970s. Stern voiceovers abound!

Our trio of books are huge, doorstop-sized bricks, crammed full of the darkest, weirdest and most shocking pop culture of the 70s and 80s. Get 10% off with the case-sensitive code STORYTELLER10 till Friday May 15! Shop: linktr.ee/scarredforlife

H.R. Giger finally got to use his astonishing design for Baron Harkonnen's castle (from Alejandro Jodorowsky's cancelled Dune film) in this 1985 ad for Pioneer. Cor, what we could have had...

THE OWL SERVICE (1969): The deeply eerie title sequence to Granada's beautiful adaptation of Alan Garner's classic novel. One of the most mature children's dramas ever, for me it truly kicks off the entire Scarred For Life era.

TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED: THE FLYPAPER (1980) Alfred Burke is absolutely terrifying in the series' greatest episode, adapted from Elizabeth Taylor's short story. Not going to spoil a thing about this one, but the ending is a real gut punch...

STARTING OUT (1986): I've a real soft spot for gritty Schools and Colleges dramas, and series 5 of this long-running ITV show featured domestic abuse, rape, glue-sniffing, racism and police harassment (and most of those are in the title sequence!). Oh, and a porn mag at the start! For kids, etc etc

VOTER LIST (1974): Important information for today. Check the list!

Great weekend at Whitby's Hand Of Glory folklore festival, although I've had to do a lot of sleeping since I got home. Thanks everyone who came, and to all who performed - it was ace. Here's myself and @scarredforlife.bsky.social Ste Brotherstone asking an important question late on Friday night.

DOOR CHAIN (1976): A PIF which dares to ask the question, 'did Aunt Annie or a Rasputin-looking axeman politely ring your doorbell?' This one was in rotation for so long that, for me, it's forever entwined with ITV Night Time shows of the late 80s and early 90s!

Discount time again! Get a huge 15% off our trilogy of doorstop-sized books with the case-sensitive code BOOKMARK15 till midnight on Friday 8 May! A combined 2,000 pages worth of the dark, strange pop culture of the 70s and 80s... Triffid seeds not included. Shop: linktr.ee/scarredforlife

I sometimes wonder what it'd be like to live somewhere like the Rainbow house or Hickory House, and co-habiting with bizarre creatures like HUMPHREY CUSHION. Imagine going to Tesco, paying your bills at the Post Office, then coming home to this...

Now that I've recovered from all that travelling, a huge thank you to everyone who came to the Folk Horror show on Friday night! Me and @bobfischer.bsky.social had a blast - big thanks to Dave and the Hand of Glory organisers for a brilliant festival. And I fell in love with Whitby!

Apparently Saturday Night Live UK did a parody of this Scarred For Life gem last night: the deeply sinister early 80s British Pork ad! Talk about a deep cut...

Unlike the happy, roller-skating, all-American feel-good adverts for Pepsi and Coke, quintessential 80s soft drink QUATRO (1982) went for a dark, grungy, machine-smashing cyberpunk aesthetic, courtesy Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton (Max Headroom, the Accidents Will Happen video)

Free folklore festival in Whitby this weekend! With added @scarredforlife.bsky.social Folk Horror from myself and Stephen Brotherstone at 9pm tonight. Here's everything you need to know... I'm setting off soon and am very excited about it all.

I'm on my way to sunny Whitby to bring the FREE Scarred For Life Folk Horror show to the Hand of Glory festival! Me and @bobfischer.bsky.social are really looking forward to this one - and yes, tickets are free! eventbrite.co.uk/e/scarred-for-life-a-folk-horror-special-tickets-1987994982508

TIDY UP AT NIGHT (1969): There's a lovely Terrytoons aesthetic throughout this PIF from a bygone era. It jolts me to think that most of these things would have applied to our house when I was a kid. God, I'm old. See how much of this Adult Bod's bedtime routine applies to you...

One day to go till me and @bobfischer.bsky.social bring the Folk Horror show to beautiful Whitby!

From the off, computer games (as they were then known) set out to let kids experience the 18-rated films they couldn't get in to see. Unless you knew someone who could get a blag VHS copy of Evil Dead, of course. I'm forever obsessed with the pistol-packing dude on the Texas Chainsaw cover!

This 10% discount off our books is on till midnight on Friday!

Thanks to @robinince.bsky.social for sharing his thoughts on our book Penda's Fen: Scene by Scene. The definitive account of the BBC's hauntingly strange Play for Today film, available now from tenacrebooks.co.uk

THE HUMAN BODY (1983): The ickiest pop-up book ever made let kids live out their dreams of becoming forensic pathologists (on a cardboard specimen). Devised by David Pelham and Jonathan Miller, presumably spinning out of the real autopsy from his 1978 show 'The Body in Question'

Three days to go till our FREE Folk Horror show at Whitby! Me and @bobfischer.bsky.social will be onstage at 9pm - see you there!

A moment of madness from children's eco-folk horror serial RAVEN (1977), written by Children of the Stones' Trevor Ray and Jeremy Burnham. Phil Daniels plays a borstal boy (and reincarnation of King Arthur) who fights to stop nuclear waste being dumped on the site of an ancient cave system...

Ste Brotherstone from Scarred For Life (@scarredforlife.bsky.social) joins me for a chat about World Of The Vorgans, Rebecca's World by Terry Nation, TV Tops, Car Wars, Load Runner, Night Shift and more...! timworthington.org/2025/09/12/l...

Get yourself a nice 10% discount off our trilogy of massive books with the case-sensitive code PRINTED10 till midnight on Friday 1 May! The deepest of deep dives into the dark pop culture of the 70s and 80s... Shop: linktr.ee/scarredforlife

OMNI (1978): "The world's first major magazine of science fact, fiction, and fantasy" captivated me when I was 8. I didn't understand 90% of it, but I loved its silver pages, the UFO Update column, and most of all, the eye-melting artwork. Bring back magazines that look like this!

Gifts a plenty in my shop www.ebay.co.uk/usr/seareynar0

Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson's ALIEN: THE ILLUSTRATED STORY (1979) might just be the greatest comic book adaptation of all time. And the closest I'd get to seeing the film when I was 9. Happy #alienday!

This time next Friday, me and @bobfischer.bsky.social will be onstage at Whitby with the Scarred For Life Folk Horror show - and it's free!

CREEPS! (1979) The game that strikes terror in the heart! Action GT's memory-based vampire-slaying board game saw players move their daggers round the board, hopefully memorising the 'deadly' spaces. First to race to the centre of the board kills the vampire and wins!

Sending love to the wonderful Sandra Kerr, who is sadly unwell and unable to perform, but I'm so grateful to Stephen Brotherstone who has agreed to dart over to Whitby next Friday night and we're doing a *free* version of the @scarredforlife.bsky.social Folk Horror show for anyone who fancies it...