Horror folks, it's the middle of September, and the Stoker Recommended Reading List is looking extremely small. If you're a member of the HWA, go recommend something you've read that you loved! horror.org/awards/curre...

Shoutout to my copyeditor, Kevin Eddy, who I don't think is on here. But I am having a genuinely delightful time reviewing his comments on my manuscript. He and my editor @georgesandison.bsky.social and I have a whole conversation going here, and it's just really fun.

Hmm. publichealthpolicyjournal.com/mit-study-fi...

Me: i’m Autistic Them: Oh you take things literally Me: No that’s kleptomania

Extremely depressing, but not very surprising, to see Union Jacks and George’s Cross all the way up the A414 to the A10 in Hertford. I’d love to see them joined by some other flags, say the UN, Pride, trans Pride and EU flags.

oh just FUCK off

This is the story. Coked up drunkards aren’t a protest.

Can confirm lobbing Jilly Cooper into the 200pt zone just feels great. And that Rose Biggin is excellence on legs.

The Groyper Wars

I'll be doing a live Youtube reading for The Pixel Project tonight (Friday, Sept 12th) at 8:30 ET. Details are below. The Pixel Project is a great group dedicated to ending violence against women. www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUMt...

Hey, Austin, if you’re around, the place to be tonight at 7pm is hanging out with @ericlarocca.bsky.social and yours truly at @bookpeople.com!

"I stayed up late finishing that book. Woke up completely the same." Once upon a time I was sat in A&E where I had the choice of reading Angels & Demons or staring at my hand trying to decide if it was broken or not. I lasted one page. Very into Nick's point here, but also, I just can't...

A man on the streets of the UK is asked about the “problem of immigration” and dismantles talking points with ease.

@aliyawhiteley.bsky.social ALIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Infinite improvement in the quality of Bluesky activated!

Been re-reading the intensely quotable 1986 essay by Michael Swanwick, 'A User's Guide to the Postmoderns,' and thinking about the long, slow death of science fiction as a genre.

Mild melting moment to discover my local library has the Unsung edition of THE CORAL BONES by E J Swift. Then showing my kid my name in the acknowledgements! Peak imposter syndrome. 🥸 Good people of Wood Street, check this bad boy out though, you won’t regret it!

The Bookseller runs survey to explore bullying across the trade. Only open until 4th August so those keen to contribute should do so promptly. www.thebookseller.com/news/the-boo...

SALE! 20% off everything in the Cloisterfox zine shop, because vet bills are exorbitant. These are really good short stories, chaps. I can't believe so many talented people wanted to write for us. www.etsy.com/shop/cloiste...

IT LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVES! Behold the glorious majesty of BASILISK! All the House of Leaves/Nabokov/Rian Hughes fans of the world, I implore you to check this out. It’s the gleefully enticing nightmare rabbit hole you’ve only just realised you’re craving.

Exceptionally good book, this one, and I'm delighted @titanbooks.bsky.social get to bring it to the UK.

Reputable researcher, statistician and author of “Bad Data: How Governments, Politicians and The Rest of Us Get Misled By Numbers” cannot replicate Goodwin’s methods or findings.

"My name is Feodor. I come from a place called London on a cold island you'll never see. Some of what you've heard is true. Quick little me shinned up a drainpipe and went across the rooftops just before the stampede. Quick, clever, gutless little me." @verityholloway.bsky.social

Publishing press releases are leaving me a little bit exhausted atm. I think I might be saturated for breathless hyperbole and everything being the best thing ever. Let me know when someone's announcing a new title that they quite like and have modest expectations of success for pls.

Drum roll please.... The shortlist for this year's British Fantasy Awards has been announced! britishfantasysociety.org/british-fant...

Definitely one to keep an eye out for. It's uncompromising and will undeniably provoke strong responses - but it carries itself with the seriousness and gravitas the subject matter demands. Feels like a major step forward in Eric's craft, I suspect publication will be a threshold moment.

Hard to shake the feeling that TikTok dropping publishing like a failed software product tells you how well they understood publishing in the first place. No great loss, I suspect. As Sam says in the root article, the best thing about TikTok is how it can crystallise reader communities.

Massive congrats to Amber Houlders as runner-up and Harmony Knight as winner of the @futureworldsprize.bsky.social - also massive shout out to all the whole list again. Great stories won, and I know lots of great ones didn’t make it to the shortlist too. Just such a high standard all round.

MUSIC PEOPLE - I'm after something new that's in the euphoric, swelling, gigantic, transportive electronic space. Needs edge. Spiritual kin to Fuck Buttons, Blanck Mass, Jon Hopkins' Insides. Anyone got any gems?

time for my new favorite tumblr post

Catching up on @iandunt.bsky.social and this is exactly what I needed. As the husband of an immigrant, dad to a 2nd generation, I’d add how definitional living with an Italian has been for my adult life. How much stronger and happier it’s made all three of us. open.substack.com/pub/iandunt/...

TODAY'S THE DAY! The Lady, The Tiger, and the Girl Who Loved Death is officially out in the world! I'm overwhelmed with gratitude for everyone who helped bring this story to life. Time for a gratitude thread... 1/12

Extremely badass!

The UK government was just defeated in the House of Lords for a *fifth* time over AI training data transparency. Please watch the electrifying end to Baroness Kidron's closing speech ahead of the vote. Creators have no greater champion. 🧵 1/2

Interesting to see Michael Joseph going for horror with the Undiscovered Writer's Prize this year. I'd be interested to hear what rights they're asking for with that £10k advance though, especially because rejecting the publication also means forgoing the accolade. www.penguin.co.uk/about/publis...

I made this Pride flag using only NASA images and our team thought it would be cool to share on social (I work on the NASA heliophysics communications team), but it's getting all sorts of hate on the bird app and Fbook. Thought y'all might be more appreciative of it here. ☺️🏳️‍🌈💖

Today is nakedly dystopian adverts on the tube and a right-wing sleeper cell activating inside the Labour Party apparently. Artisan - I hope you fail rapidly & dramatically. Blue Labour - if you want to have a political party there's a hollowed out Conservative husk you could inhabit instead.

Sorting some old photos and reminded Jeff Noon always brings me joy.

CCG nerds, can I pick your brains? Can someone point to the correct wiki/card list for the other Middle Earth game, the one before the films came out? I’ve got a lot of these, not sure where people buy/sell CCGs these days.

Remember @titanbooks.bsky.social's amazing fall 2025 horror list? Well it's back, in ARC form. Books by @danielkraus.com @haileypiperfights.bsky.social @anovelescape.bsky.social @scumbelievable.bsky.social @claymcleod.bsky.social Nathan Ballingrud, JS Barnes and Kit Burgoyne (aka Ned Beauman).

For those seeking to understand my mental state right now, as it all melts around me, it's a transcendental/overwhelmed space in between Blanck Mass and The Alan Parsons Project. I tried to break out, but Caterina Barbieri gently escorted me back into the hole.

Well that was a battering start to what might just be the busiest week of the year. BRB, gonna soak my head in salt water until all the tough bits go soggy.

*Quietly prepares for an influx of submissions about skateboarding dogs 6 months from now*

Glorious. This is an automatic buy from me, just to see how the hell they're going to do it in print. But also because I need to know if Steely Dan are still together. www.sbnation.com/a/17776-foot...

Starmer's language was deplorable. It was grotesquely offensive, accusing people who have brought their gifts to this country of doing "incalculable" "damage"; & politically foolish, in endorsing Farage's claims of an establishment conspiracy. But bad analogies with Powell miss the key problem. 🧵

Dear everyone! Do please lend a hand and share our offer – times are extremely tough and we desperately need to raise some cash to keep things moving. Simply use TheBigSaltSale in our checkout or click on the link below— www.saltpublishing.com/discount/The... Happy reading!

Just put down REAL CASH MONEY to the fine folk over at @deadinkbooks.bsky.social for the 1993 run of the Eden Book Society. Extremely delicious horror bites, not to be missed if the first run was anything to judge by. www.kickstarter.com/projects/dea...

I find myself repeatedly profoundly disappointed in @teamlabouruk.bsky.social positions on migration. Today’s announcement amounts to punishing the already struggling care sector to hit a target that was fucked up and impossible when the Tories conceived it 15 years ago.

Having a morning catching up on admin and it's been packed full of super helpful people in call centres coming at me with chipper outlooks and good news. Some extremely fine specimens of humanity on the phones today.