"Thin, watery blood. Almost clear."

I’m going to start working this into conversation whenever possible, like the guy in the Kids in the Hall sketch.

The thing I'm proudest of this year is taking the initiative to put out this collection. Sea monsters, vampire priests, weird illnesses, cursed statues, fascist fitness cults and a town where people are aroused by nostalgia. Looking forward to promoting other stuff in 2026. #HorrorWritersChat

"But it's my leg," you say. "You know. My LEG." "They're overrated," the man in the tollbooth says. He is a torso welded to a rolling chair. He passes a hacksaw through the window. You take it, telling yourself it will be ok. Telling yourself it will force you to exercise. #HorrorWritersChat

#HorrorWritersChat I'd love to say "Nothing!" but that's not how we're wired. So, doubt, guilt, fear and self-recrimination. Cheers!

Probably all three. And my Ghost of Christmas Present would not be jovial. #HorrorWritersChat

#HorrorWritersChat Q1 Hey, I'm Anna and I write Fantasy Horror and sci-fi horror. I think I would like to be attached to a movie theater. I can watch lots of movies (I love movies), and annoy people for watching ones I would deem bad.

#HorrorWritersChat Hey pals! Michelle here, writer of weird nonsense with body horror, comedy, and misadventures. I think I'd probably wind up haunting my job. And I'd be real mad about it. Can't relax even in death

Hello everyone in the #HorrorWritersChat world. Tom Coombe here, writer of several short horror stories. If I was bound to a threshold, I'd probably forced to haunt one of my horrible former bosses.

They weren’t mad at me directly but at this thing I wrote.

I started going to therapy, had three stories in anthologies and put out my first collection.

Walked past Patton Oswalt outside a comic book store in Philadelphia. Saw Roger Ebert in Los Angeles but he was being interviewed by E! (it was just before the Oscars) so I kept my distance. Character actor David Morse sat in front of me at the movies once.

i begged and borrowed to get my first mobile phone in 1999 and had to pay a $400 deposit to even get it turned on. i strung together AOL free trial CDs on my boyfriend's roommate's PC to get the barest glimpse of internet. i will shoot ChatGPT in the face with a shotgun if it shows up on my screen

Some tech bro finishes watching Raiders of the Lost Ark and immediately names his new company Belloq.

I am also being governed/represented by politicians I did not vote for and am happy to go on the record.

Dune It All Over Again

Going to bypass this system thanks to the tech offered by my new startup, Frodo And Samwise Disguised in Orc Armor.

My niece has gotten so many Barbie houses and accessories, she has basically recreated "Synecdoche, New York."

Good news everyone. I pointed out to Stephen Miller that immigration actually BROUGHT Sinatra and Dean Martin to the country. He began to convulse and vomited up a grub the size of an eggplant, wearing a nazi armband. “Good god, what have I done?” Miller asked, setting off to atone.

I was leaving work one night years ago as this couple was in the middle of an argument. He stomped off and she called after him "That's it, walk away, PORN MASTURBATOR!!”

Now watching. It’s a Christmas movie in this household.

High tech Christmas eyewear.

Natural Born Killers (Dir. Oliver Stone, 1994)

Her politics are nebulous but I appreciate the shirt nonetheless.

Pretty neat mug at the in-laws.

I’d tap into my Catholic upbringing. Church incense, those old-style Christmas lights the size of walnuts, old ladies singing “Go Tell It On the Mountain.” #HorrorWritersChat

“…and died right away (You need a heart to live) This year, you’re living in fear Your sweetheart has turned spectral.” #HorrorWritersChat

Tom Coombe here. Pennsylvania-based author of short horror with a cosmic bent. I can’t think of a festive-season horror story off the top of my head, so I’ll just recommend people watch Black Christmas, which grows on me with each viewing. #HorrorWritersChat

Batman

Some of you will believe any horrific allegation about our president merely because it's fully consistent with who he is

"Show don't tell" by a country mile, unless you're writing for movies and TV, then show away!

The original Avengers movie will play in its entirety in Avengers: Heyday

This year marks the 25th anniversary of my editor deciding, a week before Christmas, to do a feature where we'd illustrate the "12 Days of Christmas" in photos. When it became clear after like 3 days that this wasn't feasible, he flipped out and made me write a story on the history of the creche.

I need to share this with someone

Does anyone have contact info for Bari Weiss? We'd love to chat with her about a 60 Minutes segment ("Bad Luck") set to air next month.

Tons of people responding to this with "Mr Beast should take up boxing" and I'm kind of hoping that "he should take up boxing" catches on as code for "I want this piece of shit to feel some agony."

Picturing the end to Raiders of the Lost Ark but it's a Vatican storage room full of the tacky bullshit the Pope's been given

Thought I had while watching “Gremlins”: If a guy in my town died climbing down his chimney while dressed as Santa Claus, his daughter would forever be known as “The Girl Whose Dad Died Climbing Down His Chimney While Dressed as Santa Claus.”

Time to sit down with a holiday classic.

I’m in no hurry to see Johnny Depp on screen, least of all as Ebenezer Scrooge, but this bit of casting is brilliant.

2024: John Travolta as Santa Claus in a Capital One ad, strutting down the street to "Stayin' Alive" 2025: John Travolta as Santa Claus in a Capital One ad, performing "Greased Lightning" 2026: John Travolta as Santa Claus in a Capital One ad, giving Mia Wallace a life-saving adrenaline injection

Harrison Ford will fight Sean Bean on the White House lawn.

That Star Trek with the whales and I guess they’re in San Francisco? So 2026 will be a year of complete disinterest and vague hostility on my part.

Baseball players are now visiting the White House promising to hit home runs.* *soon to be renamed home Trumps

We're reopening to submissions on January 1st. Writers, ready your most depressing, unnerving, dislocating, horrible stories.

The Grinch With The Crystal Plumage

I ask myself this all the time.

Please donate or share gofund.me/5759d36d9

*sees a group of five digits* Those would make a good zip code.