YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING: An unstoppable force meets an immovable object, as well as said object's enforcer/keeper/parasite. A deceptively gentle documentary made up of layers of confrontation - truth vs simulacra, folie à deux vs grift, and my favorite, human susceptibility to charismata. Grade = A+.

Tomorrow afternoon! Kick off spooky season with a grab bag of candy, I mean authors. 🍬🍭🍫

C. S. E. Cooney@csecooney.bsky.social · 4w ago

THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON! Join 10 authors of reality-redefining Fiction as they converge in a bizarre bazaar for the imagination: Oct 4, 3-4:30 PM Eastern www.twitch.tv/csecooney Read more about the authors and their works here: csecooney.com/2026/09/23/o...

God this shit was cool as fuck

The first thing I remember someone doing while the towers were falling was a boy in class pulling open a world map "to find Afghanistan so we can bomb it." I guarantee that for anyone that could be in ANY way linked to Islam in the U.S. it was "stay invisible and stay the fuck out of the way."

Jared Yates Sexton@jysexton.bsky.social · 2mo ago

There are already articles circulating trying to rewrite history and say America was great after 9/11 and united and thoughtful and just a reminder that that period was marked by intense and insanely racist hatred, paranoia, and a frothing desire for unhinged violence and oppression.

Me talking about a retired tennis player: I hated him for no good reason. And then I never forgave him. The end. Roommate: That's the kind of storytelling I expect from a Shirley Jackson Award winner.

On the literacy crisis tip, shit’s bad but I have seen people posting videos under this topic of folks who know a word and what it means, but they pronounce it incorrectly. That’s not a literacy issue; we shouldn’t shame people for not having said something out loud before.

Oh my god. Indycar what are you doing

WHAT HAPPENED TO DOROTHY BELL: A woman tries to figure out why her grandmother, a beloved librarian, tried to kill her as a child. Has a little bit of everything - jump scares, sneaky background scares, analog scares - and it doesn't all work, but it's a creepy little watch. Grade = B-. (Shudder)

FACES OF DEATH: A video content moderator discovers someone is recreating deaths from the famous shock series, except for real! An attempt at meta commentary that doesn't end up saying much of anything before devolving into your typical bloody wrestling match. Grade = D+. (Shudder)

Shudder adding Threads right now feels like pouring salt on our wounds idk

EXIT 8: A man trapped in a looping subway corridor has to find anomalies to get out. Technically, doesn't meet my criteria of a horror movie - it's more of a morality play - but it is irresistibly sweet (no, I haven't been kidnapped) and the anomalies are delightfully creepy. Grade = B+. (Shudder)

I'm cracking up at this. Never has a t-shirt spoken to me so viscerally.

That's a demon, shrimp brain. Poltergeist at best.

PEIPolitical 🇨🇦@peipolitical.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Vance: I’ve had moments where I felt the presence of God. A friend and I were talking about Christianity and there was this moment where a glass fell off the wall. I think an atheist would dismiss that, but it felt like God was trying to send me a message. #cdnpoli

DESCENDENT: A man whose wife is about to give birth has an epic TAKE SHELTER-esque breakdown, except with aliens instead of storms. I do tire of movies about delusional men, but at least this dude doesn't attack people and the wife is portrayed very sympathetically by Sarah Bolger. Grade = B. (Hulu)

Can't overstate my agreement with Vajra here. The degradation of taste and skill is exactly what keeps me up at night. Frankly, I already see it happening with people who claim they can't tell if prose has been written by AI. If this is true for you, I beg of you: Read. More. Carefully.

Vajra Chandrasekera@vajra.me · 3mo ago

They'll flip when the output improves past the bar where they can no longer tell that it sucks. And as AI degrades taste and cognitive skills, and deskills writers, that bar gets lower and lower.

I tried to watch Lee Cronin's The Mummy but it was just too gross and boring so no review, sorry. Of what I did watch, I'd give it maybe a D-.

I'm just gonna point out that the essays defending the use of GenAI in art are usually really poorly argued.

A few very pointed thoughts on "that" op-ed from the HWA newsletter: An organization with a published anti-AI statement should know better than to publish an inflammatory, antagonistic, racist, poorly researched, poorly argued, pro-AI op-ed in their newsletter. I have seen the statements that...

Have always appreciated Ruthanna Emrys (@r-emrys.bsky.social) and Anne M. Pillsworth's take on my stories. I based this one on a) my experience as a half-Indonesian in college/grad school, and b) mysterious trail disappearances (Trenny Lynn Gibson, Paula Jean Welden). reactormag.com/a-little-kno...

A Little Knowledge Is a Dangerous Thing: Nadia Bulkin’s “Things to Know Before You Go” - Reactor

This vacation carries a terrible curse...

reactormag.com

Look, you know it & we know it: You're gorgeous. Just look at you. Drop dead knockout❤️ We're just sayin', your wardrobe could use a sprucing. And we've got some solutions! All art made in house by the humans at Tenebrous. Update your wardrobe: tenebrouspress.threadless.com

Shit! One of my favorite actors, capable of so much intensity (and willing to do so much insane work). RIP Sam Neill.

Sam Neill as Dr. Grant Looking Surprised

Alt: Sam Neill as Dr. Grant Looking Surprised

static.klipy.com

Carol Duncan@carolduncan.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Oh my heart. We've lost Sam Neill. :(

This is how I found out that 17 years after my first nomination, my writing actually won a Shirley Jackson. Thanks @johnlangan.bsky.social. Thank you to the jurors. Thank you to my publisher @ghoulish.bsky.social. This is wild, lol.

CONGRATULATIONS TO NADIA BULKIN FOR WINNING A SHIRLEY JACKSON AWARD FOR HER COLLECTION, ISSUES WITH AUTHORITY! WE ARE SO INCREDIBLY PLEASED!!! HELL YES!!! AHHHHHH! @nadiabulkin.bsky.social

Me watching women's sports: I hope everyone has fun! 😇 Me watching men's sports: Dear God please not X or Y or Z 🤮

THE LONG WALK: In a destitute America, fifty boys walk under military guard until only one is left. Despite the premise this is neither YA hopepunk nor Lord of the Flies; the boys are all depicted fairly and kindly, making the perverse cruelty of the situation all the more searing. Grade = A-. (HBO)

What I find most hilarious* about the Graham Platner thing is that both "centrist Dems" and "leftists" are blaming the entire thing on each other. As well as claiming that the only people still supporting him are each other (I've seen supporters in both camps so don't even try that on me). *gross

Roommate and I are aligned on so many things in so many ways, but he will still root for the U.S. national team in whatever sport and I'm just sitting there going

Chelsea Islan Smiles and Gives Thumbs Up

Alt: Indonesian actress Chelsea Islan looking like she's hiding something

static.klipy.com

Ha ha I hate it here

“.. Members of the group Patriot Front ride the metro on the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence in Washington, D.C.” @reuters.com