Tessera

Little Ghosts Fest was the best time! So lovely to read some stories, hang with the @littleghostsbooks.bsky.social crew again, and see some of my fave horror authors in person. There was a quirky and diverse vendor market and a great selection of panels that were consistently packed.

Little Ghosts Books table, featuring a bedsheet ghost in a beanie hat, and a colourful display of horror books and merch

Madison McSweeney in a floor-length black dress reading from Most Likely to Summon Nyhiloteph, seated next to other authors in a room drenched in purple lights

Packed convention hall at Little Ghosts Fest, disco ball throwing constellation-like patterns on the ceiling

Collection of merch from Little Ghosts Fest, including a black shirt featuring a cartoon of the Grim Reaper reading a novel, with the caption “A Good Story Will Haunt You.”

2. Brides of Dracula (UK, 1960) Deviating from its source material, this Hammer Dracula sequel is nimbler and more shocking than its predecessor. Fischer delivers twists with aplomb, as vampire ladies chew scenery; Cushing’s clinical performance plays up the central dissonance of his Van Helsing.

Blood red letters spell out “A Hammer Horror production” against the black-and-white backdrop of a castle. Next to the television screen, a green lava lamp and orange jack o lantern glow eerily.

1. Kwaidan (Japan, 1964) Human folly collides with an unknowable and unforgiving spirit world in this elegant and eerie anthology, which adapts four folk tales compiled by Lafcadio Hearn. At times the film feels like a stage play; surrealistic touches place it firmly in the realm of nightmare.

The film Kwaidan is queued to play on a TV in a darkened living room, flanked by the eerie green glare of a lava lamp and a glowing pumpkin on a bookshelf.

Open invitation to join me in my annual Halloween month movie challenge! Goal: 10 horror movies from 10 different countries by October 31st. I’ll be posting my progress here - feel free to send recs or tell me what you’re watching! #AroundTheWorldByHalloween

Graphic titled “Around the World by Halloween” featuring the a digital image of a spiderweb surrounded by 10 international horror movie posters (top to bottom: A Chinese Ghost Story from Hong Kong, Kwaidan from Japan, Satan’s Slaves 2: Communion from Indonesia, Sister Midnight from India, Brides of Dracula from England, Haxan from Sweden, The Vourdalak from France, Da Sweet Blood of Jesus from the U.S., Ginger Snaps 2 from Canada, and Thirst from South Korea.). Each movie’s country of origin is listed above or below each poster.

Fun fact: the title story of my new horror collection KAYFABE pays tribute to Queen Charlotte Flair and style icon Alexa Bliss. I wrote it like 4 years ago, so I thought was it a good omen when they both returned at the Royal Rumble this year. #wrestlingcommunity

My new book Kayfabe, flanked by a wooden figurine of pro-wrestler Charlotte Flair on the left and a silvery Mecha Godzilla action figure on the right. The book’s cover art is a collage featuring a Japanese illustration of a sumo wrestler fighting a frog-headed man, a floating rooster perched atop a bright red engine, and several ghoulish figures, with the title in bright red at the bottom.

The book Kayfabe is held open to display a few paragraphs from the short story (also titled “Kayfabe”) in which the protagonist watches a fictional Monday Night RAW match pitting Charlotte Flair against Alexa Bliss. In the background of the photo, a blurred television screen playing a Friday Night SmackDown woman’s match can be seen.

The ByTowne Cinema in Ottawa has been screening Hong Kong action movies and PEKING OPERA BLUES was the best yet. Perfect ratio of screwball comedy and spy drama, with a high-flying show-stopping climax. The theme song’s a bop, too. Fantastic.

Movie poster for Peking Opera Blues, depicting a Peking Opera performer brandishing a sword, as the central figure between two facial profiles (an actor in masculine clothes and female performer in elaborate make-up).

🪱💀mindy💀🪱 [exorcism bondage era]@garbagesauce.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Finished this @weirdpunkbooks.bsky.social novella this weekend - MUTANT CIRCUIT by Mark Jaskowski. A high-octane cosmic/body horror conspiracy thriller that reminded me of FEVER HOUSE.

Book cover - a smoky, abstract face in grey scale with the title Mutant Circuit in bright yellow, the author name Mark Jaskowski below in white

new & restocked horror now available at b&n sioux falls!

an assortment of horror books on a carpeted floor

Madison McSweeney @mmcsw13.bsky.social · 12mo ago

First review of KAYFABE! “This is 100% weird girl literature and I’m so here for it.” -Christina Pfeiffer www.uncomfortablydark.com/post/8-24-25...

8-24-25 — Christina Critiques

Happy Sunday, friends! I have five absolute must reads this week. Let’s get into them.WE ALL DIE EVENTUALLYBy: Terry MillerRelease: 9/4/23Page count: 94KU: No Hoopla: NoSynopsis: A combination ...

uncomfortablydark.com

Hit up the Capital Pride market today, lots of rad books and art! Brought home some K-POP DEMON HUNTERS prints by @vanderbander.bsky.social, a gothic poetry zine by Parker A.M. Johnston, and @stephanneauthor.bsky.social’s new book MODERN HAUNTINGS.

Florist’s colourful display of dried multicolour flowers, fluffy-haired plushies, candy, and a Salvador Dali-style melting clock, atop a Pride Flag

“Who wore it better?” donation jars paired with prints of K-Pop Demon Hunters characters, specifically the cat and the bird

Zine entitled “I Fell for Another Cannibal” by Parker A.M. Johnston

Madison McSweeney @mmcsw13.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Behold! My debut collection of short stories, KAYFABE, is available for pre-order from @filthyloot.bsky.social. 6 tales of wrestlers, kaiju, pageant queens and bodybuilders facing off against the sublime and surreal. Kitsch horror! (Pre-order link in reply)

Stack of Kayfabe by Madison McSweeney; cover art features a Japanese ukiyo-e image of a frog-headed man battling a fighter, while other strange creatures frolic in the background

Madison McSweeney @mmcsw13.bsky.social · 12mo ago

No matter how many times I’ve seen the play, it always gets me when the horrible witch says “Something wicked this way comes” and it turns out she’s talking about Macbeth.

Spotted: GIVE UNTO US by @justinlutz.bsky.social at BMV Books in Toronto

www.reuters.com/business/med...

Venezuelan makeup artist returns home, describes torture during El Salvador detention

A makeup artist who became the face of more than 250 Venezuelan migrants deported by the U.S. to El Salvador's most notorious prison arrived home to his family on Wednesday after what he described as "an encounter with torture and death."

reuters.com

Popped by @littleghostsbooks.bsky.social to pick up their newest original (STUDENT BODIES by @ttmaddenwrites.bsky.social which seems right up my alley) and a spooky Paperback From Hell. Psst…there may be some signed copies of MOST LIKELY TO SUMMON NYHILOTEPH in store now.

Book display featuring Little Ghosts originals - Little Guts, Most Likely to Summon Nyhiloteph, It Looks Like Dad, Roots Run Deep, The Dillo, Misplaced, Student Bodies, Your Flight Has Been Cancelled and What Draws Us Near

Bookshelf displaying Paperbacks from Hell collection

Window display treating a plastic skeleton seated next to an old TV surrounded by stacks of horror VHS tapes

Divination Hollow Reviews@divinationhollow.bsky.social · last yr.

I was the exact target audience for The Weeknd’s HURRY UP TOMORROW (so much so that I went to see it on my birthday). Read what I thought of it at Divination Hollow Reviews:

Today's feature is a film review from self-confessed Weeknd stan @mmcsw13.bsky.social, who shares her thoughts on the artist's film Hurry Up Tomorrow

Ozzy Osbourne never stopped creating diabolical, emotional music as haunting as it was heavy. (Listen to 2020’s ORDINARY MAN if you haven’t). Personal demons blending with his Prince of Darkness persona, blasting an Ozzy song on a bad day felt like having a seasoned guide along a dark road. RIP.

CD booklet for Ozzy Osbourne’s Ordinary Man album posed next to a lute-playing ceramic gargoyle and a red-stoned ring

Loved RIP IT UP by Kou Machida. Surreal, mean-spirited narrative told in a linguistically playful stream-of-consciousness style. An enjoyable whirl.

THE BUFFALO HUNTER HUNTER by @sgj.bsky.social is one of the best books of the year so far. A darkly funny and deeply tragic horror western that plays with voice and language in an interesting way. Introduces an ingenious vampire-slaying method to the canon.