Chuck Wendig
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chuckwendig.bsky.social
Chuck Wendig
@chuckwendig.bsky.social
I like apples. I post photos. I dig birds. I write books. The next book is THE STAIRCASE IN THE WOODS, April 2025. Yes, I'm cringe. What do you want from me, I'm a 48-year-old dad and my brain is a mouse-eaten shoebox.
Pinned
As I am a writer and must peddle my wares lest I die in the abyss, hey! In April 2025, THE STAIRCASE IN THE WOODS emerges from the fog and the trees and if you wanted to pre-order it from your favorite local bookstore -- or get signed, personalized copies from Doylestown Bookshop -- that'd be nice.
Reposted by Chuck Wendig
Trump in a single gaggle on Air Force One just threatened:

-- a second strike against Venezuela
-- Cuba
-- Mexico
-- Colombia
-- Iran
-- Greenland (which in turn would be an attack on the EU and Denmark)
January 5, 2026 at 1:43 AM
Reposted by Chuck Wendig
It’s interesting how Grok’s “Apology” was covered uncritically by the press while Grok saying the nude images it produces are “just pure, unfiltered fun” is shrugged off. Literally the exact same source.
update:

can an AI be literally psychotic? This is insane
January 4, 2026 at 10:19 PM
Reposted by Chuck Wendig
This story details that the teen they detained for six months was just about to graduate high school early at the age of 16.

Definitely the kind of irredeemable criminal monster we don’t want in America.
Meriden teen is back home for Christmas, after six months in detention at an ICE facility
The Meriden community welcomes home a teen who was detained for six months at a federal ICE facility.
www.ctpublic.org
January 4, 2026 at 11:33 PM
Reposted by Chuck Wendig
Reminder
Masks work for flu too
Get that flu shot
January 5, 2026 at 12:23 AM
Reposted by Chuck Wendig
Thankful that we have people and communities on here that find and debunk a lot of this truth distortion due to these cursed GenAI things looking so real.

Sadly, this means we need to pass this education onwards to people who are polarized by such media and lack the critical analysis skills.
This video, viewed millions of times on TikTok, Facebook and X, claims to show Venezuelans taking to the street to thank the US for detaining Maduro.

But the video is a combination of four AI-generated clips and was first posted on TikTok by a user who frequently shares AI videos. It's not real.
January 4, 2026 at 11:12 PM
Reposted by Chuck Wendig
Our politics have become so bleak that this effort from Mamdani feels almost otherworldly, as though it cannot be real that someone in government is showing concern for poor people.
This should exist in every city in the country.
January 4, 2026 at 10:03 PM
Reposted by Chuck Wendig
#Kindle #deal! @chuckwendig.bsky.social's THE STAIRCASE IN THE WOODS and @pfracassi.bsky.social's THE AUTUMN SPRINGS RETIREMENT HOME MASSACRE are just $2.99 each!! #booksky #ad #amreading

amzn.to/3Kj4Uoq
January 4, 2026 at 9:14 PM
Reposted by Chuck Wendig
You couldn't publish this today. You'd have to cloak it under several layers of metaphor.
Literally a publication for eight-year olds 40 years ago
January 4, 2026 at 7:01 PM
Reposted by Chuck Wendig
NEW: @davidingram.bsky.social and I talked to some of the right-wing influencers who are showing up to day cares in Washington and Ohio, trying to replicate Nick Shirley's video from Minnesota

Advocates for day care workers and immigrants call it a "witch hunt"

www.nbcnews.com/tech/interne...
Right-wing Influencers descend on day cares across the U.S. after Minnesota fraud claims
Clips of people knocking on the doors of day care centers purportedly run by Somali immigrants are being viewed millions of times online. Critics call it harassment.
www.nbcnews.com
January 4, 2026 at 6:50 PM
Reposted by Chuck Wendig
Jesus Christ. Every Sunday host should be asking every Republican if they think Tim Walz murdered Melissa Hortman. And when they say no, ask what it says about this president that he’s amplifying this garbage.
January 4, 2026 at 6:40 PM
Reposted by Chuck Wendig
It's actually insane that MAGA was like sorry we gotta triple your healthcare premium and kick 18 million people off medicaid but it's cool because we're gonna give $40 billion to Argentina and run Venezuela and Gaza
January 4, 2026 at 6:36 PM
Reposted by Chuck Wendig
The book gods have determined that THE STAIRCASE IN THE WOODS is a mere $1.99 on your favorite electromagnetic reading platform if you’d like an easy entry point to friendship breakups, broken people, creepy interstitial terrain, and a haunted house that is a house that haunts. Tell your friends!
January 4, 2026 at 2:53 PM
Reposted by Chuck Wendig
It's embarrassing that this far in reporters still treat Trump personally lying to them as incredible access.
The essence of this article is that a NY Times reporter called Trump’s cellphone at 4:30am and that Trump answered the call but said nothing of importance, other than wait for the press conference.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/i...
Why I Cold-Called President Trump at 4:30 in the Morning
www.nytimes.com
January 4, 2026 at 2:21 PM
Reposted by Chuck Wendig
Tired of moon hype? Me too. Just go out and look at it.
The moon seems to have a dedicated PR team, with news outlets hyping Wolf Moons, Super Blood Moons, Cold Moons, and more, Kaitlyn Tiffany writes. She explores what's behind the moon hype:
Stop Talking About the Moon
Just look at it.
bit.ly
January 4, 2026 at 4:20 AM
Reposted by Chuck Wendig
For all that the media has spent years freaking out about what social media does to our brains, I don’t understand why there appears to be little effort to grapple with the fact that these chatbots are, for some not insignificant portion of the population, literally psychosis machines
January 4, 2026 at 1:32 PM
Reposted by Chuck Wendig
Yeah, so I checked in this and it’s true. Bonkers. But true.

“And the Russians at this particular juncture were signaling very strongly that they wanted to somehow make some very strange swap arrangement between Venezuela and Ukraine.”

From: d3i6fh83elv35t.cloudfront.net/static/2019/...
During Fiona Hill's testimony to Congress on Oct 14, 2019, she described how Trump and Putin discussed exchanging Ukraine for Venezuela. The quid pro quo was if Trump refuses to help Ukraine fight off a Russian invasion, Putin would not help Venezuela (a Russian ally) resist a US takeover.
January 4, 2026 at 3:06 PM
Reposted by Chuck Wendig
It’s one of our favorites here at the shop, and I’m overjoyed to see that it is indeed $1.99 on our favorite e-reading platform, @bookshop.org!

bookshop.org/p/books/the-...
The Staircase in the Woods
Check out The Staircase in the Woods - <b>NATIONAL BESTSELLER &bull; A group of friends investigates the mystery of a strange staircase in the woods in this mesmerizing horror novel from the <i>New Yo...
bookshop.org
January 4, 2026 at 3:08 PM
Reposted by Chuck Wendig
Imagine being the person brave enough to leak this in the hopes that media attention could stop it and then the media just……buries it.
NEW: Plans for secret U.S. raid to capture Maduro leaked to the Washington Post and New York Times before it happened, but both decided not to publish to protect U.S. troops - Semafor
January 4, 2026 at 4:36 AM
Reposted by Chuck Wendig
IT WAS SOOOOO GOOD. And also if you are in a post-Stranger Things emotional drop, this will ease the pain.
The book gods have determined that THE STAIRCASE IN THE WOODS is a mere $1.99 on your favorite electromagnetic reading platform if you’d like an easy entry point to friendship breakups, broken people, creepy interstitial terrain, and a haunted house that is a house that haunts. Tell your friends!
January 4, 2026 at 2:55 PM
Reposted by Chuck Wendig
This book is full of genuinely creepy & disturbing moments, but leavened with humor (as all the best horror is). It's also poignant & melancholy & heartbreaking, as only nostalgia can be.
The book gods have determined that THE STAIRCASE IN THE WOODS is a mere $1.99 on your favorite electromagnetic reading platform if you’d like an easy entry point to friendship breakups, broken people, creepy interstitial terrain, and a haunted house that is a house that haunts. Tell your friends!
January 4, 2026 at 2:58 PM
The book gods have determined that THE STAIRCASE IN THE WOODS is a mere $1.99 on your favorite electromagnetic reading platform if you’d like an easy entry point to friendship breakups, broken people, creepy interstitial terrain, and a haunted house that is a house that haunts. Tell your friends!
January 4, 2026 at 2:53 PM
Reposted by Chuck Wendig
Polymarket really has become the ultimate place to engage in insider trading on privileged information.

I'm not sure we're prepared for what happens when any outcome -- including violent ones -- can be wagered on.
"A newly created account appeared to invest $30,000 Friday in Maduro's exit. After Maduro went into custody Saturday morning, that same investor netted $436,759."

www.axios.com/2026/01/03/m...
Someone made $400K by predicting Maduro's capture. Here's what happened
The winnings come as the rules governing prediction markets are still evolving.
www.axios.com
January 4, 2026 at 2:25 PM
Reposted by Chuck Wendig
NYT offers a survey of the state of book publishing that feels hopeful. Also a nice mention for the newly-launched horror store, Twisted Spine. This is a gift article.

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/b...
Dragons, Sex and the Bible: What Drove the Book Business This Year
www.nytimes.com
January 3, 2026 at 8:59 PM
Reposted by Chuck Wendig
I don’t know what moment Chuck Schumer is made for, but it sure as shit isn’t this one.
Asked about the possibility of impeachment, Schumer says "we hope that we can have support from our Republican colleagues to put a brake on this long before it gets that far"
January 3, 2026 at 8:40 PM
Reposted by Chuck Wendig
KUMAIL on TASKMASTER.

I’s calling it: The all too rare CONFLUENCE OF AWESOME.

www.comedy.co.uk/tv/news/8613...
Taskmaster Series 21 line-up revealed - British Comedy Guide
Amy Gledhill, Armando Iannucci, Joanna Page, Joel Dommett and Kumail Nanjiani will take part in the twenty first series of Taskmaster.
www.comedy.co.uk
January 3, 2026 at 10:43 PM