Pete Ward
@phenryward.bsky.social
Books, art, theatre, and telling people I liked the thing they made. Weird / Gothic / Noir short stories in Gavagai, Thin Veil Press, A Thin Slice of Anxiety, and Bristol Noir. Forthcoming in Macabre Magazine, Frost Zone, and Rat Bag.
Pinned
Pete Ward
@phenryward.bsky.social
· Dec 28
If Christmas has been a little too merry, I humbly submit this grim tale. 'The Suffering Tree' is about how we're not only all going to die, but it's probably going to hurt, too. Couldn't have a better venue for it than A Thin Slice of Anxiety.
www.athinsliceofanxiety.com/2025/12/fict...
www.athinsliceofanxiety.com/2025/12/fict...
Fiction: The Suffering Tree
Because Life is too Short to Read Bullshit
www.athinsliceofanxiety.com
A re-up by way of content warning: terminal illness, child murder and eco-gothic all in a thousand words. Who could ask for more?
Odd times to read Tropic of Kansas by @christopherbrown.bsky.social. Eerily nails details of our moment's fractured, stochastic tyranny - the aesthetics of a certain kind of violence in particular.
February 4, 2026 at 3:38 PM
Odd times to read Tropic of Kansas by @christopherbrown.bsky.social. Eerily nails details of our moment's fractured, stochastic tyranny - the aesthetics of a certain kind of violence in particular.
This was amazing and I only heard about it because of the equally amazing @mealofthorns.bsky.social podcast from @ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
Each episode is a curriculum and the careful consideration of the text is a joy: close reading and high level discussion!
pca.st/episode/366a...
Each episode is a curriculum and the careful consideration of the text is a joy: close reading and high level discussion!
pca.st/episode/366a...
February 4, 2026 at 3:51 AM
This was amazing and I only heard about it because of the equally amazing @mealofthorns.bsky.social podcast from @ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
Each episode is a curriculum and the careful consideration of the text is a joy: close reading and high level discussion!
pca.st/episode/366a...
Each episode is a curriculum and the careful consideration of the text is a joy: close reading and high level discussion!
pca.st/episode/366a...
@casella.bsky.social Just listening to @mealofthorns.bsky.social ep on Venomous Lumpsucker and guest couldn't be more wrong about the poem, which is *excellent*.
February 2, 2026 at 10:13 AM
@casella.bsky.social Just listening to @mealofthorns.bsky.social ep on Venomous Lumpsucker and guest couldn't be more wrong about the poem, which is *excellent*.
This sounds amazing.
very much enjoyed Tim Crouch’s extremely Tim Crouch-y Tempest, though assume some people will have absolutely hated it www.timeout.com/london/theat...
The Tempest, Shakespeare’s Globe review: Tim Crouch’s cerebral meta-Tempest is a lot of fun (so long as you know what you’re letting yourself in for)
As a schoolchild in the late ‘90s I swear to god I saw a production of The Tempest – I think at Malvern Theatre – that mostly consisted of Prospero and his vil
www.timeout.com
January 30, 2026 at 11:27 AM
This sounds amazing.
As a student of the way men age and fail, desperate to avoid the same fate: have friends in real life. Not colleagues. Nothing with power dynamics. People who know your shit stinks (ideally age-old friends who, to quote Jill Scott *remember* that it did) and tell you as often as you need to hear it.
Quite a telling quote from previous coverage. Men being disengaged from the real world is a big multiplier for social media brain.
January 29, 2026 at 12:25 PM
As a student of the way men age and fail, desperate to avoid the same fate: have friends in real life. Not colleagues. Nothing with power dynamics. People who know your shit stinks (ideally age-old friends who, to quote Jill Scott *remember* that it did) and tell you as often as you need to hear it.
Turns out I was more excited for this @ifbookspod.bsky.social episode than I realised: saw the notification and had the heart-rate spike of that first golden sip of cold beer, or seeing an old love.
www.patreon.com/posts/149383...
www.patreon.com/posts/149383...
Olivia Nuzzi's "American Canto" | If Books Could Kill
Get more from If Books Could Kill on Patreon
www.patreon.com
January 29, 2026 at 10:41 AM
Turns out I was more excited for this @ifbookspod.bsky.social episode than I realised: saw the notification and had the heart-rate spike of that first golden sip of cold beer, or seeing an old love.
www.patreon.com/posts/149383...
www.patreon.com/posts/149383...
Reposted by Pete Ward
Might repost this weekly
Can't even remember what failure of their judgement caused me to cancel my NYT subscription, but they deserved it then and they deserve it now.
July 31, 2025 at 12:37 AM
Might repost this weekly
Reposted by Pete Ward
Just watched this and it's so good. Not sure how Bronson Pinchot's performance comes through in the original, but he's terrifying here: becomes quite Carnival of Souls-y after photocopying
If you haven't seen this before I'd highly recommend it - it's a totally transformative piece of work - frames are photocopied onto paper then rescanned, but also torn, screwed up and otherwise animated - that creates a truly uncanny atmosphere.
First watch of today is The Timekeepers of Eternity, the utterly incredible experimental re-edit of 1996’s miniseries The Langoliers. It takes a film that was (apologies to all involved) extremely mid and elevates it into something truly remarkable
September 23, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Just watched this and it's so good. Not sure how Bronson Pinchot's performance comes through in the original, but he's terrifying here: becomes quite Carnival of Souls-y after photocopying
Reposted by Pete Ward
A good article on a great show. Find it, watch it and fall in (a fucked-up, compromised kind of) love with Ray
If there’s any of you who profess to be into noir and have not yet seen MR INBETWEEN, you need to fix that asap. If you need further convincing, my @crimereads.bsky.social piece from a few years ago
#noirvember
crimereads.com/mr-inbetween/
#noirvember
crimereads.com/mr-inbetween/
Mr. Inbetween: It’s Time to Appreciate the Genius of This Very Australian Noir
I recently chaired a panel in which several American crime writers discussed their most memorable discoveries in terms of noir television and film during the various COVID lockdowns we have all end…
crimereads.com
November 8, 2025 at 8:26 AM
A good article on a great show. Find it, watch it and fall in (a fucked-up, compromised kind of) love with Ray
Reposted by Pete Ward
Everyone was right about this. Dissolves into beautiful chaos. Harris is hilarious.
November 23, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Everyone was right about this. Dissolves into beautiful chaos. Harris is hilarious.
Reposted by Pete Ward
A re-up by way of content warning: terminal illness, child murder and eco-gothic all in a thousand words. Who could ask for more?
If Christmas has been a little too merry, I humbly submit this grim tale. 'The Suffering Tree' is about how we're not only all going to die, but it's probably going to hurt, too. Couldn't have a better venue for it than A Thin Slice of Anxiety.
www.athinsliceofanxiety.com/2025/12/fict...
www.athinsliceofanxiety.com/2025/12/fict...
Fiction: The Suffering Tree
Because Life is too Short to Read Bullshit
www.athinsliceofanxiety.com
December 28, 2025 at 7:49 PM
A re-up by way of content warning: terminal illness, child murder and eco-gothic all in a thousand words. Who could ask for more?
Reposted by Pete Ward
Rummaging among the stacks at my parent's place. This is the one - the only cape movie I've got any interest is this grim, Berlin Wall era tale of spies and deception with strong, consistent characterisation and real stakes. (John leCappe? Is that anything?) Do it properly.
January 21, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Rummaging among the stacks at my parent's place. This is the one - the only cape movie I've got any interest is this grim, Berlin Wall era tale of spies and deception with strong, consistent characterisation and real stakes. (John leCappe? Is that anything?) Do it properly.
The Dollmaker by Harriette Arnow had me sobbing in the streets of Greece during what was supposed to be a happy holiday.
What’s the saddest novel you’ve read? Maybe I already own it and would like to read it.
(For this, plz leave out books for younger audiences like Charlotte’s Web or Where the Red Fern Grows, etc. I’m looking for adult sadness.)
(For this, plz leave out books for younger audiences like Charlotte’s Web or Where the Red Fern Grows, etc. I’m looking for adult sadness.)
January 19, 2026 at 7:10 PM
The Dollmaker by Harriette Arnow had me sobbing in the streets of Greece during what was supposed to be a happy holiday.
“I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of peace.”
January 19, 2026 at 7:05 PM
“I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of peace.”
Reposted by Pete Ward
Nothing at all concerning about the fact these monsters have jet-black, obsidian orbs set in their skulls instead of eyes.
January 16, 2026 at 10:33 AM
Nothing at all concerning about the fact these monsters have jet-black, obsidian orbs set in their skulls instead of eyes.
Reposted by Pete Ward
People complain about Jimmy Stewart being miscast but as time goes on, I think his performance perfectly captured a certain kind of disingenuous public intellectual who says controversial things without any thought to possible consequences.
January 15, 2026 at 10:48 AM
People complain about Jimmy Stewart being miscast but as time goes on, I think his performance perfectly captured a certain kind of disingenuous public intellectual who says controversial things without any thought to possible consequences.
Reposted by Pete Ward
Me in 2025: Don't use AI note takers in meetings because they can lead to unchecked errors and unfair and discriminatory outcomes
Me in 2026: Don't use Grok in military planning unless you want to accidentally start a war
Not a fan of this rate of change
Me in 2026: Don't use Grok in military planning unless you want to accidentally start a war
Not a fan of this rate of change
January 13, 2026 at 7:50 AM
Me in 2025: Don't use AI note takers in meetings because they can lead to unchecked errors and unfair and discriminatory outcomes
Me in 2026: Don't use Grok in military planning unless you want to accidentally start a war
Not a fan of this rate of change
Me in 2026: Don't use Grok in military planning unless you want to accidentally start a war
Not a fan of this rate of change
Reposted by Pete Ward
I think about the title of this @leopoldmuseum.bsky.social exhibit all the time: "And yet there was art! Austria 1914–1918"
And yet there was art.
And yet there was art.
July 7, 2025 at 2:07 PM
I think about the title of this @leopoldmuseum.bsky.social exhibit all the time: "And yet there was art! Austria 1914–1918"
And yet there was art.
And yet there was art.
Reposted by Pete Ward
‘If a drug boasted such benefits [as the arts] governments would be pouring billions into it. Instead, funding has been slashed across the culture sector.’
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
January 10, 2026 at 4:37 PM
‘If a drug boasted such benefits [as the arts] governments would be pouring billions into it. Instead, funding has been slashed across the culture sector.’
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Even ice hates ICE
ICE officers slipping on ice while trying to terrorize communities is the most accurate metaphor imaginable. No balance. No footing. No moral ground. Just cruelty, incompetence, and gravity doing its thing.
January 11, 2026 at 10:43 PM
Even ice hates ICE
Maybe a little earlier than 13, but this was absolutely personality-forming.
dc.fandom.com/wiki/Animal_...
dc.fandom.com/wiki/Animal_...
January 11, 2026 at 9:49 PM
Maybe a little earlier than 13, but this was absolutely personality-forming.
dc.fandom.com/wiki/Animal_...
dc.fandom.com/wiki/Animal_...
"hypnotically rewatchable" is exactly right - a quality all great Competence Thrillers have, regardless of subject matter
Calling all true crime junkies and paranoid thrill-seekers – David Fincher's masterful, criminally underrated, and hypnotically rewatchable 2007 thriller, ZODIAC, returns from 35mm on our biggest screen on Sunday 8th February. We're obsessed with this film. You should be too. 🎟️ buff.ly/Ebmj6FZ
January 7, 2026 at 1:18 PM
"hypnotically rewatchable" is exactly right - a quality all great Competence Thrillers have, regardless of subject matter