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roberthelfst.bsky.social
Robert Helfst is doing the best he can
@roberthelfst.bsky.social
260 followers 500 following 180 posts
Cosmic & literary horror enthusiast | Fraidy Cat Press editor | Absolutely no AI | Words in Chthonic Matter Quarterly, Saros SF, X-Ray Lit & more. https://linktr.ee/roberthelfst
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roberthelfst.bsky.social
Robert Helfst is doing the best he can @roberthelfst.bsky.social · Apr 27
I love publishing new #cosmic #horror in @fraidycatpress.bsky.social. But I’d love to pay authors better, and I can’t do it alone.

Consider subscribing. It’s the best way to help bring more great cosmic #horrorlit to the world (and read great stuff too!)

fraidycatpress.com/product/fcq2...
Fraidy Cat Quarterly 2025 Subscription - Fraidy Cat Press
Subscribe to FCQ's 2025 lineup of indie cosmic horror and save 25%! Get each new volume as they're released and enjoy new indie horror every season of the year! Shipping is included in the listed pric...
fraidycatpress.com
Reposted by Robert Helfst is doing the best he can
abastedo-writing.bsky.social
Howdy folks!

Just as a little heads up, my story Devouring a Perfect Circle will be appearing in volume 8, and the folks at Fraidy Cat have been amazing to work with!

Just think of it! A part of me to stick somewhere in your house to haunt you.
💙📚🪐
#horrorlit #horror #writingcommunity
November 2, 2025 at 7:43 PM
Reposted by Robert Helfst is doing the best he can
abastedo-writing.bsky.social
Ahhh! This is the one!
#writingcommunity #horrorlit
fraidycatpress.bsky.social Fraidy Cat Press @fraidycatpress.bsky.social · 9d
FCQ8 is our gnaw-themed issue and features excellent writing from:

@jacobstevenmohr.bsky.social (with an original novelette)
Art by Valerie Marshall
Jasmine Harrell
@therrien.bsky.social
Tremain Xenos
@abastedo-writing.bsky.social
@breathinghead.bsky.social
@jfennellauthor.bsky.social
November 2, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Reposted by Robert Helfst is doing the best he can
fraidycatpress.bsky.social
You can pick up Volume 7 from us directly here: fraidycatpress.com/product/frai...

It's also available wherever books are sold, but buying direct helps us the most!

#indie #horror #shortstories #cosmic #scifihorror #rage #wrath
Fraidy Cat Quarterly: Volume 7 (includes ebook) - Fraidy Cat Press
Fraidy Cat Press is proud to present Fraidy Cat Quarterly Volume 7, our newest collection of indie weird and cosmic horror. Our seventh volume features tales of fiery rage, wrath, and all-consuming ru...
fraidycatpress.com
November 2, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Reposted by Robert Helfst is doing the best he can
fraidycatpress.bsky.social
FCQ7 is our rage-themed volume and features excellent writing by:
@kayv.bsky.social
@nicholeon.bsky.social
C.O. Davidson
@abigailkemske.bsky.social
@alexhoeft.bsky.social
C. Lenz
@corriehaldane.bsky.social
@jdlskie.bsky.social
@nicowritesbooks.bsky.social
Myra Stephenson
Rachel Desiree Felix
November 2, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Reposted by Robert Helfst is doing the best he can
fraidycatpress.bsky.social
Good news! We have FCQ Volume 7 and 8 available for preorder now! There's even a discounted bundle!

FCQ 7&8 Bundle: fraidycatpress.com/product/fcq-...

FCQ 7: fraidycatpress.com/product/frai...

FCQ 8: fraidycatpress.com/product/frai...

#indiehorror #newrelease #cosmichorror #rage #gnaw
FCQ 7 & 8 Bundle - Fraidy Cat Press
Bundle and save! Get FCQ 7 & FCQ8 at a fraction of the list price. eBook will be emailed to you once available.
fraidycatpress.com
November 2, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Reposted by Robert Helfst is doing the best he can
fraidycatpress.bsky.social
FCQ8 is our gnaw-themed issue and features excellent writing from:

@jacobstevenmohr.bsky.social (with an original novelette)
Art by Valerie Marshall
Jasmine Harrell
@therrien.bsky.social
Tremain Xenos
@abastedo-writing.bsky.social
@breathinghead.bsky.social
@jfennellauthor.bsky.social
November 2, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Reposted by Robert Helfst is doing the best he can
fraidycatpress.bsky.social
You can get FCQ8 directly from us here (or wherever books are sold): fraidycatpress.com/product/frai...

Buying direct is appreciated and helps us out immensely!

#indie #horror #smallpress #independentpublishing #shopsmall #buydirect #cosmic #gnaw
Fraidy Cat Quarterly: Volume 8 (includes ebook) - Fraidy Cat Press
Fraidy Cat Press is proud to present Fraidy Cat Quarterly Volume 8, our newest collection of indie weird and cosmic horror. Our eighth volume features tales of crushing loneliness, gnawing hunger, and...
fraidycatpress.com
November 2, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Reposted by Robert Helfst is doing the best he can
thetnholler.bsky.social
REV. BLACK (who was shot in the head with a pepper ball): “If this is what they’re doing to pastors, journalists, teachers, mothers, and the elderly gathered to sing and pray outside ICE facilities… what might they be doing to our neighbors who are behind those walls?”
October 31, 2025 at 2:33 AM
Reposted by Robert Helfst is doing the best he can
genmasho.bsky.social
A poster that says Did you see: -a tent in the woods? -someone shoplifting? -a person sleeping in their car? NO YOU FUCKING DIDNT people are struggling don't make it worse
October 30, 2025 at 5:37 PM
roberthelfst.bsky.social
With a dangerous amount of caffeine and "Coconut Mall" on an infinite loop, there's nothing I can't achieve.
October 29, 2025 at 12:56 AM
roberthelfst.bsky.social
If you see this, post a vampire that isn’t Dracula.
October 22, 2025 at 4:20 PM
roberthelfst.bsky.social
Waiting for a submission response has me like:
a close up of a man 's face with the words do it written on it
ALT: a close up of a man 's face with the words do it written on it
media.tenor.com
October 21, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Reposted by Robert Helfst is doing the best he can
lorraineberry.bsky.social
All these things the AI ads show people doing are so pathetic.
Why wouldn’t you want to plan your own road trip?
Why would you consult AI to pick out flowers for a bouquet?
Abdicating joy to AI is so sad.
October 21, 2025 at 1:54 AM
roberthelfst.bsky.social
You can catch my weird slip-stream fabulist story about blue jays and tears in reality in Saros SF #5 very soon! Beyond stoked to have this story appear alongside so many talented authors in a great outlet like Saros!
arielmarkenjack.bsky.social Ariel Marken Jack @arielmarkenjack.bsky.social · 26d
It's Friday, I'm in love with the table of contents for Saros SF #5! We have such a wonderful variety of strange, lovely, and thought-provoking stories to share with readers of our Sound/Silence issue, and I couldn't be more proud to work with these fantastic writers on my first foray into editing 🖤
Picture is a white, yellow, and black graphic showing the list of authors and story titles included in the Sound/Silence-themed Issue Number 5 of speculative fiction magazines Saros SF.
October 17, 2025 at 5:34 PM
roberthelfst.bsky.social
It's embarrassing how paralyzed I've become waiting for a response on one singular story submission.
October 16, 2025 at 8:26 PM
roberthelfst.bsky.social
You can get this STACKED anthology for free when you subscribe to Chthonic Matter Quarterly! CM Muller is a great editor and he's assembled an awesome TOC for this, his latest themed anthology!
abigailkemske.bsky.social Abigail Kemske 🍁 @abigailkemske.bsky.social · 27d
✨🌙 COMING SOON! 🌙✨
“Harvest the Night: an Anthology of Folk Horror” edited by CM Muller expected release on Halloween!

Featuring my story “The Darkness Inside Her” which may have you questioning that soft, enticing moss in the forest. 🌳
Graphic on HARVEST THE NIGHT cover and list of authors: Sam Dawson, EC Dorgan, Tracy Fahey, Douglas Ford, Abigail Kemske, K. Wallace King, Joe Koch, Dexter McLeod, Lisa Moore-Smith, H.V. Patterson, Renae Rhoads, Shannon Scott, Luke F. Shepherd, Katherine Traylor. Graphic with HARVEST THE NIGHT cover, with images of a skull, moss, and moths. A quote from the story “The Darkness Inside Her” by Abigail Kemske: “Something flutters past her field of sight. A flash of white. Another brown. Yellow. An eclipse of moths emerge from the moss. Perch on the skull.”
October 16, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Reposted by Robert Helfst is doing the best he can
markpopham.bsky.social
im asking too much from these comforting soups and stews. they were never intended to have to do this much comforting
October 13, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Reposted by Robert Helfst is doing the best he can
scoobydouchebag.bsky.social
We are the sons of the dragulas you couldn't slam in the back of
October 9, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Reposted by Robert Helfst is doing the best he can
junoryleejournalism.com
David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)
SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems... SIMON: What? SHAPIRO: ...Or saying... SIMON: You imagine that? SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over. SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level. SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this. SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.
October 9, 2025 at 4:42 AM
Reposted by Robert Helfst is doing the best he can
sethanikeem.bsky.social
King
junoryleejournalism.com Juno Rylee Schultz @junoryleejournalism.com · Oct 9
David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)
SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems... SIMON: What? SHAPIRO: ...Or saying... SIMON: You imagine that? SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over. SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level. SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this. SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.
October 10, 2025 at 3:24 AM
roberthelfst.bsky.social
Love to everyone at Voidcon this weekend! Sorry that I can’t attend for myself or @fraidycatpress.bsky.social - I believe a lot of our published authors will be there
October 10, 2025 at 2:20 AM
Reposted by Robert Helfst is doing the best he can
mjsdc.bsky.social
This is why I think the next Democratic president needs to use the EXACT tools that SCOTUS has handed Trump. Don't leave room for any distinctions.

Impound funds for deportation. Give ICE the USAID treatment. Refuse to collect government-backed debt. Purge MAGA loyalists from the executive branch.
October 9, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Reposted by Robert Helfst is doing the best he can
mjsdc.bsky.social
It is pretty galling that the Supreme Court spent four years telling Biden "you can't do that without Congress" then allowed Trump to seize a once-unthinkable amount of power from Congress within nine months and concentrate law-making authority almost entirely in the executive branch.
October 9, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Reposted by Robert Helfst is doing the best he can
dadloop.bsky.social
I know it's Tuesday but I might need a little drinky poo
October 8, 2025 at 1:31 AM
Reposted by Robert Helfst is doing the best he can
lydiamulvey.bsky.social
if you think the Basic Income for Artists in Ireland being made permanent is a good thing, wait until you learn about the income tax breaks for artists earning up to €50k p/a 💃💫
October 7, 2025 at 6:16 AM