Justin Hellstrom
@scratchybananas.bsky.social
A very haunted lizard. Writing games - books - weird and surreal things. *Looking for work
Find my stuff: https://www.deadpondswan.com/
Find my stuff: https://www.deadpondswan.com/
Pinned
Update:
Happy birthday to my little weirdos: The Great Chameleon War & The Tide Will Erase All!
I'm also no longer working at Crytek as of this month. I'll be romping around with new (and old) personal projects while looking for a new writing or narrative design role in gaming. Wish me luck :)
Happy birthday to my little weirdos: The Great Chameleon War & The Tide Will Erase All!
I'm also no longer working at Crytek as of this month. I'll be romping around with new (and old) personal projects while looking for a new writing or narrative design role in gaming. Wish me luck :)
Why not: first line + the cat who didn't eat me (yet).
November 11, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Why not: first line + the cat who didn't eat me (yet).
Reposted by Justin Hellstrom
Counting down the days until Ms. Shipton's Travelling Tea Shop crashes into an audio player near you... our first release is out this Friday! Pre-order it today to get the files as soon as humanly possible.
localfilesclub.bandcamp.com/album/ms-shi...
localfilesclub.bandcamp.com/album/ms-shi...
Ms. Shipton's Travelling Tea Shop, by Skadi's Symphony
21 track album
localfilesclub.bandcamp.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Counting down the days until Ms. Shipton's Travelling Tea Shop crashes into an audio player near you... our first release is out this Friday! Pre-order it today to get the files as soon as humanly possible.
localfilesclub.bandcamp.com/album/ms-shi...
localfilesclub.bandcamp.com/album/ms-shi...
When the parade ended, the gore of it lingered on.
November 5, 2025 at 9:10 PM
When the parade ended, the gore of it lingered on.
I think this thing stole a piece of my soul.
November 4, 2025 at 12:26 AM
I think this thing stole a piece of my soul.
Happy Haunted Lizard Halloween. Got a new little episode up: may your spine be gnawed gently and slow today.
open.spotify.com/episode/7uyC...
open.spotify.com/episode/7uyC...
October 31, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Happy Haunted Lizard Halloween. Got a new little episode up: may your spine be gnawed gently and slow today.
open.spotify.com/episode/7uyC...
open.spotify.com/episode/7uyC...
Reposted by Justin Hellstrom
Holy crap. This is terrible.
The article states it's "not related to the current U.S. government shutdown". But of course it is: they are both connected by the GOP destroying everything good about this country from the top down and the bottom up.
The article states it's "not related to the current U.S. government shutdown". But of course it is: they are both connected by the GOP destroying everything good about this country from the top down and the bottom up.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to lay off about 550 workers reut.rs/4302N2L
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to lay off about 550 workers
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory said on Monday it will cut nearly 550 jobs as part of a restructuring, not related to the current U.S. government shutdown.
reut.rs
October 13, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Holy crap. This is terrible.
The article states it's "not related to the current U.S. government shutdown". But of course it is: they are both connected by the GOP destroying everything good about this country from the top down and the bottom up.
The article states it's "not related to the current U.S. government shutdown". But of course it is: they are both connected by the GOP destroying everything good about this country from the top down and the bottom up.
“You grow ravenous. You run fevers. You know exhilarations. You can't sleep at night, because your beast-creature ideas want out and turn you in your bed. It is a grand way to live.”
I wasn't surprised that my post about not loving the Golden Age sci-fi writers got a lot of... engagement. 😅
What *did* surprise me was that when I casually mentioned that Ray Bradbury was the lone exception, a ton of great writers chimed in to echo that sentiment.
So I dug deeper into why.
1/2
What *did* surprise me was that when I casually mentioned that Ray Bradbury was the lone exception, a ton of great writers chimed in to echo that sentiment.
So I dug deeper into why.
1/2
why do we still like Ray Bradbury?
Greetings, fellow undercover artists embedded in the apocalypse!
It's a funny business, connecting with other covert operatives across time and space. Tracking what holds true and what changes. What ...
undercover-in-the-apocalypse.ghost.io
October 9, 2025 at 7:38 PM
“You grow ravenous. You run fevers. You know exhilarations. You can't sleep at night, because your beast-creature ideas want out and turn you in your bed. It is a grand way to live.”
Reposted by Justin Hellstrom
The first Local Files Club release is now available to pre-order on Bandcamp!
Ms. Shipton’s Travelling Tea Shop is a five-part audiodrama from Skadi’s Symphony, the creators of Kane and Feels, starring Greta Clarkson as the eponymous witch.
localfilesclub.bandcamp.com/album/ms-shi...
Ms. Shipton’s Travelling Tea Shop is a five-part audiodrama from Skadi’s Symphony, the creators of Kane and Feels, starring Greta Clarkson as the eponymous witch.
localfilesclub.bandcamp.com/album/ms-shi...
Ms. Shipton's Travelling Tea Shop, by Skadi's Symphony
21 track album
localfilesclub.bandcamp.com
October 8, 2025 at 11:30 AM
The first Local Files Club release is now available to pre-order on Bandcamp!
Ms. Shipton’s Travelling Tea Shop is a five-part audiodrama from Skadi’s Symphony, the creators of Kane and Feels, starring Greta Clarkson as the eponymous witch.
localfilesclub.bandcamp.com/album/ms-shi...
Ms. Shipton’s Travelling Tea Shop is a five-part audiodrama from Skadi’s Symphony, the creators of Kane and Feels, starring Greta Clarkson as the eponymous witch.
localfilesclub.bandcamp.com/album/ms-shi...
Shout out to The End for making The Great Chameleon War a Fan-Favorite in their Weird Fiction collection.
Go feed some blood to your favorite lizard. Make a wizard wish. Shed your skin for scales!
www.theend.fyi/shows/the-gr...
Go feed some blood to your favorite lizard. Make a wizard wish. Shed your skin for scales!
www.theend.fyi/shows/the-gr...
The Great Chameleon War 🦎😵💫🌋 | Dramatized surreal scifi audio fiction
Welcome to the Nesting Zone: a surreal rim of jungle around Mt. Tahoma prowled by transdimensional reptiles. The Amanuensis catalogues his expedition up the volcano slope and records stories of explor...
www.theend.fyi
September 29, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Shout out to The End for making The Great Chameleon War a Fan-Favorite in their Weird Fiction collection.
Go feed some blood to your favorite lizard. Make a wizard wish. Shed your skin for scales!
www.theend.fyi/shows/the-gr...
Go feed some blood to your favorite lizard. Make a wizard wish. Shed your skin for scales!
www.theend.fyi/shows/the-gr...
Very weird ecosystem at driftwood beach. Lots of little critters praying to dead fish and pilgrimaging across tide pools and branches.
I will return for sure.
I will return for sure.
September 27, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Very weird ecosystem at driftwood beach. Lots of little critters praying to dead fish and pilgrimaging across tide pools and branches.
I will return for sure.
I will return for sure.
Reposted by Justin Hellstrom
Whatever you do, please don’t stop reading.
Read for joy. Read for education. Read for resistance. Read banned books. Read books by marginalized authors. Read about experiences that differ from your own.
Just. Keep. Reading.
Read for joy. Read for education. Read for resistance. Read banned books. Read books by marginalized authors. Read about experiences that differ from your own.
Just. Keep. Reading.
September 18, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Whatever you do, please don’t stop reading.
Read for joy. Read for education. Read for resistance. Read banned books. Read books by marginalized authors. Read about experiences that differ from your own.
Just. Keep. Reading.
Read for joy. Read for education. Read for resistance. Read banned books. Read books by marginalized authors. Read about experiences that differ from your own.
Just. Keep. Reading.
A small chameleon on a small photo.
September 18, 2025 at 9:13 AM
A small chameleon on a small photo.
Morning Glitch Doodle #0.01412
August 22, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Morning Glitch Doodle #0.01412
Hail The Sun - War Crimes (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by Equal Vision Records
youtu.be
August 15, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Dolphin Ghost Milk: Interdimensional Docu-Clip 007
July 15, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Dolphin Ghost Milk: Interdimensional Docu-Clip 007
Update:
Happy birthday to my little weirdos: The Great Chameleon War & The Tide Will Erase All!
I'm also no longer working at Crytek as of this month. I'll be romping around with new (and old) personal projects while looking for a new writing or narrative design role in gaming. Wish me luck :)
Happy birthday to my little weirdos: The Great Chameleon War & The Tide Will Erase All!
I'm also no longer working at Crytek as of this month. I'll be romping around with new (and old) personal projects while looking for a new writing or narrative design role in gaming. Wish me luck :)
July 14, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Update:
Happy birthday to my little weirdos: The Great Chameleon War & The Tide Will Erase All!
I'm also no longer working at Crytek as of this month. I'll be romping around with new (and old) personal projects while looking for a new writing or narrative design role in gaming. Wish me luck :)
Happy birthday to my little weirdos: The Great Chameleon War & The Tide Will Erase All!
I'm also no longer working at Crytek as of this month. I'll be romping around with new (and old) personal projects while looking for a new writing or narrative design role in gaming. Wish me luck :)
Reposted by Justin Hellstrom
My friend Jeff made this cool thing. An audio fiction concept album. I found it really personal and sincere in the best ways. Give it a listen!
It's a Perfect Sentence summer!
What's your favorite written or spoken sentence in all of literature, poetry, philsophy, film? Here's a few of mine in the form of an audio fiction concept album about grief, memory, regret, misinformation, and love:
open.spotify.com/album/59C8k5...
What's your favorite written or spoken sentence in all of literature, poetry, philsophy, film? Here's a few of mine in the form of an audio fiction concept album about grief, memory, regret, misinformation, and love:
open.spotify.com/album/59C8k5...
The Perfect Sentence
Jeff Van Dreason · Album · 2025 · 11 songs
open.spotify.com
July 11, 2025 at 4:21 PM
My friend Jeff made this cool thing. An audio fiction concept album. I found it really personal and sincere in the best ways. Give it a listen!
Threatening river auras...
June 30, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Threatening river auras...
Reposted by Justin Hellstrom
I love formal experiments! Exercises in Sound is the same simple 1 page script done different ways each episode. Hear @juliamorizawa.bsky.social and I each give straight forward narration this week. Wilder interpretations to come in future installments.
Two new episodes today, in which we introduce @juliamorizawa.bsky.social and @timescanner.bsky.social as our alternate narrators!
www.exercisesinsound.com/narrated-a/
www.exercisesinsound.com/narrated-b/
www.exercisesinsound.com/narrated-a/
www.exercisesinsound.com/narrated-b/
Narrated A
Written and sound designed by Alexander Danner and directed by James Oliva. Performed by Jordan Higgs and Jordan Stillman, with Julia Morizawa as The Narrator. Them…
www.exercisesinsound.com
June 26, 2025 at 10:19 PM
I love formal experiments! Exercises in Sound is the same simple 1 page script done different ways each episode. Hear @juliamorizawa.bsky.social and I each give straight forward narration this week. Wilder interpretations to come in future installments.
I thought it'd be neat if this bird had a primary shielded nictitating membrane over its eye. Not sure what to engrave on it though, was thinking a knight kneeling or something like that. #indiedev
June 22, 2025 at 9:51 PM
I thought it'd be neat if this bird had a primary shielded nictitating membrane over its eye. Not sure what to engrave on it though, was thinking a knight kneeling or something like that. #indiedev
Slowly coming back to life, maybe. I found a birthing log for 500,000 fairy ants.
May 29, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Slowly coming back to life, maybe. I found a birthing log for 500,000 fairy ants.