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scsheil.bsky.social
Steven Sheil
@scsheil.bsky.social
1.4K followers 1.2K following 3K posts
Screenwriter and director: 'Mum & Dad', 'Dead Mine'. Writer of dark fiction. Co-Director of Mayhem Film Festival @mayhemfilmfestival.bsky.social. Nottingham, UK. https://linktr.ee/StevenSheil
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scsheil.bsky.social
Steven Sheil @scsheil.bsky.social · Oct 12
I've put together a list of links of where to buy, rent, watch or read my work. It's all here: linktr.ee/StevenSheil
scsheil.bsky.social
Tonight's viewing:
The title card for the 2017 film 'Mickey Reece's Alien'. It's black and white, with the title in white over a shot of shome crumpled fabric.
February 1, 2026 at 7:58 PM
scsheil.bsky.social
Today’s reading:
A 1960s hardback book : Le Carré Omnibus featuring Call For The Dead and Murder of Quality. It’s a yellow Gollancz edition with red and black writing on the cover
February 1, 2026 at 10:53 AM
scsheil.bsky.social
Saw this poster online for a streaming version of the 1930 Three Stooges comedy Soup To Nuts, which is trying very hard to sell it as an early 00's campus gross-out comedy, maybe co-starring Seann William Scott
The poster: The Three Stooges are arranged against a stark white background, all in various costumes - cop, cowboy with furry chaps, adult baby - with the title of the film in blue letters at the top
January 30, 2026 at 3:17 PM
Reposted by Steven Sheil
parallax2112.bsky.social
Yes.
January 29, 2026 at 11:09 PM
scsheil.bsky.social
Both of these were great - TNS has a terrific tortured Jimmy Stewart performance while MOTW is a kind of ghost story which sees Gary Cooper haunted by the violence he committed as a younger man, which threatens to take possession of him once again. Fantastic stuff.
scsheil.bsky.social Steven Sheil @scsheil.bsky.social · 3d
Tonight's viewing - another Anthony Mann double
The title card for the 1953 Western 'The Naked Spur' The title card for the 1958 Western 'Man Of The West'
January 30, 2026 at 11:01 AM
scsheil.bsky.social
Tonight's viewing - another Anthony Mann double
The title card for the 1953 Western 'The Naked Spur' The title card for the 1958 Western 'Man Of The West'
January 29, 2026 at 9:50 PM
Reposted by Steven Sheil
scsheil.bsky.social
I've written a brand new Adrian Chills story (short horror stories directly inspired by the Guardian columns of Adrian Chiles.)

This is #46 and it's called 'Magic'.
January 29, 2026 at 12:49 PM
Reposted by Steven Sheil
adrianchills.bsky.social
#46: Magic
A screenshot of the headline to a Guardian column by Adrian Chiles. It reads: I visited Runcorn for the first time this week and was blown away by its magic My Dearest Peterson If you are reading this letter, it means that I have failed and am most likely either dead or consigned to that hellish realm of half-existence for which the Black Mage has appointed himself gaoler. Do not mourn too long for me—I knew that in confronting Professor Deacon in person I was taking a terrible risk, but I had hoped that in applying all that we have learned about the source of his dark powers I might be able to find a way to defeat him. Alas, it seems that I was mistaken. I write to you from The Prospect Inn, a hostelry in the small town of Runcorn, where I have been residing these past two nights since I departed from our London apartments. Though it pained me immeasurably to leave you, still so wounded and unwell from our last battle with Deacon’s sorcerous acolytes, I knew that I must—word reached me from one of my students that Deacon had moved north and was preparing to carry out a supernatural assault on one of the great industrial cities, a demonstration of his Dark Magics far beyond what either of us have seen before. I knew that this might be our only chance to stop him, a chance which, with all that is at stake, I could not spurn. The moon is now high in the dark winter sky. I will leave this letter with instructions to the landlord to deliver it to you should I not return by morning. I can already feel the inky tendrils of Deacon’s sorcery reaching out through the night to find me and I fear that in the face of his enormous eldritch power my faith and reason may not be enough to survive. I can only hope to take him unawares and destroy his physical body before he should take possession of my soul. I hope you will forgive my leaving, and will understand why I take this risk. Know that I am forever your friend. May God be with us both. A
January 29, 2026 at 12:47 PM
scsheil.bsky.social
I've written a brand new Adrian Chills story (short horror stories directly inspired by the Guardian columns of Adrian Chiles.)

This is #46 and it's called 'Magic'.
January 29, 2026 at 12:49 PM
Reposted by Steven Sheil
darrenmjones.bsky.social
Both on Channel 4 at the moment if you need some unhinged James Stewart in your life. I do.
scsheil.bsky.social Steven Sheil @scsheil.bsky.social · 4d
Tonight's viewing - this absolutely stellar double-bill of James Stewart-on-the-vengeance-trail Anthony Mann Westerns.
The title card for the 1950 Anthony Mann/James Stewart Western Winchester '73. The title card for the 1965 Anthony Mann/James Stewart Western The Man From Laramie
January 28, 2026 at 10:53 PM
scsheil.bsky.social
Tonight's viewing - this absolutely stellar double-bill of James Stewart-on-the-vengeance-trail Anthony Mann Westerns.
The title card for the 1950 Anthony Mann/James Stewart Western Winchester '73. The title card for the 1965 Anthony Mann/James Stewart Western The Man From Laramie
January 28, 2026 at 10:02 PM
Reposted by Steven Sheil
ewacat.bsky.social
if they can offer free AI training they could offer free media literacy training too. i know which of those would do more for the public good
January 28, 2026 at 10:19 AM
Reposted by Steven Sheil
weightlessbooks.bsky.social
The former editor and publisher of Black Static and Interzone has a new magazine of horror short fiction and novellas, REMAINS, beautifully illustrated by Richard Wagner! 3 issues so far, new one forthcoming. Get them here: weightlessbooks.com/category/pub...
Remains 3 cover art by Richard Wagner, featuring a pale, black-eyed girl in a black lacy dress holding what appears to be an evil teddy bear Remains 2 cover art by Richard Wagner, featuring a deathly pale guy in a black leather jacket leaning against a wall with a halo on it Remains 1 cover art by Richard Wagner, featuring a deathly pale woman in a trenchcoat holding a glowing orb
January 27, 2026 at 3:38 PM
Reposted by Steven Sheil
scsheil.bsky.social
I've written a brand new Adrian Chills story (short horror stories directly inspired by the Guardian columns of Adrian Chiles).

This is #44 and it's called 'Queue'.
January 21, 2026 at 5:09 PM
scsheil.bsky.social
I feel that one flaw in the format of The Traitors is that the endgame tends towards being made up of Traitors and the Faithful who are the least good at finding Traitors, because anyone who is a threat gets murdered or the Traitors seek to get them banished.
January 24, 2026 at 11:05 AM
Reposted by Steven Sheil
jasondashbailey.com
Randolph Scott was born on this day in 1898, so here's a little something I wrote for @crooked-marquee.bsky.social about his justly celebrated collaborations with Budd Boetticher.
Classic Corner: The Ranown Westerns — Crooked Marquee
In six masterful late ‘50s Westerns, director Budd Boetticher and star Randolph Scott brilliantly reimagined the Western and its hero.
crookedmarquee.com
January 22, 2026 at 4:26 PM
scsheil.bsky.social
Example of a cheapo MfP charity shop album that's actually a reissue of something quite interesting: Eartha's 1970 LP Sentimental Eartha, her attempt at a contemporary rock sound which bombed in the UK, and didn't get a US release. Includes three Donovan covers and is well worth checking out.
An album in a charity shop display - Not so old-fashioned by Eartha Kitt. The cover features a photo of Eartha mid-singing, looking a bit distracted. The album Sentimental Eartha. This features a photo of Eartha reclining in amongst a forest of brown leaves. She's werating a long leopardskin dress, and rests her arm on a zebra-striped hat box. She's wearing a wide-brimmed black hat and looking imperious.
January 22, 2026 at 4:28 PM
Reposted by Steven Sheil
adrianchills.bsky.social
#44: Queue
A screengrab of a headline to a Guardian column by Adrian Chiles. The headline reads: 'I had an eye-opening experience in the queue for a pub toilet.' When my headlights flashed upon the sign for The Exham Arms, on that freezing early January night, I felt a huge wave of relief pass over me. The journey to my late father’s house was a long and tedious one, and I badly needed a break before continuing my lonesome trek; more pressing than that, I required, as a matter of the utmost urgency, to find a lavatory. I found the place close to empty—one ancient sunken-eyed barman, gave an near-imperceptible nod as I entered. I passed a few other lone drinkers on my way privy-wards; all men, all sallow-skinned and all, I noted with some surprise, with the same sunken-eyed countenance as the barman. Each man looked as though he were seeing in his pint glass the very image of his own demise. When I neared the Men’s Bathroom there was a short queue for entry. One man stood before me, a short fellow clad in layers of wool and tweed. With my bladder crying out in rebellion, I took my place in the line behind him. As I stood there, my discomfort growing by the second, I heard a faint sound from nearby, like the screeching of a bird. At the same time my eye was drawn to a hole in the wall beside the lavatory door, beyond which seemed to cavort a kind of purplish light. Excusing myself to the man in front, I stepped out from the queue and found myself placing a single eye to the hole. A thousand acoustic perversions assaulted my hearing, sounds beyond the ability of any man to conjure. Simultaneously, in front of my eyes I beheld a grotesque and blasphemous landscape, populated by ghastly phantasies and presided over by an immense and awful visage, the countenance of some being, both ancient and malevolent, its very image a psychic assault I could not withstand. My pint glass now sits before me and within it I see all the horror of this world, and those beyond. My father’s house is forgotten. All that remains, burned onto my retinas, for now and forever, is the inhuman face of that unbelievable, unthinkable, unmentionable thing.
January 21, 2026 at 5:07 PM
Reposted by Steven Sheil
apcrft.bsky.social
I could be convinced that Adrian Chiles and/or the Guardian subs are deliberately providing prompts for these excellent stories
January 22, 2026 at 1:45 PM
scsheil.bsky.social
I've written a brand new Adrian Chills story (short horror stories inspired by the Guardian columns of Adrian Chiles).

It's #45 and it's called 'Learning'.
January 22, 2026 at 12:59 PM
Reposted by Steven Sheil
brendelbored.bsky.social
I once again must salute the account on here who takes headlines from the weird British guy and writes short horror fiction based on them
January 21, 2026 at 5:09 PM
scsheil.bsky.social
I've written a brand new Adrian Chills story (short horror stories directly inspired by the Guardian columns of Adrian Chiles).

This is #44 and it's called 'Queue'.
January 21, 2026 at 5:09 PM
scsheil.bsky.social
Today’s reading:
A 1960s paperback; Death Of A Sardine by Joan Fleming. The cover features an illustration of a skeletal arm emerging from a cactus patch, holding a fish between two of its fingers.
January 17, 2026 at 2:15 PM
scsheil.bsky.social
My last four watched: A kaleidoscopic Eurospy homage, a messed-up Dennis Hopper mermaid romance, Barbara Stanwyck bossing a Sam Fuller Western and Alain Delon as an ice-cool contract killer.
A screengrab of a Letterboxed last four watched: Reflection In A Dead Diamond, Night Tide, Forty Guns and Le Samourai.
January 16, 2026 at 2:43 PM
Reposted by Steven Sheil
adrianchills.bsky.social
#43: Specs
A screengrab of a headline to a Guardian column by Adrian Chiles. It reads: 'After all these years, I still hate wearing specs' When the alien ships first landed back in ‘26, their vast spaceships shimmering into view above London on a cold Autumn morning, it became quickly apparent that their plans for invasion, colonisation and enslavement of the entire human race had hit a snag. Something about the appearance of the aliens was so repulsive to our human eyes that it caused every one of us to instantly spew our guts up at the sight of them, a state which persisted as long as they were in our vision. As it is impossible to properly command a permanently vomiting slave army to carry out your will, a quick and effective solution had to be found. And so, with the assistance of a team of human scientists—who had their eyes first torn out in preparation, and were forced to help on pain of death—the first Spex were invented. When donned, the Spex—wraparound glasses which fill every part of a wearer’s vision—create a visual overlay which gives each alien a new, more human appearance. Typically, this takes the form of a friendly-looking, slightly balding guy in his 40s in a short-sleeved shirt—the kind of man who might be your father’s best friend. Harmless, reliable, sound. Quickly rolled out and made mandatory wearing worldwide, the Spex ushered in the state of being that has been with us these last ten years. The aliens now arrange and manage their human workforce with relative ease and without the fear of being vomited on. Put to work in their vast warpshipyards, constructing vessels to aid in the next round of planet-conquering, we are kept fed and housed and healthy, but with every other freedom curtailed. It makes no difference that the boot that pushes our necks to the ground belongs to a guy who looks like he would be a good laugh on a stag do; oppression is still oppression, no matter what its face. And so we plan our revolution—developing in secret the powerful antiemetics which allow us, one day soon, to rip off our hated Spex and fight our enemy, face to loathsome, sickening face.
January 16, 2026 at 10:49 AM