Benjamin Appleby-Dean
@badbadwriter.bsky.social
Determined scribbler, erratic typist. Writing stories about ghosts and goblins and things that go bump in the night.
He/Them.
Rep: Emelie Burl at Susan Schulman
He/Them.
Rep: Emelie Burl at Susan Schulman
Pinned
Hello everyone!
I'm an author living in the NE of England, and my initials spell BAD on purpose. I write weird books about smartphone ghosts and weaponised stories:
I'm an author living in the NE of England, and my initials spell BAD on purpose. I write weird books about smartphone ghosts and weaponised stories:
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
I've had a few 'what do you do' convs recently, and everyone on hearing I'm an author comes out with "so how do you come up with ideas?", just like every book or movie about a writer has them staring numbly into space because they don't have an idea for the next book. And look, that is Not It.
November 19, 2025 at 7:43 AM
I've had a few 'what do you do' convs recently, and everyone on hearing I'm an author comes out with "so how do you come up with ideas?", just like every book or movie about a writer has them staring numbly into space because they don't have an idea for the next book. And look, that is Not It.
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
We deserve a better class of criminal
November 13, 2025 at 5:27 AM
We deserve a better class of criminal
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
Frankenstein is a metaphor for the dangers of reanimating corpses with electricity
November 13, 2025 at 4:11 AM
Frankenstein is a metaphor for the dangers of reanimating corpses with electricity
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
A braag, brag, or bragg, is a shapeshifting trickster spirit that appears in County Durham folklore, where it appears variously as: a wild horse that will run you amok, cow in a white scarf, a naked headless man, or in one case, four men stood under a sheet.
November 12, 2025 at 4:46 PM
A braag, brag, or bragg, is a shapeshifting trickster spirit that appears in County Durham folklore, where it appears variously as: a wild horse that will run you amok, cow in a white scarf, a naked headless man, or in one case, four men stood under a sheet.
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
finally found the difference between truth and beauty
November 10, 2025 at 1:37 PM
finally found the difference between truth and beauty
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
POV: you are a dog at a movie awards show in 1990 and David Lynch is about to boop you
David Lynch by Irene Halsman for Premiere Magazine (1990)
October 28, 2025 at 5:17 PM
POV: you are a dog at a movie awards show in 1990 and David Lynch is about to boop you
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
this headline hums with ancient autumnal dread
October 23, 2025 at 12:41 PM
this headline hums with ancient autumnal dread
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
"If a book told you something when you were 15, it will tell it to you again when you’re 50, though you may understand it so differently that it seems you’re reading a whole new book."
Happy birthday to Ursula K. Le Guin, born 21st October 1929
Happy birthday to Ursula K. Le Guin, born 21st October 1929
October 21, 2025 at 2:36 PM
"If a book told you something when you were 15, it will tell it to you again when you’re 50, though you may understand it so differently that it seems you’re reading a whole new book."
Happy birthday to Ursula K. Le Guin, born 21st October 1929
Happy birthday to Ursula K. Le Guin, born 21st October 1929
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
Lord Peter Wimsey is the narrative voice of The Waste Land.
Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat
October 13, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Lord Peter Wimsey is the narrative voice of The Waste Land.
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
All literary novels should have little b+w illustrations every few pages to remind you what the characters look like.
Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat
October 14, 2025 at 5:24 AM
All literary novels should have little b+w illustrations every few pages to remind you what the characters look like.
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
"meme" is short for memento mori
October 7, 2025 at 3:53 AM
"meme" is short for memento mori
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
Foxies!
Photo by Minoru Taketazu from his book Kita-Kitsune (Hokkaido Fox), 1974.
Photo by Minoru Taketazu from his book Kita-Kitsune (Hokkaido Fox), 1974.
October 6, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Foxies!
Photo by Minoru Taketazu from his book Kita-Kitsune (Hokkaido Fox), 1974.
Photo by Minoru Taketazu from his book Kita-Kitsune (Hokkaido Fox), 1974.
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
Congrats @sapphomancer.bsky.social!!! If you haven't read this book yet you need to buy it instantly
🎉🎉🎉 Congratulations to the 2025 Lambda Literary Award Winner for LGBTQ+ Speculative Fiction: Metal From Heaven by August Clarke! 🎉🎉🎉 @sapphomancer.bsky.social @erewhonbooks.bsky.social @kensingtonbooks.bsky.social
#Lammys2025 #LammyAwards
#Lammys2025 #LammyAwards
October 5, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Congrats @sapphomancer.bsky.social!!! If you haven't read this book yet you need to buy it instantly
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"But you can't make people listen. They have to come round in their own time, wondering what happened and why the world blew up under them."
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
September 29, 2025 at 7:37 AM
"But you can't make people listen. They have to come round in their own time, wondering what happened and why the world blew up under them."
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
The even more unbelievable crime fact (which I learned relatively recently) is that burglary has fallen by more than 90% since the 1990s.
Did anyone notice? Nope. Does anyone believe it? Nope. But is is true? It is!
Did anyone notice? Nope. Does anyone believe it? Nope. But is is true? It is!
Useful reminder from Peter Kellner on the problems we refuse to acknowledge are getting better, and the politics of hopelessness that this breeds
open.substack.com/pub/kellnerp...
open.substack.com/pub/kellnerp...
September 23, 2025 at 6:53 AM
The even more unbelievable crime fact (which I learned relatively recently) is that burglary has fallen by more than 90% since the 1990s.
Did anyone notice? Nope. Does anyone believe it? Nope. But is is true? It is!
Did anyone notice? Nope. Does anyone believe it? Nope. But is is true? It is!
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
You’re much closer to becoming disabled or homeless than you are to becoming rich and wealthy.
It’s not a moral failing. It’s not something you can “try harder” your way out of.
We need robust social supports & safety nets to ensure everyone is properly cared for.
It’s not a moral failing. It’s not something you can “try harder” your way out of.
We need robust social supports & safety nets to ensure everyone is properly cared for.
September 22, 2025 at 5:39 AM
You’re much closer to becoming disabled or homeless than you are to becoming rich and wealthy.
It’s not a moral failing. It’s not something you can “try harder” your way out of.
We need robust social supports & safety nets to ensure everyone is properly cared for.
It’s not a moral failing. It’s not something you can “try harder” your way out of.
We need robust social supports & safety nets to ensure everyone is properly cared for.
2024: Metal Slug Tactics
2023: Little Goody Two Shoes
2022: Harvestella
2021: Kathy Rain (The Director's Cut)
2020: Röki
2019: Control
2018: Heaven Will Be Mine
2017: Night In The Woods
2016: VA-11 Hall-A
2015: Life is Strange
2023: Little Goody Two Shoes
2022: Harvestella
2021: Kathy Rain (The Director's Cut)
2020: Röki
2019: Control
2018: Heaven Will Be Mine
2017: Night In The Woods
2016: VA-11 Hall-A
2015: Life is Strange
Quote with your GOTYs!
2024: Balatro
2023: Tears of the Kingdom
2022: Elden Ring
2021: Tie: Returnal/Grime/Inscryption
2020: Spelunky 2
2019: Outer Wilds
2018: Tie: Celeste/Return of the Obra Dinn
2017: Hollow Knight
2016: Tie: Hyper Light Drifter/Dark Souls 3/INSIDE
2015: Witcher 3
2024: Balatro
2023: Tears of the Kingdom
2022: Elden Ring
2021: Tie: Returnal/Grime/Inscryption
2020: Spelunky 2
2019: Outer Wilds
2018: Tie: Celeste/Return of the Obra Dinn
2017: Hollow Knight
2016: Tie: Hyper Light Drifter/Dark Souls 3/INSIDE
2015: Witcher 3
September 18, 2025 at 7:46 PM
2024: Metal Slug Tactics
2023: Little Goody Two Shoes
2022: Harvestella
2021: Kathy Rain (The Director's Cut)
2020: Röki
2019: Control
2018: Heaven Will Be Mine
2017: Night In The Woods
2016: VA-11 Hall-A
2015: Life is Strange
2023: Little Goody Two Shoes
2022: Harvestella
2021: Kathy Rain (The Director's Cut)
2020: Röki
2019: Control
2018: Heaven Will Be Mine
2017: Night In The Woods
2016: VA-11 Hall-A
2015: Life is Strange
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
Gorgeous weird literature from my indie press here:
Necrosmologies is also available to pre-order here! thebraag.co/product/necr...
This is a gorgeous 64 page novella-in-flash, with matt cover, printed marble endpapers and illustrations ✨
This is a gorgeous 64 page novella-in-flash, with matt cover, printed marble endpapers and illustrations ✨
September 18, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Gorgeous weird literature from my indie press here:
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
The primary diff between writing fiction and nonfiction is when you write nonfic, you research a topic for 2 weeks and then write 1000 words on it and when you write fiction you research a topic for 2 weeks and get one sentence out of it.
September 18, 2025 at 3:51 PM
The primary diff between writing fiction and nonfiction is when you write nonfic, you research a topic for 2 weeks and then write 1000 words on it and when you write fiction you research a topic for 2 weeks and get one sentence out of it.
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
me: making art is difficult. criticism is harsh and cruel.
doctor: treatment is simple, stay away from your worst critics. go spend time by yourself
me, bursting into tears: but doctor,
doctor: treatment is simple, stay away from your worst critics. go spend time by yourself
me, bursting into tears: but doctor,
September 17, 2025 at 5:18 PM
me: making art is difficult. criticism is harsh and cruel.
doctor: treatment is simple, stay away from your worst critics. go spend time by yourself
me, bursting into tears: but doctor,
doctor: treatment is simple, stay away from your worst critics. go spend time by yourself
me, bursting into tears: but doctor,
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
"why does restaurant food taste better than food cooked at home"
The cook does not care if you live or die and uses salt and butter accordingly
The cook does not care if you live or die and uses salt and butter accordingly
July 2, 2025 at 5:47 PM
"why does restaurant food taste better than food cooked at home"
The cook does not care if you live or die and uses salt and butter accordingly
The cook does not care if you live or die and uses salt and butter accordingly
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
Among other things, the Earthsea books are treatises on the limitations of power. Not just that they teach that power is finite, they actively question by what metric we measure success, how we measure selfhood, what the purpose is of our life. Power fantasies inverted into wonder fantasies.
September 2, 2025 at 4:05 AM
Among other things, the Earthsea books are treatises on the limitations of power. Not just that they teach that power is finite, they actively question by what metric we measure success, how we measure selfhood, what the purpose is of our life. Power fantasies inverted into wonder fantasies.
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
The Quakers are doing exactly what all public services are legally allowed to do even if the EHRC wants to pretend they're not: say gender-based toilets are inclusive and for anyone bothered by that as a matter of belief, there are stand-alone cubicles that they are very free to use. 1/
This, from the Quakers, is a pretty good example of how to resist pressure from bigot lobbying groups. Effectively “we legally can allow trans people to use the loo, we morally should, and we tried it and nothing bad happened”
www.quaker.org.uk
August 28, 2025 at 4:23 PM
The Quakers are doing exactly what all public services are legally allowed to do even if the EHRC wants to pretend they're not: say gender-based toilets are inclusive and for anyone bothered by that as a matter of belief, there are stand-alone cubicles that they are very free to use. 1/
Loved both of these, can definitely recommend them!
Promo is a weird thing in the in-between. Months/years after release, I'm never sure what to say aside from PLEASE BUY MY BOOKS ♡ so ... yes. As spooky season approaches, please consider supporting my strange, dark little middle grade stories!!
August 28, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Loved both of these, can definitely recommend them!