Simon Crook
@simoncrook.bsky.social
Horror anthology Silverweed Road (HarperCollins) in all good & evil bookstores. Now in development for TV. Film words for Empire Magazine. Probably listening to Bauhaus
28 Years Later was the opposite of the lazy nostalgia-bait legacy sequel - risky, unpredictable, emotional & utterly unhinged. Loved the way it switched to a picaresque narrative half way, Boyle's eye for the English countryside & zombie 'alphas' straight out of a William Blake etching. Loved it
June 21, 2025 at 4:14 PM
28 Years Later was the opposite of the lazy nostalgia-bait legacy sequel - risky, unpredictable, emotional & utterly unhinged. Loved the way it switched to a picaresque narrative half way, Boyle's eye for the English countryside & zombie 'alphas' straight out of a William Blake etching. Loved it
Guardian Q&A with Sparks Russell Mael:
What's the closest you’ve come to death?
Watching Bergman’s The Seventh Seal
How often do you have sex?
Monday thru Friday, four to six times daily. Then I spend Saturday and Sunday prepping for the next week
Would you rather have more sex, money or fame?
Yes
What's the closest you’ve come to death?
Watching Bergman’s The Seventh Seal
How often do you have sex?
Monday thru Friday, four to six times daily. Then I spend Saturday and Sunday prepping for the next week
Would you rather have more sex, money or fame?
Yes
May 24, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Guardian Q&A with Sparks Russell Mael:
What's the closest you’ve come to death?
Watching Bergman’s The Seventh Seal
How often do you have sex?
Monday thru Friday, four to six times daily. Then I spend Saturday and Sunday prepping for the next week
Would you rather have more sex, money or fame?
Yes
What's the closest you’ve come to death?
Watching Bergman’s The Seventh Seal
How often do you have sex?
Monday thru Friday, four to six times daily. Then I spend Saturday and Sunday prepping for the next week
Would you rather have more sex, money or fame?
Yes
COYS !!!! At bloody last!
May 21, 2025 at 9:51 PM
COYS !!!! At bloody last!
Amazon are selling the final fancy embossed hardcovers of my #horror anthology Silverweed Road for a ridiculous £5.86. That's roughly 1p per scare. It's currently being adapted for TV, so grab 'em while you can 😱😱😱
www.amazon.co.uk/Silverweed-R...
www.amazon.co.uk/Silverweed-R...
www.amazon.co.uk
April 25, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Amazon are selling the final fancy embossed hardcovers of my #horror anthology Silverweed Road for a ridiculous £5.86. That's roughly 1p per scare. It's currently being adapted for TV, so grab 'em while you can 😱😱😱
www.amazon.co.uk/Silverweed-R...
www.amazon.co.uk/Silverweed-R...
Missed a trick not going with the headline 'Jurasqueak Park'
Rodents with thick, shaggy fur have been created via gene editing but scientists are divided over whether the extinct animals can be brought back
First step to ‘de-extinct’ the giant woolly mammoth — with mice
Rodents with thick, shaggy fur have been created via gene editing but scientists are divided over whether the extinct animals can be brought back
www.thetimes.com
March 4, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Missed a trick not going with the headline 'Jurasqueak Park'
Anora sweeps the Oscars, and what does The Guardian do? Instantly posts a meanspirited piece on why it didn't deserve it, is "hollow, muddled, dull" and comparing it, of all things, to Father Ted. Not linking. It doesn't deserve the clicks. What on earth has happen to their film coverage?
March 3, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Anora sweeps the Oscars, and what does The Guardian do? Instantly posts a meanspirited piece on why it didn't deserve it, is "hollow, muddled, dull" and comparing it, of all things, to Father Ted. Not linking. It doesn't deserve the clicks. What on earth has happen to their film coverage?
Tragic news about Angie Stone. What a voice and what a loss. Wish I Didn't Miss You is and will forever be a smouldering soul masterpiece. RIP
youtube.com/watch?v=9PWz...
youtube.com/watch?v=9PWz...
youtube.com
March 1, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Tragic news about Angie Stone. What a voice and what a loss. Wish I Didn't Miss You is and will forever be a smouldering soul masterpiece. RIP
youtube.com/watch?v=9PWz...
youtube.com/watch?v=9PWz...
Reposted by Simon Crook
If you can’t wait for our next issue and you’d like to know as soon as it drops, do sign up to our newsletter and we’ll notify you: helleborezine.substack.com.
In the meantime, all our back issues, plus our travel guide and card game are available on helleborebooks.com.
In the meantime, all our back issues, plus our travel guide and card game are available on helleborebooks.com.
February 28, 2025 at 5:12 PM
If you can’t wait for our next issue and you’d like to know as soon as it drops, do sign up to our newsletter and we’ll notify you: helleborezine.substack.com.
In the meantime, all our back issues, plus our travel guide and card game are available on helleborebooks.com.
In the meantime, all our back issues, plus our travel guide and card game are available on helleborebooks.com.
Prepare for Bond to get truly content milked. Expect a Q spinoff series, Blofeld origin prequel, Moneypenny girlboss show, Rosa Klebb shoe fashion special, Knot Tying With Le Chiffre etc etc etc
February 20, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Prepare for Bond to get truly content milked. Expect a Q spinoff series, Blofeld origin prequel, Moneypenny girlboss show, Rosa Klebb shoe fashion special, Knot Tying With Le Chiffre etc etc etc
Michael Bay's A Passage To India
Ed Wood’s Die Hard
Christopher Nolan’s The Meg
February 19, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Michael Bay's A Passage To India
This wkend, Anora won Best Picture at Writers Guild, Critics Choice, Directors Guild AND Producers Guild, plus, of course, the Palme D'Or. The Oscars have left me cold for years, but Sean Baker's movie so deserves The Big One. Seen 3 times. Still recovering from that final shot. Masterpiece
February 16, 2025 at 10:14 AM
This wkend, Anora won Best Picture at Writers Guild, Critics Choice, Directors Guild AND Producers Guild, plus, of course, the Palme D'Or. The Oscars have left me cold for years, but Sean Baker's movie so deserves The Big One. Seen 3 times. Still recovering from that final shot. Masterpiece
Aja, Steely Dan: a lifetime's listening in exactly 8 minutes & still discovering something new in the mix
February 15, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Aja, Steely Dan: a lifetime's listening in exactly 8 minutes & still discovering something new in the mix
Reposted by Simon Crook
Author: My book doesn't have a title.
Publisher: Think of some words and put 'Bones' in there. Bones sell. People like bones.
Author: But there's no bones in my story.
Publisher: PeOplE LikE BoNeS
For the love of god, will publishers please stop doing this. #booksky
Publisher: Think of some words and put 'Bones' in there. Bones sell. People like bones.
Author: But there's no bones in my story.
Publisher: PeOplE LikE BoNeS
For the love of god, will publishers please stop doing this. #booksky
February 3, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Author: My book doesn't have a title.
Publisher: Think of some words and put 'Bones' in there. Bones sell. People like bones.
Author: But there's no bones in my story.
Publisher: PeOplE LikE BoNeS
For the love of god, will publishers please stop doing this. #booksky
Publisher: Think of some words and put 'Bones' in there. Bones sell. People like bones.
Author: But there's no bones in my story.
Publisher: PeOplE LikE BoNeS
For the love of god, will publishers please stop doing this. #booksky
Whatever you think of Just Stop Oil or the four-year sentence given to activist Louise Lancaster, The Guardian have published a candid, perceptive diary of how daily life plays out behind bars. Fine writing & the best piece I've read this month
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
I was jailed for four years for a non-violent climate protest – this is my prison diary
I was one of a group of Just Stop Oil activists given the longest-ever UK sentences for peaceful protest after blocking a motorway. Six months into my incarceration, this is what I have learned
www.theguardian.com
January 27, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Whatever you think of Just Stop Oil or the four-year sentence given to activist Louise Lancaster, The Guardian have published a candid, perceptive diary of how daily life plays out behind bars. Fine writing & the best piece I've read this month
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted by Simon Crook
Finally caught Coralie Fargeat's The Substance. Hard to believe this is from the same director of Revenge. Not remotely the film I was expecting & had me cackling like a hyena. Debt to Cronenberg, Yuzna's Society & Gordon's From Beyond but very much its own mutant. Loved every mad minute of it
January 1, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Finally caught Coralie Fargeat's The Substance. Hard to believe this is from the same director of Revenge. Not remotely the film I was expecting & had me cackling like a hyena. Debt to Cronenberg, Yuzna's Society & Gordon's From Beyond but very much its own mutant. Loved every mad minute of it
Filled a literary blind spot this year. Only meant to read one Raymond Chandler. Binged the entire Philip Marlowe series + every short story. Books now lovingly scuffed & bedraggled. Farewell My Lovely his masterwork imo, weirder & more gothic than The Big Sleep. Phenomenal voice & laconic AF
December 30, 2024 at 1:03 PM
Filled a literary blind spot this year. Only meant to read one Raymond Chandler. Binged the entire Philip Marlowe series + every short story. Books now lovingly scuffed & bedraggled. Farewell My Lovely his masterwork imo, weirder & more gothic than The Big Sleep. Phenomenal voice & laconic AF
Weather update. The spooky ghost-fog that's coated England since Christmas Eve is finally clearing on Sunday. Personally, I've thoroughly enjoyed seeing Xmas lights smeared in Hammer Horror mist, so enjoy the festive gloom while you can
December 28, 2024 at 4:47 PM
Weather update. The spooky ghost-fog that's coated England since Christmas Eve is finally clearing on Sunday. Personally, I've thoroughly enjoyed seeing Xmas lights smeared in Hammer Horror mist, so enjoy the festive gloom while you can
Reposted by Simon Crook
I hate to ask (fundraising is not in my comfort zone), but if anyone feels they can spare a few pennies to help us get a planned project off the ground to bring nature indoors to those stuck inside due to health or mobility issues, please donate here www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding...
Help raise £5000 to Help to provide Aquila Wildlife & Nature CIC with funds to deliver projects to make accessing nature available to everyone.
Iʼm raising money to Help to provide Aquila Wildlife & Nature CIC with funds to deliver projects to make accessing nature available to everyone.. Support this JustGiving Crowdfunding Page.
www.justgiving.com
November 26, 2024 at 10:10 AM
I hate to ask (fundraising is not in my comfort zone), but if anyone feels they can spare a few pennies to help us get a planned project off the ground to bring nature indoors to those stuck inside due to health or mobility issues, please donate here www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding...
Reposted by Simon Crook
Take care of yourself this holiday season.
- close your eyes
- take a deep breath
- embrace the gloom
- wander the trackless moors at midnight, following ghosts to the crumbling ruins of forgotten kings and magic untold
- have some tea and cake with your new ghost friends
- close your eyes
- take a deep breath
- embrace the gloom
- wander the trackless moors at midnight, following ghosts to the crumbling ruins of forgotten kings and magic untold
- have some tea and cake with your new ghost friends
December 21, 2024 at 3:44 AM
Take care of yourself this holiday season.
- close your eyes
- take a deep breath
- embrace the gloom
- wander the trackless moors at midnight, following ghosts to the crumbling ruins of forgotten kings and magic untold
- have some tea and cake with your new ghost friends
- close your eyes
- take a deep breath
- embrace the gloom
- wander the trackless moors at midnight, following ghosts to the crumbling ruins of forgotten kings and magic untold
- have some tea and cake with your new ghost friends
It's Christmas, so each night I'm drifting off to an MR James story read by Michael Hordern. Last night was The Doll House, tonight it's Rats (that room, that scarecrow, brrr). Dreaming progressively darker dreams as each night passes. Perfect antidote to the season. Would recommend.
December 20, 2024 at 3:04 PM
It's Christmas, so each night I'm drifting off to an MR James story read by Michael Hordern. Last night was The Doll House, tonight it's Rats (that room, that scarecrow, brrr). Dreaming progressively darker dreams as each night passes. Perfect antidote to the season. Would recommend.
The damned Damned cancelled last night, damnit. Final gig of tour & band feel ill. Turned up at the Roundhouse only to get turned away. People had flown over from the US you see them. Ironically, Doctor & The Medics were supposed to be the support act. Damn again.
December 20, 2024 at 1:51 PM
The damned Damned cancelled last night, damnit. Final gig of tour & band feel ill. Turned up at the Roundhouse only to get turned away. People had flown over from the US you see them. Ironically, Doctor & The Medics were supposed to be the support act. Damn again.
Off to see The Damned at the Roundhouse. Original lineup from 1976. New Rose! Eloise! Smash It Up! Nasty! Should be an epic, messy, epically messy night
December 19, 2024 at 5:48 PM
Off to see The Damned at the Roundhouse. Original lineup from 1976. New Rose! Eloise! Smash It Up! Nasty! Should be an epic, messy, epically messy night
OK, so it's official. The emaciated zombie in that heart pumping 28 Years Later trailer is not Cillian Murphy after all - it's newcomer Angus Neill. What hasn't been picked up on is the ferocious Jack O’Connell has a lead role in it. Honestly, this film's going to be feral AF. Genuinely can't wait
December 11, 2024 at 5:32 PM
OK, so it's official. The emaciated zombie in that heart pumping 28 Years Later trailer is not Cillian Murphy after all - it's newcomer Angus Neill. What hasn't been picked up on is the ferocious Jack O’Connell has a lead role in it. Honestly, this film's going to be feral AF. Genuinely can't wait