S.J. Shank
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sjshank.bsky.social
S.J. Shank
@sjshank.bsky.social
Writer of the grim fantastic
Dark Fantasy // Historical Horror
Books: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐍𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐒, 𝐌𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐍 𝐅𝐀𝐒𝐓
sjshank.com
Mitchell Lüthi’s In the Name of the Worm is an absorbing medieval horror and a worthy successor to His Black Tongue. The squalid streetscapes and gnarly brawls remain, but the cast is broader, the backstories richer, and the diabolical terrors are now streaked through with the cosmic. 1/3
November 9, 2025 at 6:16 PM
It's fall. Time to wear a cardigan and profit from all those corpses.💀

Check out THE KNAVE OF GRAVES, my new dark fantasy novel about occult deals gone wrong.

Available now!
🔗 www.amazon.com/dp/B0F68GKJ1G

#darkfantasy #graverobber
October 29, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Extremely jazzed to see my historical horror story "Ars Logica" appear today in the new anthology, THIS WORLD OF VILE WONDER: HORROR TALES OF THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION, edited by @coyhall.bsky.social

🔗 Mybook.to/vilewonder
October 20, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Discovered today in the wild - Count Orlok's costume from Nosferatu (2024).

Orlok was a big guy!
October 18, 2025 at 8:24 PM
In honour of the Halloween season, I've dropped the price of all my ebooks to 99¢. Whether you're looking for grimy dark fantasy or chilling medieval horror, I've got a book for you.

Excerpts for my books can be found on my website sjshank.com.

Please help spread the word!
October 13, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Today's secondhand find:
✧ Language and Power in the Early Middle Ages by Patrick J. Geary
October 10, 2025 at 7:44 PM
I'm sad to hear On Spec Magazine will be closing. I'm grateful to their team for publishing my story "Storm Surge" (a personal favourite) back in #116.
October 10, 2025 at 5:27 PM
The Guest Children by @patrickt.bsky.social is a ghost story that's full of mystery. Set in a crumbling and isolated northern lodge, the book explores where ghosts come from and how we allow ourselves to be trapped by their hauntings. It's also a damn spooky page turner. Highly recommended!
October 8, 2025 at 9:38 PM
I had a fantastic time at @littleghostsbooks.bsky.social Festival this weekend!

Thanks so much to the LG gang for putting on the event and giving me the the chance to read alongside a slate of stellar writers (who I unfortunately didn't get a picture of).

Here's a pic of my book haul instead.
October 5, 2025 at 10:08 PM
I'm excited to be reading at Little Ghosts Festival this weekend!

Come out on Sunday (Oct. 5) at 4pm to hear me read from my latest, The Knave of Graves.

Hope to see you there!

@littleghostsbooks.bsky.social #horror #reading
October 3, 2025 at 12:45 PM
I bought yet more books. Today's secondhand finds:

✧ The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and the Catastrophe Ca. 1200 B.C. by Robert Drews
✧ Battling the Gods: Atheism in the Ancient World by Tim Whitmarsh
September 18, 2025 at 7:50 PM
I still have editing to do on my previous manuscript (and the one before that), but it's time to look ahead to my next writing project. I'll be spending the next few months with these guys.

#historicalhorror #fancydress
September 9, 2025 at 1:15 PM
It's always a thrill to see my baby on the shelves at @bakkaphoenix.bsky.social.

#theknaveofgraves #shopindie #darkfantasy
September 8, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Yesterday I went to @bakkaphoenix.bsky.social to attend the book launch of The Malevolent Eight by @decastell.bsky.social. He was joined by @phokion.bsky.social for a lively and insightful conversation about the writing life.

I also hung out with the authors and fellow fans at the bar. Good times!
September 7, 2025 at 5:20 PM
My new novel 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐍𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐒 is a dirt-smeared dark fantasy about bungled enchantments and occult deals gone wrong.

Read the first chapter on my website.
🔗 sjshank.com#tkog-sample

Or buy it today!
🔗 www.amazon.com/dp/B0F68GKJ1G

#darkfantasy #graveyardgothic #newrelease
September 5, 2025 at 12:45 PM
I'm now the lucky owner of a few choice pieces from @jacobblanchet.bsky.social.

I've been a long-time admirer of his work online, but it's quite another thing to see these pieces in the flesh, so to speak. Absolutely stunning work.
August 27, 2025 at 12:45 PM
The art wagon keeps rolling!

Today I finished the first draft of a short novel, code name VP3. This is the third in a planned series of bite-sized historical horror novels. VP1 and VP2 should be coming out in 2026, and VP3 and VP4 (to be written) in 2027.

Let the editing begin!
August 26, 2025 at 6:15 PM
I love this review of 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐍𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐒 from fellow author and world builder D.H. Hoskins over on IG. 🙏
August 14, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Nothing like seeing your name in chalk next to bona fide horror icon Grady Hendrix. Looks like I just missed him on the day of my book launch @littleghostsbooks.bsky.social.

(Go buy 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐍𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐒 from my – and Grady's – favourite bookstore in Toronto!)

🔗 below
August 13, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Yesterday I proofed my story "Ars Logica" for the upcoming anthology THIS WORLD OF VILE WONDER: HORROR TALES OF THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION, edited by @coyhall.bsky.social.
August 11, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Love the sandwich board art!
August 10, 2025 at 3:00 PM
August 10, 2025 at 3:00 PM
I had a wonderful book launch yesterday for 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐍𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐒! 📚 🎉

A huge thanks to @littleghostsbooks.bsky.social for hosting me and to everyone who dropped by!

@writerreganmcd.bsky.social
@bookiiemonster.bsky.social
August 10, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Behold … the single greatest Little Library find of my life!

I’ve been meaning to buy a copy of The Languages of the Soviet Union for decades.

It will make a handsome addition to the others I own in the Cambridge Language Surveys series. (All others bought second hand.)

#languagenerd
August 7, 2025 at 1:00 PM
I'm thrilled to announce that I will be signing my new dark fantasy 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐍𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐒 @littleghostsbooks.bsky.social on Aug 9 from 1–3 pm!

If you're in the Toronto area, swing by and say hello!

#newrelease #darkfantasy #graveyardgothic #authorevents #authorsigning #littleghosts #torontoevents
July 31, 2025 at 12:50 PM