SJ Townend
@sjtownend.bsky.social
A writer. A reader. A bit of a daydreamer.
Here for the horror.
SJTownend.com
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Here for the horror.
SJTownend.com
🦋>🐦
🖤
Pinned
SJ Townend
@sjtownend.bsky.social
· Jul 10
AVAILABLE NOW!
PATTERNS - an anthology of pattern-themed HORROR.
All 2025 profit to NAPS, a menstrual disorder charity.
Paperback and e-book purchase link: t.co/zIAly7U1Dp
PATTERNS - an anthology of pattern-themed HORROR.
All 2025 profit to NAPS, a menstrual disorder charity.
Paperback and e-book purchase link: t.co/zIAly7U1Dp
Unquiet Guests - 10 smashing stories. From Dead Ink Press, edited by @dancoxon.bsky.social
November 19, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Unquiet Guests - 10 smashing stories. From Dead Ink Press, edited by @dancoxon.bsky.social
Reposted by SJ Townend
The UK Ghost Story Festival 2026 line-up is up, and I'm thrilled to have been invited to run a workshop on experimenting with form in stories.
Guests also include @catrionaward.bsky.social @unheimlichmanvr.bsky.social @dancoxon.bsky.social @willmac23.bsky.social!
www.derbyquad.co.uk/ukgsf/
Guests also include @catrionaward.bsky.social @unheimlichmanvr.bsky.social @dancoxon.bsky.social @willmac23.bsky.social!
www.derbyquad.co.uk/ukgsf/
UK Ghost Story Festival 2026 Archives | Derby QUAD
View our latest season/festival: . See what the available times are for this event.
www.derbyquad.co.uk
November 14, 2025 at 9:45 AM
The UK Ghost Story Festival 2026 line-up is up, and I'm thrilled to have been invited to run a workshop on experimenting with form in stories.
Guests also include @catrionaward.bsky.social @unheimlichmanvr.bsky.social @dancoxon.bsky.social @willmac23.bsky.social!
www.derbyquad.co.uk/ukgsf/
Guests also include @catrionaward.bsky.social @unheimlichmanvr.bsky.social @dancoxon.bsky.social @willmac23.bsky.social!
www.derbyquad.co.uk/ukgsf/
My review of This Way Lies Madness from Flame Tree Press
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November 8, 2025 at 7:36 PM
My review of This Way Lies Madness from Flame Tree Press
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Reposted by SJ Townend
IT’S HERE! Our first volume of strange and supernatural stories for the darker half of the year. Nine new tales by masters of the genre: Ramsey Campbell, Helen Grant, Reggie Oliver, Ally Wilkes, Steve Toase, Verity Holloway and more.
👉🏼 Get your copy on www.helleborezine.com
👉🏼 Get your copy on www.helleborezine.com
November 6, 2025 at 6:16 PM
IT’S HERE! Our first volume of strange and supernatural stories for the darker half of the year. Nine new tales by masters of the genre: Ramsey Campbell, Helen Grant, Reggie Oliver, Ally Wilkes, Steve Toase, Verity Holloway and more.
👉🏼 Get your copy on www.helleborezine.com
👉🏼 Get your copy on www.helleborezine.com
Spent an hour going through a short story manually today changing all my Word doc curly quote marks for straight ones (to fit a publisher's website requirements) - before realising I could do it all in one go using the find and replace function.
Then, when I sent the story off, the email bounced 🤣
Then, when I sent the story off, the email bounced 🤣
November 6, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Spent an hour going through a short story manually today changing all my Word doc curly quote marks for straight ones (to fit a publisher's website requirements) - before realising I could do it all in one go using the find and replace function.
Then, when I sent the story off, the email bounced 🤣
Then, when I sent the story off, the email bounced 🤣
Reposted by SJ Townend
If you'd like to be emotionally scarred (and also maybe fired up?) today, may I recommend my recent story in Nightmare magazine?
FFer Read of the Day: "Here I Go Again" by @lindzmcleod.bsky.social in @nightmare-magazine.com
www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/here...
www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/here...
Here I Go Again - Nightmare Magazine
This woman---walking alone, at night---is going to be killed. Here I go again. Watch my finger. See how the passive voice takes you by the hand? See how it leads you to understand the object and the v...
www.nightmare-magazine.com
November 2, 2025 at 1:26 PM
If you'd like to be emotionally scarred (and also maybe fired up?) today, may I recommend my recent story in Nightmare magazine?
Reposted by SJ Townend
You have one more day to preorder my novel, Imperfect creatures at a 31% discount! Just enter CREATURES at the checkout.
diachroneitybooks.com/Imperfect-Cr...
Now check out what some awesome folks have been saying about it:
diachroneitybooks.com/Imperfect-Cr...
Now check out what some awesome folks have been saying about it:
November 2, 2025 at 2:16 AM
You have one more day to preorder my novel, Imperfect creatures at a 31% discount! Just enter CREATURES at the checkout.
diachroneitybooks.com/Imperfect-Cr...
Now check out what some awesome folks have been saying about it:
diachroneitybooks.com/Imperfect-Cr...
Now check out what some awesome folks have been saying about it:
Reposted by SJ Townend
❄️ Now Taking Submissions!
Frost Zone Stories Books 3 & 4 seek Dark Literary Fiction, Quiet Horror, and Literary Horror.
💰 $15 CAD + copies
🗓️ Deadline: Nov 1, 2025
Send your subtle, chilling, and strange tales.
👉 horrortree.com/taking-submissions-frost-zone-stories-book-3-and-4/
Frost Zone Stories Books 3 & 4 seek Dark Literary Fiction, Quiet Horror, and Literary Horror.
💰 $15 CAD + copies
🗓️ Deadline: Nov 1, 2025
Send your subtle, chilling, and strange tales.
👉 horrortree.com/taking-submissions-frost-zone-stories-book-3-and-4/
October 23, 2025 at 3:30 PM
❄️ Now Taking Submissions!
Frost Zone Stories Books 3 & 4 seek Dark Literary Fiction, Quiet Horror, and Literary Horror.
💰 $15 CAD + copies
🗓️ Deadline: Nov 1, 2025
Send your subtle, chilling, and strange tales.
👉 horrortree.com/taking-submissions-frost-zone-stories-book-3-and-4/
Frost Zone Stories Books 3 & 4 seek Dark Literary Fiction, Quiet Horror, and Literary Horror.
💰 $15 CAD + copies
🗓️ Deadline: Nov 1, 2025
Send your subtle, chilling, and strange tales.
👉 horrortree.com/taking-submissions-frost-zone-stories-book-3-and-4/
New story - GIVE AND TAKE - by me, available now to Sley House Publishing Patreons.
:)
www.patreon.com/posts/give-a...
:)
www.patreon.com/posts/give-a...
https://patreon.com/posts/give-and…
October 16, 2025 at 1:13 PM
New story - GIVE AND TAKE - by me, available now to Sley House Publishing Patreons.
:)
www.patreon.com/posts/give-a...
:)
www.patreon.com/posts/give-a...
Tomorrow, I have scheduled some time to myself to write. First time in literally months. Quite excited.
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October 14, 2025 at 7:16 AM
Tomorrow, I have scheduled some time to myself to write. First time in literally months. Quite excited.
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Reposted by SJ Townend
There's just 17 DAYS LEFT to back the 2026 Apex Magazine Kickstarter! We've been supporting outstanding authors writing strange, shocking, beautiful stories for 20 years...help us keep doing it for 20 more! 💜👽
www.kickstarter.com/projects/ape...
www.kickstarter.com/projects/ape...
October 13, 2025 at 3:56 PM
There's just 17 DAYS LEFT to back the 2026 Apex Magazine Kickstarter! We've been supporting outstanding authors writing strange, shocking, beautiful stories for 20 years...help us keep doing it for 20 more! 💜👽
www.kickstarter.com/projects/ape...
www.kickstarter.com/projects/ape...
Contract signed :)
Pleased to announce that my story, YELLOW CAR, will be published in HELLBOUND HIGHWAY by Hellbound Books.
Do you want to play a game?
Do you want to play the yellow car game?
Coming soon!
Pleased to announce that my story, YELLOW CAR, will be published in HELLBOUND HIGHWAY by Hellbound Books.
Do you want to play a game?
Do you want to play the yellow car game?
Coming soon!
a man in a green jacket is driving a car with a sticker on the windshield that says airbag
ALT: a man in a green jacket is driving a car with a sticker on the windshield that says airbag
media.tenor.com
October 13, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Contract signed :)
Pleased to announce that my story, YELLOW CAR, will be published in HELLBOUND HIGHWAY by Hellbound Books.
Do you want to play a game?
Do you want to play the yellow car game?
Coming soon!
Pleased to announce that my story, YELLOW CAR, will be published in HELLBOUND HIGHWAY by Hellbound Books.
Do you want to play a game?
Do you want to play the yellow car game?
Coming soon!
Reposted by SJ Townend
Whizzed through this collection by Alison Moore today. So bleak. Loved it.
October 11, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Whizzed through this collection by Alison Moore today. So bleak. Loved it.
October not haunted enough for you yet?
After some spooky stuff?
There's a creepy story in here by me called GIVE AND TAKE that might unsettle you nicely:
After some spooky stuff?
There's a creepy story in here by me called GIVE AND TAKE that might unsettle you nicely:
October 7, 2025 at 8:02 PM
October not haunted enough for you yet?
After some spooky stuff?
There's a creepy story in here by me called GIVE AND TAKE that might unsettle you nicely:
After some spooky stuff?
There's a creepy story in here by me called GIVE AND TAKE that might unsettle you nicely:
Reposted by SJ Townend
The Night Ship is up on Netgalley for those of you so inclined! Reviewers, friends, enemies, anyone, if that's not accessible for you drop me a line, I *am* keeping a list of who has asked and will be dropping emails shortly. ♥️
www.netgalley.co.uk/catalog/book...
www.netgalley.co.uk/catalog/book...
October 2, 2025 at 1:56 PM
The Night Ship is up on Netgalley for those of you so inclined! Reviewers, friends, enemies, anyone, if that's not accessible for you drop me a line, I *am* keeping a list of who has asked and will be dropping emails shortly. ♥️
www.netgalley.co.uk/catalog/book...
www.netgalley.co.uk/catalog/book...
Reposted by SJ Townend
Tomorrow will see the release of LMS in Carnage House. A story about the End of the World, a rare topic for me.
Did you know I once tackled the subject in I'm a House but I must Scream, published by Bag of Bones - edited by @sjtownend.bsky.social - in their Step into the Light anthology?
Links 👇
Did you know I once tackled the subject in I'm a House but I must Scream, published by Bag of Bones - edited by @sjtownend.bsky.social - in their Step into the Light anthology?
Links 👇
August 31, 2025 at 3:41 AM
Tomorrow will see the release of LMS in Carnage House. A story about the End of the World, a rare topic for me.
Did you know I once tackled the subject in I'm a House but I must Scream, published by Bag of Bones - edited by @sjtownend.bsky.social - in their Step into the Light anthology?
Links 👇
Did you know I once tackled the subject in I'm a House but I must Scream, published by Bag of Bones - edited by @sjtownend.bsky.social - in their Step into the Light anthology?
Links 👇
Reposted by SJ Townend
I've just queued up tomorrow's @thisishorror.bsky.social news, but while you wait, take a look at last week's edition: www.thisishorror.co.uk/news-round-u...
Your Last Sunset by @sjtownend.bsky.social - out now @sleyhouseeditor.bsky.social ...
1/2
Your Last Sunset by @sjtownend.bsky.social - out now @sleyhouseeditor.bsky.social ...
1/2
News Round-up Week Ending 25 July 2025
Here’s a small selection of the horror and genre news that caught our eye during the last week … Out now from author S J Townend and Sley House Publishing, Your Final Sunset This newest collection …
www.thisishorror.co.uk
July 31, 2025 at 6:13 PM
I've just queued up tomorrow's @thisishorror.bsky.social news, but while you wait, take a look at last week's edition: www.thisishorror.co.uk/news-round-u...
Your Last Sunset by @sjtownend.bsky.social - out now @sleyhouseeditor.bsky.social ...
1/2
Your Last Sunset by @sjtownend.bsky.social - out now @sleyhouseeditor.bsky.social ...
1/2
Reposted by SJ Townend
⭐⭐⭐⭐ review of Step into the Light, from Bag of Bones Press, ed. @sjtownend.bsky.social
"A clever and consuming anthology of daylight themed horror, proving once and for all that evil and fright are not merely shadows, but irrepressible and diurnal."
www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
"A clever and consuming anthology of daylight themed horror, proving once and for all that evil and fright are not merely shadows, but irrepressible and diurnal."
www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Daniel Mowery's review of Step into the Light
4/5: Step into the Light is a clever and consuming anthology of daylight themed horror, proving once and for all that evil and fright are not merely shadows, but irrepressible and diurnal. “This time,...
www.goodreads.com
July 26, 2025 at 9:03 PM
⭐⭐⭐⭐ review of Step into the Light, from Bag of Bones Press, ed. @sjtownend.bsky.social
"A clever and consuming anthology of daylight themed horror, proving once and for all that evil and fright are not merely shadows, but irrepressible and diurnal."
www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
"A clever and consuming anthology of daylight themed horror, proving once and for all that evil and fright are not merely shadows, but irrepressible and diurnal."
www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Reposted by SJ Townend
"From inside, came the tips of fingers, then the hand, like a houndstooth glove extending between the folds of crumpled clothes in the bottom of the closet..." read Houndstooth now in the Patterns anthology edited by @sjtownend.bsky.social. mybook.to/patternspape...
July 26, 2025 at 1:18 AM
"From inside, came the tips of fingers, then the hand, like a houndstooth glove extending between the folds of crumpled clothes in the bottom of the closet..." read Houndstooth now in the Patterns anthology edited by @sjtownend.bsky.social. mybook.to/patternspape...
Reposted by SJ Townend
If you're feeling rushed today, why don't you slow down a bit and read the first free story from Issue 4 of Die Laughing Mag? No, slower than that. Slower. Slooooowwwwwwer..... Check out "You Always Drive Too Fast" by @sjtownend.bsky.social!
dielaughingmag.com/2025/07/25/y...
dielaughingmag.com/2025/07/25/y...
July 25, 2025 at 1:26 PM
If you're feeling rushed today, why don't you slow down a bit and read the first free story from Issue 4 of Die Laughing Mag? No, slower than that. Slower. Slooooowwwwwwer..... Check out "You Always Drive Too Fast" by @sjtownend.bsky.social!
dielaughingmag.com/2025/07/25/y...
dielaughingmag.com/2025/07/25/y...
Reposted by SJ Townend
Out now! YOUR FINAL SUNSET is the 2nd short story collection by the eminently talented @sjtownend.bsky.social . Includes “I Have Seen Seven Bad Things” as the lead tale, a haunting story you won’t soon forget.
July 23, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Out now! YOUR FINAL SUNSET is the 2nd short story collection by the eminently talented @sjtownend.bsky.social . Includes “I Have Seen Seven Bad Things” as the lead tale, a haunting story you won’t soon forget.
Happy to say that my story, QVC, has just been selected for reprint by the most excellent Penumbric Magazine!
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July 23, 2025 at 9:54 AM
Happy to say that my story, QVC, has just been selected for reprint by the most excellent Penumbric Magazine!
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