Alys Wilfred Earl

I know, I *know* that it’s ableist bullshit to be too disdainful of others’ spelling and grammar, and ALSO that I’m pot-kettling it on account of the dyslexia, BUT Just sometimes I think, “Oh, so you can’t spell any of those words, hey? Maybe I’m not going to take your word for it.”

Many people have made excellent points with terrible spelling, but sometimes you get the vibe that this isn’t going to be the case.

Alys Wilfred Earl reposted

Taniel

@taniel.bsky.social

Lula has been reelected president, Brazilian media has now called. An extraordinary comeback for the left-wing politician who trailed by 2 points in round 1 but managed to hold off Flávio Bolsonaro, the former president's son.

Alys Wilfred Earl reposted

Anon Opin

@anonopin.bsky.social

Please support your small and local Pride celebrations. Because Britain still isn't a safe place to be LGBTQIA+ people often go to Pride in towns where they don't live, or go to the bigger Prides. But the little ones need the support or they'll be gone.

@wedale-bookshop.bsky.social

I’m going to miss this daily drawing challenge!

Alys Wilfred Earl reposted

The Wedale Bookshop

Our Galawe’en free events start tomorrow with FOUR of Scotland’s acclaimed horror and fantasy writers. Join Amy jane Stewart, @mkhardywrites.com and @lyndseycroal.bsky.social for a celebration of contemporary dark fiction. 7pm Stow Station House. Book through our Eventbrite page. #halloween

@regretteruane.bsky.social

I wish it to be known that it is still Very Windy here.

Alys Wilfred Earl reposted

Rose Ruane

Replying to @strongmisgiving.bsky.social

This is just to say I have eaten the wheelbarrow That was in the chickens And which you were Probably glazing with rainwater Forgive me Carl me a plumbulance William Willy Williams is Having a stronk

It seems that polyamory is now in the sights of the most tedious wankers on the internet, which… honestly, I saw coming a couple of years ago. But wow. No bodily autonomy, and no threesomes? These people have no fun.

(Yes, I know polyamory is not all about having threesomes. On account of being poly. But “wow, they’re against me picking up two people’s dirty socks and having to buy a larger casserole dish” doesn’t sound as good.)

Whenever I talk about horror, I always get this, “But was any of that ACTUALLY scary???” And the truth of it is that what is frightening is in the eye of the beholder. Like, I’m a wuss for jumpscares and am very easy to head-fuck, but am apparently unmoved by a lot of other ‘scary’ stuff.

As a former (and current) children’s horror fan, I feel like children’s horror falls into a number of categories - some of which are designed to give a gentle frisson, and some of which are genuinely intended to be terrifying. Ime, many adults and non horror fans only focus on the former.

Dorian Dawes@doriandawes.bsky.social

Quite frankly when you look at actual children's horror it is decidedly not cozy at all.

But the thing is - all kids like to be scared. It’s just that their bar for its is as variable as an adults, and so kidlit has to meet them where they are. Adults, meanwhile, either like to be scared, or they don’t - and remember what scared *them* as kids.

Which means they misapply the horror label to stuff which is just a bit creepy, or uses the aesthetics of the things they feared. But kids can get truly scared by *anything*. Hell, what scared me most as a kid was an episode of Red Dwarf. (And the story Dual Control.)

Dorian Dawes@doriandawes.bsky.social

Quite frankly when you look at actual children's horror it is decidedly not cozy at all.

The Young Oxford Book of Ghost Stories was genuine horror for kids.

But, like I say, there is overlap. Alan Garner veers between adventure, charming-but-creepy, and true horror. Robin Jarvis loves the ‘Orribles, but is first and foremost a horror writer (some exceptions.) Etc etc.

Dorian Dawes@doriandawes.bsky.social

Quite frankly when you look at actual children's horror it is decidedly not cozy at all.

There is also the concept that “Childhood *is* horror” but I don’t know if that plays out as an actual genre - I think it’s just an understanding which some writers have, regardless of genre. Diana Wynne Jones seldom wrote horror, for example, but she knew that.

But back to my point, The ‘Orribles could be scary, it could be upsetting and disturbing, but mostly it was quite *funny*. Everything is a bit overstated - you’re dealing with tropes and caricatures, not flesh and blood. A lot of Dahl is ‘Orribles. It’s not scary-scary.

Dorian Dawes@doriandawes.bsky.social

Quite frankly when you look at actual children's horror it is decidedly not cozy at all.

Thrilling but Fun - these books aren’t horror. They just have some scary bits/characters. They’re generally fantasy or adventure novels - big loud and exciting. People think of these when they think of children’s horror because that’s what scares them as kids. But they weren’t horror fans.

Actual children’s horror falls into (with some overlap): The ‘Orribles - which plays on kids’ love for the gruesome and overstated, and The Only Reason This Is Children’s Horror is Because It’s Written For Children. As a child, I liked the latter. Still do.

Dorian Dawes@doriandawes.bsky.social

Quite frankly when you look at actual children's horror it is decidedly not cozy at all.

I feel like the categories are: The Friendly Monsters, ie horror creatures and aesthetics with a jolly tone (Funnybones, The Nightmare Before Christmas). These are ‘spoopy’, and often really good at delivering a light thrill, or helping kids with phobias.

Charming, but Creepy, ie tender, magical stories with a slightly uneasy edge. (The Children of Green Knowe, some Alan Garner). These are often older books and present enduring magical worlds, where the mild touch of horror adds to their resonance. It often has something to say about death.

Snow White, 1990(ish), Maidstone. It was the old ABC at the bottom of Stone Street, which had previously been the ‘respectable’ cinema in the town. At that point, it was the *only* cinema in the town.

Mark Thompson@markreckons.bsky.social

First film you saw at the cinema. The real first one, not the pretend one you tell people! Mine: The Empire Strikes Back, 1980, Wigan. We were near the front and I can still remember how massive the AT-ATs looked, looming over us out of the snow :) Film, year, where, and whatever stuck with you.

Cinemas today are sleek and slick, and stuck in a sort of 00s Matrix aesthetic - faux leather seats and blue lights. I love that too, of course. It still faintly convinces me I’m living in the future. Cinema as full immersion, technological spectacle!

But it doesn’t hold that thin, glimmering thread to the vanished glamour of old Hollywood, nor the breathless, seedy luxury of generations slipping through that screen into worlds larger and fuller than life.

Mark Thompson@markreckons.bsky.social

It was owned variously, and would have been the Canon or the MGM during most of my memories of it. But in my head, it’s the ABC (because it’s still empty and that’s what the signage still said last time I was in Maidstone) or the Granada.

But what I mean by the magic… The old red curtain, the little bumper in front of the screen, all the gorgeous moulding and red velvet. The sense of grandeur. Being told about the old films shown there, and my mum telling me about the old Christie organ…

Mark Thompson@markreckons.bsky.social

I also saw Jurassic Park there for my sixth birthday (on the promise I would NOT be scared by it. I was terrified, but lied about it).

But the magic of modern cinemas (and I do really love going to cinemas) is very different from the magic of old ones. That one was apparently opened in 1934, and was originally the Granada - which was what my gran always called it.

Mark Thompson@markreckons.bsky.social

barbellionprize.orgThe Barbellion Prize | A prize recognising literary representation of chronically disabled lives.

The ABC always felt very magical to me - it was a proper Old Cinema with the red velvet seats and ‘couple’s seats’ in the back row. When the Odeon opened over on Lockmeadow, it became quite rundown and showed bad films very cheaply. It closed some time in my teens.

Alys Wilfred Earl reposted

Vik Shirley

@vikshirley.bsky.social

Please make a donation if you can! 🙏 barbellionprize.org

The Barbellion Prize@barbellionprize.bsky.social

Thank you to all who submitted! The longlist will be announced in December. In the meantime, we need your help! DONATIONS NEEDED Please head over to the Barbellion website to donate any amount! barbellionprize.org/donate/

This morning am feeling the long drag of being a genuine night owl in a world of people who become briefly more-nocturnal between the ages of 16 and 25. “I just want to be home by 9pm!” “Yeah, great, well I never want to be out of bed before 10am. We all have burdens.”

I was born to be up with lone vigilance through the small watches of the night, to rock babies and drive the wolves away - and then given a-lie in by all the grateful day-time people before joining them a little before noon.

@thebrainofchris.bsky.social

I appreciate there isn’t likely a huge audience for psychosexual fanart based of everyone (else’s) least favourite Narnia book, but there’s got to be at least one other queer former Christian out there who understands my vision.

Alys Wilfred Earl@alysdragon.bsky.social

#PoorlyDrawnOctober, Day 21: A childhood favourite. *sigh*, I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m not. Prince Tirian of Narnia, in the manner of St Sebastian.

Alys Wilfred Earl reposted

Chris Farnell

I would like to live an economy where "makes enough money to pay all the people who work for it to live" is considered a victory state for a company.

Loving this gradual thinning down of who can get the flu and Covid vaccines. Hey, lads, I know my asthma isn’t severe, but you’ll never guess what caused the onset of the asthma I *do* have.

Yes, okay, it *was* probably making chlorine gas by accident, but it wasn’t diagnosed until I had a massive asthma attack following…. A bout of flu!