J. D. Hellen

I open the drawer, & there he is, misshapen plastic eyes peeking through loose packs & ointments. Normally, my old Bear makes me smile, but all I can think of is shutting the drawer. He doesn't belong here. But I still need scissors. I hope I'm wrong about where I'll find them. #HorrorWritersChat

"How do you find the moment of disturbance for your own book? That is, if your own first page doesn’t yet have one? How do you even know for sure if your novel doesn’t yet have one?" Exploring disturbances with @hollyschindler.bsky.social : hollyschindler.substack.com/p/the-distur...

As someone who taught for nine years and made my exit, I'm excited to finally get into this one—BITTER APPLES from @cursedmorsels.bsky.social . (I've been out seven years and still have nightmares.)

Perhaps a reference to FRIGHT LINES open mic this Friday? I'm planning to be there to read!

gooseberry-pie.com/runaway-train/

Wait ‘till we tell you about Santa Claus

So excited to have my award-winning story published in @psmokejournal.bsky.social today! www.peatsmokejournal.com/fall-2026-fl...

This definitely hits you.

"But his taste for this life, for old-world wines and Mont Blanc pens and gilded ceilings, had been dying ... . The dopamine hit of building something complex and watching it hold used to be his drug, but even drugs stop working if you take them for too long." electricliterature.com/kitchen-barb...

When you just rewatched the IT miniseries and hear an out-of-place horn honking outside . . .

He's right.

"Should she tell the school about when her daughter drops by, always unannounced, always sorry, always happy to see them, sometimes during Jeopardy and sometimes on a Saturday, and a boy runs to her like a magnet drawn to its opposite?"

Another banger!

Really enjoyed this one!

Check out my installment in @smokelong.bsky.social’s series introducing Submission Editors sharing insights from reading the queue. www.smokelong.com/meet-our-sub... #flashfiction #elissafield

This went somewhere I wasn't expecting. Great read!

Great advice from @hollyschindler.bsky.social on making your readers curious about your characters. They don't have to *like* who they're following, but they need to want to follow. hollyschindler.substack.com/p/is-your-pr...

Shatteringly terrific horror by @mynachang.bsky.social in Ghost Parachute illustrated by @brooksiesbooks.bsky.social

In my quest to find a short story I read years ago, this awesome flash by Anna Vangala Jones was shared. 🥃

#HorrorWritersChat I don't use music in my stories, but music influences my writing. I'll listen to music to get into a certain mood or focus on a theme. Music is very evocative for me. If I'm stuck with writer's block, I'll spend time vibing with music.

I couldn't get to #HorrorWritersChat today, but I do want to share a bit about music! I write psychological horror. My favorite music varies based on mood, but my top genres are alternative and R&B. Some of my favorite artists are Weezer, The Living End, Queen, and Janelle Monáe.

I was talking to my friend Mae today about how I wish more people cared about and read short stories. A great short story will take only twenty minutes to read but stick with you for twenty years. Wildly powerful artform! What's a short story that fits that description for y'all?

In case you're low on nightmare fuel

A story about a potato has no right to be this sad. Or this human. Amazing #FlashInTheFeed by @rachelmhollis.bsky.social in @fictivedream.bsky.social today.

A mysterious phone caller, an old flame, and the possibility of an escape into an alternate reality. Story by Chris Vanjonack, recommended by Weston Morrow. buff.ly/aHFOGWC

So good! "'You can hide anything you want in plain sight,' Jack said to me once as he added the words 'a fucking lie' to his self-portrait, . . . . 'You’ve just got to give people somewhere else to focus. Something they want to see.'”

"I’m not sure how the skunk got in. But as soon as it saw me, it charged, scuttling across the ground like a furry crab. I let out a yelp . . . ; then . . . , retreated to the one room in the house that doesn’t have windows." www.unchartedmag.com/stories/live...

This weather calls for finally bringing out the good socks. 🌧️💨

One of the best Disney Channel Original Movies to ever air, Don't Look Under the Bed means a lot to us here at Darker Times. Aigner Loren Wilson writes about her experience viewing the film, reflecting on its impact, the idea of disbelief, and more. Read it here: www.darkertimes.com/dont-look-un...

Backrooms, Walter Benjamin, AND Freud?! @emilyhughes.bsky.social covers the magic of liminality, memory, and capitalism in her latest piece, The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Hallucination: www.darkertimes.com/walter-benja...

Next week is #LitMagWeek and Electric Lit has a lineup of exciting content to share. Check back here daily September 28–October 2 and celebrate lit mags with us!

Great tips! This is why I love flash.

New horror writers: Applications for my Cursed Classroom are open! This affordable, month-long class will meet each Tuesday in November. You'll learn how to write more effective horror and how to submit to short fiction markets. Interested? See details here: ericraglin.com/classes-and-...

You always take a gamble when you buy a book you haven't read or heard much about. I'm a little over 100 pages in and am not sure I want to finish. I don't like to post about DNF reads, but I keep thinking about how this story needs more editing and revision. It's taking me out of it.

I cringed so hard through most of this. But don't worry; it's not all cringe. Great read!

Brought me right into the time. Great micro!

Don't sleep on this one! I can't wait!

Looking forward to this one! It was recommended to me by another horror writer, and it just so happens to be this month's horror book club pick at my local independent bookstore. ☺️ I'm ready to get disturbed.

The safety's in the ordinary stuff, a porch, a news beat, string lights. A man keeping every light on for the people he lost sounds sweet, until you learn why the house never goes dark. #horrorwriterschat

David stares at me with his scratched plastic eyes, his mouthless face a mask of silent reproach. And then I hear the rattle. If you shake him, it's supposed to sound like he's purring. But this is no purr. It's the ball of a rattler. That's when David launches at me. #HorrorWritersChat

I don't like to read or write anything where everything goes as planned or remains status quo. Where's a story without conflict? Horror makes anything comfortable suspicious. The more you give a character, the more they can lose. #HorrorWritersChat

Hey, #HorrorWritersChat, I write horror that draws from childhood fears. This chat is right up my alley! My favorite childhood toy was a teddy bear named Bear. If he became evil, it would devastate me. I had a nightmare as a kid that he exploded slime, and I'm still creeped out remembering it. 🧸

"Something in her eyes catches me off guard. There’s the oak-barrel whiskey of grief and cheddar terror so sharp it cuts the tongue. But there’s a hint of something complex, neither sour nor salty, but oddly bittersweet. "It tastes like relief." www.unchartedmag.com/stories/the-...

"While today we think of Toy Story as children’s media, the it-narrative originated as a decidedly adult genre. Because object narrators tend to be things that circulate across layers of society, the it-narrative offered a ready platform for social satire." lithub.com/long-before-...

I left the #glove in your office on purpose. Smelling of amber, of warm woods and train rides stood too close together. Of the seconds spent watching the underside of your jaw as the wind blew my hair out like a flag. I hope it strangles you without moving. #vss365

A new thought for me—all the OTHER interests & skills I have that can support other writers. "...spaces where my skills, curiosity, and love of stories intersected. ... [make] my ideal writing life more sustainable, more connected, and more expansive..." writersinthestormblog.com/2026/08/buil...