Sam Weller

Good morning #BookSky! If you order my collection of gothic grief stories, DARK BLACK directly from the publisher www.hatandbeard.com, I will personally sign a cool, handmade bookplate and mail it to you. Just take a photo of your order confirmation and DM me! #writingcommunity #horror #writers

It’s that time again. Time to revisit a mid-century masterpiece of American Gothic horror. I wrote this essay on the #RayBradbury classic, THE OCTOBER COUNTRY for the @parisreview.bsky.social #HorrorCommunity #Booksky www.theparisreview.org/blog/2015/10...

Sunday. A perfect fall day. Jazz on @WDCBPublicRadio. Does it get much better? 🍂🎺🎶 #jazz #SundayMorning #AutumnVibes

This “lost” interview I did with Ray Bradbury in 2010 at ComicCon is a marvel. He was nearly 90! His response to my question: “if you could travel back to one moment in your life, what moment would you choose?” will brighten your day! ☀️ gizmodo.com/this-lost-in... #WritingCommmunity #Booksky

It’s Banned Books Week. Did you know that since its publication in 1953, Ray Bradbury’s FAHRENHEIT 451 is one of the most challenged and censored titles in the U.S.? As Bradbury’s biographer, I filed a FOIA request and, yep, there’s a 40-page FBI file on Bradbury. #BannedBooksWeek #RayBradbury

This is the most remarkable story Ray Bradbury ever shared with me. He told it to me late one night, sitting in his den of antiquities and mementos. Take five minutes to read this. It’s pure magic. #Writing #Living #Creativity #RayBradbury #BookSky

This is the most remarkable story Ray Bradbury ever shared with me. He told it to me late one night, sitting in his den of antiquities and mementos. Take five minutes to read this. It’s pure magic. #Writing #Living #Creativity #RayBradbury #BookSky

We all know what followed the Guilded Age, right? The Progressive Era. Bring it.

Can I ask a favor? #Books #IndependentPublishing #ModernGothic #Booksky

The sheer ineptitude of the emergency slide deploying on Air Force One is mind-boggling. This doesn’t even happen on the thousands of commercial flights taking off every single day. And to think, these are the same characters who carry the nuclear codes. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/09/u...

Ya just gotta laugh that everytime MAGA evangelicals convene, Grindr shuts down due to traffic. 😂 www.sacurrent.com/news/texas-n...

Covid? Screens? What else?

JAWS is one of the finest horror movies ever made. But did it also bring about the end of quality cinema? Here are my thoughts, courtesy of @whisperhousepress.bsky.social. #horror #movies whisperhousepress.com/2026/09/08/i...

@johnbiemer.bsky.social Thank you for writing your beautiful essay about the unique nature of dropping a child off at college. It brought me solace in the midst of my own parental sorrow.

Having gone through this twice, this is beautifully written.

Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate Ray Bradbury’s birthday! The #RayDay readings were remarkable! As a way of saying thanks, I am posting a free, downloadable pdf from my book, DARK BLACK, a fantasy story about #RayBradbury titled, LIVE FOREVER! www.samweller.net/bradbury-1/2...

In researching an essay for @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social , I discovered an undeveloped, never-before-seen photograph of film director #JohnHuston taken by #RayBradbury at Huston’s Irish manor on January 30, 1954. The photo is dark and grainy, but absolutely magical nonetheless. #RayDay

Thirty years ago, my wife and I met in a college production of The Martian Chronicles. In September 2010, we were able to share our story with Ray thanks to @samwellerauthor.bsky.social. #rayday #RayBradbury

In researching an essay for @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social, I discovered an undeveloped, never-before-seen photograph of film director #JohnHuston taken by #RayBradbury at Huston’s Irish manor on January 30, 1954. The photo is dark and grainy, but absolutely magical nonetheless. #RayDay

That time when the legendary creator of Tarzan, Edgar Rice Burroughs, wrote a personal letter to a teen #RayBradbury explaining why he could not come speak to Bradbury’s club, the Los Angeles Science Fiction Society.

Here’s a good one from my files: A 26-year-old #raybradbury during his courtship with Marguerite McClure, circa late ‘46/early ‘47. They married on Sept. 27, 1947. That’s Ray’s handwriting at the top of the photo. #RayDay #raybradbury

My contribution to #RayDay is a reading from #TheFogHorn.

A young Ray Bradbury in 1942, around the time he wrote his first classic story, “The Lake,” outside his family home at 670 S. Venice Blvd in Venice, CA. From my book, LISTEN TO THE ECHOES: THE RAY BRADBURY INTERVIEWS (hatandbeardbks, 2017). And again in 2003 outside the same home in a photo I took.

So many beautiful people I have meet in my travels over the last 20 years as the biographer of #RayBradbury. The cool thing? And I mean this with all sincerity, I remember every single one of you. I can tell you the city, and what we discussed. Thank you for your kindness and ❤️! #libraries #RayDay

Ray wanted this art by Jean-Michel Folon as the cover of his final book, NIGHTMARES & DAYDREAMS, a collection. Why the book was never published is an epic tale all-together. Ray asked me to finish the book for him. I didn’t think it was right. But I know wish I had. #RayDay #RayBradbury

Happy #RayDay! #RayBradbury I may not be wearing a Bradbury inspired T-shirt, but I am wearing my favorite intergalactic space alien!

My recitation of the end of The Martian Chronicles, by #raybradbury for #rayday. It’s one of my favorite passages, a great ending, and a reminder of how and why human authors choose to use the em-dash.

The wonderland that was Ray Bradbury’s basement office. #RayDay #RayBradbury #BookSky

A young Ray Bradbury, roused from a nap by his Aunt Neva to take this iconic photograph. This was taken right outside the house I shared earlier. #RayDay #RayBradbury #booksky

Here is the passage I recited for #RayDay. It might have been difficult to understand what I was saying about the way #RayBradbury uses the em-dash without seeing the text. I’ve highlighted the relevant sentence here. Notice how the em-dashes offset “in the canal.”

In February, 1924, Ray Bradbury’s Mother, Esther Bradbury, a cinema aficionado, took her three-year-old son to see Lon Chaney in THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME. It changed his life forever. The film had a six-day engagement at Waukegan’s Elite Theatre. Here is the ad. #RayBradbury #RayDay

The humble childhood home of #RayBradbury in Waukegan, Illinois. There was no air conditioning in that era so on hot summer nights Ray would sleep in the backyard under an apple tree. A.C. finally came to the city at the Genesee Theater in 1927! #RayDay #RayBradbury #BookPeople

In honor #RayBradbury ‘s birthday, check out my post about one his favorite #writing exercises (which I learned from @samwellerauthor.bsky.social) #RayDay aarubin.wordpress.com/2020/08/22/r...

In honor of #rayday, the celebration of #RayBradbury’s birthday, here’s my Heritage edition of #TheMartianChronicles. It’s a #book, with gorgeous Joseph Mugnaini illustrations, and it includes my favorite Bradbury short story, The Million Year picnic. What’s your favorite #bradbury story?

I love this photo. Here is a teenage Ray Bradbury in the mid-1930s alongside actress Ida Lupino who would go on to a career as one of the first women film directors. Happy #RayDay #RayBradbury

Happy #RayDay! To kick things off, here is the birth announcement I uncovered in the Waukegan News-Sun. The date is an error. When I showed this to #RayBRadbury, he was elated! He had no idea this ran in his hometown newspaper. Let the #RayDay Festivities begin! #Booksky

Join us tomorrow for #RayDay! #RayBradbury #BookPeople

We hope you will join us! #RayDay @morgfair.bsky.social @realgdt.bsky.social @markhamillofficial.bsky.social @williamshatner.bsky.social @stephenking.bsky.social @georgetakei.bsky.social @meidastouch.com @pattonoswalt.bsky.social

This Saturday!!! Are you joining us?!?! Record yourself reading short favorite passage from a book or poem and post it. Share photos of your Bradbury collection. Share a memory or message! Super important! PLEASE SHARE THIS! #RayDay #RayBradbury #BookPeople #Booksky

I just did a super-detailed manuscript consultation on a remarkable southern Gothic supernatural horror novel. This book is amazing. And it already has a publisher! Boom! Will give details once I have permission. #horror #booksky #writingcommunity

According to the @amlibraryassoc.bsky.social, 2025 saw the highest level of library censorship in our nation’s history. Why do you think that is? 🤔 #censorship #booksky #lbraries

Would love it if you would join us as #BookPeople, celebrating the birthday of the great #RayBradbury for #RayDay! Let’s help him Live Forever! ⚡️ @realgdt.bsky.social @markhamillofficial.bsky.social @margaretatwood.bsky.social @paultremblay.bsky.social @spl.org @spokanecolibrary.bsky.social

Ray Bradbury is the Patron Saint of Public Libraries. We hope some of our favorite libraries will join us in celebrating #RayDay! Join me, & @labarnitz.bsky.social and others on 8/22. Memorize a few lines from a story, record your recitation, & post online. #booksky @kclibrary.bsky.social

Ray Bradbury is the Patron Saint of Public Libraries. We hope some of our favorite libraries will join us in celebrating #RayDay! Join me, & @labarnitz.bsky.social and others on 8/22. Memorize a few lines from a story, record your recitation, & post online. #booksky @lapubliclibrary.bsky.social

Cannot wait! #Books #RayBradbury

If there were no books, if reading was forbidden, what story would you commit to memory? I doubt I could memorize a whole novel, but I will share a few lines from a story on #RayBradbury 's birthday 8/22. Join me, @samwellerauthor.bsky.social & others celebrating #RayDay. labarnitzbooks.com/rayday

This is terrifying. If the last physical copy of a book is destroyed by an AI company, leaving only a digital version, how do we know the text is even original and has not been digitally altered? #books #censorship #AI www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/07...

I love that we are living in a post ice breaker society. Just stop, already!

August 4, 2026. The day of “There Will Come Soft Rains.” For the publication history and inspiration behind this remarkable story, scroll down to Number 3 on my list of ESSENTIAL BRADBURY SHORT STORIES. Should it have been Number 1? #RayBradbury www.samweller.net/bradbury-1/2...