James Machin

The next two books from myself and Trevor Kennedy's MISLAID BOOKS imprint (Trevor does all the heavy lifting). These should both be out by the end of April.

The golf course at Felixstowe, with its famous martello tower. The real-life setting of 'Oh, Whistle'.

Contributors include Jim Bryant, Peter Bell, @manoghosts.bsky.social, Brian Corrigan, @accordingtojond.bsky.social, @helengrantsays.bsky.social, Darryl Jones, @nunkie.bsky.social, @theprofrog.bsky.social, @jfmachin.bsky.social, Rosemary Pardoe, @edwardgpettit.bsky.social and Mark Valentine.

The Reign of Saturn - The Bottle Imp The life of John Buchan reads like one of his adventure stories: as a storyteller and statesman, intelligence officer and international thinker, he roamed both continents and careers alike, leaping fr...

“Buchan’s tales of trust and treachery, public duty and private doubt, still have questions to ask – and answers we might not entirely expect”

THE BOTTLE IMP tracks the many paths of one of Scotland’s most surprising storytellers in his 150th year
💙📚
1/8
www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2025/12/the-...

John Buchan and the Supernatural - The Bottle Imp When writing the introduction to the recent collection of John Buchan’s ‘strange stories’ for the British Library, I was hesitant in making my argument that Buchan should rightfully be considered alon...

“Identifying the supernatural as a consistent theme of Buchan’s fiction… reinforces Buchan’s status as a pre-eminent exponent of the supernatural tale and helps us to understand his wider oeuvre”

@jfmachin.bsky.social on Buchan as a writer of the weird
2/8
www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2025/12/john...

Penda’s Fen reinvents Mercia for the modern age How an experimental British 1970s television play pioneered a folk horror revival

The excellent @birminghamdispatch.bsky.social (which has done such great reporting on the flag epidemic over the last few months) delivers the goods again today with this deep dive into the Midlands mythology of Penda's Fen.

Really pleased to have an essay in the new issue of Gothic Studies -- it's a special edition on Algernon Blackwood. It's also OPEN ACCESS so free for anyone to enter its region of singular loneliness and desolation. Many thanks to Henry Bartholomew for inviting me on board and putting it together.

22% off ILLUSIONS OF PRESENCE over on that globalist shopping website.

TOC:

Edinburgh University Press Journals - Table of Contents - gothic: Vol 27, No 3

Publication day! My special issue on Algernon Blackwood and the Gothic is officially out: www.euppublishing.com/toc/gothic/c...
My heartfelt thanks to all the contributors. So much in here - will cover in future posts. The issue positions B as a major force in C20th British Gothic.

Frankenstein (2025) A monster movie without a monster

Frankenstein (2025)
open.substack.com/pub/jamesmac...

This Thursday evening will be discussing Conan Doyle's Tales of the Supernatural with the estimable Edward Parnell -- details in link ... thelasttuesdaysociety.org/event/arthur...

Nothing further to say on the matter apart from ALT+0151 bite me.

Learnt recently that AI "tells" now include em dashes. As a long-term em dash enthusiast and advocate, this feels weirdly personal and cannot stand.

Book cover, IN A LONELY PLACE by Karl Edward Wagner

Today's $2.99 Kindle deal is not to be missed! Karl Edward Wagner's IN A LONELY PLACE (1983) is one of the best modern horror collections, featuring some of this master storyteller's best work. Grab it at a bargain price today online on Kindle worldwide! www.amazon.com/Lonely-Place...

The Strange Stories of John Buchan Celebrate the 150th birthday of Scottish author John Buchan with this playful collection of his most intriguing strange stories. Curated by weird fiction expert James Machin, this volume brings togeth...

Happy birthday John Buchan, writer of famous spy-thriller The Thirty-Nine Steps and lesser known stories of weird fiction...

The Strange Stories of John Buchan is a collection of his most intriguing and obscure spooky tales 👻.

shop.bl.uk/products/the-strange-stories-of-john-buchan

Front cover of The Strange Stories of John Buchan, edited by James Machin. It has a navy blue cover with illustrations in silver of a small building on a clifftop, with sea below and thistles in the foreground

John Buchan Fact of the Day (261/365) The story 'The Shut Door' was first published in The Boys' All-Round Book of Stories, Sports and Hobbies in 1926. It is included in The Strange Stories of John Buchan, ed. by James Machin [The British Library, 2025] #JBFactOfTheDay #JohnBuchan #books #booksky 💙📚

ILLUSIONS OF PRESENCE has a cover!!

Really happy with how this one has turned out, it's going to be *THE* book to get this Christmas!!

Links to order below! Please share this one far and wide!

#christmasghoststories #santasshinyshiny

Wayfarers Weird: Wild Tales of Uncanny Rambles edited by Weird Walk, against a dark leafy background.

Journey through forbidden mountain paths, ancient woodlands and collapsing coastlines at the far edges of Britain's wilderness with The Wayfarer's Weird: Wild Tales of Uncanny Rambles...
shop.bl.uk/products/the-wayfarers-weird-wild-tales-of-uncanny-rambles

"The Entrance" is superb and genuinely creeps me out.

Image of 'The Empress' by Pamela Coleman Smith - figure with long hair, crown of stars, holding sceptre-like object. Two trees (pines?) made up of dots on right-hand side. Text: Weird Modernisms, BAMS/MSA 26, 1-4 July 2026, Loughborough University, UK

pls RT, modernists - CFP now out for 'Weird Modernisms', the collaborative conference between @modernistudies.bsky.social and @moderniststudies.bsky.social !

July 2026, Loughborough University.

www.moderniststudies.org/conference/M...

Please help me share the CFP for this Literature Compass Special Issue dedicated to the work of Simon J James and covering key Victorian and Edwardian writers like H. G. Wells, George Gissing, Dickens, Wilde, George Du Maurier, and Conan-Doyle on behalf of Hadas Elber-Aviram.

The fantastic @bbcworldbookclub.bsky.social is recording a show on Arthur Conan Doyle on 20 August with Harriet Gilbert, @valmcdermid.bsky.social and our very own @drmjones.bsky.social. Tickets are required but free! Come along if you can!

Always a thrill to get a story into Supernatural Tales & especially cool to be in there with @theprofrog.bsky.social ...
suptales.blogspot.com?m=1

THE ARCHIVE OF DREAD: The Temple, by H P Lovecraft YouTube video by Nunkie Films

This Friday 8pm Archive of Dread month begins on the Nunkie YouTube Channel. Tune in here at 8pm (UK) and experience "The Temple" by H P Lovecraft.
youtube.com/live/DRQsB1t...
free to view, but if you'd like to support this kind of thing then you can become a patron here
patreon.com/RobertLloydParry

This has arrived this weekend and is up there as one of the most gorgeous things on my bookshelves

Wonderful holographic cover art, an excellent collection of spooky and strange stories by John Buchan - an underrated master of the art of the weird - selected by the brilliant @jfmachin.bsky.social

Thanks so much, Alex -- enjoy!

Two copies of Supernatural Tales issue 59, featuring a cover image of a skeletal figure embedded in greenery and holding a bone scythe (artist Sam Dawson)

First of page of "Pastepot" by Rex Burrows in Supernatural Tales issue 59. First line reads "Memory is sticky, but in wildly inconsistent ways."

Just received my contributor copies of Supernatural Tales issue 59. Proud to have a story here alongside work from James Machin, Sarah LeFanu, and others, all under a typically eerie cover image from Sam Dawson. Out soon for general purchase.

You can pre-order ShoreZone now, the first and only collection of supernatural fiction by David Rudkin, author of Penda's Fen.

This anthology includes 9 enigmatic, chilling and transporting short tales rich in atmosphere and uncanniness. Designed and illustrated by Zoë Taylor.

Photo by SF Said.

Thanks so much for having me on, Mark!

Always great to talk to @jfmachin.bsky.social, this time about 'Stark Munro'. A very entertaining novel, but definitely something of a curate's egg. Looking forward to digging into his new anthology of Buchan's Strange Stories for @blpublishing.bsky.social which arrived yesterday.