Pete Ward
LightNews LightNews
phenryward.bsky.social
Pete Ward
@phenryward.bsky.social
370 followers 1.1K following 370 posts
Books, art, theatre, and telling people I liked the thing they made. Weird / Gothic / Noir short stories in Gavagai, Thin Veil Press, A Thin Slice of Anxiety, and Bristol Noir. Forthcoming in Macabre Magazine, Frost Zone, and Rat Bag.
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
phenryward.bsky.social
Pete Ward @phenryward.bsky.social · Oct 16
Delighted to have a second publication (though of my first acceptance) at Thin Veil Press: thinveilpress.co.uk/the-appraisal

It's a weird tale of the workplace and the way it changes us - it's also maybe about freedom.

The Thin Veil team were lovely and perceptive and made it a great experience!
Unsettling header image of a thorn near an eyeball
Reposted by Pete Ward
phenryward.bsky.social
Might repost this weekly
phenryward.bsky.social Pete Ward @phenryward.bsky.social · Jul 4
Can't even remember what failure of their judgement caused me to cancel my NYT subscription, but they deserved it then and they deserve it now.
July 31, 2025 at 12:37 AM
Reposted by Pete Ward
phenryward.bsky.social
Just watched this and it's so good. Not sure how Bronson Pinchot's performance comes through in the original, but he's terrifying here: becomes quite Carnival of Souls-y after photocopying
scsheil.bsky.social Steven Sheil @scsheil.bsky.social · Sep 22
If you haven't seen this before I'd highly recommend it - it's a totally transformative piece of work - frames are photocopied onto paper then rescanned, but also torn, screwed up and otherwise animated - that creates a truly uncanny atmosphere.
stonkers.bsky.social Stonkers @stonkers.bsky.social · Sep 22
First watch of today is The Timekeepers of Eternity, the utterly incredible experimental re-edit of 1996’s miniseries The Langoliers. It takes a film that was (apologies to all involved) extremely mid and elevates it into something truly remarkable
September 23, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Reposted by Pete Ward
phenryward.bsky.social
A good article on a great show. Find it, watch it and fall in (a fucked-up, compromised kind of) love with Ray
November 8, 2025 at 8:26 AM
Reposted by Pete Ward
phenryward.bsky.social
Everyone was right about this. Dissolves into beautiful chaos. Harris is hilarious.
November 23, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Reposted by Pete Ward
phenryward.bsky.social
A re-up by way of content warning: terminal illness, child murder and eco-gothic all in a thousand words. Who could ask for more?
phenryward.bsky.social Pete Ward @phenryward.bsky.social · Dec 28
If Christmas has been a little too merry, I humbly submit this grim tale. 'The Suffering Tree' is about how we're not only all going to die, but it's probably going to hurt, too. Couldn't have a better venue for it than A Thin Slice of Anxiety.
www.athinsliceofanxiety.com/2025/12/fict...
Fiction: The Suffering Tree
Because Life is too Short to Read Bullshit
www.athinsliceofanxiety.com
December 28, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Reposted by Pete Ward
phenryward.bsky.social
Rummaging among the stacks at my parent's place. This is the one - the only cape movie I've got any interest is this grim, Berlin Wall era tale of spies and deception with strong, consistent characterisation and real stakes. (John leCappe? Is that anything?) Do it properly.
January 21, 2025 at 1:51 PM
phenryward.bsky.social
The Dollmaker by Harriette Arnow had me sobbing in the streets of Greece during what was supposed to be a happy holiday.
bleakhousing.bsky.social Kyle Winkler @bleakhousing.bsky.social · 9d
What’s the saddest novel you’ve read? Maybe I already own it and would like to read it.

(For this, plz leave out books for younger audiences like Charlotte’s Web or Where the Red Fern Grows, etc. I’m looking for adult sadness.)
January 19, 2026 at 7:10 PM
phenryward.bsky.social
“I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of peace.”
January 19, 2026 at 7:05 PM
Reposted by Pete Ward
phenryward.bsky.social
Photo of Bill Hicks with a quote amended to read: "USE MACHINE LEARNING TOOLS AND YOU'RE OFF THE ARTISTIC ROLL CALL, EVERY WORD YOU SAY IS SUSPECT, YOU'RE A CORPORATE WHORE, END OF STORY"
January 16, 2026 at 2:37 AM
phenryward.bsky.social
Nothing at all concerning about the fact these monsters have jet-black, obsidian orbs set in their skulls instead of eyes.
January 16, 2026 at 10:33 AM
phenryward.bsky.social
Photo of Bill Hicks with a quote amended to read: "USE MACHINE LEARNING TOOLS AND YOU'RE OFF THE ARTISTIC ROLL CALL, EVERY WORD YOU SAY IS SUSPECT, YOU'RE A CORPORATE WHORE, END OF STORY"
January 16, 2026 at 2:37 AM
Reposted by Pete Ward
cethanleahy.com
People complain about Jimmy Stewart being miscast but as time goes on, I think his performance perfectly captured a certain kind of disingenuous public intellectual who says controversial things without any thought to possible consequences.
penacolada2293.bsky.social adrian. @penacolada2293.bsky.social · 13d
be gay! do crime!
Farley Granger (hot) and John Dall (also hot) in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope (1948), which is an absolute banger of a movie.
January 15, 2026 at 10:48 AM
phenryward.bsky.social
SWOOP!
January 13, 2026 at 8:36 PM
Reposted by Pete Ward
rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social
Me in 2025: Don't use AI note takers in meetings because they can lead to unchecked errors and unfair and discriminatory outcomes
Me in 2026: Don't use Grok in military planning unless you want to accidentally start a war

Not a fan of this rate of change
January 13, 2026 at 7:50 AM
Reposted by Pete Ward
phenryward.bsky.social
I think about the title of this @leopoldmuseum.bsky.social exhibit all the time: "And yet there was art! Austria 1914–1918"

And yet there was art.
Webpage from a Leopold Museum exhibit called "And yet there was art! Austria 1914–1918", featuring a red, tortured-looking Egon Schiele self-portrait. The first paragraph reads: "The assassination of the Austrian heir to the throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, on the 28th of June 1914 in Sarajevo was the fatal trigger of World War I. One hundred years later on, the Leopold Museum is dedicating a comprehensive exhibition to the fate of Austrian artists who were active between 1914 and 1918."
July 7, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Reposted by Pete Ward
hetanshah.bsky.social
‘If a drug boasted such benefits [as the arts] governments would be pouring billions into it. Instead, funding has been slashed across the culture sector.’
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Art Cure by Daisy Fancourt, professor of psychobiology and epidemiology at University College London, brings together numerous research projects confirming what we have always suspected - art is good for us. It helps us enjoy happier, healthier and longer lives. One study found that people who engaged regularly with the arts had a 31% lower risk of dying at any point during the follow-up period, even when confounding socioeconomic, demographic and health factors were taken into account. Studies also show that visiting museums and attending live music events can make people physiologically younger, and a monthly cultural activity almost halves our chances of depression. As Fancourt argues, if a drug boasted such benefits governments would be pouring billions into it. Instead, funding has been slashed across the culture sector and arts education has been devalued and eroded in the UK.
January 10, 2026 at 4:37 PM
phenryward.bsky.social
Even ice hates ICE
adamparkhomenko.bsky.social Adam Parkhomenko @adamparkhomenko.bsky.social · 16d
ICE officers slipping on ice while trying to terrorize communities is the most accurate metaphor imaginable. No balance. No footing. No moral ground. Just cruelty, incompetence, and gravity doing its thing.
January 11, 2026 at 10:43 PM
phenryward.bsky.social
Maybe a little earlier than 13, but this was absolutely personality-forming.
dc.fandom.com/wiki/Animal_...
January 11, 2026 at 9:49 PM
phenryward.bsky.social
"hypnotically rewatchable" is exactly right - a quality all great Competence Thrillers have, regardless of subject matter
princecharlescinema.com Prince Charles Cinema @princecharlescinema.com · 20d
Calling all true crime junkies and paranoid thrill-seekers – David Fincher's masterful, criminally underrated, and hypnotically rewatchable 2007 thriller, ZODIAC, returns from 35mm on our biggest screen on Sunday 8th February. We're obsessed with this film. You should be too. 🎟️ buff.ly/Ebmj6FZ
January 7, 2026 at 1:18 PM
phenryward.bsky.social
pca.st/episode/55c0...
KYE and @katewagner.wehwalt.net great about modern architecture & Trump through lens of McMansionism. @thelitcritguy.bsky.social (maybe oddly) recalled your current haunted house work, with a gothic inflection in idea that McMansions reflect honest horror of true selves...
UNLOCKED: Trump's Big, Beautiful Ballroom (w/ Kate Wagner)
pca.st
January 6, 2026 at 1:52 PM
phenryward.bsky.social
Reposting this to help and because even though Joe can write more quickly than I can read I'm still at risk of running out
neilsnowdon.bsky.social Neil Snowdon @neilsnowdon.bsky.social · 25d
Help! Got my dad into reading in the last couple of years by giving him Joe R. Lansdale crime novels. Anyone recommend anything else like him? He also enjoys Elmore Leonard and likes the James Burke Robichaud books but Lansdale is the only time he's said he couldn't put down.
January 3, 2026 at 11:32 AM
Reposted by Pete Ward
eckerusla.bsky.social
British citizens and UK-based folks: please consider signing and sharing this petition:

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/75...

#RefugeesWelcome
Petition: Keep the 5-Year ILR route for refugees. Do not extend it to 10 or 20 years
We call on the UK Government to preserve the current 5-year route (ILR) for refugees and people with humanitarian protection.
petition.parliament.uk
December 29, 2025 at 11:02 PM
phenryward.bsky.social
I loved this big wild novel.
rachelfeder.bsky.social Rachel Feder @rachelfeder.bsky.social · 26d
Anybody up for a bicentennial read-along of Mary Shelley’s THE LAST MAN?
dissentum.bsky.social Juan Meneses | Postpolitics and the Aesthetic Imagination @dissentum.bsky.social · 26d
Anybody doing any interesting bluesky read-alongs of big books?
January 2, 2026 at 12:36 AM
Reposted by Pete Ward
phenryward.bsky.social
Well I rattled through this very enjoyable, wide-ranging survey of architecture and unease by @leilataylor.bsky.social / @repeaterbooks.bsky.social
Cover of Leila Taylor's Sick Houses - jumbled gothic architectural structures on a fresh-blood background
February 13, 2025 at 10:21 AM
phenryward.bsky.social
Top four for the year. Celias Dale and Fremlin nearly sneaked in, but can only upload so many images.
A DIFFERENT DRUMMER, William Melvin Kelley Set in a mythical backwater Southern town, A Different Drummer is the extraordinary story of Tucker Caliban, a quiet, determined descendant of an African chief who for no apparent reason destroys his farm and heads for parts unknown--setting off a mass exodus of the state's entire Black population. THE LARK, E Nesbit It's 1919 and Jane and her cousin Lucilla leave school to find that their guardian has gambled away their money, leaving them with only a small cottage in the English countryside. In an attempt to earn their living, the orphaned cousins embark on a series of misadventures - cutting flowers from their front garden and selling them to passers-by, inviting paying guests who disappear without paying - all the while endeavouring to stave off the attentions of male admirers, in a bid to secure their independence. THE FEAST, Margaret Kennedy A Cornish cliff collapses on top of a seaside resort hotel, squashing everybody but those lucky enough to be away on a picnic. The story tells why some were spared and some were not... TELL ME I'M WORTHLESS, Alison Rumfitt Three years ago, Alice spent one night in an abandoned house with her friends, Ila and Hannah. Since then, Alice’s life has spiraled. She lives a haunted existence, selling videos of herself for money, going to parties she hates, drinking herself to sleep. Memories of that night torment Alice, but when Ila asks her to return to the House, to go past the KEEP OUT sign and over the sick earth where teenagers dare each other to venture, Alice knows she must go. Together, Alice and Ila must face the horrors that happened there, must pull themselves apart from the inside out, put their differences aside, and try to rescue Hannah, whom the House has chosen to make its own.
December 31, 2025 at 11:43 PM