Benjamin Appleby-Dean
@badbadwriter.bsky.social
Determined scribbler, erratic typist. Writing stories about ghosts and goblins and things that go bump in the night.
He/Them.
Rep: Emelie Burl at Susan Schulman
He/Them.
Rep: Emelie Burl at Susan Schulman
Pinned
Hello everyone!
I'm an author living in the NE of England, and my initials spell BAD on purpose. I write weird books about smartphone ghosts and weaponised stories:
I'm an author living in the NE of England, and my initials spell BAD on purpose. I write weird books about smartphone ghosts and weaponised stories:
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
"Hard times are coming, when we'll be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how we live now, can see through our fear-stricken society and its obsessive technologies to other ways of being, and even imagine real grounds for hope...realists of a larger reality."
Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula K. Le Guin
January 7, 2026 at 9:34 AM
"Hard times are coming, when we'll be wanting the voices of writers who can see alternatives to how we live now, can see through our fear-stricken society and its obsessive technologies to other ways of being, and even imagine real grounds for hope...realists of a larger reality."
Ursula K. Le Guin
Ursula K. Le Guin
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
Quick reminder that I run a micro-press called The Braag @thebraag.bsky.social / thebraag.co
We have
🐸 poetry in the language of a pond
🌻 A Ukranian poem-fairytale
🍀 Lush, queer ecofiction
💀 Queer Texan hauntings
🪐 Plannet-hopping poems
🏚️ Historic necro-capitalist fiction
All for sale!
We have
🐸 poetry in the language of a pond
🌻 A Ukranian poem-fairytale
🍀 Lush, queer ecofiction
💀 Queer Texan hauntings
🪐 Plannet-hopping poems
🏚️ Historic necro-capitalist fiction
All for sale!
The Braag Presents
thebraag.co
January 5, 2026 at 2:12 PM
Quick reminder that I run a micro-press called The Braag @thebraag.bsky.social / thebraag.co
We have
🐸 poetry in the language of a pond
🌻 A Ukranian poem-fairytale
🍀 Lush, queer ecofiction
💀 Queer Texan hauntings
🪐 Plannet-hopping poems
🏚️ Historic necro-capitalist fiction
All for sale!
We have
🐸 poetry in the language of a pond
🌻 A Ukranian poem-fairytale
🍀 Lush, queer ecofiction
💀 Queer Texan hauntings
🪐 Plannet-hopping poems
🏚️ Historic necro-capitalist fiction
All for sale!
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
The year is dead; long live the year
January 1, 2026 at 5:55 AM
The year is dead; long live the year
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
Nicked from Reddit
December 29, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Nicked from Reddit
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
Not now, haunted Victorian shoes
Mystery as hundreds of Victorian shoes wash up on Ogmore beach
Mystery as hundreds of Victorian shoes wash up on Ogmore beach
More than 400 leather hobnailed boots, thought to date back to the 19th Century, have been found.
www.bbc.com
December 23, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Not now, haunted Victorian shoes
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
And Ishmael, who did NOT drown,
December 29, 2025 at 5:23 PM
And Ishmael, who did NOT drown,
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
Illustration by Moomins author, Finnish artist Tove Jansson.
#December25th #ArtAdvent 🎄 ❄️ #ChristmasDay 🤍
#December25th #ArtAdvent 🎄 ❄️ #ChristmasDay 🤍
December 25, 2025 at 7:02 AM
Illustration by Moomins author, Finnish artist Tove Jansson.
#December25th #ArtAdvent 🎄 ❄️ #ChristmasDay 🤍
#December25th #ArtAdvent 🎄 ❄️ #ChristmasDay 🤍
The longest night and shortest day, but the sun rises undiminished.
I post this song every year, but this time feels like it has greater resonance. Sol Invictus, everyone:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=6f1A...
I post this song every year, but this time feels like it has greater resonance. Sol Invictus, everyone:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=6f1A...
Sol Invictus
YouTube video by Thea Gilmore - Topic
m.youtube.com
December 21, 2025 at 12:06 PM
The longest night and shortest day, but the sun rises undiminished.
I post this song every year, but this time feels like it has greater resonance. Sol Invictus, everyone:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=6f1A...
I post this song every year, but this time feels like it has greater resonance. Sol Invictus, everyone:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=6f1A...
Really enjoyed both of these, especially Tomb of Dragons:
What I published in 2025:
1. The Orb of Cairado @subpress.bsky.social standalone Osreth novella
2. The Tomb of Dragons @torbooks.bsky.social 3rd (& final!) book in The Cemeteries of Amalo. It follows The Witness for the Dead and The Grief of Stones (both still in print!)
1. The Orb of Cairado @subpress.bsky.social standalone Osreth novella
2. The Tomb of Dragons @torbooks.bsky.social 3rd (& final!) book in The Cemeteries of Amalo. It follows The Witness for the Dead and The Grief of Stones (both still in print!)
December 21, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Really enjoyed both of these, especially Tomb of Dragons:
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
Me to dog: keep the house safe while we're gone
Dog: i am afraid of wind
Dog: i am afraid of wind
December 20, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Me to dog: keep the house safe while we're gone
Dog: i am afraid of wind
Dog: i am afraid of wind
One of my favourite books of the year - an easy recommend:
SBLM is currently 30% off on Amazon, perfect last minute gift for anyone who likes scifi, robots, lesbians, heartbreak, romantic smut, or men getting their comeuppance
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1399...
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/1399...
December 19, 2025 at 2:19 PM
One of my favourite books of the year - an easy recommend:
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
Hey! You wonderfuls! Charnel House Trilogy is in the Steam Winter Sale, and you can get it in a bundle with Richard & Alice for around 1 pound 15. That's like, $1.35 for you Americans. Help me fund a brand new game from an all-new Owl Cave, PLUS THE CHT SEQUEL: store.steampowered.com/app/288930/T...
Save 80% on The Charnel House Trilogy on Steam
Witness The Charnel House Trilogy, the chronicle of one fateful night aboard a train bound for Augur Peak. Three thrilling, horrifying adventure games in one, from the depths of the Sepulchre, starrin...
store.steampowered.com
December 19, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Hey! You wonderfuls! Charnel House Trilogy is in the Steam Winter Sale, and you can get it in a bundle with Richard & Alice for around 1 pound 15. That's like, $1.35 for you Americans. Help me fund a brand new game from an all-new Owl Cave, PLUS THE CHT SEQUEL: store.steampowered.com/app/288930/T...
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in the wild:
Dugong/Manatee
Beaver
Alligator
Badger
Red Squirrel
Dugong/Manatee
Beaver
Alligator
Badger
Red Squirrel
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in the wild:
Cougar (back half)
Bears, black and grizzly
Bighorn sheep
Mountain caribou
Mountain goat
Cougar (back half)
Bears, black and grizzly
Bighorn sheep
Mountain caribou
Mountain goat
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in the wild:
Honey Badger
Manta ray
Lion
Badger
Crocodile
Honey Badger
Manta ray
Lion
Badger
Crocodile
December 16, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Introduce yourself with 5 animals you've seen in the wild:
Dugong/Manatee
Beaver
Alligator
Badger
Red Squirrel
Dugong/Manatee
Beaver
Alligator
Badger
Red Squirrel
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
“This is an overwhelming show of support for the commonsense position that AI companies should pay for the resources they use'.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Boost for artists in AI copyright battle as only 3% back UK active opt-out plan
Liz Kendall faces pressure from campaigners as she tells parliament there is no clear consensus on issue
www.theguardian.com
December 16, 2025 at 8:47 AM
“This is an overwhelming show of support for the commonsense position that AI companies should pay for the resources they use'.
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
If you're buying gifts for spirited 12 year olds who have read most of the middle grade graphic novel canon, can I recommend my book The Legend of Auntie Po? It's multi-awarded, and well reviewed, but hasn't entirely found its commercial footing.
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/601780...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/601780...
The Legend of Auntie Po by Shing Yin Khor: 9780525554882 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books
A NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST Part historical fiction, part fable, and 100 percent adventure. Thirteen-year-old Mei reimagines the myths of Paul Bunyan as starring a Chinese heroine while she works ...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com
December 3, 2025 at 5:33 PM
If you're buying gifts for spirited 12 year olds who have read most of the middle grade graphic novel canon, can I recommend my book The Legend of Auntie Po? It's multi-awarded, and well reviewed, but hasn't entirely found its commercial footing.
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/601780...
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/601780...
Really enjoyed this one - an easy recommend!
Today! Yes, on a Monday! The official release of SNAKE-EATER! www.amazon.com/dp/B0DW4KNLR...
Snake-Eater
Amazon.com: Snake-Eater eBook : Kingfisher, T.: Kindle Store
www.amazon.com
December 2, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Really enjoyed this one - an easy recommend!
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
I've had a few 'what do you do' convs recently, and everyone on hearing I'm an author comes out with "so how do you come up with ideas?", just like every book or movie about a writer has them staring numbly into space because they don't have an idea for the next book. And look, that is Not It.
November 19, 2025 at 7:43 AM
I've had a few 'what do you do' convs recently, and everyone on hearing I'm an author comes out with "so how do you come up with ideas?", just like every book or movie about a writer has them staring numbly into space because they don't have an idea for the next book. And look, that is Not It.
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
We deserve a better class of criminal
November 13, 2025 at 5:27 AM
We deserve a better class of criminal
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
Frankenstein is a metaphor for the dangers of reanimating corpses with electricity
November 13, 2025 at 4:11 AM
Frankenstein is a metaphor for the dangers of reanimating corpses with electricity
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
A braag, brag, or bragg, is a shapeshifting trickster spirit that appears in County Durham folklore, where it appears variously as: a wild horse that will run you amok, cow in a white scarf, a naked headless man, or in one case, four men stood under a sheet.
November 12, 2025 at 4:46 PM
A braag, brag, or bragg, is a shapeshifting trickster spirit that appears in County Durham folklore, where it appears variously as: a wild horse that will run you amok, cow in a white scarf, a naked headless man, or in one case, four men stood under a sheet.
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
finally found the difference between truth and beauty
November 10, 2025 at 1:37 PM
finally found the difference between truth and beauty
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
POV: you are a dog at a movie awards show in 1990 and David Lynch is about to boop you
David Lynch by Irene Halsman for Premiere Magazine (1990)
October 28, 2025 at 5:17 PM
POV: you are a dog at a movie awards show in 1990 and David Lynch is about to boop you
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
this headline hums with ancient autumnal dread
October 23, 2025 at 12:41 PM
this headline hums with ancient autumnal dread
Reposted by Benjamin Appleby-Dean
"If a book told you something when you were 15, it will tell it to you again when you’re 50, though you may understand it so differently that it seems you’re reading a whole new book."
Happy birthday to Ursula K. Le Guin, born 21st October 1929
Happy birthday to Ursula K. Le Guin, born 21st October 1929
October 21, 2025 at 2:36 PM
"If a book told you something when you were 15, it will tell it to you again when you’re 50, though you may understand it so differently that it seems you’re reading a whole new book."
Happy birthday to Ursula K. Le Guin, born 21st October 1929
Happy birthday to Ursula K. Le Guin, born 21st October 1929