Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

S.J. Shank

@sjshank.bsky.social

650 followers 560 following 320 posts

Writer of the grim fantastic Dark Fantasy // Historical Horror Books: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐍𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐒, 𝐌𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐍 𝐅𝐀𝐒𝐓 sjshank.com

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

S.J. Shank @sjshank.bsky.social · Apr 29

I'm excited to announce my new dark fantasy novel – 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐊𝐍𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐒.

This tale of sorcerous dilemmas and Faustian solutions will be released July 24 and is available for pre-order.👇

Cover design by Raven Daly.

I appreciate any help spreading the word!

4 7 17

S.J. Shank @sjshank.bsky.social · 2h

The Guest Children by @patrickt.bsky.social is a ghost story that's full of mystery. Set in a crumbling and isolated northern lodge, the book explores where ghosts come from and how we allow ourselves to be trapped by their hauntings. It's also a damn spooky page turner. Highly recommended!

1 2

Reposted by S.J. Shank

Coy Hall @coyhall.bsky.social · 3h

In an age lit by fire, only the most curious and driven souls turned a flame to the unknown. The least fortunate peered beyond the veil.

This World of Vile Wonder: Horror Tales of the Scientific Revolution releases October 20. Ebook preorder up now on Amazon & Kobo ⬇️

1 3 19

Reposted by S.J. Shank

Patrick Tarr @patrickt.bsky.social · 1d

Toronto friends, three weeks from today come see Emily Weedon, Daniel Perry, Michael Rowe, @mcallway.bsky.social, and myself read at the spooky October edition of Drunk Fiction. Oct 28th, 6pm at the Caledonian at College and Ossington.

An ad for the event 'Spoooky Drunk Fiction', with a dark background featuring covers for the novels #TheGuestChildren, #HemoSapiens, #SnakeOilAndOtherTales, #Pride, and #ModernFolklore.

1 4

Reposted by S.J. Shank

Beau Johnson 🇨🇦 🪓 @beaujohnson44.bsky.social · 1d

Do not buy my books from Amazon or Down and Out Books directly. I will not get paid. I should get paid, as per my contract, but in an email from D&O I’ve been told ‘no further payments will be issued.’
It absolutely blows it is ending this way, but man, pay your authors what they are owed.

17 46 120

Reposted by S.J. Shank

Kev Harrison @kevharrison.bsky.social · 2d

Thanks to everyone who pre-ordered, bought, shared, talked about and reviewed #Pyres on its first weekend. It's been a great start!

Have you stared into the flames yet?

#HorrorBooks #BookSky #IndieAuthor 📚😱
books2read.com/pyresnovel

1 10 18

S.J. Shank @sjshank.bsky.social · 2d

Do yourself a favour and read some Steve Stred!

Only 99c a pop!

Steve Stred @stevestred.bsky.social · 2d

Final day to grab these 6 ebooks for only 99c each! Thanks to all who have done so already!

Find them here - author.to/stevestred

1 1 2

S.J. Shank @sjshank.bsky.social · 2d

🙏🙏🙏

Reposted by S.J. Shank

Michael Johnstone @mikejwrites.bsky.social · 2d

Starting THE KNAVE OF GRAVES today, the second novel by @sjshank.bsky.social! Ornery gravedigger who treats with a night hag? I'm in. A perfect read for Hallowe'en month. 🎃

Image of the cover of the novel THE KNAVE OF GRAVES, by S.J. Shank. Red-orange illustration of a pile of skulls.

1 1 3

S.J. Shank @sjshank.bsky.social · 3d

I had a fantastic time at @littleghostsbooks.bsky.social Festival this weekend!

Thanks so much to the LG gang for putting on the event and giving me the the chance to read alongside a slate of stellar writers (who I unfortunately didn't get a picture of).

Here's a pic of my book haul instead.

1 8

S.J. Shank @sjshank.bsky.social · 5d

I'm excited to be reading at Little Ghosts Festival this weekend!

Come out on Sunday (Oct. 5) at 4pm to hear me read from my latest, The Knave of Graves.

Hope to see you there!

@littleghostsbooks.bsky.social #horror #reading

3 12

Reposted by S.J. Shank

Ronald McGillvray @ronaldmcgillvray.bsky.social · 7d

Releasing on October 20th comes a new anthology edited by @coyhall.bsky.social. In an age lit by fire, only the most curious and driven souls turned a flame to the unknown. Their discoveries were grim, their knowledge foul, their names buried. Pre-order it now here:
www.amazon.com/This-World-V...

2 10 26

S.J. Shank @sjshank.bsky.social · 14d

I'm proud to say my story "Ars Logica" will appear in this incredible collection of historical horror stories inspired by the Scientific Revolution.

Coy Hall @coyhall.bsky.social · 14d

A month until the veil is lifted and THIS WORLD OF VILE WONDER: HORROR TALES OF THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION is unleashed! Nine tales of horror & dread that put candle flame to the underbelly of this mortal coil. Amazon & Kobo ⬇️

The full wrap of This World of Vile Wonder. The cover art is an astronomer holding a candle, resting his hand on a globe, reading a manuscript. The art is a 1650s painting by Gerrit Dou called 'Astronomer by Candlelight.'

2 10

Reposted by S.J. Shank

HWA Ontario @hwaontario.bsky.social · 14d

This weekend is the first annual Little Ghosts Fest at Little Ghost Books in Toronto hosted by @littleghostsbooks.bsky.social . Two of our members will be on a panel on Saturday! @andrewawesome.bsky.social and @sillysyntax.bsky.social

www.littleghostsbooks.com/little-ghost...

www.littleghostsbooks.com

1 7 24

Reposted by S.J. Shank

Jack Finn @therealjackfinn.bsky.social · 15d

Load up your #horror TBR with these new releases!

@j-schiecke.bsky.social
@rebeccacuthbert.bsky.social
@debbieurbanski.bsky.social
@lamaupin.bsky.social
@coyhall.bsky.social
@rhymeswithcamera.bsky.social
@superstacey318.bsky.social
@ejmorales-author.bsky.social
@tonyanuci.bsky.social

The Clatter Man - Janelle Schiecke
Letter 26 - Jacob Moon
Six O’Clock House - Rebecca Cuthbert
Horrifica Paperback –Sheldon Woodbury
Danforth: Eldritch Tales of WWII - Christopher Michael
What Comes Before - Molly Macabre
Portalmania – Debbie Urbanski
The Weird - Carl H. Sederholm
Brimstone & Blades – Maria Alexander
Tick Town – Christopher Micklos
The Owl Men of Shanidar - Coy Hall
Rain Shadows – Clay Vermuln & Tamara Sellman
The Breathing House – Stacey L . Pierson
They Come When You Sleep – Jack Finn
An Illegal Feast - Addison, Flores
Zombie Mom – Eddie J Morales
Screamplay - Adam Black
The Girl Who Walked On Ice - Joseph Lewis

1 10 23

S.J. Shank @sjshank.bsky.social · 20d

I bought yet more books. Today's secondhand finds:

✧ The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and the Catastrophe Ca. 1200 B.C. by Robert Drews
✧ Battling the Gods: Atheism in the Ancient World by Tim Whitmarsh

Reposted by S.J. Shank

Coy Hall @coyhall.bsky.social · 21d

Here’s where you’ll find the Dorin Toth stories so far. An occult investigator travels Eastern Europe in the 1680s with his greyhound, Vinegar Tom, and Great Pyrenees, Basina.

Pictures are the books titled Grimoire of the Four Impostors, The Promise of Plague Wolves, The Fiends in the Furrows III, & This World of Vile Wonder: Horror Tales of the Scientific Revolution.

2 13 52

Reposted by S.J. Shank

Jack Finn @therealjackfinn.bsky.social · 29d

2025 New Releases for Your TBR

@kevinbachar.bsky.social @jamiedeangibson.bsky.social
@brianpinkerton1.bsky.social @kevharrison.bsky.social
@spookywv.bsky.social @timwaggoner.bsky.social
@pfracassi.bsky.social @crystallake.bsky.social
@chrstnabergling.bsky.social @gravesidepress.bsky.social

2025 New Releases for Your TBR

Hotel Macabre – Joe Mynhardt
The Channel – Kevin Bachar
The Perfect Stranger – Brian Pinkerton
Stone Martyrs – Erik Hofstatter
Tort 2 - Jamie Dean Gibson
What Fresh Hell is This?: Dark - Del Howison
Pyres - Kev Harrison
Circus of the Dead
The Exorcists House – Resurrection – Nick Roberts
The Rotting Room - Viggy Parr Hampton
Lost Ghost – Trevor James Zaple
The Knave of Graves – SJ Shank
Dark Canadiana
The Solstice - Elaine Pascale
Negative Images – Rebecca Schier-Akamelu
The World Turns Red – Tim Waggoner
The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre Audible - Philip Fracassi
Red Walls – Christina Bergling

11 17

Reposted by S.J. Shank

Catherine McCarthy @catherinemccarthy.bsky.social · 22d

IT'S LAUNCH DAY FOR IMMORTELLE!🥂
My thanks to the incredible @sobelobooks.bsky.social
for making this a reality.🙏
Discover the background to this classic Gothic horror via link in pic or link in bio.👇

Book cover depicting a grave with a crow perched upon a Victorian immortelle.

10 24 43

Reposted by S.J. Shank

Adam Roberts @adamroberts.bsky.social · 27d

Roses are red
Einstein was clever

Adrian Chiles headline: "I boiled my wooden spoons and what emerged from them with haunt me forever."

1 5 47

S.J. Shank @sjshank.bsky.social · 29d

I still have editing to do on my previous manuscript (and the one before that), but it's time to look ahead to my next writing project. I'll be spending the next few months with these guys.

#historicalhorror #fancydress

S.J. Shank @sjshank.bsky.social · Sep 8

This is a fantastic interview about the ideas behind one of the coolest and most thought-provoking books of 2025.

Caroline Shea @therealcshea.bsky.social · Sep 8

I talked to @coyhall.bsky.social about the (delightfully) eerie The Owl Men of Shanidar, gendered dynamics in sci-fi, history as storytelling, and writing the premodern. Conversation linked here: www.patreon.com/posts/interv...

The cover of Coy Hall's The Owl Men of Shanidar. The figure of an owl, surrounded by a circular border of leaves, is centered on a black background. The style is reminiscent of the reliefs found on ancient pottery.

“I approach teaching history as storytelling, bringing in the details that vivify, focusing on the human element, bringing people to life. As a historian, fiction helped me realize what details make the past appear real in the mind of a reader or listener. […] I believe you can reflect the present through the warped lens of the past just as sci-fi reflects back on us from an imagined future.”
Text is on a tan, paper-like background and framed by several decorative icons in dark red.

Reposted by S.J. Shank

Coy Hall @coyhall.bsky.social · Sep 8

Had a great conversation with Caroline Shea, talking about my novel The Owl Men of Shanidar, medieval relics, writing a Robin Hood novel, & other topics. Check it out!

Caroline Shea @therealcshea.bsky.social · Sep 8

1 8 24

S.J. Shank @sjshank.bsky.social · Sep 8

Sounds great! It was very nice chatting with you!

S.J. Shank @sjshank.bsky.social · Sep 8

It's always a thrill to see my baby on the shelves at @bakkaphoenix.bsky.social.

#theknaveofgraves #shopindie #darkfantasy

1 3 12

S.J. Shank @sjshank.bsky.social · Sep 7

Yesterday I went to @bakkaphoenix.bsky.social to attend the book launch of The Malevolent Eight by @decastell.bsky.social. He was joined by @phokion.bsky.social for a lively and insightful conversation about the writing life.

I also hung out with the authors and fellow fans at the bar. Good times!

2 11