Stephanie Ellis
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stephellis.bsky.social
Stephanie Ellis
@stephellis.bsky.social
3.4K followers 2.6K following 1.8K posts
Author, Elgin & Rhysling award-nominated poet, and reader.
Member BFS
https://stephanieellis.org/
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stephellis.bsky.social
Thanks, Gabino.

Harrowfield. A quiet folk horror which takes you to the Marches and a place where the pagan and the occult collide.

mybook.to/Harrowfield

#FridayReads #booksky #folkhorror
Graphic showing Harrowfield book cover against a mistletoe background, through which eyes are peering. Also contains review comments.
January 9, 2026 at 6:43 PM
stephellis.bsky.social
Currently enjoying the claustrophobic heat of @elizabethbroadbent.bsky.social short story collection Ink Vine and Other Swamp Stories for @undertakerbooks.bsky.social

#FridayReads #booksky
Cover of Ink Vine and Other Swamp Stories by Elizabeth Broadbent. Insects and plant life shown one fluorescent shades of green, orange and yellow. Title at top, name at bottom.
January 9, 2026 at 6:32 PM
stephellis.bsky.social
The path of green and gold hides a multitude of sins in Harrowfield ...

mybook.to/Harrowfield

#booksky #folkhorror #horror #FridayReads
Promo graphic of background of mistletoe with Harrowfield book shown to the right. Eyes hide behind the mistletoe. To the left are these blurbs: ‘An unsettling folk horror ... It creeps under your skin and once you’ve finished reading, it will never let you go.’ – Corinne Pollard, Horror Tree. ‘If you enjoy cozy horror/dark folklore, pagan goddesses and rural settings you really should pick up a copy. I promise you'll enjoy it.’ – Catherine McCarthy, author of Death of a Clown. ‘Harrowfield has the cloistered, nearly claustrophobic atmosphere essential to folk horror. ‘ – Valerie B. Williams, author of The Vanishing Twin.
January 9, 2026 at 4:18 PM
stephellis.bsky.social
A deep start to the new year, Gree! Great questions.

Harrowfield is a tale of self-discovery against a background of folk horror.

I'd love others to discover Harrowfield too! Come walk the path of green and gold ...

mybook.to/Harrowfield

#HorrorWritersChat #booksky
Full wrap of Harrow field in shades of slushy green. Dark lower half, made upper half for the sky. On the front, a single free shields two small standing stones. On the back a larger stone and two birds flying above it.
January 7, 2026 at 8:23 PM
stephellis.bsky.social
Oh my! A mention on Ellen Datlow's long list for my historical horror short, Into Oblivion, which lurks inside @coyhall.bsky.social's Death's Other Kingdom! 2026 made already.
List of names from Ellen Datlow's longlist. https://ellendatlow.com/category/news/ Cover of Death's Other Kingdom. Soldier's with a machine gun firing into a red sky
January 4, 2026 at 4:34 PM
stephellis.bsky.social
#Fridayreads Just turned the last page of Susie Dent's Guilty by Definition. Loved it, especially as word etymologies were sprinkled throughout. They are my weakness. 😅

#booksky
January 2, 2026 at 10:05 PM
stephellis.bsky.social
Has been lovely to see a few sales of Harrowfield in the past month or so. Thank you to those who have picked it up ❤️
mybook.to/Harrowfield

Thanks to The Horror Tree horrortree.com/epeolatry-bo... for the review & I also spotted it on Mother Horror's list which was a surprise!

#booksky #folkhorror
Promo graphic from Horror Tree for Harrowfield review. Shows partial cover (tree and standing stone). Words 'Harrowfield's tense atmosphere climbs with each chapter between quick breaths of laughter and relief before throwing you into the deep end of a harrowing chokehold!' Screen capture of Mother Horror's recommended folk horror books: 🕯️Phantasmagoria 🕯️Harrowfield (currently reading) 🕯️The Plague Stones ✨ 🕯️The Haunting of Wounded Birds (currently reading) 🕯️Barrowbeck 🕯️TAAQTUMI 2 🕯️The Gathering Dark ✨ 🕯️Folk Songs for Trauma Surgeons 🕯️The Bone Mother ✨ 🕯️Where They Burn Books They Also Burn People 🕯️MOAN (just bought!) 🕯️Pay the Piper Front cover of Harrowfield Solitary tree sheltering two small standing stones. All in shades of green.
January 2, 2026 at 2:02 PM
stephellis.bsky.social
Happy New Year, Eryn and everyone at #HorrorWritersChat.
Harrowfield awaits those who enjoy a touch of gentle folk horror.

mybook.to/Harrowfield

And if you've read, a review, for good or bad, would be lovely 😊
www.goodreads.com/book/show/24...
Full print wrap for Harrowfield. Lower half is very dark green, almost black, upper half shows a sludgy grass green sky. A solitary tree shelters two small standing stones. On the other side of the field is a larger monolith with two birds flying overhead.
December 31, 2025 at 8:36 PM
stephellis.bsky.social
Just finished @chaoticauthor.online's A Salmonweird Sleighing. A delightful 5/5.
#booksky #cosy #crime
December 27, 2025 at 7:17 PM
stephellis.bsky.social
Just finished this very gentle book. Makes you want to get outside and look with fresh eyes at the landscape.
Cover of Grounded non-fiction book. Shows trees on a hill, some stones between them. They are very simplified trees: trunks and a few branches, no leaves.
December 24, 2025 at 11:11 PM
stephellis.bsky.social
Christmas is coming, and so is murder.

1913 Napoleonic Britain
Snow, monks, and music hall.
Churchill and a muscle man

The Dowager Empress Eugenie cordially invites you to her Christmas gathering at Farnborough Hill House

Twiggy Voo?

mybook.to/TwiggyVoo
Print cover of Twiggy Voo? A snowy woodland at night with a man's shadow in the foreground, a mansion in the distance
December 20, 2025 at 11:17 PM
stephellis.bsky.social
Thanks, Gabino. I'd like to share these three books written by the late @chaoticauthor.online. A great writer, a lovely man & creator of #HorrorWritersChat- he is gone too soon. The link is for the 1st, also shows the others underneath.
#MGMasonRocked

www.amazon.com/Salmonweird-...
Covers of three Salmonweird books: Salmonweird A Salmonweird Sleighing Studio Salmonweird Each has a large knife stabbing a jam-and-cream-filled scone which oozes jam.
December 19, 2025 at 8:06 PM
stephellis.bsky.social
Not only did @chaoticauthor.online Matt Mason create the wonderful & welcoming #HorrorWritersChat - he also created the delightful world of Salmonweird, a book I've just finished. So good, I've ordered the next in the series.

Kind, talented, creative. #MGMasonRocked #booksky ❤️
Three book covers of the Salmonweird trilogy by MG Mason From left to right Salmonweird A Salmonweird Sleighing Studio Salmonweird Each cover shows a knife plunging into a cream-and-jam-filled scone with jam spilling everyway as if blood.
December 19, 2025 at 2:04 PM
stephellis.bsky.social
James Fox's Craft Land is such a lovely book, poignant but ultimately positive in outlook, as well as being one of the most interesting works I've read in a while.

And there are a number of names on the list of extinct occupations at the back that are sure to raise a chuckle.

#booksky
Cover of James Fox's Craft Land. Hardback, yellow cover with author name and title in black print Beneath this 'A Journey Through Britain's Lost Arts and Vanishing Trades in red print Beneath that a black hand, palm up. A paper wrap covers the lower part of that cover and it shows a black and white print of a dry stone waller at work in the rain.
December 18, 2025 at 9:59 PM
stephellis.bsky.social
May I use this review to tempt a few others to pick up Harrowfield, my latest folk horror?

Not the path of redemption, but of the green and gold - and some regret.

horrortree.com/epeolatry-bo...
Front cover of Harrowfield. All landscape in shades of green. Shows a solitary tree sheltering two standing stones.
December 17, 2025 at 9:18 PM
stephellis.bsky.social
Cosy crime for Christmas - with a twist

Twiggy Voo?

Napoleonic Britain 1913
A body in the library - or is there?
Doubles - and I don't mean tennis
Darts - 180!

Christmas is coming ...

mybook.to/TwiggyVoo

#booksky #cosycrime #Christmas #fiction
Full cover for Twiggy Voo? A snowy woodland scene at night in shades of deep blue and blue/white snow. In the distance a mansion. In the foreground a man in shadow. Blurb on the back: December 1913. Since Great Britain’s defeat at Waterloo, the island nation has existed as an ‘arrondissemont’ of France. Dowager Empress Eugénie the mother of Emperor Louis-Napoléon, is hosting a country party at her Hampshire home, Farnborough Hill House. Invitations to her Christmas gatherings are coveted and this particular occasion consists of a mixture of aristocracy, businessmen and music hall artistes including the infamous Paulette. Winston Churchill, purveyor of fine meats, and part of Britain’s underground resistance is also invited. His remit is to keep the errant Prince Eddie in check and shed some light on Paulette’s involvement in the scandal swirling around the murder of his friend, singer Harry Fragson. However, when the Empress decides to stage her own ‘murder mystery’ as part of the festivities, a real body in the library appears. Immediately, Paulette is suspected. As snow sets in and isolates the house and its inhabitants, can Winston save her bacon and escape a roasting from both the Emperor and the nominal King, George V?
December 14, 2025 at 7:53 PM
stephellis.bsky.social
Thank you for bringing us the music!

The Woodcutter is a folk horror riffing on the story of Red Riding Hood. Re-enacting an old legend for a reality tv show brings unintended consequences.

#HorrorWritersChat #booksky

brigidsgatepress.com/products?key...
Cover of The Woodcutter, title in red print in middle of page. An axe hangs upside down, it's blade showing a small cottage in the woods. Above the handle are trees.
December 10, 2025 at 8:17 PM
stephellis.bsky.social
Finished Scratch Moss by @davidmbarnett.bsky.social. Review to write up but I can safely say it is a most excellent read. Highly recommend.

#booksky #folkhorror
Book cover of Scratch Moss. Black background with a 'scratchy' bird drawn in white above book title printed in yellow. Author's name below title. At the top, blurb praise for the book: A masterpiece of folkloric horror by Kealan Patrick-Burke Beneath that in yellow print: It lingers in the woods It thrives in the mines
December 6, 2025 at 6:02 PM
stephellis.bsky.social
Thanks, Gabino. In the run-up to Christmas, Twiggy Voo? fits the bill for #althistory cosy crime.

Napoleonic Britain Dec 1913
A country house party
Dead bodies aplenty
Mistaken identities

#FridayReads #booksky #murdermystery
Full wrap print cover for Twiggy Voo? A snowy woodland scene at night. A shadowy figure in the foreground, a lit mansion in the background.
December 5, 2025 at 7:31 PM
stephellis.bsky.social
Look what turned up today! (Reviewing for @horrortree.com)

Scuttler's Cove by @davidmbarnett.bsky.social won me over so am looking forward to this one. Going in ...

#booksky #folkhorror #FridayReads
December 5, 2025 at 7:16 PM
stephellis.bsky.social
The Five Turns folk horror/dark fantasy universe began with The Five Turns of the Wheel. The 3rd book (Mother's Night, Rise of the Hare Witch) is contracted for next autumn.

Ritual abounds in the Weald, come visit, come dance.

brigidsgatepress.com/product/the-...

#HorrorWritersChat
Front cover of The Five Turns of the Wheel by Stephanie Ellis. Title at the top, author name at the bottom. Between them is a skull, partially crushed and side on, lying in a bed of autumnal leaves, surrounded by a wooden wheel. #HorrorWritersChat
December 3, 2025 at 8:57 PM
stephellis.bsky.social
Yay, hubbie's ancestral home won! (His grandfather owned it for a no. of years way back when 😁). It's in Tywyn, Gwynedd btw.
Cinema screen and audience with wording Winner Cinema of the Year The Magic Lantern Cinema
November 30, 2025 at 9:36 PM
stephellis.bsky.social
Tis the season (almost) for cosy Christmas crime

1913 Napoleonic Britain
Winston Churchill on a diet
Lenin annoyed at receiving a dukedom
A murder mystery game goes wrong
And the monks next door aren't what they seem

Twiggy Voo?

#booksky #FridayReads #althistory

mybook.to/TwiggyVoo
Full wrap cover of Twiggy Voo? showing a nighttime wintry scene in a snow covered wood. A mansion glimmers in the distance, between an avenue of trees. A shadowy figure stands in the foreground. Blurb on back: December 1913. Since Great Britain’s defeat at Waterloo, the island nation has existed as an ‘arrondissemont’ of France. Dowager Empress Eugénie the mother of Emperor Louis-Napoléon, is hosting a country party at her Hampshire home, Farnborough Hill House. Invitations to her Christmas gatherings are coveted and this particular occasion consists of a mixture of aristocracy, businessmen and music hall artistes including the infamous Paulette. Winston Churchill, purveyor of fine meats, and part of Britain’s underground resistance is also invited. His remit is to keep the errant Prince Eddie in check and shed some light on Paulette’s involvement in the scandal swirling around the murder of his friend, singer Harry Fragson. However, when the Empress decides to stage her own ‘murder mystery’ as part of the festivities, a real body in the library appears. Immediately, Paulette is suspected. As snow sets in and isolates the house and its inhabitants, can Winston save her bacon and escape a roasting from both the Emperor and the nominal King, George V?
November 28, 2025 at 6:27 PM
stephellis.bsky.social
Currently reading this modern take on the story of Blodeuwedd from the Mabinogion: Honeysuckle by Bar Fridman-Tell.

Thoroughly enjoying (am reviewing it for Horror Tree).

#Booksky #FridayReads
The front cover of Honeysuckle shows a red heart with flowers woven around it against a black background. The title goes across the middle of the heart in yellow print, author's name at the bottom.
November 28, 2025 at 6:18 PM
stephellis.bsky.social
Here's something I've been working on this year. Got to see the proof copy today & it looks wonderful. Initially print only, but I'm sure ebook will appear.
It holds stories and poems of those with lived experience of homelessness. As soon as links are available, I'll be sharing!
A good cause. 1/3
Front cover of The Story Project book. Purple background with a tree standing in the centre, its roots buried in the pages of a book. Title The Story Project/Words from the Doorway in top two lines The wallich charity logo at the bottom.
November 26, 2025 at 9:09 PM