Asher Elbein
@asherelbein.bsky.social
Freelance writing about the wild, old and dead. Bylines in NatGeo, SciAm, The New York Times, Texas Monthly, and many other places. Repped by @desir.ee at Looking Glass Literary (fiction) and @benglishhh.bsky.social at Transatlantic (nonfiction)
Pinned
Ghost Days — ASHER ELBEIN
Southern Appalachia, 1900. Cast out by tragedy and strange magic, Anna O’Brien wanders the countryside on her wooden leg: living by her wits, settling spirits for her work, and never, ever looking ba...
www.asherelbein.com
Black Friday sale! I've found one last box of GHOST DAYS, my Appalachian historical folklore/horror illustrated by @tiffanyturrill.bsky.social, hiding at my parents' house. That means there's just 35 books left before the print run sells out completely (!!) and this weekend they're $10 each!
Reposted by Asher Elbein
16 books left! 👀 I'm going to ship these out tomorrow, so if you want yours in the mail this week, now's your chance!
My book GHOST DAYS is a lushly illustrated love letter to Appalachian folklore, witchcraft, and pulpy paranormal adventure. It's got incredible @tiffanyturrill.bsky.social art, and a wandering witch I *love* writing.
On sale now for over 50% off! There's only 35 books left...
On sale now for over 50% off! There's only 35 books left...
Ghost Days — ASHER ELBEIN
Southern Appalachia, 1900. Cast out by tragedy and strange magic, Anna O’Brien wanders the countryside on her wooden leg: living by her wits, settling spirits for her work, and never, ever looking ba...
www.asherelbein.com
December 2, 2025 at 11:24 PM
16 books left! 👀 I'm going to ship these out tomorrow, so if you want yours in the mail this week, now's your chance!
Finished the first chapter of the UT Press Paleontology book, on the Texas Carboniferous, which proved a a very interesting challenge. The next one should be easier*
(I will say this about every chapter. It will never be true)
(I will say this about every chapter. It will never be true)
December 4, 2025 at 3:54 AM
Finished the first chapter of the UT Press Paleontology book, on the Texas Carboniferous, which proved a a very interesting challenge. The next one should be easier*
(I will say this about every chapter. It will never be true)
(I will say this about every chapter. It will never be true)
I'm a big fan of the original Spartacus, a show that was, at pretty much every turn, better and more perceptive than it had to be about the genuinely horrific slave society of Ancient Rome. Very excited to hear that we're back in business, baby
On What's Alan Watching?, a special guest review by @moryan.bsky.social about one of her passions, the Starz gladiator drama Spartacus, which returns this week with spinoff Spartacus: House of Ashur:
Review: 'Spartacus' lives again with 'House of Ashur'
The Starz gladiator drama returns, still hornier — and more thoughtful — than you'd expect
www.whatsalanwatching.com
December 4, 2025 at 12:34 AM
I'm a big fan of the original Spartacus, a show that was, at pretty much every turn, better and more perceptive than it had to be about the genuinely horrific slave society of Ancient Rome. Very excited to hear that we're back in business, baby
Reposted by Asher Elbein
Spartacus has often functioned as a litmus test of what people think a "smart" show is. Obv it leaned into operatic violence & stylized soap mechanics BUT it was also incredibly well constructed & had a lot of smart political points to make. Exploration of consent & autonomy PILLARS of the show.
December 4, 2025 at 12:18 AM
Spartacus has often functioned as a litmus test of what people think a "smart" show is. Obv it leaned into operatic violence & stylized soap mechanics BUT it was also incredibly well constructed & had a lot of smart political points to make. Exploration of consent & autonomy PILLARS of the show.
Reposted by Asher Elbein
Don’t get me wrong, I love bats! It’s just fascinating how huge the range is on this order’s diversity in terms of looks.
I love how bats come in 4 flavors:
🦇 mouse with wings
🦇 fox with wings
🦇 cathedral gargoyle
🦇 eldritch nightmare abomination
🦇 mouse with wings
🦇 fox with wings
🦇 cathedral gargoyle
🦇 eldritch nightmare abomination
December 3, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Don’t get me wrong, I love bats! It’s just fascinating how huge the range is on this order’s diversity in terms of looks.
Reposted by Asher Elbein
i strongly, strongly believe that good writing is downstream of clear thinking and a strong understanding of the subject matter at hand. without fail, tortured writing comes from writers who don’t know and can’t think clearly about anything.
Oh man! This paragraph is brutal. The best thing about this review is it's not trying to be mean. It's just listing how bad the writing is.
December 3, 2025 at 4:14 PM
i strongly, strongly believe that good writing is downstream of clear thinking and a strong understanding of the subject matter at hand. without fail, tortured writing comes from writers who don’t know and can’t think clearly about anything.
This, from @thebarbedwire.com, is a big ol' yikes from me, y'all
He’s an Unapologetic Fascist Who ‘Despises’ Democracy. He Still Wants You to Vote for Him.
He was once leader of the Proud Boys, has posted racist threats online, and sports a white nationalist tattoo.
thebarbedwire.com
December 3, 2025 at 3:56 PM
This, from @thebarbedwire.com, is a big ol' yikes from me, y'all
Reposted by Asher Elbein
yes, it’s really that bad.
If new proposals detailed in an FDA memo are put into place, experts told me it would mean the end of annual flu shots. And end of most vaccines for pregnant people. And maybe the end of updates to pneumonia vaccines. And more.
www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-va...
www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-va...
FDA official proposes ‘impossible’ standards for vaccine testing that could curtail access to immunizations
www.cidrap.umn.edu
December 3, 2025 at 2:30 PM
yes, it’s really that bad.
Reposted by Asher Elbein
Yolo often stands with his little back toes crossed, which I find ridiculously cute!
You can see vultures don't have bulky feet and talons built for grasping/carrying like other raptors. Their more chicken-like feet are meant for bracing on food to pull at it with their powerful beaks, instead.
You can see vultures don't have bulky feet and talons built for grasping/carrying like other raptors. Their more chicken-like feet are meant for bracing on food to pull at it with their powerful beaks, instead.
December 2, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Yolo often stands with his little back toes crossed, which I find ridiculously cute!
You can see vultures don't have bulky feet and talons built for grasping/carrying like other raptors. Their more chicken-like feet are meant for bracing on food to pull at it with their powerful beaks, instead.
You can see vultures don't have bulky feet and talons built for grasping/carrying like other raptors. Their more chicken-like feet are meant for bracing on food to pull at it with their powerful beaks, instead.
Reposted by Asher Elbein
The thing that bothers me is the number of people with whom I ostensibly share an industry, whose job it is to report on politics, staring open KKK-level racism in the face every day and basically deciding not to say so
What does it say about this country that that the kind of open, rank bigotry Trump administration officials regularly express towards black immigrants apparently has no social cost because of the number of Americans who quietly agree or don't care.
December 3, 2025 at 2:05 PM
The thing that bothers me is the number of people with whom I ostensibly share an industry, whose job it is to report on politics, staring open KKK-level racism in the face every day and basically deciding not to say so
Reposted by Asher Elbein
The final, formatted version of the Zanno & @jgn-paleo.bsky.social Nanotyrannus paper is out:
Zanno, L.E., Napoli, J.G. Nanotyrannus and Tyrannosaurus coexisted at the close of the Cretaceous. Nature (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Zanno, L.E., Napoli, J.G. Nanotyrannus and Tyrannosaurus coexisted at the close of the Cretaceous. Nature (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Nanotyrannus and Tyrannosaurus coexisted at the close of the Cretaceous - Nature
A well-preserved skeleton of a nearly mature tyrannosaur from the Hell Creek Formation in Montana, USA supports the existence of a second Nanotyrannus species, Nanotyrannus lethaeus sp. nov., and vali...
doi.org
December 3, 2025 at 1:33 PM
The final, formatted version of the Zanno & @jgn-paleo.bsky.social Nanotyrannus paper is out:
Zanno, L.E., Napoli, J.G. Nanotyrannus and Tyrannosaurus coexisted at the close of the Cretaceous. Nature (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Zanno, L.E., Napoli, J.G. Nanotyrannus and Tyrannosaurus coexisted at the close of the Cretaceous. Nature (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Reposted by Asher Elbein
We just hit $100k raised through GoFundMe, $140k raised overall. We're on day 9 of the fundraiser and at 28%. $25k more to get to 33%. Help us get there this week! gofund.me/c67eec200
December 3, 2025 at 1:14 PM
We just hit $100k raised through GoFundMe, $140k raised overall. We're on day 9 of the fundraiser and at 28%. $25k more to get to 33%. Help us get there this week! gofund.me/c67eec200
Reposted by Asher Elbein
Something I’ve thought about a lot is that the WH has decided to govern the country like Missouri or Brownback’s Kansas, and most people have never lived in a deep red state so this is all a fairly new experience for them
Cosmically funny that, the American public has had less than a year of uncut republican governance, and they’ve decided that they absolutely hate this shit, spit it out
December 3, 2025 at 3:43 AM
Something I’ve thought about a lot is that the WH has decided to govern the country like Missouri or Brownback’s Kansas, and most people have never lived in a deep red state so this is all a fairly new experience for them
I'm such a sucker for these sorts of designs -- really does feel like what you'd get if 90s Disney (or Don Bluth, for that matter) had gotten their hands on the Marvel license
I feel like I didn’t show enough X-men a few days ago so here’s dozens more. The full print set is in my store for a few more days. Get your favorite section or all 5 pieces( 7 feet total!) before they go back into the vault! Link in first comment
December 3, 2025 at 3:53 AM
I'm such a sucker for these sorts of designs -- really does feel like what you'd get if 90s Disney (or Don Bluth, for that matter) had gotten their hands on the Marvel license
Worked on the Carboniferous chapter of the UT Press Texas Paleontology book today, and while I don't know whether this will make it into the finished manuscript (and it certainly needs some fact checking) I'm quite proud of this riff
December 2, 2025 at 11:32 PM
Worked on the Carboniferous chapter of the UT Press Texas Paleontology book today, and while I don't know whether this will make it into the finished manuscript (and it certainly needs some fact checking) I'm quite proud of this riff
16 books left! 👀 I'm going to ship these out tomorrow, so if you want yours in the mail this week, now's your chance!
My book GHOST DAYS is a lushly illustrated love letter to Appalachian folklore, witchcraft, and pulpy paranormal adventure. It's got incredible @tiffanyturrill.bsky.social art, and a wandering witch I *love* writing.
On sale now for over 50% off! There's only 35 books left...
On sale now for over 50% off! There's only 35 books left...
Ghost Days — ASHER ELBEIN
Southern Appalachia, 1900. Cast out by tragedy and strange magic, Anna O’Brien wanders the countryside on her wooden leg: living by her wits, settling spirits for her work, and never, ever looking ba...
www.asherelbein.com
December 2, 2025 at 11:24 PM
16 books left! 👀 I'm going to ship these out tomorrow, so if you want yours in the mail this week, now's your chance!
I guess the move is "run out the clock"
6 days from the Texas candidate filing deadline, and somehow it's still crickets from the Supreme Court. We're now 11 days after Alito issued the administrative stay on the lower court order.
December 2, 2025 at 11:21 PM
I guess the move is "run out the clock"
Reposted by Asher Elbein
this Arendt quote gets at it too www.unpopularfront.news/p/yeah-what-...
December 2, 2025 at 6:16 PM
this Arendt quote gets at it too www.unpopularfront.news/p/yeah-what-...
There is a moment in THE HOWLING 3: THE MARSUPIALS where a young woman gives birth to a joey which then crawls up into her pouch. Also the bit where a Russian ballarina turns into a wolf mid-pirouette. And one of the funniest line-readings I've ever heard in a movie. Also--
Defend a terrible film by picking something from it that saves it.
December 2, 2025 at 10:30 PM
There is a moment in THE HOWLING 3: THE MARSUPIALS where a young woman gives birth to a joey which then crawls up into her pouch. Also the bit where a Russian ballarina turns into a wolf mid-pirouette. And one of the funniest line-readings I've ever heard in a movie. Also--
Always fun whenever you can see the marching orders go out
December 2, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Always fun whenever you can see the marching orders go out
lol okay
Hillary Clinton blames TikTok and “totally made up” videos for young people’s views on Israel and Palestine.
She says social media influenced “not just the usual suspects” but also “young Jewish Americans who don’t know the history and don’t understand.”
She says social media influenced “not just the usual suspects” but also “young Jewish Americans who don’t know the history and don’t understand.”
December 2, 2025 at 9:52 PM
lol okay
Reposted by Asher Elbein
18 books left! They're going fast. 👀
My book GHOST DAYS is a lushly illustrated love letter to Appalachian folklore, witchcraft, and pulpy paranormal adventure. It's got incredible @tiffanyturrill.bsky.social art, and a wandering witch I *love* writing.
On sale now for over 50% off! There's only 35 books left...
On sale now for over 50% off! There's only 35 books left...
Ghost Days — ASHER ELBEIN
Southern Appalachia, 1900. Cast out by tragedy and strange magic, Anna O’Brien wanders the countryside on her wooden leg: living by her wits, settling spirits for her work, and never, ever looking ba...
www.asherelbein.com
November 30, 2025 at 11:46 AM
18 books left! They're going fast. 👀
Reposted by Asher Elbein
While you're at it, Texas followers, you can also buy a copy of DINOSAURS AND OTHER ANCIENT ANIMALS OF THE BIG BEND for $25!
(It's got some really lovely bits of natural history writing in it, and great Julius Cstonyi art!)
utpress.utexas.edu/9781477324639/
(It's got some really lovely bits of natural history writing in it, and great Julius Cstonyi art!)
utpress.utexas.edu/9781477324639/
November 28, 2025 at 1:32 PM
While you're at it, Texas followers, you can also buy a copy of DINOSAURS AND OTHER ANCIENT ANIMALS OF THE BIG BEND for $25!
(It's got some really lovely bits of natural history writing in it, and great Julius Cstonyi art!)
utpress.utexas.edu/9781477324639/
(It's got some really lovely bits of natural history writing in it, and great Julius Cstonyi art!)
utpress.utexas.edu/9781477324639/
Reposted by Asher Elbein
It seems like "wood swept out to sea" is, post-Devonian, a pretty common marine habitat, and since wood-devouring worms only evolve in the Cretaceous, 'm wondering whether it's reasonable to speculate about floating crinoid forests before the actual fossils we have in the Jurassic
December 2, 2025 at 5:58 PM
It seems like "wood swept out to sea" is, post-Devonian, a pretty common marine habitat, and since wood-devouring worms only evolve in the Cretaceous, 'm wondering whether it's reasonable to speculate about floating crinoid forests before the actual fossils we have in the Jurassic