Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Excavating Horror @excavatinghorror.com · 2h

This is a terrific online conference

Dr Sam Hirst @romgothsam.bsky.social · 1d

What's that I see before me? A new Romancing the Gothic conference! Celebrating the 200th anniversary of Radcliffe's last publications with a conference on the work of women and people of marginalised genders in the Gothic and horror...

romancingthegothic.com/2025/10/15/r...

Romancing the Gothic 2026 Conference CFP

More Terrors than her Reason Could Justify A 200th Anniversary Celebration of Ann Radcliffe’s Posthumous Publications 2026 marks the 200th anniversary of the publication of Ann Radcliffe’s final po…

romancingthegothic.com

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Excavating Horror @excavatinghorror.com · 2h

Maybe it does! I need to find someone to ask, I guess lol

Excavating Horror @excavatinghorror.com · 1d

I remain obsessed with some of the titles by the prolific author Mrs. Meekes bsky.app/profile/romg...

Dr Sam Hirst @romgothsam.bsky.social · 4d

Allow me to introduce you the magical world of Meeke's titles

(Image in Anthony Mandal's article 'Mrs Meeke and Minerva: The Mystery and the Marketplace'

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Excavating Horror @excavatinghorror.com · 1d

The early Gothic has so much to show us about the social conditions which inspired tremendous numbers of women to read & write about moldering ruins, cursed heirlooms, predatory men manipulating & stealing inheritances & property rights & autonomy. This talk was inspiring.

Dr Sam Hirst @romgothsam.bsky.social · 1d

What roles did women play in theorising, popularising, writing, publishing and reading the early Gothic?

Come find out!

youtu.be/ZYXmHoErwL8

Women and the Early Gothic with Dr Sam Hirst

YouTube video by Romancing the Gothic

youtu.be

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Reposted by Excavating Horror

Dr Icy Sedgwick @icysedgwick.bsky.social · 1d

This month on Fabulous Folklore Presents, I'm chatting to @odavies9.bsky.social
& @cerihoulbrook.bsky.social about their new book Folklore: A Journey through the Past and Present. There's even a mention of ice cream van folklore!

youtu.be/xuX87Hcp53U?...

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Excavating Horror @excavatinghorror.com · 1d

Marvelous new @helleborezine.bsky.social! Looking forward to digging in to this article to find out what’s going on here & if there’s any chance I’m ever going to get my lipstick just right ever again

An ornate mirror with only the room behind it in the reflection

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Reposted by Excavating Horror

Undertow Publications 🇨🇦 @undertow.bsky.social · 15d

It's October! Hurrah!

I've specially curated 5 of our spookier titles, and discounted the eBooks to just $2. Grab a couple, or all 5 for $10. It's your choice.

@seanbirnie.bsky.social @acwise.bsky.social @stevetoase.bsky.social

undertowpublications.com/ebooks

5 book covers: Shadows & Tall Trees, Vol. 8 (Michael Kelly, ed.) - Finalist for the World Fantasy; Shirley Jackson; and British Fantasy Awards. Reprints in 2 'Best Ofs'. Featuring Kay Chronister, Krisit DeMeester; Brian Evenson, M. Rickert, and more.

Aickman's Heirs (Simon Strantzas, ed.) - Winner of the Shirley Jackson Award. Finalist for the World Fantasy, and British Fantasy Awards. Reprints in 5 'Best Ofs'. Featuring Nadia Bulkin, Brian Evenson, John Langan, Lynda E. Rucker, and more.

The Ghost Sequences, by A.C. Wise - Finalist for the World Fantasy; Locus; Bram Stoker; and British Fantasy Awards.

To Drown in Dark Water, by Steve Toase - Reprints in 2 'Best Ofs'. Praise from Booklist, and Rue Morgue.

I Would Haunt You if I Could, by Seán Padraic Birnie - Reprints in 2 'Best Ofs'. Praise from The Toronto Star, and Library Journal.

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Reposted by Excavating Horror

Daniel Williams @dbenjw.bsky.social · 16d

My periodic call for pitches to the 19th-Century Networks section of ✨Literature Compass✨:

Do you have a state-of-the-field essay to propose on #Romantic or #Victorian topics? a little-known or understudied author to spotlight?

Please get in touch!

compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/1741...

Literature Compass

Click on the title to browse this journal

compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Reposted by Excavating Horror

Dr. Holly Walters @manigarm.bsky.social · 6d

Breaking News (over a picture of Indiana Jones): Archaeologist blunders his way through yet another discovery without any actual archaeology. Dozens dead. "He really is quite bad at this" says every other archaeologist.

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Excavating Horror @excavatinghorror.com · Sep 6

In “Modern Espionage” the ineffectual Dean’s ineffectual efforts to stop a high stakes underground paintball game results in this delightful elevator fight homage, complete with some of the same stuntmen.

The Dean's Super Hero Elevator Scene | Community

YouTube video by Community

youtu.be

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Excavating Horror @excavatinghorror.com · Sep 6

I probably should have just included this in the original post. Captain America: the First Avenger includes the obligatory “Nazis hunting for occult artifacts” trope. The Winter Soldier has something cooler: this glass elevator fight scene.

Elevator Fight Scene | Captain America: The Winter Soldier | Official Clip

YouTube video by Marvel Entertainment

youtu.be

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Reposted by Excavating Horror

Evan Torner @guyintheblackhat.bsky.social · Sep 6

D&D actually received an early 1980s sales bump thanks to the Satanic Panic. The free advertising from Christian organizations allowed teenagers to feel like total, edgy rebels for buying D&D.

Wyrd Science Magazine @wyrdscience.bsky.social · Sep 6

there has never been and there never will be a better evangelist for roleplaying games than a bug eyed Christian with access to rudimentary desktop publishing software, a Xerox printer and a fevered imagination

everything these honkers ever produce is just absolute 100% solid gold

a photo of Wyrd Science issue 3 open to Shannon Appelcline's feature on the satanic panic and showing the original pamphlet by Patricia Pullng about the dangers of D&D, it slaps

one of the many insane panel from the legendary Chick tract on D&D, black leaf's getting it

another classic chick tract panel. Debbie just cast mind bondage on her father, these christians, eh!?

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Excavating Horror @excavatinghorror.com · Sep 6

Also just realized I’m in the wrong account. Tho tbh I’m sort of letting what gets posted in which sort itself out & pretending that somehow is a process that comes from somewhere other than me 🤣

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Excavating Horror @excavatinghorror.com · Sep 6

I think you were sending me your bonkers dreams. I woke up sitting bolt upright in bed but I have no idea why 😂😂😂

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Excavating Horror @excavatinghorror.com · Sep 6

Who’s going to sort out the issues with all the edited collections of non-fiction essays? Sigh.

Jason Sanford @jasonsanford.bsky.social · Sep 1

Many authors have searched The Atlantic's LibGen database of pirated titles to see if they are listed there. However, I've uncovered that authors of short fiction aren't always discoverable there.

Here's how I discovered more of my short fiction in the list. 1/
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI

Millions of books and scientific papers are captured in the collection’s current iteration.

www.theatlantic.com

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Excavating Horror @excavatinghorror.com · Sep 6

How have I Britta’d this so badly? Back to Remedial Hashtags for me.
#6SeasonsAndAMovie

Excavating Horror @excavatinghorror.com · Sep 5

In which I expand on my obsession with the idea that Greendale Community College sits on top of a secret military installation, which is not strange at all no matter what @fishinnards.bsky.social says.

Looking below the surface of Community (2009-2015)

I love the NBC sitcom Community (2009-2015). I try not to suck out the joy by overthinking, but the copious references to Indiana Jones and an Anthropology course that quickly goes off the rails ar…

excavatinghorror.com

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Reposted by Excavating Horror

Dr Kate Rises Again 🧿 @katelaity.bsky.social · Aug 27

'This archaeology is often a dramatic, action-packed endeavor in which the fate of the world rests in the hands of a plucky group of scholars who can’t remember where they parked their car but can translate a dead language and navigate a series of complex traps and devious puzzles.' 🤣

Rebecca Stone Gordon @meanlouise.bsky.social · Aug 27

I had the great pleasure of writing an article about archaeology in horror fiction for @nightmare-magazine.com. It was tremendous fun & I hope you enjoy it, too!
www.nightmare-magazine.com/nonfiction/p...

Plumbing the Depths: Archaeology in Horror Fiction - Nightmare Magazine

Archaeology is a method and practice which resurfaces the past. It can help us reconstruct the history and culture of ancient (or not so ancient) people, and give us insight into what it means to be h...

www.nightmare-magazine.com

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Excavating Horror @excavatinghorror.com · Aug 27

Yes, they’re gorgeous! And ridiculously clever.

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Excavating Horror @excavatinghorror.com · Aug 27

Haven’t give this a listen yet but I’m a big @baladria.bsky.social fan & you better believe I snapped up a deck of her ancient Egyptian-inspired OFMD tarot cards!

Movies We Dig Podcast @movieswedig.bsky.social · Aug 27

Another film we covered this season was The Pyramid (2014). Joined by Dr. Briana Jackson @baladria.bsky.social, we discussed some of the best known tropes for archaeology films, including the ability to translate ancient texts on the spot. What other ones can you think of? Episode now available!

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Excavating Horror @excavatinghorror.com · Aug 27

Love these photos 🖤

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Reposted by Excavating Horror

Andrew Reinhorror, PhD, RPA @adreinhard.bsky.social · Aug 27

#PunkArchaeology

Andy the Postantiquarian 🏴 @postantiquarian.bsky.social · Aug 27

A colleague of mine just sent me this and I said "Even before clicking, I'll bet that this is @urbanprehistorian.bsky.social ". And I was right. XD
The next question was "Did he skate?"
So, Kenny, did you catch some air? Pull off a sick grind maybe? ;)

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Scotland's first skatepark to be dug up by archaeologists

A University of Glasgow team will undertake excavation and survey work at the former Kelvin Wheelies park.

www.bbc.com

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Excavating Horror @excavatinghorror.com · Aug 27

Oooooh yes.

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Excavating Horror @excavatinghorror.com · Aug 27

I did a thing

Rebecca Stone Gordon @meanlouise.bsky.social · Aug 27

I had the great pleasure of writing an article about archaeology in horror fiction for @nightmare-magazine.com. It was tremendous fun & I hope you enjoy it, too!
www.nightmare-magazine.com/nonfiction/p...

Plumbing the Depths: Archaeology in Horror Fiction - Nightmare Magazine

Archaeology is a method and practice which resurfaces the past. It can help us reconstruct the history and culture of ancient (or not so ancient) people, and give us insight into what it means to be h...

www.nightmare-magazine.com

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Reposted by Excavating Horror

Steve Toase @stevetoase.bsky.social · Aug 27

Thanks to @meanlouise.bsky.social from @excavatinghorror.com for the shout out for Dirt Upon My Skin in this great article on archaeological horror at @nightmare-magazine.com www.nightmare-magazine.com/nonfiction/p...

Plumbing the Depths: Archaeology in Horror Fiction - Nightmare Magazine

Archaeology is a method and practice which resurfaces the past. It can help us reconstruct the history and culture of ancient (or not so ancient) people, and give us insight into what it means to be h...

www.nightmare-magazine.com

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