iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

My list of 13 reasons why queer horror matters is live on Substack. Horror's been always been about the outcasts, and it's always sent political messages. Everyone has their reasons for running into the arms of darkness. These are mine. www.bronterowan.com/p/why-i-writ... #Queer #Horror #Writing

bronterowan.com

Why I Write Queer Horror

And why you should, too (this one’s personal)

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

So, a few friends and I have been working on an idea - QUOTH - Queers Out to Tell of Horror - A community of queer horror authors supporting each other. We're still in the planning process, but if you want to get involved, dm me! It'll be free, and everyone shall be welcome! #QUOTH #Queer #Horror

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

This was one of the most magical reads in forever - maybe, just maybe, there still is something more on this Earth we live on. May we all cherish it. Random outtakes because I don’t want to spoil these ancient stories for anyone. -found in the lovely Riverside Bookshop in London

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

We look at the how, the why, and the what - thank you for letting me write this, @britfantasysoc.bsky.social ! I had so much fun with this one. #queer #queerhorror #lgbtqia2s

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

My new short story is live on my Substack! Read this accursed, twice rejected mini play in which I attempt iambic pentameter here: www.bronterowan.com/p/a-play-wit... Stage lights. Lift the veil. Lights out. Open the door to the OTHERWORLD. Enter: Mother Fateful #Shortstory #poetry #horror

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

I wish you could've stayed, just a bit longer and kept paving the way. I know that you had to go, but I'll think of your spirit each step of my way. I hope heaven has everything you ever dreamed of. Now all that's left to do is to make certain you can feel that - We will always love you, Dolly.

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

A few words I needed to say. Cute cat vampire / reading ghost pics on the final image as a thank you for reading.

Image text:
A Statement Regarding the HWA - and the UK Chapter.
Because I still believe in the power of community and horror

I understand that I should have spoken up sooner. Frankly, I needed time to reassemble my mind.
I have spent the last two nights nigh sleepless. I am appalled by all that has recently come to light, and I have spoken to many of you about how this made all of us feel.

After a lot of deliberation, I have decided to stay on as co-chair of the UK chapter - mostly because of how much the chapter members mean to me.
I will do my best to help the HWA grow, and I will personally look into every single issue that is forwarded to me.
I have spoken to the HWA’s president, L. Marie Wood, whom I’d like to thank for being so open to ideas and for replying to me so quickly.

To all of you: keep speaking up about issues too - change always starts with a single spark, and every one of those sparks adds to the fire that we need. I’d be honoured to burn bright with you.

For those of you who have been hurt by recent events - if you are comfortable with doing so, please get in touch with me.
I would be more than happy to talk to the HWA about them.
If you want to know who to reach out to directly, please get in touch with me, too.

Most importantly, I also want the UK chapter to grow.
We are a community, and I have found my home amidst this bunch of outsiders that makes up our chapter.
I have been promised that the HWA is open to receiving ideas about how to be of more benefit to members outside of the US, too.
Let us all know on here, message me, or email them to hwa.uk25@gmail.com / rowanbronte@gmail.com

Finally, for those who haven’t joined yet - if there is anything keeping you from joining, whether that is something that is about the HWA themselves or about the lack of benefits for non-US members, please let me know.
We need those opinions, too, if we want to grow.

With love,
And a tiny bit of hope left,
Bronte Rowan
Co-Chair
UK Chapter

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

It’s been a long journey. The path ahead is even longer. Thank you, everyone, for reading my queer Gothic stuff on bronterowan.com. More to come . Back to working on diss. exposé + novel. Enter the realm of the othered, wherever/whoever you are. Let your fate entwine as my stories + my research do.

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Don’t know if this makes sense to anyone, but I had to get this out today - spontaneous poetry is how I deal with emotions: “What if the thing with feathers Flies away on a sun-soaked Wednesday morn’? On the wings of a hummingbird - Can it ever be reborn?” #Poetry #NotGothicForAChange #Fear

A dimmed picture of a hummingbird next to flowers. Above it, the poem in the BlueSky message in front of a dark evening sky.

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Is it just me, or is a night of reading vampire poetry while sipping on a boozeless gin and tonic tea bloody exciting ? (That’s as good as my puns will get tonight) New story inspired by these poems coming soon-ish, I hope. #research #vampires #authorlife #horror #scholar #poetry

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Yes to this ! And try changing your surroundings - different room, outside … or, if possible , write the first few sentences by hand !

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Ewwww, I was just writing a poem, and I thought someone had hacked me. Turns out it was just Google telling me to “write with Gemini”. No, I shall not. Keep your mediocrity, and give back the lines you’ve stolen.

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Reposted by Bronte Rowan

British Fantasy Society @britfantasysoc.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

In his new essay series on queer horror, @bronterowan.bsky.social dives into Virginia Woolf’s 1928 text Orlando, and discovers sexuality, gender and time are fluid—and so are we! britishfantasysociety.org/exploring-qu...

Splatters of red cover a black and white background, with a hand holding up a wine glass full of red liquid. In a square at the bottom left is horror writer Bronte Rowan.

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

So, I can't post the full thing here, but I made myself cry while writing this. To all of you, out there: I see you. You matter, and you deserve love. Imagine my tears on your screen, and read my Pride poem here: www.bronterowan.com/p/what-pride... #Pride #QueerAuthors #Queer #GayWriters #Love

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

Before from dust you came, you were merely a cell, and, as fate would have it, in that time so many eons ago, the decision as to what it is that will return you to dust once more had already been made. Read on here: substack.com/home/post/p-...

substack.com

The Heart Laid Bare

A Medical Horror Story by Bronte Rowan - Plus, a Wee Update!

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Happy World Goth Day - and happy birthday to me! What a fitting coincidence. I thought I’d bring down the mood by writing this slightly sad little story. Don’t worry, it’s still Gothic, and yes, bodies still mingle in it, too. open.substack.com/pub/brontero... #Horror #QueerFiction #ShortStory

open.substack.com

Bind Me

An Accursed Romance

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 17/05/2026

Happy IDAHOBIT. Now more than ever. If this upsets you, kindly unfollow me and, should I ever manage to publish anything at all, I recommend not buying it, 'cause everything I do as queer af. Love to all on the right side of history. P.S. Next month, I'll be extra gay. Just because I can. #queer

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

Thank you, @britfantasysoc.bsky.social , for letting my combine two of by greatest passions - being gay, and writing about books! Read my introduction to queer speculative fiction on the BFS blog, and get ready to admire some beautiful prose with me! First up: Orlando by Virginia Woolf (1928)

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Part of today's vinyl haul (=writing soundtrack). That Fleetwood Mac single has seen better times for sure, but I love knowing that something I'm listening to has it's very own history. Also, I needed my "eternal rose" for myself because I effin' love what I'm doing.

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 17/04/2026

I present …. Yours truly ! And a pic of my cat. Thank you, @britfantasysoc.bsky.social

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

Writing this made me more uncomfortable than I am able to put into words. Let the spectre inhale the last breath you’ll ever take as his lips gently brush across yours. He doesn’t shrink from the rancid smell that emanates from your rotting teeth. Read on here: bronterowan.substack.com/p/unbecoming

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

I wasn’t gonna put any romance in my novel, but some smut just snuck into the opening lines. I need to start dating again - for research purposes.

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

My heart just broke a little for this book.

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

Vampires again, but different in style and theme. Antique bedframe. Made from wood sacrificed by an oak that has witnessed the deterioration of sin. Black leather pillows on sheets of purple velvet. An aria sung by decay and dust. bronterowan.substack.com/p/passion #Horror #ShortStory #Gothic

bronterowan.substack.com

Passion

Dedicated to Those We Lost to False Christian Love

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

Every full moon night, I gaze into the waterfall breaking through the mountain outside of my hidden cave and select one lost soul. Tonight, the hands of destiny choose to fall on you. bronterowan.substack.com/p/death-take... #UKHorror #PurpleProse #Othering #Grotesque #ShortStory #SecondPerson

bronterowan.substack.com

Death Takes a Lover

Purple Prose on Purpose

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

Reworking an old short story in order to publish it on my Substack this weekend. A few brutal truths like the scars on my body and my soul add some extra depth and beauty are needed.

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

Once there stood a castle high up on the moor On its grounds, wild heather grew that was the lure Open your mouth, inhale in wonder Omens of the end for you to ponder Read on here: bronterowan.substack.com/p/lured-by-h... #poetry #gothic #horror #rhyme #verse #themoorsarecallingyourname

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

It was eighty years ago, In a cabin on an Appalachian mountain, That a maiden there was born whom you may know By the name of Dolly Parton; And this maiden only wished to give us all her love, She still spreads it in the world, on the wings of a dove. Happy 80th, Dolly, and happy 217th, Poe)

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

“Once upon a time, night fell, and with it, the stars descended, shattering like glass when they hit the mountains, lands, and the sea, leaving the Queendom in a darkness so thick that not even the vampires could see.” #gothicfiction #horror #shortstory #fairytale #lgbtq #queer #substack #dark

bronterowan.substack.com

The Prince of Darkness and the Bat

A Queer and Gothic Fairy Tale

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

Happy heavenly birthday, Betty White. The world could do with your love and laughter right now.

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

These arrived earlier than expected... Can't wait to dig into them! #Gothic #Horror #NonFiction

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Shattering ICE - A Poem in 3 Haikus Frozen hearts must thaw Invite your neighbor in and We shall melt the ICE Gaze up at the stars Shards of hope rain and aim to Pierce the core of ICE No hate - I know that Out of darkness, love will rise When we shatter ICE. www.bronterowan.com

bronterowan.substack.com

Shattering ICE

A Poem in 3 Haikus

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

Next up in my #Gothic reading marathon… the @ssag.bsky.social has some amazing recommendations on their #InternationalGothicReadingMonth list! Off to Victorian England now.

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Reposted by Bronte Rowan

Laura Blackwell @pronouncedlahra.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

HWA Members! Didn't get a chance to put a fave 2025-pubbed read on the Bram Stoker Awards Recommended Reading List? You have until Jan. 15! Loved something that's already on the list? Your rec could put it on the Preliminary Ballot! Please don't repost asking for recs, as that's against the rules.

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

I finished my first short story of the year. Who is Luella, and why is she being visited by a mysterious Shadow shortly before the hour of her death? Give her some love and the Shadow might just spare you #Horror #Gothic #Substack #ShortStory #Literature #DryJanuary open.substack.com/pub/brontero...

open.substack.com

Luella and the Hands of Time

Happy 2026, everyone - here’s my first short story of 2026 (and in quite a while).

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

I finished my first short story of the year - who's Luella, and why is she being visited by a mysterious Shadow? Give Luella some love and the Shadow might spare you and haunt someone else in a new story instead! #Horror #Literature #UKHorror #Gothic #Substack #ShortStory

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

Gothic literature, tea, and Dolly Parton on vinyl - this shall be my plan for the whole month. #Gothic #Tea #CountryMusic #DryJanuary #WritingLIfe #GothicLiterature

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

First thing I read every year. Already finished this this morning - this gets better every time I read it. #2026 #DollyParton #NewYear #Books #NewYearsTradition

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Reposted by Bronte Rowan

Laura Blackwell @pronouncedlahra.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

Halloween People: Y'all know LOCUS covers horror, yes? But did you know it's published by a nonprofit? And also that today's the last day of its annual fund drive? And that Stephen King (yes, @stephenking.bsky.social) is matching donations? Let's do this! locus.betterworld.org/campaigns/20...

locus.betterworld.org

2025 Locus End-of-Year Giving | Locus Science Fiction Foundation

Help Locus Science Fiction Foundation meet their fundraising goal by sharing this campaign.

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

May 2026 be your best one yet. Stay true to yourself - unapologetically. Whatever happens, we’re in this together. I believe that there is hope for a better world. Read widely, speak wisely, and treat each other nicely. Here’s a wee poem I wrote today. bronterowan.substack.com/p/2026-fears...

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

They call it “freakshow” But to me it’s a safe place Gay bars are my home #Gay #queer #haiku #pubpoetry #loveislove

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 13/07/2025

After two nights of being blatantly queer in Birmingham, and a peaceful evening tonight, I'm feeling inspired again - 10/10 would recommend being true to yourself. Off to Newcastle tomorrow to find some Gothic inspiration. Thanks for the lovely memories, strangers who quickly became friends!

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

Thunderstorm on my birthday. Bliss. Life is good.

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 11/05/2025

My first short story is on Substack . #HeavyBreathing #Gothic #queerfiction #talesoftheothered If you even remotely enjoyed it , subscribe / gift me a like / maybe even share ! #Author #firststeps #feminism #ukhorror #horror It’s quite experimental,but it’ll introduce you to my soul!

open.substack.com

Ode to the Others

A Gothic Tale of Equality

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Bronte Rowan @bronterowan.bsky.social · 09/05/2025

Sometimes, I leave the comforts of my Gothic mind and let emotions take over. We'll remember you, that's my promise to you, Margot Friedländer. bronterowan.substack.com/p/my-promise... #rip #margotfriedländer #neveragain #margot #margotfriedlander #keephermemory #brave #herstory #lovetrumpshate

bronterowan.substack.com

My Promise to Margot Friedländer

An Ode to Love, Bravery, and Survival

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Reposted by Bronte Rowan

Horror Writers Association - UK Chapter @hwa-uk.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

Head on over to our Substack for your monthly roundup of the best in UK Horror! Our second newsletter is out NOW and @newtonwebb.bsky.social has compiled a list of new releases as well as exciting chapter news for you! open.substack.com/pub/hwauk/p/... #UKhorror #britishhorror #literature #books

open.substack.com

HWA UK Chapter: Newsletter #2

Your Monthly Roundup For The Best In UK Horror.

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Reposted by Bronte Rowan

Horror Writers Association - UK Chapter @hwa-uk.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Support UK horror by reading @simonbleaken.bsky.social's new short story in this new folk horror collection! #ukhorror #folkhorror #blueskybooks

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Horror Writers Association - UK Chapter @hwa-uk.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

On this day, more than 130 years ago, Jonathan Harker began his journey to Transylvania! Time for a (re)read! What’s your favourite #Dracula quote? Join us on Discord for a discussion of this brilliant novel: discord.gg/gf2NFSDYke #horrorfiction #literature #horror #gothic #books #BramStoker

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Reposted by Bronte Rowan

Horror Writers Association - UK Chapter @hwa-uk.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

Happy #Beltane/ May Day! We’re less than 6 months away from our first official meeting on October 31st ! In the meantime, join us on discord.gg/gf2NFSDYke for lively discussions and online events, and subscribe to substack.com/@hwauk where we post about anything #ukhorror! #horror #gothic #books

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