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This is an "Am I the ghost?" story, where a character wakes up and drifts around trying to understand their environment and interact with living things. Included in The Hastur Cycle (1993) because of its influence on Robert Chambers, who borrowed Bierce's names for his King in Yellow stories.

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 6h

#SpookySunday An Inhabitant of Carcosa (1886) by Ambrose Bierce. "A level shaft of light illuminated the whole side of the tree as I sprang to my feet in terror. The sun was rising in the rosy east. I stood between the tree and his broad red disk—no shadow darkened the trunk!"

Cover of The Hastur Cycle: Second Revised Edition (1997, 2006, 2014). First edition 1993. Cover art by Victor Manuel Leza Moreno. A robed and hooded man with a pallid face stands in dark water, surrounded by tentacles. Industrial equipment is in the background, and a large moon is overhead.

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

#BookWormSat The Events at Poroth Farm (1972) by T. E. D. Klein. A man rents a room for the summer on a quiet farm, as he prepares to teach a class on supernatural and weird fiction. Strange happenings create an increasing sense of dread, peril, and paranoia. Art credit in alt text.

Cover art by Ashley Cser for the 2021 Pickman's Press reprint of Reassuring Tales (2006), which collected this story. The cover is painted to look like a creased, tattered trade paperback with a red border. In the center is a dark feline with glowing yellow eyes and crescent-shaped ears sitting on a split-rail fence.

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

That was an interesting read. I like how her essay tells its own little tale, complete with a surprise ending.

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

#WyrdWednesday Conan and Valeria battle a dinosaur in an early scene from Red Nails (1936) by Robert E. Howard. This image is from the 1973/74 Roy Thomas/Barry Windsor-Smith adaptation, colored for The Barry Windsor-Smith Archives Vol. 2 (Dark Horse, 2010).

The head of a large, red dinosaur pokes through the leaves of a tree, as it lunges with open mouth at Conan and Valeria. Conan prepares to attack it with a poison-tipped spear.

Text:

BUT, THE CIMMERIAN HAS JUDGED HIS DISTANCE WITH PRECISION.

SOME FIVE FEET BELOW HIM, THAT MIGHTY HEAD CRASHES TERRIBLY BUT FUTILELY THRU THE LEAVES.

AND, AS THAT MONSTROUS MOUTH GAPES LIKE THAT OF A GREAT SERPENT--

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

That title doesn't sound familiar, so I can plead ignorance 😅 The one I saw was Glass of Champagne, performed live. I remember it because of the whimsical hats and jaunty scarves 😁

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

You're welcome! And agreed on S. T. Joshi's work. I'm looking forward to more of his books that will be coming out this year and early next year.

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I'll be interested to see what videos YouTube recommends to me since I viewed this one. After the last Bucks Fizz video, it sent me to bands like Mud, Sailor, and other late 70s English bands that I would not have heard in the US at that time. It was a fun rabbit hole to go down.

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

He only attended one day of high school, then just went to the library and read everything. His word choices and writing style were heavily influenced by his poetry background. One recent collection of his poetry (The Last Oblivion) has a handy glossary at the end 👍

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

I hadn't heard of this band until I saw a video of them on Eurovision in late 70s/early 80s with a way different look and music style. Seems here they've moved on to the full 80s New Wave-ish music video style.

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Lines from The Spell (Spectral Realms No. 6, Winter 2017) by Liam Garriock. Inspired by this 1864 painting of the same name by William Fettes Douglas.

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

#SpookySunday The wraith appears ere the staid magicians. The question is asked, the answer is told.... Outside, the kingdom is shrouded in twilight. The ghoulish wraith departs, and a great cold Chills the fearful men. Soon all ambitions Will be lost into the ultimate Night.

One sorcerer sits in an alcove in front of a large, open book. Many other books are on a table. Another sorcerer stands and points with a long staff or wand. A human skull is on the floor, and magical symbols are drawn on the walls.

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Yes indeed, memorable and terrifying 😲😄

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

#BookWormSat After Man: A Zoology of the Future (1981) by Dougal Dixon. A speculative science book where humankind is extinct, and other species have continued to evolve following known principles. Rabbucks evolve from the rabbit/hare family and replace hoofed mammals as large, grazing herbivores.

Credited artists for this book are Diz Wallis, John Butler, Brian McIntyre, Philip Hood, Roy Woodard, and Gary Marsh. The image is a page from the book with color illustrations for four species—common, mountain, desert, and arctic rabbuck. They all have a head that looks like a rabbit or hare, long neck, large body, and hooves. Each has other specific adaptations to help it survive in its environment.

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I don't know, but I've long contended that donuts with red frosting count as a serving of fruit. The color alone indicates its high nutritional value. Same for those with lemon filling, of course 😄

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Agreed! There's a book called The Art of Over the Garden Wall (2017) that has a lot of information, sketches, and finished works. It's out-of-print, but a new version will be released early next year, published by Dark Horse Books.

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

O hie thee forth o'er golden mead Yon is the maypole set A ribbon to wind thy soul, And to bind love to thy breast From flesh removed our chalk footfall Tempers this holy ground Where timeless spirits meet 'Round the heart of Pottsfield Town www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlnF...

youtube.com

Over The Garden Wall Official Soundtrack | Pottsfield C.M. – The Blasting Company | WaterTower

YouTube video by WaterTower Music

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

#WyrdWednesday Harvest In Over the Garden Wall (2014), Episode 2: Hard Times at the Huskin' Bee, Pottsfield is the site of a rather curious harvest festival. A link to a recording of the shape note singing from this episode is in replies.

Screen capture from this episode. Pumpkin figures dance in a barn while circling a central pole and holding ribbons that dangle from the pole.

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Yes, N'Longa absolutely saved the day!

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

A new adaptation of this story will be in the inaugural Weird Tales graphic novel that's due to be released in December. I'm curious to see their depiction of the ghost and how it compares to this one. I'll post an image when I get the book.

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

#SpookySunday Image from a 1973 adaptation by Roy Thomas and Ralph Reese of Skulls in the Stars (1929) by Robert E. Howard. More info in alt text. Solomon Kane encounters a violent ghost on the moor, solves the mystery of a man's disappearance, and brings grim justice to a murderer.

Part of a panel from the adaptation of this story in Monsters Unleashed, No. 1, 1973. Script by Roy Thomas. Art by Ralph Reese. A black-and-white drawing of the ghost and Solomon Kane. The ghost is huge and winged with sharp teeth and talons. Solomon Kane is wearing a wide-brimmed, high-crowned hat and a cloak and has a pistol and a sword in his belt.

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Deborah Rose @deborahrosereeves.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Spent a heavenly afternoon at La Capitolare di Verona - 1,509 years old & the oldest library in the world still in operation today 🕯️

Hundreds of very old and very large books richly illuminated on ornate wooden shelves (ground floor and wraparound mezzanine level)

Hundreds of very old and very large books richly illuminated on ornate wooden shelves (ground floor and wraparound mezzanine level). This picture is a wide view and also depicts the marble flooring and a large chandelier hanging in the centre of the room.

On 1 August 517, in the Veronese scriptorium, the scribe Ursicino completed, signed and dated a manuscript which still stands today as the earliest certain record of its history.

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

It's not the 19th yet in my time zone, but close enough! Besides all the excellent novels, I appreciate that most or all of her several hundred short stories and novellas have been reprinted in the past ten years as well.

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

#WyrdWednesday From: Jaguar Woman (Shimmer No. 10, 2009) by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. A woman strives to retain the memories of her former life and will herself back into her original form. Collected in This Strange Way of Dying: Stories of Magic, Desire & the Fantastic (2013).

"She forgot how to be a jaguar but the knowledge sometimes returns in her dreams and she wakes to the dark room and the shape of the man next to her and the distant smell of jungle and night.
Bound inside the stiff dresses, under layers of velvet, ruffs, embroidered roses, it is easy to forget how to shift her shape, how to move sleek and elegant on four legs.
They speak new words to her and the words drive away the words she used to know. They even give her a new name and she watches as her old name is trampled under the hoofs of their horses. The magic is lost."

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

I'm looking forward to Hippocampus releasing his complete prose poem collection. S. T. Joshi has mentioned it, and I thought I saw a tentative release date, but can't find it now. I have most of his prose poetry through various sources, but it will be nice to have a single volume with everything.

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Maybe trying to recreate an iconic scene, but messed up. Put in the Wham! instead of Peter Gabriel tape before holding up the boombox 😟

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

For those interested in this topic who haven't read it, A Gazeteer of The Hyborian World of Conan (Starmont House, 1977) by Lee N. Falconer (pseudonym of Julian May) is available to borrow on Internet Archive: archive.org/details/gaze... It came with a poster-sized map with heraldry.

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Well, from your alt text, I for one would like to hear the story behind those crowns and tiara. I also want to know if you've got any ancient and accursed grimoires mouldering on the shelf 🧐 Chair looks great, by the way 👍

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Wow, that is stunning! I remember you also have the beautiful ones that have, I believe, koi on them. You and your sister eat your meals in style!

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

The food sounds good, and I also like the colors and elaborate patterns of that plate. My placemats and most of my (very few) dishwares are blue and white too.

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

#WyrdWednesday The Tale of Hauk (1977) by Poul Anderson. When a Norseman returns from sea, he finds that his angry father has risen from the grave. He must find a way to bring his father peace and end a reign of terror. Reprinted in Anderson's 1981 collection Fantasy and many anthologies since.

Front cover of the first edition of Fantasy, a Jim Baen Presents book. No artist is credited. A bearded figure raises a hammer.

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Very interesting, I'd like to read it. I wonder if Michael Moorcock read and was inspired by this folk tale. One of his Elric stories had a ship with this capability too. It was built by earth and water elementals.

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

That sounds amazing, enjoy!

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

More research: He used a variation of Euclid's Elements of Geometry, Book 1, Proposition 15. I'm surprised that it worked, since he didn't precisely follow the incantation from this 1661 copy 🧐 The preface was even by John Dee 😲 I shall now call this Dunsany's Euclidean Spell of Dismissal.

A geometry proof showing that if two straight lines AB and CD cut one another at E, the opposite angles AED and CEB are equal, and the opposite angles AEC and BED are equal.

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

#SpookySunday The Ghosts by Lord Dunsany. First collected in The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories (1908). When a man is assailed by the manifested sins of ghosts, he fends them off and restores his reason and sanity by reciting a geometry proof. Illustrations by Sidney Sime from this story.

Title: Oneleigh

A tall mansion closely surrounded by dark woods.

Title: A Herd of Black Creatures

Ghosts in elegant, old-fashioned clothing chat with each other. Below them are dark creatures that look like strange dogs. These are the manifested sins of the ghosts.

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Adam Bolivar @adambolivar.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Some of the players in my alliterative-verse marionette show, THE LAY OF SCRATTA, premiering this Halloween: Woden, Luca and Edgeong (Anglo-Saxon versions of the gods better known by their Old Norse names Oðinn, Loki and Iðunn).

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Post a Diagram/Blueprint/Cutaway or Map from Comics! Francesca Baerald's excellent wraparound Hyborian Age map.

Conan the Barbarian #1 (2023) back cover showing the west side of the Hyborian Age map.

Conan the Barbarian #1 (2023) front cover showing the east side of the Hyborian Age map.

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

The transformation of Susan Blanchard's character was fascinating too. Under all the gloppy red makeup, she managed to use just her eyes and body language to be terrifying. BTW, were any of the USC campus spots recognizable to you? The way they filmed it, it looked both beautiful and sinister.

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

#WyrdWednesday Prince of Darkness (Oct 1987) might have my favorite atmospherics of any spooky movie, with foreboding opening shots of campus and sky, great soundtrack by Carpenter, the dream broadcasts, mirror scenes, the ending... "We are using your brain's electrical system as a receiver..."

A dark figure emerges from a doorway in a dream broadcast.

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

It is a great collection! A lot of her work was only published in obscure fanzines or collections that are no longer available. I was lucky to find this book from a reliable seller that I've worked with before and at a very reasonable price. The dust jacket was beat up, but otherwise in great shape.

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Yes, he did a lot of very cool and strange art. Much of it is not ghost-themed, but I'll likely post a few more ghostly ones in the future for SpookySundays.

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

#SpookySunday An illustration by Matt Fox of his own sighting of an apparition. This image is from his art collection book The Chillingly Weird Art of Matt Fox (TwoMorrows Publishing, 2023).

A strange, greenish, ghostly figure wearing a hat is emerging from a closet. A man sits up in bed staring with at it with fear. The title reads: I Have Seen This Intruder. The text reads: At our apartment 339 East 118th Street, Manhattan, 1931. I was not asleep at that time. Signed by Matt. Fox Norfolk Ct. 1974.

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

#BookWormSat Whirling, wheeling into westward, Fled they in their phantom flight; Was it but a wing-beat music Murmured through the star-gemmed night? Or the singing of a ghost clan Whispering of forgotten night? Credits in alt text.

Lines from The Song of the Bats (Weird Tales, May 1927) by Robert E. Howard.

A woodblock print Bat and Moon (1928 - 1930) by Takahashi Bihō. Ink and color on paper. A flying bat is silhouetted against a full moon.

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

I don't think that was me. They used to be on Internet Archive, but were removed. They currently stream free on Tubi and Pluto TV in the US, but availability may vary by country, since international companies often own the rights outside US. IMDB is useful for episode guides, if looking for those.

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bus_error @buserror5.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Nice collection! If you haven't already done so, it might help to compare this list of Sphere Conan titles at ISFDB with your other lists to find where the discrepancies are. isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pubs...

isfdb.org

Publication Series: Conan (Sphere)

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