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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 6h

Horror is best in short form, right? If you're looking for a spooky read this season, check out my debut collection, PORTRAITS OF DECAY. Featuring stories of internet mysteries, weird Halloween decorations, and tender apocalypses. $1.99 ebook: carsonwinter.com/product/port...

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

All of this is excellent to hear. Have my copy but haven’t started yet.

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

That could be really cool. Makes me think of the classic Ouija board scare where someone thinks they’re talking to a nice spirit but it’s actually an evil one!! Oh no ensues.

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

What's your greatest attribute and weakness as a writer right now? I feel like I need to work on challenging myself more. But I'm very happy with my work ethic and productivity. What about you?

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Short fiction is as fundamental to horror as one word paragraphs and dream sequences. This was a great collection—check it out.

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

I need to read the book! It sounds super fun. My age-inappropriate King was Cujo—which taught me too much about what semen does to a sheet.

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Saw this for the first time last night and have to say it's incredibly slept on. Great flick, with fantastic a villain and lots of dark mayhem.

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Just finished the fifth draft of my novel LOLCOW. I think it's ready. Holy shit, FINALLY! Time to find some yummy submissions.

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

So bored. I wanna write more books.

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

The argument could be made for all, and many more. What it does so effectively though is in the gestalt of its influences, crafting an ambitious narrative from the spare parts of postmodernism and pulp fiction. Highly recommended.

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Every page is filled with quotable language that begs to be read closely. And just as its themes are heady, complex, and appropriately gargantuan, so are its genre mix. Is it a horror novel? A fantasy? Literary? Weird fiction?

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

But its the poetic center that provides the novel with an antediluvian rhythm that hints at a foundational darkness at the center of humanity. With each “and,” it’s a return to the cycle (of love, violence, ignorance, greed) and no matter where we left off previously, we are doomed to continue.

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

ANGEL DOWN places itself within a grand tradition of violence, bloodshed, and war stories—standing alongside THE ODYSSEY, BEOWULF. etc.—which combined with its speculative elements, elevates a grounded historical event into modern myth.

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

The ultimate effect is an aesthetic kinship with another mode of storytelling, the epic poem.

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

And there is that, of course. But what surprised me was actually how Kraus’ stylistic constraint shaped the text. On the page, each paragraph is separated into a block—mimicking stanzas—and each new block begins with the word “and.”

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

I imagined something that would primarily capture forward-momentum—soldiers trapped in a conflict, constantly being pushed forward by the great engine of human violence. That sort of thing.

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

From the first page though, I noticed that the one-sentence conceit did more than provide a gimmick, but shaped the text and my perception of it. I had expected the book’s single sentence conceit to provide a stream of consciousness, action-heavy take on a weird central concept.

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

What really struck me about ANGEL DOWN though was how its initial pitch does a disservice to its execution. For those who don’t know, this is the Pulitzer prize-winning novel about WWI soldiers finding an angel on the battlefield, told breathlessly in one single, 285 page sentence.

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

It’s a gloriously ambitious, muscularly stylish speculative war novel that conjures comparison to BLOOD MERIDIAN and SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE, and like those it tells a real, human story that pulls from the breadth of the literary (and genre) toolbox to communicate its intent.

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

A lot has and will be said about @danielkraus.com ANGEL DOWN, but having just finished it this afternoon, I wanted to jot down some thoughts. First off, I loved it. THREAD

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I haven't read it since I was a teenager, but it's one of those that has stuck with me over time. I should revisit that as well.

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

The most sinister genre of rock n roll. It will compel you to do weird stuff to your car and turn on your heel a lot.

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

And in true King fashion, when we stare into the void—a greaser stares back.

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

THE DARK HALF also manages to touch on some recurring anxieties of King in interesting ways. There's the literary vs pulp stuff that also runs through MISERY, but here we have an actual personification of the proverbial pulpist—George Stark.

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I'd forgotten though how surreal and nightmarish it can be at certain points, led by Hutton's dual performance which oscillates from a warm, introspective creative to a strutting, slithering psychopath. There's a continued sense that this dude is having the time of his fucking life.

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

The funniest part for me, as an author, is to see the vision of a writer's life I grew up with—now with adult eyes. The idea of someone blackmailing me about any of my books, let alone my identity, is the pinnacle of absurdity.

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Rewatched THE DARK HALF last night and I have to say it might top my list of Stephen King adaptations. It's not an elevated classic like THE SHINING, but it does exactly what it sets out to do, totally unashamed of its genre leanings. An author's story... about an EVIL AUTHOR!

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Which is insane considering this project was 100% community based. No slush, no acceptances, no rejections, no press. Anyone who dug the original story was welcome to participate. This is your sign to do something cool because you can.

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Dan LK, WXXT Morning Show Host @2ndlevelbard.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I thiank that, by a *narrow* margin, this one edges out The Grimscribe's Puppets as the top Ligotti tribute antho, maybe because the singular focus brought in such an interesting array of perspectives on its theme story.

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Have you ever been rejected by THE DARK? This week on the Dead Languages Podcast we review a recent issue to see what one of the most famously quick horror mags is really looking for! open.spotify.com/episode/7IHb...

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R Lochlann @runesword.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Unstoppable barbarian mainlines Ligotti's Conspiracy Against the Human Race, now it's everyone else's problem

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

The Great Restocking is complete! I’ll be selling these at local events, with Portraits and The Corpse Priest also available on my website.

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Kai Delmas @kaidelmas.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

Publication day! 🥳🎉🙌 My collection "After You Were Lost" was published by WATG Press today. It's a collection that means a lot to me, and I'm excited that people will finally get to read it. All of the 23 flash and micro stories within deal with grief in different ways. Something I know much about.

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Pleased to be apart of this collection, edited by CM Muller. I’ve already been hearing some great things about the stories held within. Excited to curl up and experience some night terrors.

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Dead Languages Podcast @deadlanguagespod.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

New episode! This week, we talk the History of Horror as we rifle through the genre's corpse for wisdom and commonalities. Listen! Join our Discord! Etc! open.spotify.com/episode/32Sb...

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Brave of Theo to post this. Please read it. This sort of behavior shouldn't be tolerated.

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hellewurm @hellewurm.eurosky.social · 09/08/2026

picked up a few ebooks from @tenebrouspress.bsky.social yesterday on a whim. well out of those today i read Soft Targets by Carson Winter and it was the satisfying kind of fucked up. so i am looking forward to the rest!

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

My favorite records of the year, thus far.

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

This makes me the miss NW so much. Looks fun.

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Dead Languages Podcast @deadlanguagespod.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Professor PLMbo delivers a prophecy on the future of the horror genre. Listen in to decide whether you should just quit now. (You shouldn't.) open.spotify.com/episode/2Rip...

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

THE CORPSE PRIEST is a tale of bloody heroics and cosmic horror. Pick it up wherever you like to buy books.

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

THE RUINS by Scott Smith Depending on who you ask, this is a modern horror classic. And for whatever reason, I hadn't checked it out until recently. Not my usual bag, genre-wise, but great character work and excellent survival horror plotting.

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

ZONE ONE by Colson Whitehead The zombie novel doesn't have the same literary history as other monsters, so I was very interested in the idea of a high-literary take on the subgenre. Whitehead doesn't disappoint. Some of the absolute best prose I've read all year.

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

THE ORGANIZATION IS HERE TO SUPPORT YOU by Charlene Elsby Perhaps the funniest book I've read this year, in an acerbic sort of way. Pitch perfect corporate horror for remote working Ligotti fans. Disturbing, witty, and the perfect length.

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

REEF MIND by @hazelzorn.bsky.social Incredibly compelling eco-horror that makes for a dreamy and unsettling post-apocalypse. Zoran captured my imagination in the worst way, conjuring abhorrent dilemmas that felt like a natural, yet uncanny, escalation of the human condition.

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Carson Winter @carsonwinter.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

IN THE WOODS by Tana French Perhaps the first truly literary thriller I've ever read. If you couldn't tell by now, I love complex (and unlikable!) characters, and this one delivers on that, but also has the thematic underpinnings to elevate it to a new level. This is pure art.

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