iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

There are quite a few instances of 'pass' in #LastExitToMidnight, so I'll give y'all the one where they first spot the Triangle. 🛸

to travel at much more than forty-five miles per hour in the unwieldy van. Amanda wished that it was light out so she could see the mountains better, but entertained herself by watching the way their jagged peaks blotted out the night sky as they passed under them.
It was while watching the jagged peaks near the top of Wild Rose Pass that she noticed an object seemingly hovering just above one of said peaks, also blotting out the stars behind it. It was shaped like a triangle, except it had a gap in one side through which a bright white star shone brilliantly, and though it was hard to gauge size or distance especially in the dark, it looked to be hovering about five thousand feet above a spire of rock overlooking the highway. The van was about to drive right underneath it, in fact.
“What’s that?” She asked, pointing upwards through the windshield.
“What’s what?” TJ responded.
“That,” she said, pointing again. TJ strained his neck to try and see, and the van hit the rumble strip on the side of the road, drawing his attention back to driving.
“I don’t see anything,” he said.
“It looks like a dorito,” she said.
Fox slumped out of the bench seat in the back, half-crawling under the stowaway table in a sort of fluid motion and resting their chin on the cooler between the front seats so that they could see out the window.
“Oh, you’re right,” they said. “I see it too.” They rummaged in the pocket on the back of the seat for their polaroid camera and snapped a photo through the windshield, tucking it into their shirt-pocket to wait for it to develop.

1100 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

"Territory" only shows up in Wyld Magick, my silly fantasy side project. #WIPsnips

On the Right Hand Continent of the world, stretching from the Inlet of Insanity at the edge of the Sea of Madness to the frozen Mountains of Despair, there was a small kingdom called France. It was completely unrelated to any Frances which the reader may be aware of. On the edge of this kingdom, there was an enchanted forest, which – although it was recognized by the principality of France (No Relation) as Francish territory – was known to the locals as the untameable Wyld Woode, outside the jurisdiction of any kingdom of mankind.

050 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

Just realized that 'Off The Reservation' by @stephengrahamjones.com is out and I have exactly one audible credit. How fortuitous!

1152 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Just announced on my Discord, but I'll be doing my first book signing next month! I'll be at the 21st Annual Colorado Springs Womens' Expo on Sunday, November 8th signing and selling copies of both 'Heliruna' and 'The Woods'. See you there!

A poster for a Book Signing & Author Meet And Greet, held by Base Camp Books on Saturday, November 7th and Sunday, November 8th at 12-3 PM, featuring (among other authors) Hazel E. Baumgartner, author of 'The Woods' and 'Heliruna'

174 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

I do have something big to share! My second horror novel, 'Heliruna', is out now! You can grab it here for just $13.99 for the paperback or $3.49 for the ebook until November 1, when the paperback price will go up a dollar or two. a.co/d/00dAbfmc See y'all next week!

The cover for Hazel E. Baumgartner's 'Heliruna: A Horror Novel', with the title in green and the rest of the text in white. The cover shows a black and white image of a line of standing stones in Avebury, England, standing in a row like people marching in line and fading into the mist as they get further away. At the top of the cover is a quote, "The scariest goddamn thing I've ever read!" ~ Echo Porter

3149 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

It is also, as always, free to Kindle Unlimited readers. Additionally, the paperback is currently only $13.99 until November 1, after which it will likely go up to $15.99. a.co/d/03te0J8o

000 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

I set up a Kindle countdown promo for #Heliruna this past weekend for the UK and then forgot to advertise it, like, at all. Oops. Anyways, US readers - if you're still on the fence about spending $3.49 to read Heliruna, it'll be $0.99 on Kindle on October 25-26, then slowly go back up from there.

120 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Fairly easy to fact check too. Brussels is 22% BELGIAN, not white. It's 53.2% white. I learned that with two clicks. All Republicans do is lie to you, and they're not even very good at it.

020 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Show me a picture from your phone that has your energy but isn't a selfie

A two panel comic. The first panel is captioned "do not shine light in Elder God's face" and shows several hikers with a flashlight in the woods with a hulking, upright, furry creature with wide antlers shown in silhouette with two glowing yellow eyes. The second panel, one of the hikers illuminates the thing's face to reveal a goofy face with eyes facing opposite directions and a big goofy grin with three dull baby teeth. The caption reads, "Elder God is silhouetted for a reason".

050 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

I am back from fucking off into the mountains. I had a lovely time. The aspens are in full swing at Mueller State Park. #Colorado

The aspens in full fall colors in Mueller State Park, Colorado

1160 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Here's a whole page from Wyld Magick, my silly fantasy novel I'm working on. #WIPsnips

Chapter Eight
The Laughing Dragon
The Laughing Dragon Inn was very similar to essentially every other inn that’s ever been featured in a work of fantasy fiction. A squat two-story building with a cobblestone first floor and wooden second floor, it was the kind of place which might be raided in the night by mercenaries sent by an evil lord, or where a genuine tavern brawl might break out. Though there was a cluster of nearby farms, there was no real village around it so to speak, so the tavern itself served as a gathering place for everybody from farmers to highwaymen and ruffians to just-set-out adventurers looking to form their first party and go off adventuring for hire to kill whatever’s been taking Old Farmer Barchichy’s sheep in the night.
When Domnall entered through the saloon-style double door, he half expected conversation to drop, to get weird looks from everybody in the room, or to be side-eyed by a mysterious hooded stranger smoking a pipe in the corner. Instead, when he entered, the din of music and chatter and silverware scraping against grimy earthenware bowls of perpetual stew hardly slowed for a second, and he was greeted instead by a friendly large man who seemed to be made almost entirely of long blonde hair.
“Helloo,” the man said cheerfully, sticking out a sticky hand for Domnall to shake. “My name is Geraard, and I’ll be your tavern-keeper for the evening! Do we prefer a booth or a table tonight?”
“Erm,” said Domnall, hardly having time to think. “Booth, please.”
5 - Most silverware on The Frisbee was actually made of lead pewter, as it was substantially cheaper than the real thing. However, ‘silverware’ stuck as a sort of marketing term, because ‘pass me some clean lead-pewter-ware, please’ sounds a lot less appetizing.

1143 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

All four WIPs and I don't have 'lizard' in any of these, so I'm going wild with a substitution. Here's an excerpt that includes 'tyrannosaurus' from my upcoming third horror novel, #LastExitToMidnight

That’s when he noticed a crumpled piece of paper lying on the floor. It had a bullet-point list of words on it which didn’t really make sense with each other, but at the top in sloppy handwriting with a permanent marker was scrawled six words and a date:
TYRANNOSAURUS SEX
RRRIOT HAUS, SANTA FE
JULY 17, 1998
He picked it up and looked at it curiously. ‘Tyrannosaurus sex’ was obviously a play on the better known ‘Tyrannosaurus rex’, but why did it sound so familiar? He wracked the back of his mind trying to place the words. Something to do with a long forgotten part of his life, back when he was a high schooler, well before he went straight, got his shit together, and became a cop. He thought maybe he had seen them once.
Yes, that’s it! He realized suddenly. I did see them! In Santa Fe, in fact! I was at this show thirty years ago! He had gone for the headliner, not really interested in the opener, but his girlfriend had been into them. Man, that felt like a lifetime ago. This was a setlist, and what a coincidence that was!
Underneath it was another piece of paper, which had more or less the same list of songs with a few switched out and all in a slightly different order. At the top of it were the words:
TYRANNOSAURUS SEX
PARK MUSIC HALL, SAN ANTONIO
JULY 18, 1998

220 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

My Discord server saw it first, but here's the illustration/painting I did for the cover of Wyld Magick. Little known fact about me is that I always wanted to be a cartoonist. Illustrating my own silly fantasy books' covers is a good outlet for that, I suppose. (8x10, ink and watercolor on paper)

An illustration of several characters for a fantasy book. They are standing on a path with a towering castle-like city, snowy mountains, and a tall sequoia forest in the background. From right to left, the characters are an evil-looking wizard in all black with long black hair and a beard, rubbing his hands together menacingly, a friendly-looking tall wizard with curly red hair and no beard wearing a classic blue wizard hat with moons and stars on it, a red tunic, patched pants, a blue cloak, and holding a staff with a red gemstone in the tip, a squirrel sitting on the second wizard's shoulder, and three gnomes; one with a large white beard and a rainbow hat, a smaller one with green skin and a witch hat, and a gigantic one with a straight white beard and a hat that's colored like a piece of candy corn. A dragon can be seen in the distant background flying over snow-capped mountain peaks.

032 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Sent in by a fan. I guess this is the kindle version of showing me #Heliruna on your bookshelves. Good way to start your weekend off early, though. If you wanna enjoy some lesbian witch horror too, you can get Heliruna here: a.co/d/0d1FTHCt

A picture of an e-reader with 'Heliruna: A Horror Novel' by Hazel E. Baumgartner loaded up on it laid out on a bed. The person taking the photo is holding a mug of coffee in frame which has a butterfly on it and the words "embrace change". At the bottom is a sticker which rEads "today's mood".

043 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Age yourself with a childhood crush She's an adulthood crush too, let's be real.

190 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

My second novel, #Heliruna, is out now! What happens when you start to find love after losing the love of your life, only for your dead lost love to come back as a jealous ghoul? Read it here: a.co/d/06QPF9M1 #WriterShareWednesday

Full book cover spread for the horror novel 'Heliruna' by Hazel E. Baumgartner.

Front cover: A misty gray landscape with several standing stone monoliths. A large stone formation stands in the foreground on the right, with smaller stones fading into fog in the background. At the top, large green text reads: “HELIRUNA”. Below it, smaller white text reads: “A HORROR NOVEL”. At the bottom, large white text reads: “HAZEL E. BAUMGARTNER”.

Back cover: White text on a black background reads:

“DO YOU BELIEVE IN GHOSTS?

That’s the question that Sabine Stutz is forced to ask herself after a catastrophic accident kills her best friend and soulmate Cynthia Sullivan and leaves her partially paralyzed. With the help of her Oma, and a strengthening psychic connection to the long line of Cunning Women from which she is descended, Sabine must move past the tragedy that changed the course of her entire life if she ever wants a chance of rebuilding or finding love after death – especially when her jealous ex-fiancee may still be lingering...

Hel·i·ru·nas /ˌhɛl.ɪˈruːn.æs/ noun
(Plural Heliruna or Helirunæ)
[ORIGIN: from Old High German ‘Hel’ (‘death’) + ‘Runaz’ (‘Magic’)]
FUTHARK ᚺᛖᛚᛁᚱᚢᚾᚨᛊ

A Gothic witch mentioned in Jordanes’ ‘Getica’ c. 551 CE
A seer or cunning woman”

143 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

130 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

My second horror novel, #Heliruna, is currently on sale until the end of October. Just $13.99 for the paperback right now, will go up after Halloween. Get it while it's hot! a.co/d/06QPF9M1

032 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

(This is just a mockup with unfinished artwork that's still in the pencil sketch phase to see how it looks on a book cover)

021 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Just saw that the new Kindle is $500 😬 You know what's not $500? A paperback copy of "Heliruna: A Horror Novel", which is just $13.99 until November 1. a.co/d/00JtERSl

The cover for "Heliruna: A Horror Novel" by Hazel E. Baumgartner, showing a grey shadowy landscape of standing stones, similar to stonehenge, standing in single file and disappearing into dense fog as they get further from the viewer.

12111 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I have to do this one 'cause it's silly. Excerpt is from my silly fantasy novel "Wyld Magick" that I'm working on as a palette cleanser between horror projects. #WIPsnips

somewhere. No, the current crowded condition of the MacDougaltyre-Gromble family, which consisted of only three members, was primarily caused by Glenda and Doug’s adopted son, Domnall.
“Son,” spoke Doug Gromble in his best ‘loving father’ voice. “It’s time that we had a little chat. See, I suspect that even a boy of your intelligence has come to notice that there’s something odd about you, something different between you and the other little gnomes at school.”
Unlike his parents, who sat on wooden stools, Domnall sat squarely on the floor, his back firmly against an interior wall of the mushroom house, his head craned against the ceiling at an odd angle, one foot sticking out the front door, and the other foot sticking into the kitchen where his toes were warmed by the wood-burning oven that baked cookies twenty four hours a day.
“Whatever do you mean, father?” He asked, shaking the ceiling-plaster loose from his unruly head of orange hair.
“Well, son,” Doug stuttered, his ‘loving father’ facade breaking for a moment as he struggled to find the best words. “You’re, uh, you’re a growing boy, and I’m sure that you’ve noticed that you’re growing, erm, much faster, perhaps, than the other lads in your class?”
Domnall looked down at his own body stretched across the living room. He nodded, shaking more plaster chips from the ceiling. “Sure,” he replied. “It’s what makes me so good at bugby. I’ve been telling you that I plan to go pro. Use those little pillbugs to be the first of the MacDougaltyre-Gromble clan to go to college…”

190 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

#Heliruna isn't on the #BannedBookWeek official list, but it certainly could be. While reading works by long dead authors is great, reading brand new releases by queer authors that They WANT to ban is arguably a better way to stick it to the man. If you like lesbian horror, try this. a.co/d/017Gf3NA

The cover of 'Heliruna' by Hazel E. Baumgartner. The title is in green in a medieval looking font, with a grey picture of standing stones fading into the fog. At the top of the book cover is an endorsement quote which reads, "The scariest goddamn thing I've ever read!" ~ Echo Porter

023 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

No instances of 'petal' in either of my current WIPs, but there is one in #Heliruna, which is out now. a.co/d/0i11X927

even. Which wasn’t at all the way that she had wanted it to feel. She had always imagined what it would be like, of course, and it was wonderful and pure and perfect like the first time they had done it, and not at all like the way it ended up being that second time. She imagined the bed framed with rose-petals, not the rosey tint of bathwater soaked with someone else’s blood. She wasn’t even sure whose blood.
She had fucked it all up.

040 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Art I'm working on for my silly little fantasy novel, Wyld Magick (I still haven't come up with a good pen name but will be publishing fantasy under a pen name eventually)

250 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

My second novel is actually out and you can buy it right now! If it helps, you can know that the end credits music for it in my mind has always been "Spirit In The Sky" by Norman Greenbaum. a.co/d/0i11X927

096 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I'd just like to remind everyone that Joe Biden can still ride a bicycle. Even with cancer.

Former duly elected president of the United States Joseph R. Biden riding a bicycle.

310111 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I haven't heard anything about this movie, but 4.1/10 on iMDB and 96% on Rotten Tomatoes is a wild split lol

111 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Another bit from "Wyld Magick", my silly fantasy comedy book that I'm writing on the side as a palette cleanser between horror projects. Really proud of this bit.

“‘Snot ‘is fault, y’know,” said Witchi. “Kings go mad, it’s wot they do. The crown gets t’ their ‘eads an’ poof! They’re as loony as a… well, a loony person.”
“Ah, yes,” Domnall nodded. “It’s like the saying goes. Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
“Wot? No. None of that pseudophilosophical wotsit! Th’ crown li’rally gets to their ‘ead. They make’n th’ damn thing outta lead, ‘cos is ‘eavier than gold so it ‘feels more real’, wotever that means, an’ it seeps into their brains an’ drives ‘em mad.”
Kutchigromble chimed in from the other side of the fire, where he was keeping watch. “I always thought they was called mad kings ‘cos they was angry.”
“Well, yeah,” nodded Witchi. “They’s angry ‘cause they’ve all gone insane. Meanwhile, those wot that’s really in power – th’ bankers an’ merchants an’ priests an’ whatnot – they’s content t’ let the king be mad ‘cause ‘e serves as a distraction while they pull th’ strings behind th’ curtain.”

020 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

#SapphicSeptember is about to end! If you like books with lesbians and witches and ghosts and spooky vibes and lots of goopy gore, you gotta grab a copy of #Heliruna! This suckered took me twelve years to write (technically) and it's perfect to get your spooky season started. a.co/d/0i11X927

164 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Me: "I'm gonna write some lighthearted fantasy under a pseudonym as a palette cleanser between horror novels." My lighthearted fantasy books: "The gnomes tried to eat a baby."

“So what are you doing all the way out here?” Domnall asked. “Why aren’t you back home in the Gnomeburg?”
Kutchi and Witchi exchanged a nervous glance, then hung their heads in shame. Kutchigromble lifted his rainbow hat off his head, exposing a perfectly round bald spot in the middle of his unkempt white hair.
“We, uh,” he mumbled. “We tried an’ et ya.”
“‘Snot our fault!” Witchi interjected. “E’ryone was gonna dew it, then yer folks decided yew was a gnome babby and yew was under Gromble protection. We jus’ didn’t get the memo is all. We seasoned yew all nice wit’ some rosemary an’ mint, an’ was gettin’ ready ta roast ya when yer mama came in talmbout ‘dat’s me babby, dont’cha et me babby’, an’ suddenly the whole Gnomeburg tinks we’s cabbinals!”
“You were going to eat me?”
“Dat’s wot we dew,” Kutchigromble said, as if it excused cabbinalism. “We’s gnomes. We et tings. An’ an unclaimed babby layin’ in the wood is jus’ a ting to us.”
“At leas’ we seasoned yew,” said Witchi.
“Oh, you seasoned me, did you? I s’pose that makes everything alright, then!” Domnall raised his voice, picking back up the little dagger and holding it high above his head in anger.
“Wait!” cried Kutchigromble. “Th’ point is we din’t et yew! We could’ve an’ yet we din’t! That’s wot makes us yer friends!”
“Yeah, we’s kin!” said Witchi, cowering behind her arms. “We’s ne’er’d hurt yew if’n we know’d ye was our kin!”

250 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

If you're looking for some queer horror (unfortunately low on the smut), you can find it here in my new book, #Heliruna, out now in paperback and ebook formats! a.co/d/0i11X927

020 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Reminder that whenever they start trying to ban smut, shock isn't far behind. Plus, like a solid ⅓ of good horror right now is by or about queer people, and these psychos consider queer existence to be smut. Stand up to censorship today or lose our entire space forever.

Self-professed 'old-school gay man' John Waters looking sternly into the camera from an armchair in front of a bookshelf. He says, "Remember: pornographers have always been on our side. Brave. Ready to fight for our rights. Smut is our friend."

A reddit post from the OP (horror author Hazel E. Baumgartner), who says "If you think about it, the only difference between smut and horror is what bodily fluids go where."

182 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Once again, Hazel Finish One Of Her Own Books Without Crying challenge level impossible. #LastExitToMidnight is almost ready to go out to beta readers. Sign up here if you're interested. forms.gle/AeJtWSN635Px...

131 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Again, if you buy my book (which I think you should), I want to see it on your bookshelf! Here's #Heliruna on another reader's bookshelf today. Buy Heliruna here! Out now! a.co/d/0ea5ZSK7

A photograph of a bookshelf. Among other titles like "Project Hail Mary" and the Narnia series are paperback copies of both "The Woods" and "Heliruna" by Hazel E. Baumgartner.

021 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

MY SECOND BOOK IS OUT! #Heliruna is officially available in both ebook and paperback! You can yet it here: a.co/d/06hNKGXH

The cover of "Heliruna" by Hazel E. Baumgartner, with a quote at the top which reads "the scariest goddamn thing I've ever read!" - Echo Porter

021 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Look at a satellite map of Colorado Springs or Denver. Everything is brown except for the golf courses. They're so extremely unnatural. And the entire state is going through a drought right now, but the data centers still get built and the golf centers still get watered.

A satellite imagery map of west Denver towards Lakewood and Columbine. Everything is brown... except for the unnaturally bright green golf courses.

171 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Sometimes the Bluesky trending bar gives us bangers like this one.

A screenshot of the Bluesky trending topics bar, which reads
2. Trump adds snipers, drones to arch plan.
3. World marks International Day of Peace.

070 0

Hazel E. Baumgartner - HELIRUNA OUT NOW! @hazelebaumgartner.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

In honor of the first #Batman comic premiering 83 years ago this weekend, I drew an 83 year old Batman.

020 0