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James Machin

@jfmachin.bsky.social
295 followers 430 following 29 posts

Editor, proof reader, writer, researcher etc. Recent books: The Strange Stories of John Buchan (British Library Publishing, 2025) The Stark Munro Letters by Arthur Conan Doyle (Edinburgh University Press, 2024)

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Reposted by James Machin
The Quietus @thequietus.com · 15/09/2026
Matthew Harle and James Machin examine one of Alan Clarke's most eccentric works, the psychogeographical fantasia, Penda's Fen Penda’s Fen re-examined #ThePortal: Your Weekly Quietus Archive Dive buff.ly/C4zkvSK
Scene from Penda's Fen. A person wearing a gargoyle like mask.
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James Machin @jfmachin.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Very much looking forward to this -- fast approaching!
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Institute of English Studies @ies-sas.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Join us in person to investigate Arthur Conan Doyle’s representations of and ideas about Asia and Africa, exploring themes and issues such as empire, race, Orientalism, health, travel and tourism 🎟️ Ticket price: £20 ⏰ Friday, 2 Oct 2026, 10am - 5:30pm 🔗 ies.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
The portrait of Arthur Conan Doyle in a pith helmet
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Ashley Stokes @ashleystokes.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
People have been messaging me for months, Ash, Ash, why has there been no short fiction from you for ages, only your short fiction can save the world? Well, the wait is over, Hip Priests and Kamarads. I give you, DIM STARS in Supernatural Tales 62. More soon
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James Machin @jfmachin.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Edinburgh University Press Ebook sale! -- all Conan Doyle titles only £9.99 edinburghuniversitypress.com/series/serie...
edinburghuniversitypress.com
The Edinburgh Edition of the Works of Arthur Conan Doyle
<p>Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) has been called the greatest genre writer Britain has ever produced, and Britain’s last national writer. His stories were popular in his lifetime, and continue to fas...
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Strange Attractor Press @strangeattractor.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
We've got a new website 💻️ Check it out for news and upcoming events as well as new releases, older publications and (soon) info about our authors!
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Undertow Publications 🇨🇦 @undertow.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Thrilled to see Locus's 'Year's Best' fund in a day. Reminder that our little 'Best Of' could use some pre-order love, as well. If you're able and inclined. We think it's pretty good. You might, as well. undertowpublications.com/shop/best-we...
undertowpublications.com
The Best Weird Fiction of the Year, Vol. 2 — Undertow Publications
Pre-Order. Shipping October 2026. Cover art by Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis PRAISE FOR THE BEST WEIRD FICTION OF THE YEAR “Momentous... an indispensable guide to the state of the weird in ...
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Richard Fallon @richardfallon.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
Forthcoming volume in the Edinburgh Edition of the Works of Arthur Conan Doyle: Douglas Kerr's scholarly edition of The Tragedy of the Korosko and The Fires of Fate with The Nile Journal. Discount code here, and encourage your library to get a copy!
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Crumpled Linen Press @crumpledlinenpress.com · 16/04/2026
@kickstarter.com now live! Annotated Facsimile #MRJames manuscript bit.ly/OhWhistle Contributors include: @accordingtojond.bsky.social @helengrantsays.bsky.social @manoghosts.bsky.social @theprofrog.bsky.social @nunkie.bsky.social @profdarryljones.bsky.social @jfmachin.bsky.social
bit.ly
Coming soon: The Haunted Archive - A Ghost Story Manuscript of M.R. James
A beautiful annotated facsimile manuscript edition of M.R. James's classic ghost story 'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad'.
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Richard Kaczynski @richardkaczynski.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
This just in: Felix John Taylor’s “The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn: Magic Arts and the Occult Revival” not only offers an overview of the storied Victorian secret society, but argues that it was a magnet for creatives of all stripes, from poetry and literature to the visual arts.
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James Machin @jfmachin.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
I've had a glimpse of the proofs -- it looks amazing! Get kickstarting if you're an M. R. James fan.
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Crumpled Linen Press @crumpledlinenpress.com · 27/03/2026
Cover reveal! Thanks to the fabulous @sarahcoomer.bsky.social, we have a cover for our facsimile manuscript edition of 'Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad.' The Kickstarter pre-launch page is going live in the next few days. Stay tuned! #MRJames #Ghoststories #manuscripts
Professor Parkins walks the lonely shore at Burnstow, unaware of a figure in the distance tracking him...
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Association for Scottish Literature @asls.org.uk · 14/03/2026
The Strange Stories of John Buchan, edited by James Machin (2025) – published by the British Library #weirdfiction #horror 💙📚 shop.bl.uk/products/the...
shop.bl.uk
The Strange Stories of John Buchan
Celebrate the 150th birthday of Scottish author John Buchan with this playful collection of his most intriguing strange stories. Curated by weird fiction expert James Machin, this volume brings togeth...
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Johnny Mains @johnnymains.co.uk · 03/03/2026
The next two books from myself and Trevor Kennedy's MISLAID BOOKS imprint (Trevor does all the heavy lifting). These should both be out by the end of April.
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Crumpled Linen Press @crumpledlinenpress.com · 24/02/2026
Contributors include Jim Bryant, Peter Bell, @manoghosts.bsky.social, Brian Corrigan, @accordingtojond.bsky.social, @helengrantsays.bsky.social, Darryl Jones, @nunkie.bsky.social, @theprofrog.bsky.social, @jfmachin.bsky.social, Rosemary Pardoe, @edwardgpettit.bsky.social and Mark Valentine.
The golf course at Felixstowe, with its famous martello tower. The real-life setting of 'Oh, Whistle'.
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Association for Scottish Literature @asls.org.uk · 05/12/2025
“Buchan’s tales of trust and treachery, public duty and private doubt, still have questions to ask – and answers we might not entirely expect” THE BOTTLE IMP tracks the many paths of one of Scotland’s most surprising storytellers in his 150th year 💙📚 1/8 www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2025/12/the-...
thebottleimp.org.uk
The Reign of Saturn - The Bottle Imp
The life of John Buchan reads like one of his adventure stories: as a storyteller and statesman, intelligence officer and international thinker, he roamed both continents and careers alike, leaping fr...
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Association for Scottish Literature @asls.org.uk · 05/12/2025
“Identifying the supernatural as a consistent theme of Buchan’s fiction… reinforces Buchan’s status as a pre-eminent exponent of the supernatural tale and helps us to understand his wider oeuvre” @jfmachin.bsky.social on Buchan as a writer of the weird 2/8 www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2025/12/john...
thebottleimp.org.uk
John Buchan and the Supernatural - The Bottle Imp
When writing the introduction to the recent collection of John Buchan’s ‘strange stories’ for the British Library, I was hesitant in making my argument that Buchan should rightfully be considered alon...
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James Machin @jfmachin.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
Really pleased to have an essay in the new issue of Gothic Studies -- it's a special edition on Algernon Blackwood. It's also OPEN ACCESS so free for anyone to enter its region of singular loneliness and desolation. Many thanks to Henry Bartholomew for inviting me on board and putting it together.
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Johnny Mains @johnnymains.co.uk · 13/11/2025
22% off ILLUSIONS OF PRESENCE over on that globalist shopping website.
amazon.co.uk
Illusions of Presence: Lost Christmas Ghost Stories: 21 (British Library Gilded Nightmares): Amazon.co.uk: Johnny Mains: 9780712355933: Books
Buy Illusions of Presence: Lost Christmas Ghost Stories: 21 (British Library Gilded Nightmares) 1 by Johnny Mains (ISBN: 9780712355933) from Amazon's Book Store. Everyday low prices and free delivery ...
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Henry Bartholomew @henrybartholomew.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
TOC:
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Henry Bartholomew @henrybartholomew.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
Publication day! My special issue on Algernon Blackwood and the Gothic is officially out: www.euppublishing.com/toc/gothic/c... My heartfelt thanks to all the contributors. So much in here - will cover in future posts. The issue positions B as a major force in C20th British Gothic.
euppublishing.com
Edinburgh University Press Journals - Table of Contents - gothic: Vol 27, No 3
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James Machin @jfmachin.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
Frankenstein (2025) open.substack.com/pub/jamesmac...
open.substack.com
Frankenstein (2025)
A monster movie without a monster
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James Machin @jfmachin.bsky.social · 04/11/2025
This Thursday evening will be discussing Conan Doyle's Tales of the Supernatural with the estimable Edward Parnell -- details in link ... thelasttuesdaysociety.org/event/arthur...
thelasttuesdaysociety.org
Arthur Conan Doyle’s Tales of the Supernatural - by James Machin - Zoom - The Last Tuesday Society
The creator of the arch-rationalist Sherlock Holmes also had a fascination with the supernatural, which found expression in his eerie tales.
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James Machin @jfmachin.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
Learnt recently that AI "tells" now include em dashes. As a long-term em dash enthusiast and advocate, this feels weirdly personal and cannot stand.
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Valancourt Books @valancourtbooks.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
Today's $2.99 Kindle deal is not to be missed! Karl Edward Wagner's IN A LONELY PLACE (1983) is one of the best modern horror collections, featuring some of this master storyteller's best work. Grab it at a bargain price today online on Kindle worldwide! www.amazon.com/Lonely-Place...
Book cover, IN A LONELY PLACE by Karl Edward Wagner
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BLPublishing @blpublishing.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
Happy birthday John Buchan, writer of famous spy-thriller The Thirty-Nine Steps and lesser known stories of weird fiction... The Strange Stories of John Buchan is a collection of his most intriguing and obscure spooky tales 👻. shop.bl.uk/products/the-strange-stories-of-john-buchan
shop.bl.uk
The Strange Stories of John Buchan
Celebrate the 150th birthday of Scottish author John Buchan with this playful collection of his most intriguing strange stories. Curated by weird fiction expert James Machin, this volume brings togeth...
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Cathy J @whatcathyreadnext.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
John Buchan Fact of the Day (261/365) The story 'The Shut Door' was first published in The Boys' All-Round Book of Stories, Sports and Hobbies in 1926. It is included in The Strange Stories of John Buchan, ed. by James Machin [The British Library, 2025] #JBFactOfTheDay #JohnBuchan #books #booksky 💙📚
Front cover of The Strange Stories of John Buchan, edited by James Machin. It has a navy blue cover with illustrations in silver of a small building on a clifftop, with sea below and thistles in the foreground
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Johnny Mains @johnnymains.co.uk · 19/08/2025
ILLUSIONS OF PRESENCE has a cover!! Really happy with how this one has turned out, it's going to be *THE* book to get this Christmas!! Links to order below! Please share this one far and wide! #christmasghoststories #santasshinyshiny
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BLPublishing @blpublishing.bsky.social · 21/08/2025
Journey through forbidden mountain paths, ancient woodlands and collapsing coastlines at the far edges of Britain's wilderness with The Wayfarer's Weird: Wild Tales of Uncanny Rambles... shop.bl.uk/products/the-wayfarers-weird-wild-tales-of-uncanny-rambles
Wayfarers Weird: Wild Tales of Uncanny Rambles edited by Weird Walk, against a dark leafy background.
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Noreen Masud @noreenmasud.bsky.social · 18/08/2025
pls RT, modernists - CFP now out for 'Weird Modernisms', the collaborative conference between @modernistudies.bsky.social and @moderniststudies.bsky.social ! July 2026, Loughborough University. www.moderniststudies.org/conference/M...
Image of 'The Empress' by Pamela Coleman Smith - figure with long hair, crown of stars, holding sceptre-like object. Two trees (pines?) made up of dots on right-hand side. Text: Weird Modernisms, BAMS/MSA 26, 1-4 July 2026, Loughborough University, UK
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Matthew Leggatt @matthewleggatt.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
Please help me share the CFP for this Literature Compass Special Issue dedicated to the work of Simon J James and covering key Victorian and Edwardian writers like H. G. Wells, George Gissing, Dickens, Wilde, George Du Maurier, and Conan-Doyle on behalf of Hadas Elber-Aviram.
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Doings of Doyle @doingsofdoyle.com · 06/08/2025
The fantastic @bbcworldbookclub.bsky.social is recording a show on Arthur Conan Doyle on 20 August with Harriet Gilbert, @valmcdermid.bsky.social and our very own @drmjones.bsky.social. Tickets are required but free! Come along if you can!
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James Machin @jfmachin.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
Always a thrill to get a story into Supernatural Tales & especially cool to be in there with @theprofrog.bsky.social ... suptales.blogspot.com?m=1
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Robert Lloyd Parry @nunkie.bsky.social · 05/08/2025
This Friday 8pm Archive of Dread month begins on the Nunkie YouTube Channel. Tune in here at 8pm (UK) and experience "The Temple" by H P Lovecraft. youtube.com/live/DRQsB1t... free to view, but if you'd like to support this kind of thing then you can become a patron here patreon.com/RobertLloydParry
youtube.com
THE ARCHIVE OF DREAD: The Temple, by H P Lovecraft
YouTube video by Nunkie Films
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Alexander Clifford @alexclifford.bsky.social · 03/08/2025
This has arrived this weekend and is up there as one of the most gorgeous things on my bookshelves Wonderful holographic cover art, an excellent collection of spooky and strange stories by John Buchan - an underrated master of the art of the weird - selected by the brilliant @jfmachin.bsky.social
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Rex Burrows @improbablerex.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
Just received my contributor copies of Supernatural Tales issue 59. Proud to have a story here alongside work from James Machin, Sarah LeFanu, and others, all under a typically eerie cover image from Sam Dawson. Out soon for general purchase.
Two copies of Supernatural Tales issue 59, featuring a cover image of a skeletal figure embedded in greenery and holding a bone scythe (artist Sam Dawson)First of page of "Pastepot" by Rex Burrows in Supernatural Tales issue 59. First line reads "Memory is sticky, but in wildly inconsistent ways."
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Strange Attractor Press @strangeattractor.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
You can pre-order ShoreZone now, the first and only collection of supernatural fiction by David Rudkin, author of Penda's Fen. This anthology includes 9 enigmatic, chilling and transporting short tales rich in atmosphere and uncanniness. Designed and illustrated by Zoë Taylor. Photo by SF Said.
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Mark Jones @drmjones.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
Always great to talk to @jfmachin.bsky.social, this time about 'Stark Munro'. A very entertaining novel, but definitely something of a curate's egg. Looking forward to digging into his new anthology of Buchan's Strange Stories for @blpublishing.bsky.social which arrived yesterday.
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Doings of Doyle @doingsofdoyle.com · 30/07/2025
NOW ON YOUTUBE: The Stark Munro Letters (1895), with James Machin, editor of the new Edinburgh University Press edition. www.youtube.com/watch?v=izwq...
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Johnny Mains @johnnymains.co.uk · 30/07/2025
IT'S FUCKING HERE!!!!!! UK: www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FKH9GMF8 US: www.amazon.com/dp/B0FKH9GMF8 I know that Amazon might put some folks off, at the end of the day, it was the cheapest to print it as a hardback, and one where we'll see the biggest return (still piddling, mind!)
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Doings of Doyle @doingsofdoyle.com · 30/07/2025
NEW EPISODE: The Stark Munro Letters (1895), with @jfmachin.bsky.social, editor of the new Edinburgh University Press edition. Chat about: reading the book for the first time, Cullingworth-Budd, controversy and the original ending. Plus Buchan's weird tales. www.doingsofdoyle.com/2025/07/65-s...
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James Machin @jfmachin.bsky.social · 19/07/2025
My copies have arrived and they are beautiful! Holographic foil! Thistle motif endpapers! Not to mention crammed with Buchan's superbly unsettling tales.
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BLPublishing @blpublishing.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
🌕 Delve into a world of quiet terror, featuring undying pagan and elemental forces that defy modern civilisation from the isles of Scotland to the plains of South Africa with the The Strange Stories of John Buchan edited by James Machin🌕 Find out more: shop.bl.uk/products/the...
book on tartan blanket
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Manchester University Press @manchesterup.bsky.social · 26/06/2025
Attending #GothicCrossroads today? Checkout these #Gothic goodies on our stand, including these beauties 👇 Not in Manchester? Explore our reading list for new #GothicStudies #books, series info and discounts 👇https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/blog/2025/06/18/gothic-studies-reading-list-2025
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Charles Prepolec @sherlockeditor.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
Out on July 17th from British Library Publishing. This is an absolute must for me. Love Buchan’s weird fiction. The Strange Stories of John Buchan - British Library Gilded Nightmares edited by James Machin.
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James Machin @jfmachin.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
I only met Simon James a few times, through the Edinburgh Conan Doyle project, but he always made me feel like an old friend. A wonderful man who will be sorely missed. edinburgh-conan-doyle.org
edinburgh-conan-doyle.org
The Edinburgh Conan Doyle Project
The Edinburgh Edition of the Works of Arthur Conan Doyle
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The Folklore Podcast @folklorepod.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
Currently freed from my TBR pile is this book on maritime folklore by @karlbell.bsky.social which is published next month by @reaktionbooks.bsky.social Partway in, this is an extensive and accessible collection which I’m really enjoying. There will be a full review and feature later
Book cover for The Perilous Deep
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Richard Fallon @richardfallon.bsky.social · 06/06/2025
Tourists admiring a half-skinned, half-skeletal Megatherium on display in the Festival of Britain's Dome of Discovery, 1951. There also appears to be a mannequin of a Victorian palaeontologist to its left, perhaps identified in the Festival literature #FossilFriday
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Roger Luckhurst @theprofrog.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
For U.S. readers, @princetonupress.bsky.social has put up this pre-order page for my new book, due out in October!
press.princeton.edu
Graveyards
From the author of Gothic, a marvelously illustrated cultural history of graves and graveyards, from the earliest known burial sites to today’s green burials
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