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@forteantimes.bsky.social

The journal of strange phenomena

4,275 Followers  |  17 Following  |  81 Posts  |  Joined: 11.10.2023  |  1.7827

Latest posts by forteantimes.bsky.social on Bluesky

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If you're looking for a Hallowe'en gift for the witch, warlock or furry familiar in your life, we can wholeheartedly recommend our latest Fortean Times special collection...
Available in shops or order online from:
shop.forteantimes.com/product/witc...

30.10.2025 16:41 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 28    ๐Ÿ” 13    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

We aim to please...

30.10.2025 16:41 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

The way the schedules fall means we're a bit ahead of the rest of the planet... but we're used to it

30.10.2025 12:04 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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New issue on sale ! Colonel Fawcett's mystery beasts; lucid dreaming; Greek dream oracles; police vs panthers; Colin Wilson; Indian drone panic; haunted furniture; Etsy witches; flat-pack aliens; extreme fart horror; Nosher remembered and much more!
shop.forteantimes.com/current-issue

30.10.2025 12:02 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 32    ๐Ÿ” 8    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
The Woodwoses and Wildmen of Suffolk An online talk by Matt Salusbury onSuffolk's strange woodwose figures.

Saturday 18 Oct, 6.30pm: The Woodwoses and Wildmen of Suffolk. FT regular Matt Salusbury investigates Suffolk's wildmen in an online event. Please email chronicles@dunwichmuseum.org.uk and get your free ticket at on our Eventbrite page!
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-woodwo...

10.10.2025 15:51 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 19    ๐Ÿ” 8    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Halloween is a good time for promoting @forteantimes.bsky.social in the newsagents ๐Ÿ™‚

05.10.2025 11:23 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 13    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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On sale now!
Witches and Witchcraft: Stories of Sorcery, Spells and Superstition
A new special edition from the archives of Fortean Times, with an introduction and commentary by historian of witchcraft Malcolm Gaskill.
In shops now, or order direct from:
shop.forteantimes.com/product/witc...

10.10.2025 11:55 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 33    ๐Ÿ” 7    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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New issue on sale!
Blackthorn Ritualistic Folk; Ghost Witches of Essex; Black Sabbath vs the Devil; Sam the Sandown Clown; Bernard Manning From Beyond the Grave; Midsomer Murders; Scotlandโ€™s โ€˜Lost Tribeโ€™; Ripperston Farm Spaceman; tiny crocodile panic + much more! subscribe.forteantimes.com

02.10.2025 11:21 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 47    ๐Ÿ” 11    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 3
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Our intrepid news editor encountered Brian Blessed in his natural habitat at last weekend's Strange Days Festival. We hear that Bigfoot was also spotted at the event and even caught on camera...

09.09.2025 10:01 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 168    ๐Ÿ” 13    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 10    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2
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"The Sea Serpent Killer's sceptical scrapbook" - my illustrated article on probably one of the first cryptozoological clippings libraries, kept by Sir Richard Owen, a Natural History Museum co-founder who coined the term "dinosaur". In this month's @forteantimes.bsky.social (FT 462. October 2025).

07.09.2025 21:48 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 18    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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New issue on sale now!
Uri Geller: shaman or showman?; angelic UFO encounters; aristocrats on acid; sea serpent scrapbook; Father Lionel Fanthorpe; top crop circles; Cthulhu's rabbits; cockroach shoots man; robot rebellion; rogue dentists; vibrator myths and more! shop.forteantimes.com/current-issue

05.09.2025 09:12 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 30    ๐Ÿ” 8    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

Thanks โ€“ย he's in the new issue, but will now be due a follow-up.

05.09.2025 09:11 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Good one โ€“ย will be using in Extra! Extra! Thanks Scott!

02.09.2025 06:09 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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Pleased to see Pluckley on the cover of @forteantimes.bsky.social - a lifetime ago, we used to visit the Black Horse on a Saturday night and then go ghost hunting in the churchyard or the Screaming Woods. Happy memories!

03.08.2025 07:18 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 27    ๐Ÿ” 6    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

That's exactly what we're hoping!

07.08.2025 10:53 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

We do our best!

07.08.2025 10:50 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Thanks for the kind wordsย โ€“ greatly appreciated.

07.08.2025 10:50 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 4    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Good decision!

07.08.2025 10:48 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Itโ€™s very hard to describe how comforting I find reading The @forteantimes.bsky.social

It still carries a tongue in cheek sense of the 1990s paranormal revival without the 2020โ€™s full commitment to conspiracy theory.

If only the world was as crazy as the FT presented, it would make more sense.

07.08.2025 07:41 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 24    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 5    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
Review in Fortean Times of Dirt Upon My Skin by Steve Toase
Regular FT writer Steve Toase is a trained archaeologist. Dirt Upon My Skin is a small but brilliant collection of short stories where archaeology meets horror, in some cases, or the world of faerie, or just the weird. Two are written in the form of a site diary and a more formal site report from digs. Some are about disturbing finds. Some are about disturbing something that really shouldn't be disturbed. Altogether some fascinating, scary and often haunting stories.

Review in Fortean Times of Dirt Upon My Skin by Steve Toase Regular FT writer Steve Toase is a trained archaeologist. Dirt Upon My Skin is a small but brilliant collection of short stories where archaeology meets horror, in some cases, or the world of faerie, or just the weird. Two are written in the form of a site diary and a more formal site report from digs. Some are about disturbing finds. Some are about disturbing something that really shouldn't be disturbed. Altogether some fascinating, scary and often haunting stories.

Review of Dirt Upon My Skin in British Archaeology. Review by Neil Redfern
This book is by an archaeologist turned writer. In Dirt Upon My Skin, Steve Toase sets out a selection of micro stories featuring peculiar tales of horror and speculative fiction. This will not be to everyone's taste, and I'm not a great fan of horror, but this is a collection of stories all based in the world of archaeology. Each one just long enough to read before bedtime. But be warned this might not lead to a good night's sleep. Although as an archaeologist I was deeply impressed by his use of Terminus Post Quem as the title for one of his stories.

Review of Dirt Upon My Skin in British Archaeology. Review by Neil Redfern This book is by an archaeologist turned writer. In Dirt Upon My Skin, Steve Toase sets out a selection of micro stories featuring peculiar tales of horror and speculative fiction. This will not be to everyone's taste, and I'm not a great fan of horror, but this is a collection of stories all based in the world of archaeology. Each one just long enough to read before bedtime. But be warned this might not lead to a good night's sleep. Although as an archaeologist I was deeply impressed by his use of Terminus Post Quem as the title for one of his stories.

British Fantasy Awards
Best Collection
Dirt Upon My Skin โ€“ Steve Toase โ€“ Black Shuck Books
Limelight and Other Stories โ€“ Lyndsey Croal โ€“ Shortwave Publishing
Mood Swings โ€“ Dave Jeffery โ€“ Black Shuck Books
Preaching To The Perverted โ€“ James Bennett โ€“ Lethe Press
Elephants in Bloom โ€“ Cecile Cristofari โ€“ Newcon Press
Jurors: Rosemarie Cawkwell, Heather Valentine, Ed Fortune, Mark Findlater, Rick Danforth

British Fantasy Awards Best Collection Dirt Upon My Skin โ€“ Steve Toase โ€“ Black Shuck Books Limelight and Other Stories โ€“ Lyndsey Croal โ€“ Shortwave Publishing Mood Swings โ€“ Dave Jeffery โ€“ Black Shuck Books Preaching To The Perverted โ€“ James Bennett โ€“ Lethe Press Elephants in Bloom โ€“ Cecile Cristofari โ€“ Newcon Press Jurors: Rosemarie Cawkwell, Heather Valentine, Ed Fortune, Mark Findlater, Rick Danforth

The cover of Dirt Upon My Skin by Steve Toase, showing a rosette of trowels in tones taken from a munsell soil colour chart.

The cover of Dirt Upon My Skin by Steve Toase, showing a rosette of trowels in tones taken from a munsell soil colour chart.

Just over a year since my archaeology themed horror collection, Dirt Upon My Skin came out from @blackshuckbooks.bsky.social, and what a ride, with reviews in @forteantimes.bsky.social, @archaeologyuk.bsky.social's British Archaeology, and culminating with a nomination for a British Fantasy Award!

30.07.2025 06:30 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 19    ๐Ÿ” 3    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

Yes, of course! Sorry, have been away!

07.08.2025 10:47 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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New issue on sale! Pluckley uncovered; world's weirdest riots; seagull revenge; Edwardian automaton; stone ghost girl; Wallasey catman; curlews vs posties; Satanic gangs; hot dog homicide; Joe Nickell remembered; terrorist numerology; Macron's penis-stealing plot + more! shop.forteantimes.com

07.08.2025 10:46 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 28    ๐Ÿ” 5    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1
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What is the truth about the Calvine UFO photo? To mark the 35th anniversary of the incident, FT regular David Clarke will be giving a public talk at Blair Atholl Village Hall on Saturday 2 August from 4-6 PM. Get your free tickets at: www.eventbrite.com/e/the-calvin...

23.07.2025 14:48 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 18    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 1

Lovely @bobfischer.bsky.social on his Broken Veil feature in this month's @forteantimes.bsky.social

10.07.2025 13:32 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 11    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

We're happy that you're happy! Makes us feel like we're doing something right!

10.07.2025 10:56 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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New issue now on sale!
Spontaneous Human Combustion, Colombia's alien artefact , Liverpool leprechaun hunt, Ithell Colquhoun, Broken Veil, Reform's Most Haunted chairman, half-bodied ghosts, epic pet treks, geo-engineering protests, Holyhead Sea Devils, lunar brewery, bronze boob battle & more!

10.07.2025 10:40 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 55    ๐Ÿ” 18    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 4

@forteantimes.bsky.social #simulacrum

21.06.2025 08:30 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 11    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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New issue on sale! Japanese toilet ghosts; Arthur Conan Doyleโ€™s other fairy photos; St Albans' ghostly monks; Antikythera Mechanism; ape sandwich stories; dire wolves; Aztec death whistles; very late library books; hedgehog myths; watery Welsh ghosts; Silicon Valley eschatology and much more!

12.06.2025 10:53 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 46    ๐Ÿ” 13    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 5
Preview
The Beadlean Library Strange to recall, but for 20 years from the early 1980s, a short, grinning, bearded mischief-maker dominated the ITV prime-time schedules. Jeremy Beadle developed, produced and co-presented Game forโ€ฆ

For many years, I've wanted to track down Jeremy Beadle's library, legendary in certain quarters. I did so for @thefence.bsky.social for their brilliant 23rd issue (the significance of the number will not be lost on Ken Campbell fans) www.the-fence.com/the-beadlean... @forteantimes.bsky.social

03.06.2025 11:57 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 20    ๐Ÿ” 8    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 5
Preview
The Hexham Heads, Nationwide and Greg McKevitt โ€œThe first I heard of the Hexham Heads was a couple of years ago, just through online chatter,โ€ says Greg McKevitt, content producer for BBC Archive. โ€œI saw mention of the footage existing in the aโ€ฆ

Hexham Heads anyone? Here's the @forteantimes.bsky.social feature I wrote about the unearthing of this notorious 1976 Nationwide report. It has Celtic mythology, poltergeists, werewolves and @bbcarchive.bsky.social's own @grzegster.bsky.social...
hauntedgeneration.co.uk/2025/05/23/t...

23.05.2025 10:07 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 43    ๐Ÿ” 11    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 2    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2

@forteantimes is following 17 prominent accounts