Hewn from the molten plasticks of hell flame it has come. The dread mark that speaks of pain, of pestilence and of putridity. Long hath man (and woman) sought the avoidance of its vile company…its terrible curse! Those who bear it shall know no happiness. Comfort and joy – distant memories shall these things be! Abandon all hope thou who pinneth it to thy jacket, manbag or handbag.

*Cough* …by that I mean, of course, that the Dreadful Thoughts badges have arrived. Hoorah! There may be some slight spiritual/occult peril involved in their ownership but fuck it – they just look so damn cool.

Those of you who've contributed to the "DT Story Club" discussions thus far – one each of these shall you have. Just email me your addresses (sign a short legal document in your own blood) and this must-have fashion item will be winging its way to you before you can say, "Oh God! What have I done?!"

In other "Club" news – Niall Munnelly, Lord of the Mixtapes, has set up a little Dreadful Thoughts Muxtape page for us. There are slots to upload 12 songs in all, with Niall having started the ball rolling by choosing the first track (taken from Krzysztof Komeda's Rosemary's Baby soundtrack). What I'd like DT "members" to do is to upload a suitably spooky track of their choice to the page in question. When the 12 slots are filled we should have a delightful "tape" to listen to while we join in the discussions, read the tales, or (indeed) write our own.

I'll send out a few emails with the Muxtape log-in details. If I miss anyone (or if anyone who hasn't yet joined in the discussions would like to contribute) just drop me a line and let me know.

Fresh blood is always very, very welcome…I'm serious. Don't be shy.

Right. Time to spit on the hands (my own and those of others), roll up the sleeves and slap the dozy Dreadful Thoughts project back into something approaching life. Necromancy, Ho!

After speaking to (hat-trick girl) Sinéad last night, it's become clear that (due to my waffling and love of long posts) the exact workings of the project weren't made…er…clear enough.

So instead of me reeling off further reams of text on its goals and aims I'll recap by making a few points in as punchy and concise a manner as I can (i.e. probably not very punchy and concise at all).

1) Dreadful Thoughts was/is intended to have two (fairly straightforward) components.

The first sets a challenge to this blog's readers, friends, and casual acquaintances (plus anyone else with a thirst for the macabre). That challenge being the creation of a horror short story (interpreting "horror" however you wish) of no more than 500 words (to be submitted to me and published here).

The second requires us to choose, at regular intervals, an interesting horror short story available online that we can all pop off and read/ponder before returning at a set time to chew over and discuss. In other words, it's a short story version of a "book club".

2) The writing side of things isn't something I expect to get up and running quickly. There's an obvious time commitment involved on writers' parts and (probably) an understandable reluctance to be the guinea piglet that goes first (that task may fall to me).

3) The "Story Club", however, is something I'd like to shove onto its feet as soon as possible. It'll work (just to recap again) like this -

a) Once the story is decided upon I'll put up a short post with links to sites where it can be found/read.

b) In that post a time to reconvene will be suggested.

c) At the appointed hour you'll all trudge your weary ways back here where a new post (with the heading "Dreadful Thoughts Story Club") will await you. The comments section of that post will be our meeting place – and all chatter about the chosen story will go there.

Unlike the regular posts on this blog which are, essentially, about me and my tastes, inclinations and opinions – I want Dreadful Thoughts to be collaborative and interactive. This blog provides the space for the "club" to meet, that is all. Its "members" dictate the content and operation.

4) I don't want (and I can't stress this enough) people to feel that the Story Club discussions are supposed to be scholarly, academic or any of that scary jazz. The atmosphere/vibe we want is an amicable, chatty, comfortable, welcoming and fun one. Think "friends in a room with a few bottles of wine" discussing unspeakable horrors. That's the ticket.

I'll finish by returning to where I came in and welcome Sinéad on board. We've decided to become co-conspirators and co-ringleaders on this one and thus the first Sigla/fustar.info crossover is born (with a giant mutant head…arrggh). With the mighty Ms. Gleeson as a partner in horror we'll soon get this terrible thing rockin' and rollin'.

The next Dreadful Thoughts post will be along shortly – setting you your homework (and telling you when to return).

Thoughts? Questions? Suggestions? Spells?

P.S: If it's any incitement to join in, I'll make club badges! Ones that are wicked instead of fluffy.