Darby Machin - Author

@malibudarby87

Writer. Queer. Romani. Disabled. CBC 2025 Mentee. PMJ Horror Prize 2025 shortlisted. He/Him. I still draw rats and butts, sometimes. Much love, always

686 Following2,439 Followers2,013 Posts

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Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· Jul 4

Some weirdness~

Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· May 4

Acrylic marker self portrait doodle… I turn 39 in 21 hours and am feeling introspective 🙃

Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· Apr 18

Pinto bean powers: activate ✨🫘

Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· Mar 20

Fnerff… Everything’s shite and I’m hungry and exhausted, but we shrimply must persevere, apparently.

Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· Feb 23

Analogue Horror Vibes

Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· Jan 9

2026 Sketch Bük opening spread. Trying to treat art as a hobby this year, and just enjoy it for what I’m still able to do with my MS ✌️😤

Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· Jan 6

Colourful Cthulhu sketch. Posca paint pen colours, but rendered all digital n stuff

Vibrant and colourful sketch of Cthulhu, the tentacle faced monstrosity. He has four glowing eyes, a beak like nose, wings coming out of his jawbone and lots of tentacles!

Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· Jan 3

I chibi-died the protags of my latest finished manuscript, Slash Fiction - a gay, Section 28 meta-horror. Edits and revisions are delayed while I work on stuff for Curtis Brown Creative and Penguin Michael Joseph, but I managed to do this, just for fun 💪🥸

Cute chibi illustrations of two characters: Nate Forester, and Lisa Campbell. Nate is a young white man with chin length, shaggy dark hair and a soul patch. He’s wearing black jeans and a Scream tee shirt, holding a rounders bat. He has a nose splint and bruised eyes. Lisa is a young black woman with an undercut bob with blue streaks, an overall gothic style, including a black hoodie, a blue checkered skirt, red tights, black boots and a black choker. She’s wielding an electric iron.

Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· Dec 25

Spending the holidays alone as usual, but trying to conjure a small amount of joy with my capybara jumper in lieu of an x-mas sweater. It’s not quite working yet 😅 Hope everyone celebrating has a good day. Much love 🧡

Photo of a bald, bearded, Roma man in glasses wearing a large, orange/brown jumper with lots of overlapping capybaras on it.

Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· Dec 12

Been trying to deal with this bullshit for hours and hours worth of calls. Scottish Power have a hardship fund, which is cool… but utterly useless if, like me, you are disqualified from accessing the hardship fund based on a technicality. Such a bloody joke 🙃

We'll be increasing your Direct Debit by £113.96 to ensure you're paying enough for your energy. Your new monthly Direct Debit will be
£290.00, effective from 1st January 2026.

Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· Oct 25

Late night/early morning writing fuel in my little bear bowl

A brown metal and plastic bowl with a handle and a sculpted cartoon bear and fish on the lid

A bright and colourful Japanese chicken curry with rice in a metal bowl

Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· Oct 20

Artists, QRP with you favourite portrait ✍️ A 90s style witch~

Purple toned portrait of a white woman with a black bob cut, glowing eyes, piercings, black lipstick and a general casual goth aesthetic surrounded by candles animal bones and various 90s paraphernalia

Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· Oct 15

Fnerff (Still alive. Sort of.)

Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· Aug 12

Notice to people in general and the delivery driver I just had in particular: “You were born the same year as me, why do you look *SO OLD*?” is likely to get a response of “go fuck yourself” rather than… whatever the hell you thought it was gonna get.

Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· Aug 10

Old yarn, new crochet project. Can’t wait for the cold to come so I can wear this 😩

Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· May 6

Oh, hey! They're try'na scam me! 😀

Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· Apr 29

Might have imagined it, but I think I saw a thread of very specific/niche dream Halloween costumes? Mine is forever Samantha Belmont from Night of the Comet.

screenshot of Kelli Maroney in the movie Night of the Comet, playing Sam Belmont. She has big 80s blonde hair, is wearing a blue and pink cheerleading outfit (complete with a sweater that says "REBELS" and is aiming a Mac-10 (Daddy would have bought us Uzis...)

Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· Apr 27

And a bonus cosplay inception of my son, Doom Rat, in Monster Camp style, cosplaying as Damien from Monster Camp

Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· Apr 27

Uh oh... new Monster Prom game from @charamath.bsky.social !!! That means the return of my #monsterpromsona 😬

Cartoon illustration of a bearded, vaguely sad looking Gargoyle monster man with horns and several piercings and a grungey aesthetic

Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· Apr 22

Fnerff (been a while since my last Fnerff, edition)

Photo of a bald, bearded, Roma man who’s very tired, very unwell, and struggling a lot. Probably needs a lot of help and support. Isn’t getting it.

Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· Apr 5

Repost a pic with your age.

Screenshot from Pride and Prejudice 2007, showing Charlotte, with (slightly edited) subtitles that say "I'm 37 years old. I've no money and no prospects. I'm already a burden to my parents. And I'm frightened."

Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· Apr 5

Want a horror novel with almost no horror? A Halloween tale with zero fall vibes? A protagonist who combines the thrill of being blonde and blue eyed, with the excitement of doing nothing? Then boy howdy, do I got a book for you! ⭐️4/5. Trash, but I expected nothing less~

Cover of the novel Trick or Treat by Richie Tankersley Cusick

Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· Apr 1

Advance readers are enjoying my debut horror novel Housekeeper, out May 5th (also my day of birth 👀)! If you'd like to be notified on release, sign up at www.dmachin.co.uk! 💙📚 #IndieAuthors #HorrorAuthor

Cover for HOUSEKEEPER, a Psycho/Cosmic Horror by Darby Machin. The cover features peach floral wallpaper with a disturbing void/corruption showing behind it.

Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· Mar 28

Her Instagram has a ton of ads for this Catholic prayer app called Hallow, where she's in full white lady church glam with ashes on her forehead for lent and shit. It's... a lot.

Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· Mar 26

As a lover of dashes, even I think this is excessive 😅

Short paragraph from a book:
“With a gasp, she stared hard at the tree line, her mind confused. There was nothing therebut darkness — right, packed darkness — and yet somehow — somehow — she knew something was back there — unseen — unheard — just watching…
“There’s supposed to be an old cemetery somewhere on the property…””

Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· Mar 26

It’s been a real poop ass week (and it’s barely Wednesday 😩) of eviction threats and mental health service failures, so I’m treating myself to a Point Horror Break. This time, it’s Trick or Treat by Richie Tankersley Cusick!

Photograph of a hand holding a Point Horror paperback book. The cover features a yellow toned old American house, and a shadowy figure approaching it. The title reads “Trick of Treat” and the author is Richie Tankersley Cusick.

The tagline reads: Trick or Treat, Trick or Treat, Candy is Dandy, but Murder is Sweet.

Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· Mar 26

Self promo is hard, but I'm trying! Here's what some early readers are saying about Housekeeper! #BookSky💙📚 #QueerWriters #HorrorAuthor #WriteSky

Promo image for the upcoming lit-horror novel Housekeeper. The book is floating in a swirling sea of red and black. The quotes read "disturbing and chilling" "a hard book to put down" "his ability to create and build tension is exceptional".

Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· Mar 25

Will be sending out digital ARCs for my debut lit-Horror novel Housekeeper this Friday! Drop me a DM if you'd like a free ARC ahead of the book's release in early May 🧡 Find out more about the book @ dmachin.co.uk

Promo illustration of the book Housekeeper by Darby Machin. The cover shows a floral peach wallpaper pattern showing a dark corruption peeling away at it. The promo text reads "This is not her house. These are not her rules. 5/5/25 For a chance to get a FREE e-book ahead of launch day, please DM me to confirm your interest in being an ARC reader."

Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· Mar 18

Aw, sheeet. The first proof copies have arrived 😶

Two proof copies of a novel called Housekeeper, one paperback, one hardback. The cover features a creepy illustration of floral wallpaper peeling to show a darkness underneath. Great "NOT FOR RESALE" bands are over both books, signifying them as author proofs

Darby Machin - Author@malibudarby87· Mar 16

Could I interest anyone in a cover reveal? 👀💦 How about a release date while we're at it? 👀💦💦 #HorrorAuthors #QueerWriters #IndieAuthors