An American author who has travelled extensively around the world has said that Blackpool is the ‘weirdest place’ he’s visited.
In a hilarious Twitter thread, Jeff VanderMeer broke down why he found his visit to the seaside town so bizarre.
The author’s Tweet has now been shared by hundreds of people – who are mostly in agreement.
Jeff wrote: “Weirdest place I’ve ever been, btw, since it’s coming up in the news… is Blackpool, England.
Blackpool. Credit: Unsplash
“That includes over 40 countries I’ve been to. Absolutely and unnervingly at the top of the list.”
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He later explained: “Look, take too many tweets to explain why.
“Maybe the combo of sleazy and family-friendly, the weird night vibe of jubilation and violence.
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Weirdest place I've ever been, btw, since it's coming up in the news… is Blackpool, England. That includes over 40 countries I've been to. Absolutely and unnervingly at the top of the list.
“The donkeys on the beach. The effed up types of architecture shoved together in the same buildings. The slapping thing at the end of alley.”
Even those of us who love the north west town have agreed that it is a bit of an odd place to visit, when you put it like that.
Many locals have been sharing their own favourite quirks, like one person who mentioned the swimming pool whose letters have fallen off, leaving it the ‘heated i door swi ig poo’.
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this is such slander blackpool is a bit weird but also if ur a kid the whole place is basically a wondrous theme park. and there’s the famous heated i door swi ig poo https://t.co/Fjh1YWIh2opic.twitter.com/s40KTB5Mon
Another wrote: “I went there with 300 people for a conference in Feb 2018 – someone put a welcome banner up on a motorway bridge (???), we were the only people in town and I truly thought we were going to be hunted and eaten by locals.”
Someone else theorised: “That place is basically a gateway to a hellish dimension that isn’t quite all the way open yet. That’s what the lights are about. One year, they’ll get the configuration right and when that happens we’re doomed.”
One person, who has read Jeff’s book Annihilation (later turned into a film starring Natalie Portman), pointed out: “The author of f***ing Annihilation, one of the weirdest & most disturbing novels I’ve ever read, says that Blackpool is the weirdest place he’s ever been…”
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Another Twitter user said: “When an American dunks on somewhere in the UK, there is usually a lot of “U WOT M8?” in the quote tweets. Not this time.”
Featured image: Unsplash
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Two Manchester Basketball players have been named in the SLB Team of the Season for 2025/26
Danny Jones
A pair of Manchester Basketball players have been named in the latest SLB Team of the Season for 2025/26.
The most recent UK Super League Basketball (SLB) campaign is set to wrap up this month, with the playoffs taking place down in the capital, but there are other awards to be handed out before then.
It remains to be seen how ‘The Final Four’ phase will play out at The O2 in London on 17 May, but we can definitely take joy in moments like this.
Announced on Thursday, 7 May, Manchester Basketball confirmed that duo Max Jones and Jordan Johnson have joined the rest of the league’s roster of the best players this term.
As detailed on the club website, “Max has averaged 17.4 points in the SLB in 32 games – he’s been a starter for the franchise and was also named in the ENBL All-Star Five in Germany last month.
“Jordan averaged 14.1 points and 5.1 assists in 30 games in the SLB, had a stellar European campaign and hit 30 pts in just over 27 minutes in the SLB Cup Final.”
Commenting on social media, one fan wrote: “Both JJ and PJ have been so great at the PG spot all year. I feel this is a joint award for them both, but they can only fill one spot for the accolade. If we wanna be a serious club to build upon year on year, JJ also needs to be in an MCR jersey next year.
“We absolutely have the pieces to build around. JJ’s nerve is sooooo cool under pressure. You can just tell they wanna loft a meaningful trophy, and it’s gonna happen if we as a club plan and build the way we need to.”
Plenty of supporters have also stressed the importance of making sure that the board tie down the likes of Jones and other big talents this summer; the rest of the Molten All-League Team of the Season for 2025/26 can be found below.
It’s also worth noting that teammate Tim Adetukasi and women’s team star Irene Oboavwoduo have each been named in the SLB’s British Team of the Year in their respective divisions for 2026.
Writing in a club statement reflecting on a great week of recognition for the resurgent club, General Manager Dominique Allen said: “We are really proud to be a club flying the flag for British players.
Both Tim and Irene have made a real impact on and off the court. We’re really happy for both of them that they are getting some well-deserved recognition.”
Well done to all the MCR stars who are helping get the franchise back on its feet following such a major rebrand across the board.
Here’s looking forward to another promising and productive year for Manchester Basketball.
Akon speaks on his connection to Manchester after run of Co-op Live gigs
Danny Jones
Music veteran Akon has recently discussed his connection to our city following his run of live shows here in Manchester.
In fact, he went so far as to say he feels much more affinity here than he does with ‘The Big Smoke’.
The seasoned Senegalese-American rapper, singer-songwriter, entrepreneur and humanitarian, teamed up with fellow chart-topper Ne-Yo for not just one, not even two, but three whole nights at Co-op Live this May as part of their co-headline tour across the UK and Ireland.
Chatting with Simone Riley on BBC Radio Manchester before the third and final gig of the trio, Akon admitted that there’s “something about Manchester” that he loves way more than London.
As you can see, while he couldn’t quite put his finger on what exactly is about it in the North compared to the capital, he said simply that “it’s crazy here”, and he loves it.
Same, mate. Same.
Admitting that he feels “more attached to Manchester than London” and labelling the energy from the crowds as “stupid” up here (he meant it in a good way, we promise), Simone couldn’t help but confess her joy over his comments.
He’s not the only global superstar to have recently shouted out their affection for 0161, either, as Billie Eilish also said something similar.
Speaking to the mainline BBC at the premiere of her Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D), she said that while the dates lining up were certainly a key factor, there were other reasons why she chose Manchester to film her new movie.
Our Audio North team were also lucky enough to chat with Akon’s touring partner Ne-Yo recently, too, who also had nothing but good things to say about us as a place to play.
As for Akon, the 53-year-old has obviously played here plenty of times over the decades, with last year’s tour being his first return in a decade.
That being said, given how glowingly he’s spoken about us and how popular these joint performances were, we reckon it won’t be that long before he comes back.
Last but not least, we obviously couldn’t resist going along to at least one of the nights for ourselves; listen to what we had to say about the tour in our full review down below.
Daisy Jackson -
10th February 2022 
