Novella Update

So, this month I tried something different. My second draft felt like a dead end so I decided to start a third draft and see if it was any better. I also decided to start editing as I went to see if that helped. Much to my surprise, this actually worked. I have a polished first chapter that is ready for people to read, as well as most of the second chapter written as well. So because I am now a long ways from completing the draft I’m working on, I’ve decided to change my plans. I will finish and edit chapter two, then will take a break from it in order to write…

A New Series on Writing

I mentioned this in a previous newsletter, but now I’m making it official: I will be releasing a five-part series I’m calling Horror Short Stories, Step by Step. It will walk you through my writing process, from collecting ideas to the final draft. It will also include tips and tricks I’ve picked up since I started writing back in 2009. I’m hoping to have the first installment out in mid-late June, so make sure you stay tuned!

The Archives

This month’s featured story is The Vigil, which I won a Lunar Award for a couple of years ago. It’s about a man who investigates a local urban legend for very personal reasons. It’s technically a Halloween story, but I don’t see why it can’t be enjoyed in June as well!

What I’m Reading

There is No Antimemetics Division, by qntm

This novel was sometimes a bit too clever for its own good, but it had some interesting ideas and genuinely terrifying moments.

No Comebacks, by Frederick Forsyth

A great selection of short stories, many of which are revenge-themed and very satisfying.

Now for the stuff you’re really here for:

Novella Update

I’m not going to lie to you. This past month was rough. I wrote about 2k more words and spent the rest my usual writing time either avoiding this story or trying to figure out how to tell you that I’m giving up on it (I’m not). I’m a perfectionist, as you’ve probably guessed, and have been putting a lot of pressure on myself to write something good. After all, I don’t want to make you wait a couple years for something that turns out to be a complete dumpster fire. Especially now that a few of you are actually paying me to write said dumpster fire.

To be clear, I think the story does have potential, even if I’ll probably have to completely rewrite at least half of it before it will be worth trying to edit. And I did promise you a serial. I may never write another one of these again, but I’m determined to at least finish this one.

Hopefully this month will be better. Theoretically I have under 10k words to go, although it might end up being more than that. I do have an ending planned. I’m just not quite sure how to get there yet.

Writing about Writing

One of the things I did while procrastinating this month was to start writing about my process for writing short stories, from initial idea to final draft. I love reading other writers’ tips and tricks (see ‘s recent piece on Writing fast and writing well as a good example of this), and I figured that I might have a few of my own to pass on. I probably won’t start posting anything until after I finish the novella draft, but keep an eye out for it within the next few months.

The Archives

This month’s featured story is The Lightbearers. It’s about medieval pilgrims who find that the village they’d intended to spend the night in has been mysteriously abandoned.

What I’m Reading

The Devil and Harper Lee, by Mark Seal

An interesting nonfiction story about Harper Lee’s unpublished true crime novel and the public murder of a suspected serial killer that inspired it.

Collapse: The Fall of the Soviet Union, by Vladislav M. Zubok

Kind of a doorstopper, but I’ve learned a lot about late Soviet politics and economic issues.

I knew my momentum was going to have to end eventually. Ah well. I had to delete around 1500 words this month because the story was headed in a direction I didn’t like. I’m currently at about 19k, which isn’t terrible but is less than I’d like. On the plus side, I have a pretty good idea how it will end now. I just have to figure out how to get there.

I also released a teaser image, in case you’d like a hint on what I’ve been working on for the last year and a half (Try not to laugh at my lack of graphic design skills if you’re a graphic designer).

An Upcoming New Feature

I’ve been thinking about releasing a new series of posts on my writing process and writing horror in particular. Many of you are also writers, so I thought it might be helpful. I can’t promise that this will be a regular feature, but I have a few ideas already and am happy to take suggestions as well. As with all writing advice, your mileage may vary, but I’d like to share some of the stuff that has worked for me. Maybe it will work for you too!

The Archives

This month’s featured story is The Effigy. It’s about a lavish display of grief and the resentment it causes. This is another one of my favorites, so I hope you enjoy it!

What I’m Reading

A Year in the Life of Ancient Egypt, by Donald P. Ryan

A delightful combination of historical fiction and nonfiction that follows a large cast of characters through a year in New Kingdom Egypt. I liked how varied the different perspectives were, from farmers and fishermen to the Pharaoh himself. I also learned a lot about how they made paper, wove linen, built tombs (not pyramids, which were earlier), and how the flooding of the Nile dictated people’s day to day lives.

Just as Deadly: The Psychology of Female Serial Killers, by Marissa A. Harrison

This was an interesting exploration of the methods and motivations of female serial killers and how they differ from male serial killers. In some ways, I find FSKs more frightening, since they tend to prey on people who know and trust them: children, family members, the elderly, and others who are unable to defend themselves. Definitely worth reading if you’re interested in true crime.

**The top and bottom images are public domain, for those of you who are interested in that kind of thing. I did use Gemini to create the middle one, but it’s in the style of early 19th Century (ie, public domain) fashion plates from Costume Parisien.

As you probably know, I’ve spent the last year and a half working on my first novella. I’ve kept the whole thing under wraps thus far because I don’t know when it will be finished, but that might be unfair of me. Maybe you’d at least like a hint.

I’ve also considered occasionally releasing craft notes- basically my messy thoughts on this ongoing project and my writing process in general. I know quite a few of you are also writers, so you might find it helpful or at least interesting.

Let me know what you think!

I’m roughly at the halfway point—partway into Chapter 6 and a little over 15k words. If I can keep up this pace, I’ll theoretically be done with the second draft sometime in May. I have no idea how long it will take to rewrite and edit, though. I’ve honestly never gotten that far in the process with anything other than short stories.

The Archives

This month’s featured story is At First Sight. It was written as part of the Blackwater Files collaborative project but works as a standalone too.

What I’m Reading

The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde

Somehow I’d never actually read this classic book, but I really enjoyed it. I was familiar with the basic concept, but it still managed to surprise me.

When You Find My Body: The Disappearance of Geraldine Largay on the Appalachian Trail, by D. Dauphinee

A tragic true story, pieced together from interviews with friends, family, and search and rescue workers. Interesting but often heartbreaking.

House of Splinters, by Laura Purcell

While not as good as The Silent Companions, which is set in the same house almost a century later, this was a solid story with some genuinely terrifying moments.

The Holy Thief, by William Ryan

A solid mystery/thriller in an unusual setting: Soviet Russia during the height of the Stalinist purges of the 1930s. The paranoia of the era really heightens the tension.

Novella Update

I had a very productive January. My draft of Chapters 2 and 3 are done and I made headway on Chapter 4 as well. I’m at over 10k words now, which is roughly a third of the way through the draft. I really hope that I can continue at this pace, because it’s actually pretty rare for me. I plan to finish Chapter 4 this month, and maybe Chapter 5 too if I’m lucky.

The Archives

This month’s featured story is From Your Friends at the Farmbrook HOA. It’s a flash fiction piece about a nice neighborhood and the danger lurking within it.

What I’m Reading

Fateless, by Julie Kagawa

I love the worldbuilding in this book. It feels like a real, lived in place, full of mysteries and dark secrets. However, I’m kinda meh about the broody assassin love interest, given the vast age difference between him and the protagonist and the fact that he recently tried to kill her. Maybe I’d be more into it if I were still in the YA age range.

The Hospitality, by

Don’t sleep on this novella if you’re looking for a well-written, disturbing horror story. I ended up reading the entire thing in a single sitting, and it will probably stick with me for a while.

This year’s writing efforts were mostly devoted to my upcoming novella, but I did publish two pieces in the latter half of the year:

Grave Goods

Journal of an Antiquarian (part of the Ynysfall Codex)

I also had a major writing milestone this year: one of my short stories was published in Take a Breath: A Collection of Claustrophobic Horror. I received the hard copies a few weeks ago, and it’s honestly a bit surreal to be able to pick up a book that has my story in it. I haven’t read through the whole thing yet, but is an excellent editor and it really shows through in the other stories he’s chosen.

Winston also gave me the opportunity to judge Season 10, Round 5 of The Lunar Awards. I’d never judged a contest before, so it was definitely a learning experience. It was also a great way to really understand what makes a horror short story work. I’d recommend it if you ever get the chance!

Novella Update

I have been learning a lot about pacing. After finishing most of Chapter Two, I realized that I had escalated too quickly and hadn’t spent enough time introducing the characters or the situation first. I now have two unfinished chapters, one finished chapter, and about 6k words in total. Hopefully I’ll be able to get back on track this month. Maybe I’ll even start Chapter Four.

The Archives

This month’s featured story is The Seer. It’s about a man with an extrordinary gift who uses it to try to save the woman he once loved. This is one of my favorite stories that I’ve written. I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I do.

What I’m Reading

Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter, by Ben Goldfarb

I didn’t expect to become this invested in a book about beavers, but they’re actually very interesting from both a biological and an ecological perspective. The book is partly about the animals themselves and partly about the often controversial effort to reintroduce them into areas where they were previously all but extinct.

The Hollows, by Daniel Church

It’s been a while since I’ve read a good folk horror story, but this one really scratches that itch. Bonus points for memorable characters, an atmospheric setting, and a nuanced, thoughtful take on religion, which is fairly rare these days.

Project Updates

While not as productive as I would have liked, I finished the first chapter of the novella and made a decent start on the second chapter as well. I’m aiming for somewhere around 10-12 chapters or 30,000 words total. Unfortunately, this may take me a while, but I’ll do my best to make it worth the wait. Thanks as always for your patience!

A Tip Jar and Other Paid Options

Considering the above, I can understand not wanting to donate anything for a while. However, I’ll include the links in case you’re feeling especially generous. I’ve also added a tip jar option, in case you want to show your support but don’t want to sign up for yet another subscription.

https://ko-fi.com/halcyonhorror

The Archives

This month’s featured story is The Derelict, a flash fiction piece about a seemingly abandoned ship and the horrors found below decks.

What I’m Reading

The Night of the Gun, by David Carr

A brutally honest memoir that uses investigative journalism to verify and correct the author’s own memories, which are often incomplete or wrong due to his past substance abuse. Self-deprecating and often quite funny.

Hallway, by Andy Futuro

If you’ve ever lived in a crappy apartment with an unresponsive and unhelpful landlord, the circumstances of this book will feel uncomfortably familiar. I love the combination of supernatural horror and the protagonist’s economic uncertainty. It makes for a particularly claustrophobic story that seems fresh and unique.

One of the best parts of Substack is its many collaborative fiction projects. I’m usually too slow to participate, but this time I was actually able to make the deadline. The Ynysfall Codex is a project created and collated by in which writers are encouraged to submit in-universe journal entries, poems, and other random story bits that build out her original idea for a dark fantasy world. I posted my entry yesterday, if you haven’t had a chance to read it yet.

Project Updates

I spent most of this past month’s writing time either working on the above piece or judging the Lunar Awards (which had some excellent stories that you should definitely check out if you love horror). However, I was able to make a solid start on both the second draft of the novella and the collaborative piece and I are working on. This month I’ll try to at least finish the first chapter of the novella. I switched POVs again, but I think it should work better from this perspective.

A Paid Option

While I’ve resisted allowing paid subscribers for a very long time, I have decided to make it an option. I’m not paywalling anything for the time being, but if you want to financially support my work as a writer, I would certainly be grateful for it. Each story I post here takes many hours of work to write, rewrite, and edit.

The Archives

This month’s featured story is The Other Country, one of my earliest stories here on Substack. It’s about a teacher who visits a remote farmstead to look for her missing student. What could go wrong?

The Ynysfall Codex is a collaborative anthology of short fiction, lore fragments, and myths written by many voices. -

Image courtesy of Josué AS via Unsplash.

[Excerpts from a diary thought to belong to Valerian Fane, collector and amateur antiquarian. The book itself has never been found, but these pages appear to have been carefully cut out of it. They are yellowed with age and somewhat dirty, but most of the text is still legible.]

27th Seath [Probably sometime around 1090]

It must be a counterfeit. It must be. No one’s been to the Isle of Orky since that ill-fated expedition some seventy years ago. But Glynnis looked so pleased when she gave it to me that I didn’t have the heart to tell her. Let whatever peddler she bought it from enjoy his ill-gotten gains. It may not have a place in my collection, but I’ll put it on my nightstand and think of my dear niece whenever I see it.

28th Seath

The box is quite well made for a counterfeit. It seems to be carved out of a single, fist-sized piece of bone, with a sinuous abstract design. Maybe Ymerian? It must have been carved recently, for the bone is still quite pale. Perhaps within the last year or so. One could call it a statuette if not for the line bisecting its middle, showing where it can probably be opened if one knows how. There’s a hollow space inside as well. Something’s rattling around inside. I’d be shocked if there’s anything of value in there, but at my age it’s worth trying to open just to keep the mind sharp.

30th Seath

I’ve tried every possible configuration I could think of—poking, prodding, twisting every small section of the box in the hopes that something would finally give. I think more research is in order. Or if I get desperate, a good hammer.

1st Hochte

This morning I pulled out all my books on Ymerian art and sculpture, looking to see if there was anything similar. I doubted it was really from Orky, although now I’m starting to wonder. No, surely not. The age alone would mark it as a forgery, wouldn’t it? I was mistaken about it being Ymerian, though. The people of that realm apparently eschew anything made of bone. Bad luck, they say. And yet stylistically it does bear a strong resemblance to the Ymerian wood carvings in my collection. Maybe it’s a replica, made by someone unaware of the taboo?

2nd Hochte

Slept poorly last night. Woke to the rumble of thunder, although oddly no lightning. Maybe just a dream. Box comes along as before.

[The following was probably added as a postscript at some later time, after the page was filled in.]

No, not thunder. Drums.

4th Hochte

A curious thing happened when I dined with Glynnis tonight. When I reached into my pocket for a handkerchief, my hand closed instead around the familiar shape of the box. I had no recollection of putting it in my pocket. Indeed, I can hardly imagine doing so with something so delicately carved. It’s little wonder it wasn’t crushed. But when I took it out to examine it, I was relieved to find it quite whole. Perhaps it’s less fragile than I thought.

There was one other thing, although I feel foolish for mentioning it at all. Glynnis gave me rather an odd look when I took out the box. I had the distinct sense that she hadn’t expected to see it again. I asked her about it, but she just laughed and said she was glad I was enjoying my gift.

[The next two entries are written somewhat hurriedly in comparison to the earlier ones.]

7th Hochte

Something’s changed. Not sure what I did, but the box looks different. Designs less abstract. A face there now, or a mask. Eyes are particularly unpleasant. Much too hollow for such a small space. Locked it away in my writing desk. Can’t look any longer.

10th Hochte

Woke in the night to strange sound again. Like distant thunder but steadier. Drums. Looked outside. The road was empty and silent. It was in the room with me. Just muffled. My hand fell on a familiar shape, even though I’d locked it away. It trembled under my touch for just a moment. Then it fell silent.

[Undated entry, probably sometime later that month. Barely legible. I deciphered it only with a great deal of work.]

Drms clos. Wyl opn sune. C’t stp it. Ct’ stp me eethr. I heer th cal nd I mst goe.

Glyns, wt ve yu dun—

I finally had a new story come out this month. I’m fairly happy with how it turned out, although there’s always room for improvement. I didn’t know that much about ancient Sumeria so I ended up doing much more research than usual. Most of it didn’t make it into the final story. (Fun fact: there weren’t domesticated horses in the area until at least a few hundred years after this story takes place. Instead, they used donkey hybrids called kungas).

Project Updates

This month I started the prepwork for both the novella and for the story and I are working on. As much as I want to launch into a complete rewrite of the novella, I’m trying to get at least a rough idea of where I’m headed first. I should start work on it early this month.

I’m also going to try to submit a piece to ‘s Ynysfall Codex project. It should be under a thousand words, so theoretically it won’t take me very long to write. It will likely come out towards the end of the month.

The Lunar Awards, S10, Round 5

This month I’m also doing something I’ve never done before: I’m judging a writing contest! Thanks to for giving me this opportunity. Many of you are horror writers as well, so I look forward to reading your entries.

The Archives

This month’s featured story is The Vigil, which won the Lunar Award for horror last October. It’s a Halloween story about a mourning father and an urban legend that turns out to have some truth in it after all.

What I’m Reading

Of Wind and Wolves, by

I’m only about a third of the way through this one, but I’ve really been enjoying it. I like the attention to historical detail and the fact that the characters have values and views that make sense for the ancient setting. That can be really difficult to pull off as a historical fiction writer. All in all, I think it’s an interesting and fairly realistic take on the woman warrior trope. I can’t wait to see how it ends.

Drink deeply. It’s best not to remember.

Someone had told Ama-e that, voice low as if he feared being overheard. Someone dear to her. Someone who wished to spare her from a terrible thing. She tried to open her eyes, but her eyelids were as heavy as stone. There was a strong metallic scent mixed with something repulsive that made bile rise up in the back of her throat. She was lying on her side, her face resting against the reed-covered floor and her legs drawn up in front of her. Something unyielding dug into the side of her skull. She tried to move it out of the way, but her arm only twitched a little. Maybe she was still asleep after all. Maybe that was for the best. How long she drifted in this half-waking state she could not say. She could have been here one hour or a thousand. But as she slowly returned to consciousness, she began to remember. Images rose up for a moment, then flitted away like fish in a stream. Red-brick walls. A silver lyre. A man’s shadow against a bright doorway. And a dead woman in full royal array.

Ama-e opened her eyes. No stars. No moon. Not even the outline of a door. There was nothing but darkness here. The air was stagnant. The underworld, she thought, although somehow that seemed wrong. The throb at the back of her head seemed real enough, and she could feel herself breathing—steady, but with a slight gasp at the end as if she couldn’t take in quite enough air. No, she wasn’t dead. That much she was certain of. She tried to raise her arm again. There was some resistance this time, as if she’d been fastened to the ground. No, not fastened. Adhered. The mats she lay on were sticky with a half-dried liquid she could no longer pretend she didn’t recognize.

Blood.

Her heart beat faster. She knew where she was now, even if she’d never set foot here before. It was a place every servant feared; where she and the others would be interred with the queen’s other belongings. Everything needed for the afterlife.

Drink deeply, her brother had told her. Drink and forget.

She had done so—greedily—praying she would not wake until she was halfway to Eridu.1

It hadn’t been enough.

Something had awakened her early.

She thought back to those first moments of consciousness, trying to recall the moment she had first come to. A gentle hand on her shoulder—Was that it? No, she was probably just confused. That had happened before she was led down here. Before the draught had taken full effect. Or could it be that Ninsaga was still alive? Her brother said he’d try to save them both. Maybe she was here, somewhere in the dark.

She tried to call out her friend’s name, but her voice was a hoarse whisper, barely making it beyond her lips. She tried again.

“Are you there, Ninsaga?”

She listened for a long while—for voices, breathing, anything that proved she wasn’t alone. Nothing stirred.

“Is there anyone here?”

Still nothing. It was a foolish question. She knew the answer even before she said it; could read it in the absolute silence that engulfed her. For the first time in her life, she was truly alone.

She needed to get up. The air was so thick where she lay that even a deep breath barely filled her lungs. Ama-e felt lightheaded as she slowly brought herself to a sitting position. Her hand brushed against something cold and unmoving nearby. She recoiled, knowing what it must be. So many others had been led into this pit. Fellow ladies-in-waiting, flanked by guards. Now there was only her, surrounded by the bodies of people she had spent much of her young life with. It would have been natural to fear them, and to some extent she did. Everyone knew the stories of the vengeful dead. But those were always impersonal spirits, creatures one might whisper about while sitting around the fire on a chilly evening. The dead here were different. These were people she knew well. Good people who didn’t deserve to die.

There was a sound, so faint that she could almost believe she imagined it. A soft susurrus like the motion of fine cloth. Ama-e held her breath as long as she could, listening to see if it would repeat itself or if it was simply a product of her imagination. Just doing so made her dizzy, so she did not try it again. The air was no better here than when she was lying down. Even the great gasps she was taking in hardly seemed like enough. If she could just stand—but her legs felt unsteady under her as she tried to get up.

Another noise, much closer this time. A thin, silvery sound that made her flesh crawl, like spiderwebs brushed across the skin. She hadn’t imagined it this time. It had been real, so close that she thought she could almost reach out and touch it. She knew this sound because she had heard it before. It was the sound of cloth brushing against lyre strings.

“Please—”

She started to speak but broke off. It was hard to muster the breath to say anything. The air clung to her like a heavy shroud. She breathed in deeper still, but it wasn’t enough. Her headache had worsened and she had difficulty thinking at all. Something was wrong with her. She could feel it in every gasping breath she took. It was more than just the effects of the tincture; it was the very place itself. It was strangling her. It would be her grave if she allowed it to be. Or maybe she was a fool for thinking she had a choice. She started to get to her feet again, but a wave of dizziness overtook her. When had she become so weak? No, it was better to stay on her hands and knees anyhow. Safer that way. More stable. Less likely for her to stumble over the dead.

The reed mats were clotted with blood. The scent was everywhere and she could feel it, tacky under her fingertips as she crawled along. Would the queen have ordered this if she had been able to see or feel all this blood? Or perhaps the lives of servants were as unreal to her as those of slaughtered animals. Then there was that silvery sound again and the slight movement of air as someone brushed past.

“You know me, don’t you?” she said, her voice a hoarse whisper. Even after a deep breath, it was all she could muster.

Ama-e put her hand out in front of her, bracing herself for the inevitable moment when she found something—no, someone there. That moment never came. And yet there was someone nearby all the same. A presence that watched her unblinkingly with the singlemindedness only the dead possessed. They were so close that she wondered when they would finally grab ahold of her. She tried to move faster but her body was sluggish. Where was she going? Was this even the right way? She forced in another deep breath. It did nothing. Nothing at all. On every side of her she could hear the faintest sounds of movement, as if the many dead were stirring from their eternal slumber.

“Please, I beg you.” she tried to say, but it came out as a thin rasp. “I don’t want to die here.”

One of her legs suddenly gave out under her. She toppled to the side, wondering hazily how far she might fall. Before she could scramble to her feet again, she felt the touch of a cold, steadying hand on her shoulder. She recoiled from it, but now there were more hands, more bodies pressing in on her from every side as she was lifted up off the ground. She struck out with her hands and feet, desperate to break their hold. Her limbs fell feebly against them. Where were they taking her? Maybe this was the fate of those who trespassed upon the dead. She tried to call out for them to stop but no sound came from her lips besides a harsh gasp, soon lost among the thud of their footsteps. Somewhere nearby she heard the grinding noise of stone on stone.

Gods, what were they going to do to her? It was so hard to think, so hard even to breathe. Perhaps she was imagining all of this. It would be so much better that way. Let this be some terrible dream of her last moments. Let her be swallowed up by oblivion if it meant this would finally end.

A sliver of light appeared, so bright that she was forced to cover her eyes. Men were shouting outside. She couldn’t make out what they said, but the fear was unmistakable. Then there were heavy footsteps that receded into the distance. All the while the brightness increased until her hands were luminescent with it. Where was she? There was only one possibility but it didn’t make any sense. She took in a gasp of air. Then another. It was cool and sweet, with only a faint residue of blood.

Outside.

She was outside.

As if of one accord, the footsteps stopped. She was lowered to the ground with a gentleness that almost frightened her more. Her eyes opened just a sliver. More than that was too much. It was getting on towards dusk, and the world was bathed in brilliant yellow light. Several figures stood over her, obscured by the glare. Then one by one they turned away, until only one remained— a girl whose head lolled unnaturally forward as if no longer fully attached. Ama-e whimpered and shut her eyes again. She didn’t want to see the ruin her cowardice had wrought. It had been so easy to rely on her brother’s assurances that both of them would be saved. She wondered now if that had been a polite fiction and nothing more.

A cold hand touched her brow, brushing her hair away from her face. Then there was a light set of footsteps, winding its way back into the grave.

I first heard about the Royal Cemetery of Ur in my high school Western Civ class some years ago. Dating back to c. 2600-2500 BCE and located in what is now Southern Iraq, the site was rediscovered and excavated in the 1920s. However, it wasn’t the gorgeous jewelry or artwork that attracted my attention at the time. It was the large number of attendants who were sacrificed there, presumably so that they would be able to serve their royal masters in the afterlife. Of these tombs, one of the most famous is the Great Death Pit, which held 6 male victims and a staggering 68 female victims. Most of the latter were young women.

The scholarly articles I read gave somewhat conflicting information about this site and particularly about how the victims were killed. Poison, suffocation, and a spear to the back of the head were all suggested in various places. There was also some confusion about who these attendants were a sacrifice for, although many sources suggested Queen Puabi, whose tomb is nearby. I tried my best to be accurate, but sometimes you just have to make an educated guess. If by some chance one of you is an expert in ancient Sumerian archaeology or history, please let me know if I’ve gotten something wrong.

I’m almost done with the short story. I’m just polishing the final draft and waiting for feedback from my beta readers. I had originally planned to release it today, but I decided that it needs a little more work before I release it into the world. I’m aiming to post it on Monday, September 8th, so please keep an eye out for it. I’m pretty happy with how this one has turned out, so I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it.

Road Map For the Next Few Months (The Kind That’s Shakily Drawn on a Napkin)

Once this story is released, my main priority will be completely rewriting the novella. I’m hoping I can get it done in maybe 6-8 months, but I’m honestly not sure how long it will take. I’ve written novels before, years ago, but I always abandoned them after the first draft.

I also have a few other major commitments in the coming months that may delay things. Not least of which is my upcoming collaboration with , which I have definitely not forgotten about. I’m not sure how long that one will take, since I’ve never written a collaborative story, but I’ll keep you updated on its progress.

The Archives

This month’s featured story is Elsie, which is the first story I ever published on this Substack! It’s a quick, snappy little ghost story with a satisfying ending.

What I’m Reading

Whistle, by Linwood Barclay

• I never would have expected a story about evil toy trains to actually be scary, but I was pleasantly surprised by this one. Definitely on the campier side of horror, but quite fun.

  Thanks for reading Halcyon Horror! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

I’ve been thinking about revamping this newsletter’s formatting a bit so the important stuff stands out more (and it doesn’t just seem like I’m rambling about writing). So, without further adieu:

Coming Soon

After many months, I’m proud to announce that I’ll actually have something to share! I’m working on the second draft of a short story. This one’s set in the distant past and required a decent amount of historical and archeological research. I’ll do my best to get it posted by the end of the month, or in early September at the latest.

The Novella, Second Draft

I should begin the rewriting process in September. It’s been fun to write something completely different for a couple of months, but I promised you a serial, and I’ll do my best to keep that promise. You’ve probably noticed how vague I’ve been about the plot. That’s because my second draft is usually drastically different from the first one. I’ll do a proper announcement when it gets closer to completion.

The Archives

I’ve decided to start highlighting past short stories I’ve written, since I’ve been here on Substack long enough for many of you to have missed them the first time.

This month is The Inheritance, which I published on a different Substack back before I started this one. It’s been a few years since I wrote it, but it’s still one of my favorites. If you like Victorian Gothic with a dose of cosmic horror, this is the story for you.

What I’m Reading

Find The Blackpage! by

• I’m a bit late to the party on this serial, but it’s quite fun and has some really neat worldbuilding. Definitely worth checking out.

American Freaks by

• Not my usual reading fare, but I enjoyed this book of literary short stories. Be forewarned, though. They’re definitely on the edgier and often seamier side.

Much to my surprise, I actually managed to finish my first draft of the novella a few days ago. It may be a hot mess that no one deserves to have inflicted on them, but the important thing is that it’s actually done. And I do think that there’s a kernel of a good story in there, if I have the time and patience to develop it. For now, I’m going to put the whole project aside for a couple of months, so I can come back to it with fresh eyes and (hopefully) the enthusiasm it deserves.

So, what’s next for this Substack? and I are still planning on doing a project together, but he’s in the middle of a major serial, so it might take us a bit. I actually have a really cool idea for another serial, but I’m not ready to throw myself into a major project again just yet. Instead, I’ll focus on flash fiction. You’ve all waited so patiently for me to finish this thing that you deserve at least a couple of little stories in return. I haven’t decided what to write about, but I’ll try to put something out in the next month or two.

Thanks as always for sticking around. I can’t tell you how much it motivates me to know that someone will actually read what I’ve spent so many hours working on.

What I’m Reading:

• Obscura, by Joe Hart

  • I don’t read a ton of science fiction, but I liked the concept of this one a lot. The idea of an Alzheimer’s-like disease that can affect people at any age is terrifying but also compelling as a plot device. I especially liked the horror elements near the middle of the book, as you might expect.

• Strange Pictures, by Uketsu

  • An innovative series of short stories themed around, you guessed it, strange pictures. I really liked how interconnected all of the stories were, and the puzzle aspect of how the pictures were incorporated. I’d recommend getting a print or digital copy of this one. The audiobook is well done, but it helps to be able to actually see the pictures that are described in the text.

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So, what can you expect in the meantime?

First off, and I have some very interesting ideas for a collaboration. It won’t be Halcyon Horror’s usual fare, but sometimes it’s good to challenge yourself a little.

Beyond that, I’ll see how much time I have. I have several ideas for short stories, but I still want to give myself enough time to start publishing the novella in the first half of 2026.

Thanks as always for sticking around!

What I’m Reading:

• The Ghost Diaries, by

  • I read this short and very funny little book in a single sitting. It reminded me a bit of a modern Canterville Ghost, except from the ghost’s perspective. I especially enjoyed the ending.

• Incidents Around the House, by Josh Malerman

  • This is a very innovative horror novel, being written in first person from a young child’s perspective. However, the quality was somewhat uneven. The beginning was excellent and the end was pretty good, but the middle was somewhat repetitive in places.

• The Last to See Me, by M. Dressler

  • This one is also written from a ghostly perspective, but with a very different tone and style. The prose is beautiful just on its own, but it’s combined with a compelling story and interesting characters. I haven’t finished yet, but hopefully the ending will be just as good.

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Another fairly productive month for me. I finished Chapters 7 and 8 and am now at over 21k words. I’m thinking the climax will probably start with this next chapter, although I’m not sure how many more it will take to get to the end. Since I’m averaging 1-2 chapters a month, I’m hoping to have the entire draft done by the end of June. Whether I’m successful in this remains to be seen.

Since the end of this stage of the novella is in sight, I’ve started thinking about what I’ll do next. I’ll probably wait at least a month or so before starting the second draft, which will likely need to be rewritten from scratch. This will take at least another six months if I’m lucky, so I doubt that the serial will come out before the first half of 2026. With this in mind, I’d like to publish at least one or two short stories here before starting the second draft. I already have a few ideas. There may also be a collaboration project in the near future, so please stay tuned for more details.

Thanks as always for sticking around, and for all your support!

What I’m reading:

The Paleontologist, by Luke Dumas

• The premise of this book (dinosaur ghosts haunting a museum) sounds silly, but this has probably been the best book I’ve read this year. Part horror story and part mystery, I enjoyed the characters and the tight plotting. The protagonist makes a really dumb and kind-of unexplained decision towards the end, but that’s the only thing that detracts from what’s otherwise a great book.

The Twitching House, by Ben Farthing

• This book also has an unusual premise (a horror/fantasy story from a mouse’s perspective), but it’s actually pretty compelling. I found it quick to read and engaging, if a bit more on the pulpy side of horror. I ended up finishing it in a single night.

The Only One Left, by Riley Sagar

• I’m only about a third of the way through this one, but so far I’m really invested in the plot and characters. I’ve read a couple of Sagar’s other novels and mostly liked them, so I’m hoping I won’t be disappointed.

You may have noticed that the logos and a few of the thumbnail images have changed. Since this Substack has been around for a few years now, I thought it deserved a glow-up. I’m planning to eventually replace the rest of the AI art thumbnails with something nicer and more professional looking. After all, I don’t want to give the impression that the stories are AI generated as well. They take much too long for that!

Despite having some major life changes this month, I was still able to finish a chapter and get my word count up to 17k. I’m definitely in the second half of the story now. The antagonist’s identity is about to be revealed to the reader (it’s already known to one of the viewpoint characters) and I’m excited to find out where it goes from there. I also switched from first person POV to close third with several different POVs. I really liked my first person narrator, but there were too many important things going on that she couldn’t find out in a natural way. Ah well, I knew I’d have to rewrite most of it anyway.

I’ve been in a bit of a reading rut lately, but I did manage to read Hanna Delaney’s The Spider, which was quite a fun mystery with a surprising ending. I’d definitely recommend checking it out.

Thanks as always for sticking with me!

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This month has been incredibly productive, probably one of my best in a while. I finished two chapters and am now at well over 13k words. Another few months at this pace and I might actually get the first draft finished! I’m somewhere around the middle of the story, where things start to get seriously creepy but the conflict hasn’t fully escalated yet. I had been thinking of taking a break to work on some flash fiction, but I probably won’t unless I get seriously stuck and need a break. Right now, the plan is to power through to the end. I’ll see if that actually happens.

Thanks for reading and for sticking with me! I really do appreciate it.

What I’m reading:

Nonzero, by Robert Wright

An exploration of how human societies develop, explained through the lense of game theory. It’s actually surprisingly accessible for a high-concept nonfiction book.

Sleep Dearie, Sleep, by

I’ve been enjoying this Substack serial, which just concluded this past week. I found the ending a little rushed, but it’s definitely worth reading for its interesting characters and story concept.

The Ring, by

If I were a sensible person, I’d have started with the first book in the series, but it’s hard to resist the lure of a fresh horror serial. Also, I’m still bogged down reading the Stand, which is good but very long. This has been a very fun story so far, with just a hint of menace that I suspect will blossom into something far more sinister. I also really like that it’s set in the author’s actual hometown, which really helps ground it in concrete reality. One of the unfortunate things about being anonymous is that I can’t explicitly write about where I’m from without giving more away about myself than I’d like. Can’t be helped, though.

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