Dark, soulful tales that haunt long after the last page.
Book News
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Why I Write Horror — And Why You May Need It
Why I Write Horror—And Why You Might Need It People ask me sometimes—why horror? They ask it like I’ve made a strange, almost impolite choice. Like I could have written something nice. A romance. A cozy mystery. Something where the dog doesn’t die and everyone learns a heartwarming lesson by the end. I’ve written books…
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The Story Behind the Story: What Inspired The Dead of the Day
Sometimes, a story grows out of a nightmare. Other times, it starts with something quiet. This one started on a dairy farm in Ripley, Oklahoma. I loved my grandfathers. Mom’s dad encouraged my love of Westerns, teaching me to make a lasso and giving me a stack of ancient Old West magazines. Dad’s dad ran…
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When Memory Fails, Do the Sins Stay?
What happens to a man’s soul when his mind is gone? It’s a question that haunted me long before I ever wrote The Dead of the Day. I’ve seen people I cared about fade slowly into the fog of dementia—forgetting names, faces, entire chapters of their lives. The body stays, the eyes still open, but…
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The Scariest Characters Aren’t Monsters—They’re Old Men
We’ve all read stories about monsters. The ones that crawl out of the woods with too many teeth. The ones that live under the bed. The ones with claws, wings, fangs, or fire. They make for great entertainment. They’re scary, sure. But they’re also easy to spot. You know what really scares me? An old…
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Writing the Unlikeable Protagonist—and Making Readers Care
There’s a certain pressure in fiction to make your protagonist likable. Relatable. Sympathetic. You’re supposed to give readers someone they want to root for—someone they’d grab a beer with or follow into battle. But sometimes, the story demands someone worse. Someone angry. Someone broken. Someone who’s said and done things you can’t defend. Someone like…
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Cursed Bloodlines: Why Horror Loves Generational Sin
Some ghosts don’t come from outside the house.They come from your last name. One of the oldest horror tropes—maybe even older than the vampire or the haunted house—is the cursed bloodline. From Greek tragedies to Southern Gothic, horror keeps coming back to the same chilling idea: You can’t escape your family. You can try. You…
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What If You Could Never Confess Your Sins?
Imagine being raised to believe in God and Satan, Heaven and Hell, and choosing to allow your baser nature to govern your actions. You’re mean, selfish, abusive to your wife, children, and animals. But you believe it’ll all be okay because you’ll confess or repent on your deathbed. But then you develop dementia and can’t…
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From Failure to Flow: My Writing Revival Story
Writers are emotional creatures. Some of us have hot tempers, fragile egos, narcissism, and a host of other issues. These often come with unhealthy coping mechanisms such as drug and alcohol addiction. I’m lucky in that I don’t have the temper, the narcissism (I think) or the addictions. But, yeah, sometimes my ego takes a…
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Pre-Order _Sycamore Souls_: Release Date and Special Offers
Sycamore Souls, my upcoming novel set for release on November 5, is a heartfelt homage to my hometown, Enid, Oklahoma. The story follows Kelsi, a young woman escaping a troubled past, who learns about love and community while caring for an elderly man. The book is now available for pre-order.
Steven E. Wedel 