Why Do I Write Horror?
Steve Stred
Thank you to Gavin for inviting me to take part in this fantastic series. So far the entries in this ongoing feature have been phenomenal. I’ve loved seeing why some of my favourite authors write horror or how they became a fan of the genre.
For me personally, I think it’s always been the allure of the ‘darkness.’
When I was young I quickly found my love of reading and devoured everything my school library had. Our neighbour, Patti is a big Stephen King fan, and on one visit next door she let me borrow one of his books. I don’t know which was my first King read, but I was hooked.
I find within horror novels, that the story is never one dimensional. We always get amazing tales that involve inter-personal relationships, broken hearts, overcoming grief and facing our fears. Within horror you frequently get to see characters that find their voices, gain confidence, or experience growth and positive change.
At the same time we also get to have copious amounts of blood, gore and decapitation. We get to confront monsters from the depths of our worst nightmares and babies that can control things with their minds. We get ravenous animals and beasts from the fog.
Horror lets us run wild with our scariest thoughts, but then pulls us back by being grounded in real life. A family tragedy, a significant injury or a terminal illness.
Lord knows I’ve cried more reading horror novels than any other genre of book.
So why do I write horror? Because it’s within me and I need to get it out.
I’ve always been vocal about the fact that I write for ME specifically. I have these characters and these stories and I need to put them on to paper and see where they go and what happens to them. When I was a little boy, I was afraid of the dark. I used to sleep with a giant teddy bear and would tuck my feet in and pull the blankets over my head. In order to fall asleep I would tell myself a story and eventually I would drift off. So I’ve been an internal monologue storyteller for 30 something years. Now I just put it out into the real world and feature far less nudity!
Writing and reading horror has introduced me to a fantastic and supportive community of like-minded individuals. It’s filled a void and brought me so much joy.
To each and every person who reads and writes horror and any of its affiliated genre off-shoots, I thank you. You’ve been a massive part of my life and I just hope that what I write and release does the same to someone out there!
The Girl Who Hid In The Trees
Something lurks just beyond.
Centuries ago a heinous act created a ripple that still haunts the residents to this very day.
Now the kids who reside near McConnell’s Forest live forever in fear.
Jason lost his brother when he was young. He left with his friends to ‘debunk’ the urban legend and never came back.
Now Jason and his group of friends are fed up and want to discover what is happening, what is the real cause of the terror holding their small town hostage.
But something is waiting for them. She may look sweet and innocent, but the friends are about to find out that pure evil can exist in the smallest of packages.
She’s out there. And while you may not know her name or what she looks like, the local kids will tell you if you ask, that you should fear for your life from the girl who hid in the trees.
From the dark mind of Steve Stred, the author of Wagon Buddy, YURI and Invisible comes this fast-paced, seat of your pants coming-of-age tale. A quick, violent, bleak read, The Girl Who Hid In The Trees will make you think twice about those sounds you hear far off in the woods.
You can buy The Girl Who Hid In The Trees from Amazon UK & Amazon US
Steve Stred
Steve Stred is an up-an-coming Dark Horror author. Steve is the author of the novel Invisible, the novellas Wagon Buddy, Yuri and Jane: the 816 Chronicles and two collections of short stories; Frostbitten: 12 Hymns of Misery and Left Hand Path: 13 More Tales of Black Magick.
Steve also has a number of works on the go and enjoys all this horror, occult, supernatural and paranormal.
Steve Stred is based in Edmonton, AB, Canada and lives with his wife, his son and their dog Oj.
You can follow Steve on Twitter @stevestred
You can visit Steve’s Official Website here
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