Is this my ghost's final resting place?

In the hopes to bring more haunting engagement than social media allows...

Is this ouija board on?

*taps planchette*

Social media is essential to any writer looking to share their work with the world, but it’s clear that the era is changing. Twitter is rotting, seemingly on purpose. Facebook has fallen out of favor. Instagram is drowning in algorithms. It’s harder to connect with people — whether readers, peers, weird friends — in meaningful ways.

Substack could be a new horizon. That would certainly be nice. I am enjoying the interface. I could haunt this place with love and terror.

I hope you’ll join me. Whether to be haunted or to haunt me.

How will Substack be different for me and you?

I would love to possess connect with people who genuinely want to connect rather than just scroll down endless feeds. Those looking for real value and camaraderie from likeminded ghosts people. I hope to be creative here, with more thoughtful musings and content than I’m usually able to share on social media.

I have a new horror story collection, The Inconsolables, that I obviously need to promote so that readers know it exists. My debut novel, The October Film Haunt, is coming from St. Martin’s Press, and I’m deeply excited for it. Here’s a bit about the book:

But I want to do more. I want to do stuff that is expanded here on Substack. I want to do stuff that is even exclusive to Substack.

Microfiction and weird stuff featuring subscribers, found footage, analog horror, etc. Maybe I’ll make you think. Maybe I’ll just create that little frisson of creepiness on your skin. Or I could even make you feel. I’m setting the bar a little high for myself.

What about the time investment?

The first post-introduction post I’m planning is actually about Writing Time. What it’s like to be an author with a busy life, observing other authors who seem to be made of time. The luxuries that excess free time affords writers. How not having that time can hinder busy writers. What we can do about it.

Which is to say that I know how valuable free time is, and how valuable it is when anyone chooses to spend theirs engaging with my work, whether it’s my books or my online musings. If you get haunted here, just know that I won’t take it for granted.

At the very least, you’ll get updates about my published work.

Will I start a paid subscription option?

Probably? Maybe. I do want to incorporate exclusive fiction here and will explore various ways to do that. Some of that fiction will hopefully be unusual. Maybe I’ll start a pictorial story using “found” materials. Small, creepy things lying in the cracks between bigger things. Connective tissues. Sometimes those can add to the whole.

For now, I’ll just promise that if/when I do open up to paid subscriptions, it will be worthwhile. I wouldn’t do it otherwise. For now, I simply hope to haunt connect with you. Let’s get inconsolable together.

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