The wait is officially over! Short story collection #2 hit the shelves today and I am thrilled to finally get this out out into the world. And this time, you get to see more of the spooky side of my writing. Whereas Please Rate Your Satisfaction is a predominantly sci-fi collection, the short stories in They See Me and Other Haunting Stories are mostly horror and thriller. But don’t worry, there are still plenty of sci-fi elements lurking amongst the stories.
Originally, when I was planning what to put in this collection, I wanted it to consist mainly of ghost stories. That changed over time as some of the stories got shuffled around, taken out, or moved into what will eventually be my third collection. But the thing that stuck from this almost-anthology of ghost stories was the title. “They See Me” is one of the ghost stories that stayed put in this collection, and I fell in love with the idea of using its title for the project. The more I played around with what stories to use, the more I leaned into the theme of being seen.
Although the themes of the short story “They See Me” are loneliness and uncertainty, that did not impact the overall theme of the collection. In that particular story, the pity the main character feels towards the other inhabitants in her home turns to fear as a result of them being able to see her. It’s that kind of fear I wanted to use to tie this collection together. In stories like “The Screams” and “Hank’s Cabin”, the goal is not to be seen by potentially malicious forces. Whereas in “Ex”, “Are You There?”, and “Costumier”, the characters want to be seen – although that comes with consequences. “There”, “20 Blackshire Circle”, and “There’s Nothing Under the Bed” show what can happen when you finally see the big bad monster. And “Let Them Eat Cake” and “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not” demonstrate that sometimes there’s no hope in sight.
I hope you enjoy reading this collection as much as I enjoyed putting it together. And if just one of these stories keeps you looking over your shoulder, wondering if you’re being watched, I’ll be very pleased.
Happy reading
