HOW TO FINISH YOUR NOVEL IN JUST 30 DAYS Day 1: Open document. Day 2–28: Think obsessively about document. Day 29: Type one word. Day 30: Rename document "FINAL DRAFT". You're welcome.
@dreadthoughts.bsky.social
Spent today wandering around Edinburgh collecting footage for DreadThoughts. Unbelievably bonny city. Went to the Kirkyard as always. Got a new horror story idea as always. Scrapping sleep in favour of it as... you get it. SLEEP IS FOR THE WEAK.
I am 50 followers away from 5k on my DreadThoughts TikTok and unfortunately, months ago, I made myself a mental promise about what I would do when I got there. I haven't forgotten that self-promise. I scripted it today. Tomorrow I am going to Edinburgh. This is terrible news for the pigeons. 🐦
THE NO.1 SECRET TO SHOWING INSTEAD OF TELLING Add a picture. Follow for more advanced creative writing techniques.
A dead priest crawls out of his grave. Unfortunately for him, Brother Matthew has an axe and has recently appointed himself a revenant hunter. The Payment 🪦🪓 My latest short horror story. There are also boots. The boots are important. dreadthoughts.substack.com/p/the-paymen...
The Payment
A monk chooses to visit the abbey where a priest had recently died. But he didn't stay dead...
dreadthoughts.substack.com
Nobody warns you that becoming a paranormal storyteller is 10% ghosts and 90% going “WAIT WHO WAS THE OUIJA BOARD GUY AGAIN” while frantically flipping through a llama notebook. I am a professional.* *I am absolutely not a professional.
THE ONE THING EVERY SUCCESSFUL WRITER DOES Writes. Unfortunately I was hoping it would be something else too. I'll keep looking. Follow in case I find a loophole.
October short horror writing: Day 2/31 Writing short horror until I can learn to stop bloody rambling. Three hikers. Ben Macdui. The fog rolls in. Then they hear the footsteps. Inspired by the Scottish legend of Am Fear Liath Mòr. dreadthoughts.substack.com/p/on-the-mun...
On the Munro
High up on the slopes of Ben Macdui, folklore says something enormous hides in the fog that has terrifed hikers for decades...
dreadthoughts.substack.com
Orkney is so metal. They took a gander at the Kelpie and the Each-Uisge and thought... "What if we made the whole horse skinless and a torso of a man growing out of it's back? Oh and give it the power to cause utter havoc". So I wrote a story about it. Check it 👇 substack.com/@dreadthough...
DreadThoughts (@dreadthoughts)
Scotland has some lovely folklore. Selkies. Fairies. Helpful wee household spirits. Orkney looked at that and said “no thanks, give us a skinless horse demon.” So I wrote a wee horror story about the...
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Writing a short horror story about what really happens when you're doing something, look at the clock and think - where the hell did the time go? Except more monsters. And typos (I'll fix these, I swear). Full story available soon! Whenever I manage to finish it and stop rambling...
One of my newest videos asks why tf anyone wants to work at the Western General Hospital with all these ghosts wandering around - no, joking 🤣 It asks what would you do if you saw someone in a ward that you knew was completely empty? 🤔 Enjoy! www.tiktok.com/@dreadthough...
Wrote an article on something that's been bugging me for YEARS. Okay... months. But still. A local ditch (fascinated you already huh?) is named after the Devil in my hometown. No bugger seems to know why. Come have a read through my mental breakdown dreadthoughts.substack.com/p/what-happe...
What happened to Devil's Ditch?
A patch of woodland in Livingston, Scotland, an old quarry, a missing sign, and a name that seems to have survived entirely because local people refused to forget it.
dreadthoughts.substack.com
I STOPPED DOING THIS AND MY WRITING IMMEDIATELY IMPROVED Writing. Haven’t made a single typo since. Results speak for themselves.
I NEARLY QUIT WRITING. THEN I DISCOVERED THIS. Apparently you can close the document and go eat crisps. The book remains there. Nobody tells you this. Follow me for more industry secrets.
Mara loses sixteen minutes driving home past Harperrig Reservoir. When she gets home, her husband has a slightly different number in mind. Sixteen Minutes, a short UFO horror story inspired by a real Scottish encounter, is up on my Substack. dreadthoughts.substack.com/p/sixteen-mi...
Sixteen Minutes
In Harperrig, Scotland, strange things have been spotted in the skies...
dreadthoughts.substack.com
So apparently Edinburgh’s Western General Hospital is haunted as hell. 👻 I posted a story about a woman seemingly vanishing from one of its corridors and now NHS staff are appearing in my comments and DMs like: “Well, since you mention it…” Oh no. 😂 More stories on my TikTok/Insta: DreadThoughts 👻
THE FASTEST WAY TO BECOME A BETTER HORROR WRITER Write a normal house. Add a door that wasn’t there yesterday. That’ll be £499 for my masterclass, cheers lads.
Ask anyone who lives in Edinburgh, and they'll know the story of the Little Drummer Boy (or Piper Boy). Wee lad sent into a tunnel to play an instrument while the Big Lords walk on the surface. Don't think it quite played out how I wrote it though... dreadthoughts.substack.com/p/dreadthoug...
DreadThoughts Tales - The Drummer Boy
In Edinburgh, there’s a legend of a little drummer boy, sent beneath the cobbles of the Royal Mile in the 1800’s, who never made it back out...
dreadthoughts.substack.com
Sometimes horror writing is about asking important questions. Questions like: what if there was something deeply fucking wrong with this room? Anyway, I told a story about one I used to work in. vm.tiktok.com/ZGdQsbDhq/
Scottish folklore: if you hear a dog barking in the Highlands, don’t panic. You’ve got until the third bark to run. Very reassuring. Cheers. I wrote about the Cù-Sìth, Scotland’s enormous fairy hound and one of my favourite creatures from folklore. 👇 dreadthoughts.substack.com/p/dreadthoug...
DreadThoughts Tales - The Cù-Sìth
Scottish folklore has a plethora of beasts woven into it, and the Cù-Sìth is just the tip of the iceberg...
dreadthoughts.substack.com
Apparently getting properly lost in the woods can mess with your ability to think rationally and recognise your surroundings. Which is interesting because I already walk into the kitchen and forget why I’m there. The forest doesn’t stand a fucking chance.
Being a horror writer means occasionally stopping mid-sentence and thinking, “That’s horrible. What the fuck is wrong with me?” Then adding another paragraph. It's wild.
What would you do if you found a woman washing bloody clothes beside a lonely Scottish stream? In Scottish folklore, you might have stumbled across the Bean-Nighe, a mysterious kind of banshee and an omen of death. Read my full story here! 👇 dreadthoughts.substack.com/p/dreadthoug...
DreadThoughts Tales - The Bean-Nighe
An old crone sits by a river, washing bloodstained clothing. You approach and realise the stained linen belongs to you...
dreadthoughts.substack.com
Heard this piece of scary folklore from my own hometown, so of course, had to write a story about it. Would you follow the deer? I wouldn't. Probably. But then I always gave in to peer pressure. Deer pressure? ...I'll see myself out. dreadthoughts.substack.com/p/dreadthoug...
DreadThoughts Tales - The Deer of Wilderness Woods
Folklore is prevalent here in Scotland. I first heard this story in a pub, with a cold pint on the table in front of me, and a random lad beside me. He told me a story he had heard, about a deer.
dreadthoughts.substack.com
@alizeeyeezy.bsky.social as soon as your bad novel is out, I'm first in line for buying 😂 I'm also tired of not being a millionaire and writing my own bad novel. TWINNING ✨️ 😂