History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Nervous about Summer Camp? Don’t Read This Book

| April 11, 2023

If you’re a parent who’s nervous about sending your kids to their first overnight camp, or if you’re a kid who’s worried about going to an overnight camp, you definitely should not read Camp Haunt. If you’re not, however, and you enjoy spooky occurrences happening to people who aren’t you, you should check it out. It’s […]

“If the Light is Constant” in Doorways in the Gloom

| March 21, 2023

“If the Light is Constant” is a creepy little piece of microfiction that delves into perception and reality. Because it’s so brief, it leaves a bit to the imagination, which I find is often very effective for horror and other dark stories. The monsters you can’t quite see are far more terrifying than the ones […]

A Few Recent Horror Publications

| March 16, 2023

If you’re looking for something spooky to read, here’s a few of my recent horror and dark publications. “The Divergence in the Woods” is a creepy flash fiction tale of two young women looking for their missing father in the woods. You can find it in Trees. “Chrysopoeia” is a microfiction story of exposing a […]

Reading about Camp as a Hope for Warmer Days?

| January 19, 2023

Have you ever noticed that when you read a book describing the weather, sometimes you feel like the weather outside must match what you’ve been reading about? If this is the case for you, and you’re tired of the cold, what about checking out a book about a summer camp? Maybe that can bring some […]

Have You Checked Out Camp Haunt?

| November 22, 2022

Sometimes, the best reviews for a book you can get are the ones that aren’t necessarily posted online. My mom reads all of my books, and she sent me a message a few days after finishing Camp Haunt. She said she really wanted to read it to see what I remembered about camp, and she […]

Spooky Writing Advice!

| October 31, 2022

Happy Halloween! If you’re wanting to learn more about writing spooky stories, there are a ton of resources available online. I really like this recent article on tips for writing spooky stories geared toward a very general audience!

Recent Spooky Stories

| October 27, 2022

If you’re looking for some spooky reads of short stories, here are a few of my recently released dark and horror stories! “Memento Mori” appears in Queer Weird West Tales. This story involves Calamity Jane and the detritus of Wild Bill Hickok’s life, along with some surreal and spooky events related to the two. “Dangers […]

Spooky Stories and Novella

| October 25, 2022

If you’re looking for some spooky Halloween reads, I’ve got a few options available! Volatile Figments is a collection of six dark contemporary fantasy short stories in which the protagonists deal with the supernatural. They generally tend toward dark contemporary fantasy rather than horror, so they’re spooky without being terrifying. Doorways in the Gloom is […]

Fun for Friday: Horror Writing Prompts

| October 21, 2022

All of my Fun for Fridays are themed toward this being October and the prime spooky season! Today, I’ve got a list of horror writing prompts! There are a variety of different types of seeds here, so you may need to poke through a few before you find one that will resonate with you, but […]

Advice on Writing Horror from Tim Waggoner

| October 17, 2022

On the heels of the horror writing course I took, I’ve been writing a lot more horror. So it’s only natural to turn to some advice about writing horror, like this article by Tim Waggoner. It has a ton of great points on dos and don’ts that are invaluable to someone just getting started in […]