History That Never Was

Home of Dawn Vogel: Writer, Historian, Geek

Review of Hollow Skulls and Other Stories by Samuel Marzioli

| January 6, 2021

Hollow Skulls and Other Stories by Samuel Marzioli (JournalStone, 2021) is a collection of thirteen horror and otherwise dark short stories. The majority of the stories are previously published stories, while a few are new to this collection. One of Marzioli’s greatest strengths, showcased in this collection, is a sense of creeping dread that pervades […]

Things in the Water that Will Kill You

| September 8, 2020

When asked to summarize what I write, I often tell people “I write about things in the water that will kill you.” And while not all of my stories share that distinction, I have more stories about murderous aquatic creatures than nearly any other topic. I’ve written about vodyanoi, nixes, the stromkarl, selkies, and, of […]

Fun for Friday: Urban Legends from Every State

| May 8, 2020

If you’re looking for inspiration for a horror story or other creepy tale, check out this list of the scariest urban legends from each state. Having lived in three different states, I admit I hadn’t heard any of the urban legends from any of those states. But we definitely had more localized urban legends in […]

Camp Haunt, Only on Channillo

| March 31, 2020

I have one book that has never been released as an ebook or print book, though you can read it online at Channillo. If you like creepy, atmospheric stories told in a found document format, you should definitely check out Camp Haunt. Camp Fairmarsh, founded in 1883, has a long tradition of giving teenage girls a […]

A Creepy Tale of a Ghoul

| November 21, 2019

One of the stories in Volatile Figments is “After School Special,” and it’s about a ghoul and her best friend. At the beginning of the story, the two girls have drifted apart, due to one of them moving away. When she gets back to her old school, things have changed a lot. She doesn’t realize just […]

Fun for Friday: Scary Story Prompts

| October 4, 2019

With it being October, it’s time for some spooky story prompts. As a warning, if you scare easily, you might want to skip these links. Here, you can find 101 terrifying horror story prompts in a general list, and here, you can find 101 MORE terrifying horror story prompts in various categories, some of which […]

Review of Tales for the Camp Fire

| August 21, 2019

Tales for the Camp Fire is a charity anthology for the victims of the November 2018 fire that destroyed the town of Paradise, California. You can read my review of this horror collection at Mad Scientist Journal, or buy a copy online!

A Story from a Spooky Camp

| July 16, 2019

If you’ve got some extra time for reading this summer, and you like your summer reads to be spooky, check out Camp Haunt! Camp Haunt grew out of my love for going to camp in the summers of my childhood, combined with a love for all of the creepy things that COULD happen at a […]

Volatile Figments: Darkness, Light, and Muses?

| May 28, 2019

One of the stories in Volatile Figments, “Terpsichore,” started out when I realized how creepy a dance studio looks when it’s dark and there’s only a small source of light reflecting off the mirrors. From there, it spun into a ritual performed in a dance studio, and the creepy aftermath. At only 928 words, “Terpsichore” is […]

Ready to be Scared of Summer Camp?

| March 21, 2019

Summer camp can be a scary experience for those who have never gone before, and even some veterans of the camp experience. In my serial novella, Camp Haunt, things are scarier than normal for the campers at Camp Fairmarsh, where all sorts of weird things are happening in the summer of 2003. Told as a […]