Demons of the Night: A horror novel about good, evil, and finding your own path

Demons of the Night is a horror novel that asks: who gets to decide what is good and what is evil? It follows Docia, a young woman whose parents have gone to great lengths to hide the truth about who she really is. They want her to be a “good Christian woman” and believe secrecy is the only way to protect her. But their plan is about to backfire.

Docia longs for independence, for a life beyond her family’s overprotection. She wants normal experiences—friendships, romance, freedom. When Blane appears at a church lecture on demons, Docia is intrigued. But he’s there for the wrong reasons, and she quickly realizes that the life she desires may require confronting truths her parents have worked so hard to conceal. As the story unfolds, Docia must grapple with her identity, her morality, and the question of whether she can define herself outside the rigid framework her family imposes.

The inspiration for Demons of the Night began in Wisconsin, near a place called Holy Hill, formally known as Holy Hill Basilica and National Shrine of Mary Help of Christians. I spent many hours walking the trails through the surrounding woods, including a trail featuring an outdoor Stations of the Cross complete with grottos and statuary. When I heard a news report about vandalized statues at Holy Hill, the idea for a darker story planted itself in my mind.

Later, I would wake from a vivid nightmare that demanded to be written down—a scene that would become the centerpiece of the novel’s horror sequence. Holy Hill became a key setting, reimagined as a site desecrated by the demon at the heart of Docia’s story.

Demons of the Night explores themes of control, morality, and identity. It contrasts a pastor who claims godliness but acts without integrity, a demon who is unapologetically itself, and a young woman discovering her own moral compass. The novel examines the tension between parental authority and personal freedom, highlighting how difficult it can be to break from family expectations that conflict with one’s own values.

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If you’ve read Demons of the Night, I’d love to hear: how did Docia’s journey of self-discovery resonate with you? Did the story change the way you think about good and evil, or the lengths people go to control those they love? Share your thoughts in the comments—I always want to hear from readers.

This post is part of a series where I pull back the curtain on the novels I’ve written, beginning with Valley of the Bees, a dystopian YA novel about survival, freedom, and growing up in a near-future world where girls have little control over their own lives. Each post looks at how a story took shape and what it taught me about finishing the work I start.

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Now that Jack has been forced to reflect on everything he has to lose, he resolves to do better. He’s determined to spend more time at home with his family and repair the relationships that have suffered over the years while he’s been so focused on work. But as Callie’s behavior becomes increasingly bizarre, Jack realizes he has a lot more room to improve than he realized – and it might be too late to save his daughter after all.

For fans of We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Push, and Baby Teeth.