Tag: Thriller

Writers on Writing

Creepy characters we love to hate (and secretly can’t)

Mandy Webster

There’s something fascinating about a character who creeps you out, makes you uneasy, or shocks you with their actions—but somehow, you can’t bring yourself to hate them completely. These are the villains and morally gray characters who blur the line between right and wrong, forcing readers to wrestle with their own sense of judgment. They unsettle us, intrigue us, and make our hearts race, which is why they are perfect companions for October reading.

Sure, she’s pretty. But there’s also something uncanny about her. Do you trust her?

In thrillers and suspense novels, some characters are written to be frighteningly clever, ruthless, or unpredictable, yet their motivations or circumstances make their actions feel, at least in part, understandable. In How to Kill Men and Get Away with It by Katy Brent, the protagonist’s cunning and dark choices are chilling, but her perspective invites empathy and even admiration for her ingenuity. Bad Men by Julie Mae Cohen and This Girl’s a Killer by Emma C. Wells present characters whose morally questionable or violent actions are layered with complexity—making you uneasy, yet unable to fully condemn them.

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Call for Submissions

Call for Submissions: Be My Weird/Wyrd Valentine

Mandy Webster

Love has always had a dark side—and we want to see yours. Elderfly Press is now accepting submissions for Be My Weird/Wyrd Valentine (working title), an anthology exploring the uncanny, unsettling, and sometimes downright horrifying side of romantic relationships.

We’re looking for stories, poems, essays, and black-and-white art that dive into the strange corners of love and desire—where passion turns perilous, intimacy hums with unease, and devotion blurs the line between beauty and terror. Whether it’s romance that defies reality, affection tinged with dread, or longing that transforms into something unrecognizable, we want work that lingers in the mind and twists the heart. Let the strange, the eerie, and the passionate collide—show us the love that frightens, bewilders, and enthralls.

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Call for Submissions

Now accepting book-length submissions

Mandy Webster

At Elderfly Press, we are committed to publishing bold, literary works that unsettle, provoke, and linger long after the final page. We seek book-length fiction and creative nonfiction that confronts the hidden violence of the world—psychological, social, or supernatural—and gives voice to stories that challenge the patriarchal status quo.

We are especially drawn to:

  • Literary thrillers and suspense novels with a sharp edge.
  • Horror fiction that unsettles through atmosphere, voice, or psychological depth.
  • Creative nonfiction—including memoirs—that could be read with the intensity of a thriller or horror novel.
  • Works that expose the dark underbelly of the patriarchy, pulling back the veil on power, violence, and survival.
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Writers on Writing

The psychology of fear in literature and why we can’t look away #spooktober

Mandy Webster

There’s something irresistible about a story that makes our hearts race and our palms sweat, even when we know we’re perfectly safe on our couch. Fear in literature taps into a deep part of our psyche, and understanding why we seek it out can make us appreciate the stories that haunt us even more.

Why do we love to read spooky stories, especially in October?

Fear works in books because it connects to emotions we experience in real life: anxiety, uncertainty, and the unknown. When we read a thriller like Her One Regret by Donna Freitas, we feel the suspense of a character navigating danger and deception, our brains mirroring their tension as if it were our own. Horror, on the other hand, like Salt Bones by Jennifer Givhan or Something in the Walls by Daisy Pearce, introduces us to scenarios that feel uncanny or impossible. Our minds grapple with the unknown, the supernatural, and the morally unsettling, creating a lingering sense of dread.

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Writers on Writing

The key difference between horror and thriller books that most readers miss

Mandy Webster

The line between horror and thriller fiction is thinner than most readers think. Both keep you turning pages late into the night, heart pounding and mind racing—but they do it for very different reasons. Understanding what separates them reveals not only why we read them, but why they haunt us in different ways.

Sometimes it’s hard to find the line between a thriller novel and a horror novel.

A thriller’s purpose is to thrill, to make readers feel a rush of danger and urgency. It’s about tension, pace, and cleverness—the satisfaction of watching a hero outthink or outrun the forces closing in. The threat is usually external and grounded in reality: a killer, a kidnapper, a conspiracy, or a psychological cat-and-mouse game. The pleasure comes from seeing order restored, justice served, or a mystery solved, even if the cost is high. Books like Keep This for Me by Jennifer Fawcett or Hannah Richell’s One Dark Night are perfect examples of thrillers that keep you on the edge of your seat, weaving suspense with high-stakes personal drama.

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Book Reviews, Find Your Next Read

The Witch’s Orchard by Archer Sullivan is a chilling Appalachian mystery

Mandy Webster

Sometimes the scariest stories aren’t about monsters at all—they’re about the damage people do to one another, and the shadows those wounds cast long into adulthood. That’s the heart of The Witch’s Orchard by Archer Sullivan, a gripping mystery set in the mountains of North Carolina.

Get your copy of The Witch’s Orchard from my independent online bookstore today!

Private investigator Annie Gore, a former Air Force special investigator, takes on a case that pulls her back into a world she thought she left behind: the Appalachian hollers where she grew up. Ten years earlier, three young girls vanished from a tiny mountain town. One returned, but the others were never found. Now, the brother of one of the missing hires Annie to uncover the truth. The case is cold, the town is closed off to outsiders, and the mountains are filled with both folklore and secrets—but Annie needs the money, so she can’t turn down the job.

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Book Reviews, Find Your Next Read

Made You Look by Tanya Grant turns influencer culture into a deadly game

Mandy Webster

A snowstorm, a retreat full of influencers, and a killer among them—Made You Look by Tanya Grant (on sale November 18, 2025) takes a sharp, unsettling look at what happens when image-driven lives collide with deadly reality.

Get your copy of Made You Look from my independent online bookstore today!

Sydney Kent is the star of the show—the influencer everyone wants to be or be with. But her friends and colleagues—Caitlyn, Lucy, Jeff, Nash, and Brent—aren’t just background players. They’re the professionals who make her shine, whether as photographers, stylists, or managers. When the group travels to a secluded Catskills retreat, it’s supposed to be an opportunity for fresh content and brand partnerships. Instead, a snowstorm traps them without Wi-Fi, cell service, or an escape route. That’s when the murders begin, and the real cracks in their “team” are forced into the open.

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Author Interview

Author interview with thriller writer L.A. Brink

Mandy Webster

This week we welcome psychological thriller author, L.A. Brink to the website! I’m a HUGE thriller fan myself, so I’m definitely adding her novel, Unstable, to my to-be-read (TBR) pile!

L.A. Brink is a writer from Illinois with a Bachelor’s degree in photography from Illinois State University, but she has always had a passion for writing. Brink lives with her husband and two sons. She writes any chance she can get.

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