R.D. Sellers

Finished my first draft for the @nycmidnight.bsky.social #ScaryStoryChallenge. Really having a blast with this one!

Blight The night air pressed down like rain-soaked bedsheets. Old, worn shoes rubbed Anthony Barron’s sockless ankles raw as they slapped against cracked concrete. Behind him, a Holtson City cop’s flashli…

Everyone in Holtson City knows better than to step in the old house on Pine Street.

But when a man on the run is left without a choice, he finds out why.

“Blight” is a #SouthernGothic #FlashFiction about decay, trauma, and the desperate hunger that consumes us all.

#Horror #AmWriting

A dim hallway, a half-open door, a whisper of movement behind the curtains—these are more effective than any gore or violence. The mind fills the gaps with its own horrors, drawing from memory, imagination, and deep-seated anxieties.
open.substack.com/pub/wordsbym...
#spookyseason #poetrycommunity

We Don’t Talk About Monsters Halloween hands us easy monsters: plastic fangs, rubber masks, store-bought blood. They’re safe because we know they’re not real.  Real monsters dress better. They keep tidy lawns and shake your ha…

New Essay is live!

"This isn’t about hating the South. It’s about loving it enough to hold up a mirror to it. Love without truth curdles into worship, and worship of a false self is just another haunting." -- R.D. Sellers

#southerngothic #amwriting #horrorwriter

What music helps your writing process?

I never expected smooth jazz to be my muse for horror writing, but I've never felt more focused.

#SouthernGothic #HorrorWriter #amwriting

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If it seems like I'm slowing down in posting, it's because I am. Writing my debut novel has absorbed nearly all of my free time (though I did take time to watch Bama beat UGA, IN ATHENS, last night. RTR!). Things are progressing nicely, but it may mean fewer posts for a while.

a man in a suit is sitting in the back seat of a car and smiling . ALT: a man in a suit is sitting in the back seat of a car and smiling .

That moment you finish revising part of your novel and realize you unlocked how to make all of it better... But you have to rewrite the whole thing...

#amwriting #horrorwriter #southerngothic

R.D. Sellers

I'm a Southern Gothic horror writer with a novel in progress and several free flash fiction pieces you can find on my website RDSellerswrites.com.

I approach storytelling from a character-first angle and prefer slow building dread to jump scares.

YouTube video by Alyssa Matesic 9 Mistakes You're Probably Making in the First 10 Pages

If you're like me and don't have time to travel for expensive writing workshops, finding videos like this can be a huge help when crafting your first novel.

This really made me think.

youtu.be/g_e9pnGskow?...

Loved the show. Hated it sometimes, too. The first five-six seasons were largely excellent. Mixed feelings about the ending, but it was great to have such a consistently entertaining horror show on broadcast TV for so long.

Haunting Contradictions Being scared is a natural part of life. But it’s never been my favorite part. Which may sound odd considering my chosen form of storytelling. But like the subject matter itself, I’m full of contrad…

👻 New essay is live: Haunting Contradictions

Why I love horror even though I hate being scared — and why dread lingers long after a jump scare fades.

💀 What's your favorite dread-inducing scene in film or print?

#HorrorEssays #HorrorCommunity #SouthernGothic #AmWriting

New Essay Drops Tomorrow! 👀

But first...

What's scarier: something that jumps out you from the dark or slow, creeping dread that follows you from room to room?

I know my answer, but I want to know yours.

#SouthernGothic #IndieWriter #AmWriting #HorrorWriter

You'd think it would be all the horrors in my head that keep me from getting to bed at a decent hour. But you'd be wrong... It's this little bundle of terror.

#HorrorWriter #IndieWriter #SouthernGothic

Getting deep into an important character moment in my upcoming novel last night had my brain working overtime.

It's probably fitting I didn't sleep well considering the trauma I'm inflicting on these poor, fictional people... it's gonna get so much worse. 😈

#amwriting #southerngothic #indiewriter

Ain't that the truth!

Hoping I'll get that notice one day, too.

If you loved my latest #FlashFiction, don't miss my new essay, Haunting Contradictions, out Fri, Sept 12.

Only on rdsellerswrites.com

Dread > jump scares.

Why I love horror even though I hate being scared.

#HorrorCommunity #SouthernGothic #HorrorWriting #AmWriting

100% right on. One of my main goals as a horror writer is to hold up a mirror to so many of the archaic systems of the South that people here often don't even know why they continue to defend. I don't know that it'll be a tool for change, but if it gets someone to think, that's a win for me.

Thank you for reading!

Nope. All my website Flash Fiction will be free no matter what. Same for my essays. Thank you for reading!

Awesome! Hopefully the whole story will, too. 🫢

Thank you for reading!

Thank you for reading!

Thank you for the kind words and for sharing!

Thanks for reading!

Very much agree. Thank you for reading!

Thank you!

Thanks for reposting @thiccopossum.bsky.social!

Plumbing the Depths: Archaeology in Horror Fiction - Nightmare Magazine Archaeology is a method and practice which resurfaces the past. It can help us reconstruct the history and culture of ancient (or not so ancient) people, and give us insight into what it means to be h...

I’ve got a new essay about archaeology in horror fiction at Nightmare Magazine. I can’t believe I forgot to share it last week. 🤦‍♀️ I love that you can read for free, buy single issues, or subscribe, because they publish a lot of cool stuff. www.nightmare-magazine.com/nonfiction/p...

Tap Tap Tap Tyler O’Connor’s seventh birthday was tomorrow, but everyone forgot.   His big brother, Peyton, disappeared about four months ago. Mom and Dad hadn’t thought about much else since. Mom especially s…

📖 New Flash Fiction

When Tyler O’Connor hears something tapping at his bedroom window in the middle of the night, he does what any scared little boy would do…

He looks.

A story about missing children, haunted woods, and secrets that never die.

#HorrorFiction #FlashFiction #SouthernGothic

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🧑‍💼Full day of work. ✔️

📖Full evening of writing another chapter in the novel. ✔️

😪Me...

#amwriting #SouthernGothic #HorrorWriting #WriterLife