1--What is the title of your latest release?
DARK TIDE 20 - URBAN LEGENDS: THREE NEW TALES OF TERROR by Nick Roberts, Leigh Kenny, and Dan Franklin
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
NR: My novella, POLTERGEIST PASSWORD, is JUMANJI meets THE EVIL DEAD.
LK: My story, KNOCK ON WOOD, is SINISTER meets THE BOOGEYMAN.
DF: NESTING is a bit of ROSEMARY’S BABY rubbing up against THE MIMIC.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
NR: This story is presented as a transcript of a “cursed” episode of a podcast, so the setting is the inside of one of the hosts’ home recording studio.
LK: I knew I wanted my story to take place primarily in a home setting. It’s where we’re supposed to feel safest which, to me, makes it the most terrifying place to be besieged by monsters – both the human and supernatural kind.
DF: Have spent a bunch of time in postpartum wings of hospitals and they’re inherently creepy! The story migrates from there, but that’s the heart of it—the weird way hospitals seem so isolated from time and space and outside life.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
NR: Hell yeah. They’re three cool people who run a podcast all about investigating supernatural phenomena.
LK: There is no singular protagonist in my story. The entire family unit is the protagonist. So no, I probably wouldn’t. I have my own family to deal with.
DF: Amanda would have exactly zero use for me. Wouldn’t even send me a Christmas card on a dare.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
NR: Curious, open-minded, brazen
LK: Tight knit, loving, skeptical
DF: Driven, anxious, angry
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
NR: I learned that writing in script format does NOT beef up word count like I thought it would, haha. Dialogue is my favorite part of writing, but when that’s all you’re writing, you forget how paragraphs of prose fill those pages.
LK: I learned just how well the average household item can work to illicit a sense of fear and dread. I’ve never trusted baby monitors, and now I hope that mistrust passes to readers.
DF: That having a human crawl out of me would be truly appalling. Huge respect for the woman who sign up for that deal! Also that you have to really lean on “less is more” when it comes to details in novellas. I spent hours considering the pattern of a briefly-mentioned sofa before I realized it’d never warrant a mention.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
NR: I always read the last few pages before writing for the day. It just gets me back in the mood. But no, I don’t edit as I go. That stifles the process. I equate it to being in the middle of a violent vomiting fit and trying to hold it in so you can clean up a little bit at a time. Just puke that story out and then worry about the mess.
LK: I edit as I go to a degree but never to the point that it will interrupt the flow of the narrative. I tend to start and end each writing session with a reread and a quick fix of any glaring issues.
DF: I write the parts that excite me the most, and then obsessively edit them while chipping away at the parts that are harder to produce. A hybrid mixture with fits and bursts of dazed creativity separated by stretches of cleaning the mess off of them.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
NR: Pizza and ice cream. I tell myself they’re rewards, but I just have no self-control.
LK: Cake, pizza, pasta… carbs in general, I guess. Does it count as indulgence if I eat them all regularly, though?
DF: Cereal, maybe? Fistfuls of almonds? I don’t really like food!
9--Describe your writing space/office!
NR: I used to just write in my recliner in the living room with noise-cancelling AirPods while my family created chaos around me. The chaos part still happens, but now I have a standing desk. I don’t know why it’s increased my output, but I prefer it to sitting.
LK: I have a little corner on the sofa that has a side table next to it. The table is piled with my stuff e.g. laptop, books, notepad, cake… I write there in short bursts punctuated by long periods of doom scrolling on my phone. Maybe I need a standing desk, too.
DF: I migrate from couch to chair to desk and back to couch, depending on the night! For me, writing is more about the time I have available than where I do it, so I stay up obsessively late and make do with whatever.
10--Who is an author you admire?
NR: I admire authors who aren’t afraid to switch gears and take big swings. Josh Malerman, Daniel Kraus, Gage Greenwood, Catriona Ward are four who will fearlessly aim for the fences.
LK: I won’t admit it often because I’m not prone to sycophantic outbursts, but I admire Nick. I think it’s an absolute joy to watch him hustle. He works hard to constantly improve himself, which I think is a quality everyone needs. I will always cheer loudly for anyone who works hard and sees it pay off.
DF: I admire a TON of different authors, but first and foremost my personal giants are authors like Matheson, Hodge, Burke, Hill. They redefine the genre and write stories that transcend even the direct events of the story. There are a bunch of others from all range of publishing levels though, too!
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
NR: In perhaps the most literal answer you’ll ever get to this question, the book that changed my life was ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS.
LK: I had a battered old copy of the Grimm Brothers fairytales that I read religiously. While other girls were cooing about Cinderella and the prince living happily ever after, I was delighting in the parts of the original story where the sisters slice off pieces of their feet to try to make the glass slipper fit. I think it was probably the earliest of inspirations for me and something that has absolutely dictated the direction my life has taken.
DF: I Am Legend. Also, those early years of dog-eared paperbacks that my parents didn’t properly hide, so I got to cut my teeth on King and Crichton along with the classic books they meant for me to read!
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
NR: It was November of 2019. After getting over one hundred rejections from agents and publishers, I got the email that said, “We’d love to publish ANATHEMA!”
LK: I wrote a short story and was so surprised that I had finally managed to see something through to completion that I decided to make it my whole personality.
DF: I was at work in the warehouse, boss came back and asked if anyone had told me Cem Dance was making a limited edition of Eater of Gods. They had not. I squeaked.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
NR: Horror, true crime, and classic literature.
LK: Horror and true crime. Poetry occasionally.
DF: Favorite is horror, but I love fantasy, science fiction, classic lit, historical fiction, regional fiction, even some non-fiction. Poetry rocks. Books are rad.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
NR: THE DARK KNIGHT, PULP FICTION, and THE EXORCIST
LK: THE THING and LEGALLY BLONDE. Sums me up as a person.
DF: Can I list a few? FIGHT CLUB, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, WALL-E, THE BABADOOK, THE PRINCESS BRIDE.
15--What is your favorite season?
NR: Fall. It’s spooky season and the weather in South Carolina is still beautiful.
LK: Spring. Winter bums me out big time and seeing all the new life and regrowth makes my heart happy.
DF: Fall. Honestly, the other seasons can pretty much get lost.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
NR: I eat pizza with the family and then my wife and I go to the movies.
LK: As a December baby, I’m lucky if people remember my birthday. I buy myself stuff and eat cake – more cake than usual – to celebrate.
DF: I’m gonna depress you all. My dad drowned on my birthday a bunch of years ago, so I mostly just skip on by the ol’ birthday thing!
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
NR: I’m currently obsessed with SEVERANCE on Apple TV+.
LK: I don’t really do movies and tv, but I really enjoyed THE SUBSTANCE. I think it did a great job of delivering a pretty powerful message, despite that message mostly getting lost in the ether.
DF: I’m not super caught up on shows and movies and podcasts and the like! I did like FALLOUT, from last year? I don’t really manage to watch or listen to all that much. Been a great few years for books, though!
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
NR: Seafood. I love fish tacos more than pizza…I think.
LK: Anything with a high carbohydrate content.
DF: Burritos.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
NR: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
LK: What Nick said.
DF: I sometimes think about committing a felony just to get put in solitary confinement so that i have free time, but I don’t have the free time to figure out which crime to commit.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
NR: I’ll have a couple of short stories appear in upcoming anthologies this year. I’m currently working on a serialized novel called MY CORPSE HAS A HEARTBEAT on Patreon. Crystal Lake Publishing will release THE EXORCIST’S HOUSE: RESURRECTION, the final installment in that trilogy/shared universe, this September.
LK: I have a bunch of anthology appearances lined up throughout the year and hope to have a new book out in late 2025. I’m hoping to have a sequel ready soon for my debut CURSED, but I’m easily distracted so we’ll see.
DF: I have a novella collection with Nick Roberts and Leigh Kenny… oh… oh wait. I also have a short novel that’ll announce in a few weeks planned for late summer, and a full length novel that is finishing up for next year!
Dark Tide #20
Three New Tales of Terror
“Nesting” by Dan Franklin: Amanda can’t shake the idea that her newborn baby isn’t hers…and maybe isn’t a baby at all.
Not even one full day postpartum, and Amanda can’t shake the certainty that the baby isn’t hers. The charts say he is, the nurses and doctor all agree, but in her heart she can’t help but know better. His hair is wrong. He doesn’t quite smell right…and he has a tooth.
“Knock on Wood” by Leigh Kenny: If he knocks, it’s too late. He’s already inside.
The house on Hawthorne Avenue has an unfortunate past. The adults think it's just bad luck. The kids believe it's something worse.
Sometimes truth is scarier than legend.
“Poltergeist Password” by Nick Roberts: “Have you heard of Poltergeist Password?”
A reporter presents the unedited transcript of the final episode of the Broadcasts from the Grave podcast in which three hosts test an urban legend known as “Poltergeist Password.” Whether it’s real or an elaborate hoax, three people remain missing. You be the judge.
Dark Tide 20 takes you on a terrifying journey through some of the most unsettling myths and folklore, where terror lurks in the shadows and urban legends come alive in the most horrific ways. Prepare for twists, fear, and truths you may not want to know.
Fantasy Dark [Crystal Lake Publishing, On Sale: May 9, 2025, Paperback / e-Book , ISBN: 9781964398754 / ]
Nick Roberts is a native West Virginian and a doctoral graduate of Marshall University. He is an active member of the Horror Writers Association and the Horror Authors Guild. His works include Anathema, The Exorcist's House, It Haunts the Mind & Other Stories, and Mean Spirited. He currently resides in South Carolina with his family and is an advocate for people in recovery from substance use disorder.
Leigh was born and raised in the garden county of Wicklow, Ireland. She lives by the Irish Sea with the love of her life, two wonderful boys, a black Labrador, and a three-legged cat that hates people. She describes herself as being both feral and aggressively friendly and apologises in advance for swearing in front of your children. You can find out more about Leigh's work and any upcoming releases on social media.
Dan Franklin wrote his first attempt at a horror novel when he was seven. It was terrible. He has, since, improved.
No comments posted.
© 2003-2025 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy