Author recommendation: The Dalek Emperor
The Dalek Emperor is the unofficial Queen of No Sleep, a subreddit devoted to original, realistic scary stories. Her title is well-deserved, seeing the quality and quantity of her work. Officially, she goes by C.K. Walker and has released a short story collection.
Anyway, I wanted to recommend her and her stories because each and every one of them has blown me away and I’d like for her to get more exposure; she definitely deserves it! Although she writes for a horror subreddit, I’d categorize her stories as more suspense and mystery than horror; when there is horror, it’s of the unsettling, subtly disturbing type as opposed to all-out horror. Because of that, I’d recommend her work even to people who hate horror. Here are the stories I recommend; they aren’t in a particular order, as I love all of them, although the ones at the top are the ones I enjoyed the most. Also, I recommend reading the comments once you finish each story; they usually add a lot of insight and catch things you might have otherwise missed.
Copper Canyon: Told in a unique way by weaving together narration and statements given to police, it’s hard to give too much of Copper Canyon away without spoiling it. But needless to say, it’ll keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last sentence.
Borrasca (parts II, III, and IV): A seemingly idyllic small town is hiding a very large, dark secret, and Sam Walker (the new sheriff’s son) is determined to find it out, especially after it begins to affect the people closest to him. By far the longest of Dalek’s stories (needing to be split into four parts to circumvent Reddit’s character limit for posts), Borrasca is nevertheless a quick read as it’s so engrossing. Each part builds up more suspense and adds a few more pieces to the puzzle until the finale, which made my jaw drop.
Mayhem Mountain: A group of friends, after purchasing the small amusement park from their youth with plans to reopen it, stumble across something extremely sinister lurking beneath the titular Mayhem Mountain.
Room 733: A college freshman finds herself assigned to the dorm next to the titular Room 733, also known as the Suicide Room. As its nickname implies, several students took their own lives after staying in it. To make things even worse, it seems as though the room itself has an agenda…
Paradise Pine: Told in the form of journal entries (which are encompassed by a framing device), Paradise Pine is about a couple staying a cabin when some truly strange and disconcerting things begin to happen.
Betsy the Doll: A woman reflects on her less-than-happy childhood with her drug-addicted mother, particularly the events surrounding her doll, Betsy. As she soon realizes, there was more to Betsy than met the eye…
Death at 423 Stockholm Street: While living at 423 Stockholm Street, a little girl heard very frightening noises in the walls…
WTF is going on in Pinal county, Arizona??: (Written under a pseudonym) A very mysterious, frightening illness seems to have taken hold of the small town of Mammoth, AZ. This story was so realistic it actually resulted in dozens of people calling businesses in Mammoth to see if it was actually true.
Rocking Horse Creek: A man thinks back to the circumstances that led to the death of his brother Teddy when they were children. This story is more tragedy than horror.
The Disappearance of Ashley Morgan: A girl tries to uncover what happened to her twin sister after she disappears.
Who Killed Sarah Cooper?: After finding the body of a child in the woods, a woman comes under suspicion.
The Doll House: A woman finds an extremely unusual and creepy house.
The Lost Town of Deepwood, Pennsylvania: A group of kids tries to find the titular town of Deepwood, only to discover that some things are best left alone.
I am humbled and flattered by this post. Feedback like this encourages me to keep writing which is something I vehemently enjoy. An enthusiastic thank you to everyone who takes the time to read my work.
GUYS, SHE RESPONDED, I’M FREAKING OUT
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond! I truly do love your work; I even bought a physical copy of your short story collection because I just wanted to have one. I really hope you publish another someday!
Thanks so much, that’s awesome!
