Dan Soule couldn't read properly until he was 11. He was profoundly dyslexic, functionally illiterate through most of his childhood. He went on to get a PhD in English and linguistics, spent seven years as a university academic, taught writing, quit — and then finally had enough free time to figure out how to write fiction. Horror wasn't the plan. It just kept buying his stories.
Dan Soule is a horror author based in Northern Ireland, born in England and raised in Byron's hometown of Southwell. His work spans literary fiction, science fiction, and horror, with short fiction appearing in Storgy, Shoreline of Infinity, Sanitarium Magazine, and Devolution Z, among others. His novels include Witch Hopper, a 150,000-word small-town folk horror rooted in Nottinghamshire mythology, and Jam, a tightly wound ensemble horror that asks what happens when a motorway traffic jam becomes something far worse.
This conversation covers the feedback loop that turned Dan into a horror writer, why he thinks of horror as the original master genre, the craft concept of \"armature\" and how it shapes every character in Jam, and why the indie/trad divide matters a lot less than whether the book is actually good.
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📚 About Dan Soule
Dan writes stories where ancient folklore crashes into the modern world—usually with devastating results. His work blends dark fantasy and horror, creating atmospheric tales that explore the messy intersection of myth and everyday life. Whether he's crafting vivid, unsettling worlds or diving into the complexity of human relationships, Dan's writing balances beautiful, lyrical prose with moments that will make you hold your breath.
Growing up in Nottinghamshire, England, Dan fell in love with landscapes steeped in old stories and older mysteries—influences that run through much of his work. These days, he lives on the Antrim Coast in Northern Ireland with his wife and two children, writing stories that continue to explore the dark corners where past and present meet.
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