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Westside Fairytales: Horror and Dark Fiction Stories
My Debut Novel - "West By God"
Months after a local teen was lynched in the dead of a hot summer night, two men stand charged with murder in what the majority opinion considers to be an open-and-shut case. But Adelaide Stephenson, a young crime reporter from Charleston, is finding out the smallest cracks in the official narrative run far, far deeper than she could have ever expected.
Join Adelaide in West By God as she navigates small-town secrets, the dubious ethics of her own profession, and the dark whispers of an ancient creature — known to some as the Witchum Woman — who prowls the shadowed hollers that lie between night and nightmare.
Sent on overnight assignment to cover the start of the trial, Adelaide quickly realizes the story she’s been told — and been telling — doesn’t make sense. Cryptic assertions of a concrete alibi are emailed to her by the family of the accused, nobody in town seems comfortable discussing the basic facts of the case, and the murder she’s been writing about wasn’t the only tragic death this summer. Adelaide extends her stay against the wishes of her editor, and her investigations take a complicated and dangerous turn as she discovers the true depths of the mysteries surrounding Targrady. The only real evidence from the night of the murder may lie in the hands of a notorious local crime family led by an enigmatic woman known as the Fetid Queen, local authorities seem to grow more hostile by the hour, and even Adelaide’s own career might not survive this assignment.
Featuring an eclectic cast of characters ranging from violent and horrifying to outlandish and fabulous, West By God is a must-read novel for anybody who enjoys Twin Peaks, Stephen King, and all the creepy places you find just off the path in the woods. It is the debut novel of Tyler Bell: A USMC infantry combat veteran, former crime and courts reporter for the Charleston Daily Mail, and creator of the award-winning Westside Fairytales Horror and Dark Fiction Podcast.
Due for release by The Henlo Press in October of 2023.
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12. The Balloon Game
12:06We're now more than halfway through the off-season, and new episodes of Westside Fairytales are just around the corner. Today's minisode is just a trifle. A snatch of memory. The creeping sort of horror that walks with you for a while even after you've said goodbye.Thanks for listening! Subscribe and review us on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.Buy our book "The Eyes Beneath My Father's House" on Amazon!Support us on Patreon or by purchasing some merch!Check out all our social media links hereArtwork by Yui Breedlove
13. Stuff
12:05Sometimes the things you own end up owning you.This is the last of the minisodes for the Westside Fairytales summer off-season. We've got a slew of terrifying new content heading your way at the beginning of November, so remember to stay up to date with us on social media.We hope you enjoy your Halloween.Stay safe out there.Thanks for listening! Subscribe and review us on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.Buy our book "The Eyes Beneath My Father's House" on Amazon!Support us on Patreon or by purchasing some merch!Check out all our social media links hereArtwork by Yui Breedlove
1. So Long Roscoe
43:08Ever felt stuck in a rut? Today's episode of the Westside Fairytales is about a woman who feels trapped in a life she never expected to live. Her husband doesn't appreciate her. She doesn't have any hobbies, any friends, or really any social interaction aside from her children. But an old friend has stopped by to help her break out of this funk. Somebody from her childhood that always shows up when she needs him.This month’s recommendation:Literature recommendation: ”Universal Harvester” by John DarnielleThanks for listening! Subscribe and review us on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.Buy our book "The Eyes Beneath My Father's House" on Amazon!Support us on Patreon or by purchasing some merch!Check out all our social media links hereArtwork by Yui Breedlove
2. They All Come By
31:15We all feel lonely sometimes. Some of us never really feel like we’re not alone, even when we’re surrounded by people. For guys like me, and our main character of this episode of the Westside Fairytales, that means slinking out to the bar. Secreting yourself away somewhere dark and comfortable, where it’s okay to be a man on his own.Thing is, that kind of lifestyle can wear on you. It can get too comfortable, and the loneliness might end up becoming your only friend. You become a man alone, sitting at a bar, waiting for friends you barely know, who might not show at all.This month’s recommendation:Literature recommendation: ”The Historian” by Elizabeth KostovaThanks for listening! Subscribe and review us on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.Buy our book "The Eyes Beneath My Father's House" on Amazon!Support us on Patreon or by purchasing some merch!Check out all our social media links hereArtwork by Yui Breedlove
3. The Water-Rotted Doll (Part 1)
42:32Today’s tale is the story of a woman’s journey from a war-torn country to one of safety and prosperity. It is a time of sickness, of death, and the specter of death itself follows her on her voyage in the form of an ugly doll made of plaster. This episode of the Westside Fairytales will cover only the first half of the story, and the second half will be available next episode.This month’s recommendations:Podcast recommendation: Counter Worlds PodcastLiterature recommendation: ”Carrion Comfort” by Dan SimmonsThanks for listening! Subscribe and review us on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.Buy our book "The Eyes Beneath My Father's House" on Amazon!Support us on Patreon or by purchasing some merch!Check out all our social media links hereArtwork by Yui Breedlove
4. The Water-Rotted Doll (Part 2)
27:29You know the fear of drowning, even if you've never been near water. It's as inborn in us as the desire to keep breathing. When last we left our protagonist, she was in deathly danger of drowning, and trapped in the kitchen of a sinking ship.This is part two and the conclusion of the Westside Fairytales story, "The Water-Rotted Doll." We hope you enjoy.Thanks for listening! Subscribe and review us on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.Buy our book "The Eyes Beneath My Father's House" on Amazon!Support us on Patreon or by purchasing some merch!Check out all our social media links hereArtwork by Yui Breedlove
5. The Green Man
33:26Guilt grows like a weed in the hearts of sinners. It’s hard to imagine anybody who’s never wronged another person. At some point, all of us are going to make a decision we’ll have trouble living with for the rest of our lives. And even if it’s a small thing, a trifle, it’ll sit with you in the dark hours of the night, stroking the skin at the back of your neck to keep you awake.Today's episode of the Westside Fairytales is about just such a feeling. A young boy in a bad neighborhood does something awful, and as he tries to move on from the deed, he finds it haunting him at every step. Never letting up for a second.This month’s recommendations:Podcast recommendation: Canadian True Crime Literature recommendation: ”If We Were Villains” by M.L. RioThanks for listening! Subscribe and review us on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.Buy our book "The Eyes Beneath My Father's House" on Amazon!Support us on Patreon or by purchasing some merch!Check out all our social media links hereArtwork by Yui Breedlove
6. Child of Sparrows
39:13We all feel the urge to run sometimes. Pressure builds up around us, pushing on our chests and heads, caving in the soft bits inside our ears and eyes until we feel fit to burst. Money, family, loneliness, the struggle to be known, the pain of being forgotten, it all stacks up and gets heavier. And heavier. And heavier.And when it gets to be too much, there’s a part of you inside that lets you know. We need to run now. We either run, or we die.Today’s episode of the Westside Fairytales is about a girl who decides to run. She’s taken all she can of the life that was given to her at birth, a life that’s had terrible consequences for most all of the people who’ve gotten tangled up in it. She gets involved with a soon-to-be notorious outlaw, and cuts a path of crime and pain across America, until she arrives at her final destination a thousand miles from where she started, feeling like she’d never really left at all.This month’s recommendations:Podcast recommendations: Dark Topic and Canadian True CrimeLiterature recommendation: ”A Winter Haunting” by Dan SimmonsThanks for listening! Subscribe and review us on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.Buy our book "The Eyes Beneath My Father's House" on Amazon!Support us on Patreon or by purchasing some merch!Check out all our social media links hereArtwork by Yui Breedlove
7. The Seventh
48:15There’s an old sort of saying that the best judge is one who hates his work. A man eager to pass judgment on others, that is, is the man least capable of doing the job.Today’s episode of the Westside Fairytales is about just that sort of man, a reserved individual sent to a small village in a seemingly medieval country, tasked with finding out why people passing by the town are being branded as criminals and hanged.It’s not just a story on the passing of judgment, but on the nature of those judgments we pass and are forced to pass on each other. How eagerness for justice may lead us to injustice.This month’s recommendations:Podcast recommendation: Gamma RadioLiterature recommendation: “A Lesson Before Dying” by Ernest J. GainesThanks for listening! Subscribe and review us on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.Buy our book "The Eyes Beneath My Father's House" on Amazon!Support us on Patreon or by purchasing some merch!Check out all our social media links hereArtwork by Yui Breedlove