Released 27 February 2026 // Short Fiction Collection // 286 pages
Something watching. Something waiting. Something reaping…
Set along the banks of Kentucky Lake, these stories borrow from ancient folklore to create a new mythos of cryptids and magic, paired with terrifying illustrations by Sara Smith. Characters and creatures connect across each story to build a complete, compelling world with every haunted page. Inspired by real-life nightmares and paranormal experiences, the collection blurs the line between childhood fears and real-world monsters. What begins as isolated horror uncoils into a predatory truth: a place shaped by what people take, what they wilfully ignore, and what exists on the boundary where reality fails.
'Should NOT have read it when home alone.' – Adrienne Miller
'Cleverly crafted tapestry of thrillingly haunting tales' that finish 'with the fulfilment of a perfect ritual.' – Chloe Hardman
'Unsettling across a spectrum.' – Elizabeth Galliers
Something Reaping - DeAnn Bell and Sara Smith
DeAnn Bell has always been drawn to the darker edges of creativity. As a child, she talked to ghosts, predicted events, and unsettled those around her with an imagination that refused to stay within safe boundaries. That fascination followed her into adulthood, where folklore, ritual, and landscape became central to her writing.
With a PhD and over twelve years’ experience in creative writing, DeAnn is the author of Yule Moon (2023), Samhain Awakening (2023), and Beltane Ash (2024), as well as numerous short stories and poems. Her work is rooted in Pagan tradition, seasonal cycles, and the belief that there are places where older truths still breathe beneath the modern world.
Though she is Kentucky-born, she lives in Rhosgadfan, Wales, where she writes with three adored cats, one talented husband, and the whispers of a thousand ghosts.
DeAnn’s Favourite Cryptids:
- Kelpie
- Werewolf
- Bigfoot
Sara Smith has been creating creepy content alongside DeAnn Bell since they were both in kindergarten. As a child, she loved drawing, watching scary films, and devouring books on the supernatural, with particular enthusiasm for spontaneous human combustion, hauntings, and the Bermuda Triangle.
As an adult, her interests remain largely unchanged. She continues to draw, collects cats with a wide range of personality disorders, and harbours a deep resentment toward the modern world for failing to produce any new Bermuda Triangle phenomena.
Sara lives in Kentucky, USA, with her very patient husband, three children, and a menagerie of pets—including the aforementioned cats. Her illustrations bring a lifelong fascination with the strange, the eerie, and the unexplained to the page.
Sara’s Favourite Cryptids:
- Fresno Nightcrawlers
- Bigfoot
- Kappa
