Pearl Jam. Broken Keys. And Other Halloween Horrors.|

Don’t call me daughter, not fit to! The picture kept, will remind me!

Ooooh, you’re damn right I’ve got Pearl Jam spinning on the turntable —  Live in Atlanta 1994. Meanwhile, Halloween II (1981) is flickering on mute across the living room screen. Speaking of Pearl Jam, you know what my two favorite parts of this record are? The Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” during “Daughter,” and then the absurdly long solo during “Jeremy.” Fuckin’ A.

Welcome to…wait, is this the fourth or fifth Friday Night Misery post? God, it feels like I haven’t talked to y’all in ages. Lots of catching up to do, I can tell you that, and I really need to get my shit together. The best part? Maybe five of you—if that—will actually read this garbage. Cheers to the faithful few.

First on the docket: Grayson Ford has officially wrapped the second draft of The Woods.

Cue the hesitant nod from the back row. Someone in the balcony gives a solitary golf clap.

People, please, don’t break your hands clapping all at once. But in all seriousness, this draft really was a grinder. About a third of the way through, one of my editors suggested aging down the core characters. Great note, but opening that door completely changed the stakes and the plot, blowing the release schedule completely out of the water. If you’re a fan of The Blair Witch Project and found-footage paranoia, then this one is for you. It serves as a spiritual successor to The Woman in Black, complete with a couple of familiar faces, making it technically a direct sequel, but distinct enough to stand entirely on its own two feet.

That’s the grand master plan for this sprawling multiverse nonsense I am creating. I am ripping a page out of Marvel and DC’s playbook: standalone entry points that secretly tell a larger story. Marvel has “Phases.” DC has “Chapters.” The Dark Write has “Ages.”

Right now, in Earth-2, we are trapped in the Age of Monsters (Books 1-3). Books 4 through 6—or maybe 7— will kick off the Age of Man. Those stories will lean heavily into the gritty, hard-boiled detective noir starring Danny Blake from The Woman in Black. The plan is to start the story off in the late ‘80s and bleed into the mid-’90s. Hopefully. We’ll see. As far as villains go, these monsters will be more human. That’s not to say they won’t be terrifying. I am merely shifting the horror perspective. Picture Harry Bosch in a world where Stranger Things, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Gotham City are thrown into a blender.

Originally, Grayson aimed to drop The Woods in Fall 2026, then pivot back to Earth-1 for The Street King sequel by April 2027. Life, naturally, laughed in our faces.

The main issue was the computer. Not to brag, but I’m currently rocking a 2017 MacBook Pro. I hooked it up with a fresh battery but in exchange, the “N” key decided to pack its bags. Seriously. It either binds in the chassis or pops off entirely. I’m basically Paul Sheldon in Misery, only realizing how wildly essential that damn letter is to the English vocabulary. It’s times like these that I wish I had a typewriter where ink ribbons and sticky hammers are your only real enemies.

The second problem was my Word Processor. The first two novels were pounded out in Microsoft Word and then transferred over to Vellum. But Microsoft’s subscription prices be trippin’. I don’t want a monthly lease on syllables; I just want a one-and-done purchase. A one night stand if you will.

Enter Scrivener. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a whole lot of time to play with it. After a quick crash course, I rolled into Draft Two of The Woods. Now that Draft Two is in the can, I’ve dialed in the interface to look like an old-school monochrome rig, complete with a corkboard workflow and dedicated template sheets for upcoming projects. To scratch that typewriter itch, I downloaded an app to mimic the sound of iron hitting paper. It’ll do for now. Still, much like Dumbledore and Harry in front of the Mirror of Erised: another birthday has passed, and alas, the real typewriter remains sitting on my Amazon wishlist. Maybe this Christmas Santa will deliver me one. Fingers crossed.

In other news, The Dark Write Website got a much needed upgrade. Balcony nods again. Not sure if you guys noticed, but we decided to go darker. Sure, let’s claim it saves on our electricity bill, but really, the team wanted the aesthetic to match the bleak atmosphere of Grayson’s tone. I dig it. Granted, I’m the one paying the bills but whatevs. I’m told there are a few more layout tweaks so be on the lookout.

As for new Grayson Ford releases, hang tight. The Woods still needs a couple more passes through the meat grinder, plus an official title change because Harlan Coben beat us to The Woods years ago. Same story? Not remotely. But nobody needs the algorithm confusion—even if Harlan’s swimming in an entirely different tax bracket and genre.

Up next on tap: The Street King sequel on Earth-1 and Book 3 of Earth-2 (set a few years after The Woods). That will wrap up the Age of Monsters chapter in Earth-2 before the street-racing saga in Earth-1 goes on hiatus. There is a dramatic thriller for Earth-1 stewing—but that’s still in the early development phase. And by early development, Grayson Ford only has two characters, a setting, and a “what-if” scenario rattling around his skull.

For the moment, the desk is quiet. Usually that’s the standard after finishing a long draft. And you know what, a few months of dead silence is exactly what Grayson Ford needs. Maybe when he reads The Woods for the third pass, it’s with merciless eyes.

Tomorrow is Halloween. Remember to leave a plate of stale cookies out for Michael Myers. And you know what? If you survive the night, meet me back here on Monday for a little Morning Madness, where we’ll dismantle a book claimed to be a “slasher” that completely missed the mark.

Focker out!