tis the season to read some horror, so i unearthed this 80-page collection of horror short stories written by the guy behind the famous creepypasta "candle cove" from my memory and re-read it all in one sitting. most of the stories center around a fictional town called ichor falls, and straub cleverly reworks creepypasta tropes into a place that feels decently sketched out. i’m kinda surprised this isn’t more known because it is exceptionally well-written for this era of internet culture. when i was little i used to read these stories on kris straub’s now-defunct ichor falls blog, so i'm not sure if it strictly counts as creepypasta or how much nostalgia plays into this, but it seems much better than most of the modern horror stuff i've been subjected to over the years.

here is a ringing endorsement of this book: quite a few stories in this freaked me out. i re-read this home alone at night and i literally jumped when i heard noises and had to get my phone flashlight to open the door to a dark room.

best stories are “promises”, a story about masculine duty, and “excerpts from a room at cedarspring”, about a new housing development that i think a lot of people could relate to in 2025

worst stories are “the fulcrum” and "indistinguishable"

you can read it here for free