The debut short novel from renowned Reddit short story author D.R. Forge—blending the creeping found-footage dread of Sinister with the eerie, transformative horror of Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation. A young couple’s new home becomes a nightmare as they confront both real and supernatural forces lurking within.

Marcy and Owen Parker, young newlyweds eager for a fresh start, have finally found a house they can afford. At first glance, it seems like the perfect starter home. But as they try to settle in, they notice flaws beyond the needed renovations—scratching noises at the bedroom windows at night, inexplicable things hidden behind the walls, and a garden that seems to move with a mind of its own.

Tensions flare as they try to salvage their dreams of a life together. Owen becomes obsessed with unearthing the house’s mysterious past. As his fixation deepens and the strangeness spreads beyond their white picket fence, Marcy faces an impossible choice: try to save her husband from himself and whatever lives behind the walls, or get out before the secrets beneath the house consume them both.

They wanted to grow together, but something else is growing between them... and it’s darker than they ever imagined.

D.R. Forge (she/they) is a social worker by day, writer by night—someone who’s spent enough time witnessing the darkness and the light in the world to know that real horror is never just about the monsters. She writes speculative dark fiction and horror that lingers, blending the eerie and macabre with moments of humor and heart. Forge grew up on the tail end of the ‘90s punk scene, was once kissed by Debbie Harry at a gala, and hosted a rotating roster of members of Leftöver Crack and the Star F*ing Hipsters at her first apartment.

Her first short horror story, The Artist, began on Reddit’s NoSleep and went (a little) viral. Over the last decade, The Artist was translated into 20 (ish?) languages, optioned for a film, adapted into a stage play, and featured on a podcast and a few YouTube channels. After a long hiatus from those fifteen minutes of anonymous fame, Forge returned to writing in 2023 with a renewed love for storytelling, drawn (as always) to the strange, the unsettling, and the deeply human. Her first short novel, DORMANT, a found-footage ecohorror/creature feature, was released by Raven Tale Publishing in February 2025.

When she’s not working or writing, she’s usually reading, playing survival horror video games, cruising around the tristate searching for cryptids, or spending time with her two hairless cats, Hannabelle and Willow Graham. She shares her life with a supportive husband who reminds her to step away from the word processor every once in a while—though the stories are never far behind.

Also available on KindleUnlimited:
ASIN: ‎ B0DYJKXFD6