Chet Day – Horror Novelist, Memoirist, Storyteller
I’m a 77-year-old horror novelist barreling toward 78, and I’ve got a head full of stories rattling around in my skull that want out something fierce.
Rather than drill a hole in my brain and risk screwing up my pre-frontal cortex, I started a weekly newsletter called “Old Man Still Got Stories.” Every Tuesday, I serve up observations about life, death, technology, absurdity, and whatever else crosses my mind. Some topics are serious. All of them are fun to read, because navigating 2025’s particular brand of chaos without losing your mind requires a sense of humor.
Subscribe free at chetday.substack.com →
I’ve been writing professionally since the 1980s when PocketBooks published my horror novels. The Hacker got nominated for the Prometheus Award for best science fiction novel in 1990. Years later, Halo caught a second wind when Grady Hendrix featured it in Paperbacks from Hell, his definitive guide to horror paperback history.
My best work, though, is Ellen: A Memoir of Love, Life, and Grief – a book about my late wife that’s as true as anything I’ll ever write.
Racing the Reaper…
These days, I’m racing the Grim Reaper. I’ve got more ideas than time, so I’ve partnered with Anthropic’s Claude AI in what I believe is one of the most transparent human-AI collaboration in publishing. Together, we’ve created the “Lost Pages” series – documentary fiction that brings forgotten historical mysteries to life through period-appropriate voices.
Some people hide their AI collaboration. I document mine openly, believing transparency beats secrecy every time.
You can find my complete catalog – horror novels, memoir, documentary fiction, and all the weird experiments in between – on my Books page.
That’s the quick version of where I’m coming from. The longer version, with more digressions and probably better stories, shows up in your inbox every Tuesday if you subscribe to the newsletter.
Just don’t expect me to read your replies on a smartphone.
I don’t own one.
— Chet