Reflections in the Dark follows a haunted academic and a Chicago homicide detective as they investigate ritualistic murders tied to mirrors, fractured identity, and a terrifying reality pressing in from beyond the known world. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

The inspiration really came from wanting to merge two types of stories I’ve always loved: surreal, cosmic horror in the vein of Twin Peaks or The X-Files, and grounded noir detective fiction like the work of Raymond Chandler.

Early on, I had a very clear image in my head: it was essentially Fox Mulder paired with Philip Marlowe. I wanted that contrast: a straight-laced, reality-driven investigator encountering cases that gradually become stranger and more unexplainable, eventually drawing in someone who’s open to the paranormal, other dimensions, and the unknown.

That push and pull between skepticism and belief became the foundation of the story. It’s something The X-Files did so well, and it creates a natural tension that lets the mystery evolve from grounded crime into something much more unsettling and cosmic.

As the story developed, that dynamic evolved into Reed and Maria. I shifted the noir detective role into Maria partly because I wanted a male-female pairing, but also because it strengthened that contrast—two people approaching the same reality from completely different perspectives, forced to confront something neither of them can fully explain.

Reed Ashland and Detective Maria Voss bring different kinds of damage to the story. Which character came to you first?

That’s a tough one, because they really arrived together conceptually. From the beginning, I knew the story needed two leads, two perspectives colliding.

That said, I actually started writing Reed first. The opening chapters came from his point of view, and right away, his voice was very disjointed, surreal, and intentionally unstructured. That was always the goal with him; his experience of reality is fractured, but as I was writing, I realized pretty quickly that if the entire novel lived in that space, it would be difficult to anchor.

That’s when Maria really came into focus.

Her storyline became the grounding force of the book. While Reed drifts further into the strange and otherworldly, Maria operates in a much more linear, procedural way—investigating bodies, following evidence, moving step by step through a case. That structure gave the story a necessary through line and allowed Reed’s more abstract descent to have contrast and context.

So while Reed was technically first on the page, Maria’s side of the story became complete first. She’s the lens that holds everything together, and the balance between the two is what gives the story its shape.

What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?

At the beginning, I honestly just wanted to write a compelling horror-mystery, something that captured the feeling I got personally from works like House of Leaves, The X-Files, and Twin Peaks. That sense of unease, mystery, and something just beyond comprehension.

But as I wrote the book, the thematic core shifted more toward the characters themselves.

What really interested me was exploring how people carry damage: grief, trauma, unresolved questions, and how that shapes who they are. Reed and Maria, on the surface, can feel like familiar archetypes, but I wanted to push beyond that and show that there’s always something deeper underneath. People aren’t as simple as they first appear.

That idea: that we often misjudge others based on surface-level impressions, became really important to me. You meet someone and think you understand them, but the more you learn, the more complicated they become. I wanted the characters to reflect that reality.

So at its core, the book is less about solving a mystery and more about how these characters navigate their own internal fractures. It’s about how we carry our past with us, how it influences our decisions, and how it quietly shapes the paths our lives take.

What is the next book that you are working on, and when will it be available?

Right now, I have a few projects in motion. The closest to release is a novella titled Viscera Varnish, which is essentially finished and just going through final cleanup. It’s a transgressive, art-driven horror story, and the plan is to release it in early summer.

I’m also in the middle of writing another novella, currently titled Panspermia. That’s just a working title and will most likely change, but that one leans more into sci-fi horror, drawing inspiration from shows like The X-Files and the broader ancient-aliens mythology. If everything stays on track, I’m aiming for a late summer or early fall release.

Beyond that, my next major focus will be the sequel to Reflections in the Dark. It’s still early, but my goal is to have Book Two out within about a year, tentatively targeting early 2027.

I also have several short stories appearing in upcoming anthologies this year. One is a suburban horror piece titled Night Whispers, another is a folk horror story called The Keepers, and a third, Ascended Infinity, explores the idea of uncovering hidden truths. Final anthology titles and release dates are still to be announced.

Overall, the goal is to keep a steady stream of work coming and continuing to build out this world while also exploring different corners of horror along the way.

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