Happy Hump Day, Everyone! Every Wednesday you can look forward to reading interviews with authors, publishing professionals, library people, readers, and more.

This week we are shaking up our BALLER profiles with horror author, Steve Stred…

Stacey: Hi Steve! Can you please introduce yourself to our readers and share a bit about what you do?

Steve: First, thank you so much for having me! I really appreciate that! For those who don’t know me, my name is Steve Stred. I currently live in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada with my wife and son, but I’m originally from a very small town in the interior of BC. I’m a former athlete who currently works in a healthcare adajacent profession. I’m a 2X Splatterpunk nominated author and most of my work is set in the woods!

Stacey: You are a very active presence in the horror community. What is it about the horror community that you love and what would you like people to know about it?

Steve: Growing up, I was bullied often, which at one point turned me into a bully. Having seen both sides of that coin, I’ve come to really believe in the mantra that we need to build each other up. We need more ‘we’ and less ‘I.’ I think that applies to numerous aspects in life, but for me, when I left the amateur sports world in Canada, I was at the end of my rope. My body was bashed, my brain was mush and I had been mentally beaten down for four straight years. Within days of releasing my first short story, I had people giving me virtual high fives, praising me for completing and releasing something and just genuienly wanting to encourage me and lift me up, a guy they’d hardly known. And that had been me in amateur sports for over a decade. In Track and Field and then into sliding, I was always helping, cheering others on and encouraging people, even when I wasn’t getting it back. So, when I had others doing it to me, I knew I’d found my place, my people. The horror community is filled with the kindest, most encouraging people out there. There are so many people who work tirelessly to support others, cheers others on and actively hope they succeed. Seeing all of that, I knew I needed to do exactly the same thing. And, as I’ve slowly continued to grow – both as a writer and on social media platforms – I see it as a duty to keep actively working towards building as many others up as I can!

Stacey: As an indie author, you have to wear many hats – what is your most favourite and most hated parts of being an indie horror author?

Steve: Oh, so many hats. It’s completely like DIY Punk, isn’t it? Which – side note here – is a very similar thing when you see ‘publishing pureists’ come out and rag on Indie authors. Major label rock bands versus Punk bands is how it can often feel.

Anyways, my favorite part is ALWAYS seeing others succeed. Whether its typing ‘THE END’ or having a story or novel acceptance, or being nominated for an award, or winning an award, or even celebrating their kids birthdays or sobriety anniversaries or getting a new fur family member – I just love seeing what brings joy to every one’s life.

My most hated part is promoting my own work, ha! I hate it. It feels too arrogant. In 2024, I’ve made a mental effort to try and share my work more often and to post about my own stuff more frequently, but honestly, it still causes my stomach to flip flop when I hit ‘post.’ My wife always gives me the gears – “You’re always posting everyone else’s books, post yours too!” (Maybe she’s right? But let’s not let her know I typed that!)

(Chief Alien’s Note: She now totally knows he typed that)

Stacey: Where do you find your inspiration to write your horror novels and short stories?

Steve: A lot of my stories are directly connected to the fears I had growing up in the woods. Hence, why so many of my stories not only take place in the woods, but also feature spooks and creatures and craziness. I’ve always had a vivid imagination, so it’s fairly easy for me to go from zero to 100 when it comes to an idea, but I tend to focus on the brief bursts of inspiration that cannonball intrinsically into a full-fledged romp!

Stacey: Do you have an upcoming release that you can tell us about?

Steve: March 1st sees the release of my novella, The Stone Door, which is a sequel to my 2020 novella, The Window in the Ground. Then in June, I have a novella releasing through DarkLit Press titled When I Look At the Sky, All I See Are Stars. This is related to my Father of Lies trilogy, based on my time as a member of a cult on the dark web. Near the end of the year, I’ll be co-releasing a collection of stories with Lance Dale inspired by/based around the band Type O Negative, which I’m really excited about!

Stacey: And last question – as the ultimate Andrew Pyper fanboy, which one of his novels should be a must read for horror fans?

Steve: That’s such a loaded question, haha! I ultimately will always go with The Demonologist purely because it was such a gateway book for me on several levels. The first being, my first Andrew Pyper novel. The second being, a novel that showed me a Canadian can write horror. And the third, because since I’ve first read it, it truly has never left my mind. Saying that, I think his reinvention as Mason Coile, and his first novel under that name, William, is such a powerful metaphorical piece of fiction that it has catapulted itself far up my list of favorite Andrew books. And it bridges that genre gap between Sci-fi/Thriller/Horror so fluidly that I think it’ll speak to all those other readers who get obsessively hung up on the ‘horror’ moniker when it comes to genre labels.

Stacey: Thank you for sharing all this with us this week Steve!

Steve: Thank you so much for having me!

Stacey: And, dear reader, thank you for joining us. Happy Reading and see you next week for another BALLER profile!

— Stacey