Stitched Hollow: Behind the Screams

I didn’t expect to write a horror story. Not really. The Watchers of Stitched Hollow started as a weird idea—a stitched-together mascot in a dying arcade—and somewhere along the line, it turned into something bigger than I planned.

Here’s what went right, what didn’t, and what I’m walking away with after letting this monster loose:

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✅ What Went Right:

I found the tone early. From the first paragraph, I knew exactly how this world felt. Cold, dusty, mechanical. Haunted, but not by ghosts. The voice of the story came fast, and I followed it.

The format worked. Releasing it as a digital PDF let it feel like a forgotten document, like something you shouldn’t be reading. That fit the theme perfectly.

The ending landed. Once I added the proper conclusion, I felt like I stuck the landing. Not every horror story needs a jump scare—sometimes it just needs a slow, quiet doom.

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❌ What Went Wrong:

I rushed the first version. It was only two pages. I called it a “full story” before it was one. I was too eager to publish and not patient enough to finish. That’s on me.

I didn’t build the tension long enough. The pacing in some scenes could’ve stretched deeper. I should’ve let the dread sink in more before hitting the final beats.

Presentation was too bare-bones. No foreword, no about-the-author, no interior art or design polish. It was just story in a file. That worked thematically… but I know it limited engagement.

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🧠 What I Learned:

If it haunts you, write it. I kept thinking about arcades with flickering lights and mascots that twitch when you’re not looking. That itch became the spine of the story. And it only stopped bothering me once I wrote it down.

You only get one first impression. Next time, I’ll release the full project in one go. Better to wait and be proud than ship and apologize.

Scary doesn’t mean loud. This story taught me that horror lives in quiet moments. In flickers. In things left unsaid. I want to write more stories like that.

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I wrote Stitched Hollow in a kind of fever. I still don’t fully know what it is. But I know it’s done. And I know it’s mine

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Thanks for reading.

See you in the dark.