Stephen E Crockett

The books reviewed on this page represent the body of my work over the last twenty years. My first published work is entitled "The Prophet Code." It was written by me, edited, illustrated by DARLENE and is now a collector's item that can be purchased directly from DARLENE. My second book was entitled "Bible Prophecy" and was also edited and illustrated by DARLENE. At this point in my writing career, I left the theology genre in favor of work in the supernatural horror genre. This type of intellectual transfer and refocus is not all that uncommon amongst writers seeking fresh material and I can point to Anne Rice as a perfect example. My work in the supernatural horror genre has produced stories that are drawn from real life experiences so a good part of each one is, in effect, true. Of course, I have taken a writer's liberty with each - to make a good story great - but the truth is never forgotten, no matter how I twist the facts. As a result, every one of these books can be traced to a specific location and a specific person or a specific group of people. They begin with the horror story “The Dark Man,” (2009), which is based on a true story that began in Advance, North Carolina in the 1930's and as implied by the narrative is still occurring today. Over the last seventy years, fifteen people have died under mysterious circumstances while living or working on the farm that is the focal point of this story. I followed that with “Black Tar: For the Love of Heroin,” (2010), a bird's eye view into the daily life of a heroin addict, from addiction to destruction, to a valiant struggle to get clean and live a sober life as a recovering addict. The personal view of addiction portrayed in Black Tar has helped a multitude of readers as they either struggle with their addiction or that of a loved one and I am humbled by your letters of thanks. I've been there myself so I know how difficult getting off heroin can actually be, Every sober day is a blessing. I followed this with Ocular: The Monster in the Mirror, which details a fight to the death between a family struggling to survive in a house haunted by otherworld entities that gain access to the physical world by means of an ancient mirror that had been concealed in a wall and accidently discovered by the family. In many ways, I feel like this book is my best book. It is a delicate blend of truth and fiction and makes for one hell of a read. My next offering is entitled;"Knob Hil: The Gray House Murders." It is written in the same style as Ocular and many readers have said that these two books go together like peas in a pod. For that reason, I highly recommend its reading. It is like "topping perfection with yet more perfection." Passions and subjects change and so I left the darkness of drugs and death behind with a newly published book entitled "The Island." It is a stark departure from my last two books and delves deeply into the murder and madness of an extra-marital affair. It is manic sex, erotica in the extreme with an ending that is both shocking and predictable given the circumstances. This is by far my best book to date and with subjects that have burnt me in the past - such as heroin - adultery is a subject that can weigh heavily on your soul. This was followed by "Ouija: The Devil's Doorway," which returns to adult horror. It depicts a young man obsessed with using an Ouija board to summon demons and then trap them in empty wine bottles. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to see how bad this is going to turn out for the book's main character. This brings us to "The Puppet Master." An essay on what occurs when religion runs amuck and good people are led astray by bad preachers with selfish agendas. Minds can be twisted and hearts led astray by ravings of an uneducated, egotistical preacher whose main focus is money. Next, we have"Diary of a Drug Addict." This is meant to be a companion piece for Black Tar and once again details the daily life of an addict struggling with drug addiction. It is helpful to read Black Tar and Diary of a Drug Addict together. My last book to date is entitled "The Magicians" and it chronicles the efforts of two somewhat religious men as they plumb the depths of a mysterious magic book and its accompanying crystal ball. Never do they expect the results they encounter as they invoke what at first glance appears to be angels but who in the long run prove to be otherwise. To be honest, there are stories in these collections that scare me and when asked about their autobiographical nature I can only say; “I have been writing about one subject or another for as long as I can remember. When you write all the time you never lose anything. You may not know how subjects are going to develop but if you faithfully capture them, in files and folders, they stand ready to be a part of one story or the other. High School drew the writer in me to the surface and it became an obsession that I have fed every day of every week for as many years as I can remember. The early years of my life, particularly my late teens and early twenties were heavily influenced by substance abuse and living life at a pace that kills. Living through the dangers of serious drug abuse was no small feat, but to emerge with stories to tell is an accomplishment that is almost never heard of. But here I am ready to reveal my treasures. To tell my stories and regale you with tales of which it may seem impossible to survive. Mine is a soul shaped by gritty, life changing experiences. Living it and writing it down as it happened and then weaving its various parts into a whole is not an easy thing to do. This period instilled in me a strong desire to write stories where truth guided my pen so I weave truth and fiction into every story I write. I am blessed with a keen sense of literary creativity and am able to draw from a reservoir of dramatic experiences that have shaped my world and colored my life. The subjects captured in the books I have published are the result of the last forty years of living. I have always felt it reasonable to assume that experiences and certain veins of knowledge could be turned into books. For that reason, I have always felt it critical to write down everything that crosses my path. "Weak ink is better than a strong mind." Nobody can be expected to remember everything - or with time anything - so writing down everything is critical to storytelling. There's a lot of death and substance abuse in my writings and they are mirror images of my life. I have lost a lot of friends to drugs and car accidents and truthfully I am amazed to be alive. But that's life when you lose yourself in drugs for a long period of time. Heroin and alcohol are unforgivable but there is a lesson to be learned so I'm sharing my experiences and while I may be accused of giving certain stories a romantic slant the truth still comes through and the nasty, gritty side of drug addiction is not lost or forgotten. I have spent a lot of time writing about the darkness of heroin abuse and the horrors of being homeless, penniless and friendless. Drugs will do that to you and the road back to sobriety is a long one. Should you live through it the adventure can only be described as incredible. The decision to turn my stories into books has been a long, hard road and writing at a professional level takes long hours and patient editors. I've been blessed with good help along the way and while my support has changed from time to time I have a team of editors and artist that make my books the success they are. So enjoy “The Dark Man” and "Ocular" because they are both good horror story's and you won't expect what you find therein. You should also read “Black Tar: For the Love of Heroin” because it's a cautionary tale that deserves reading. A lot of people are hurting because of heroin addiction and this book will open your eyes.