We Don't Hear Crickets Anymore

by Kel Byron

Spencer wakes one morning to find that something has moved into his old hunting blind, and it left him a startling image on his trail camera. Willow hasn't left her house in months, but the arrival of an uninvited guest in her home makes it hard to stay. Nathan, haunted by memories of the last camping trip he ever took with his childhood friend, comes back to see the shoe tree one last time. These six Midwestern Gothic short stories encompass the mundane, folkloric horror of the Great Lakes, with all the nostalgia of a campfire story.

Genres: Horror

173 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 14, 2025

About the author

Kel is a horror author whose work focuses on rural terror, character-driven stories, and weaving gruesome imagery with touching narratives about human bonds. Her work was inspired by the lingering spookiness of growing up in an isolated rural area and the superstitions and folktales that surrounded her childhood in the wetlands of Michigan, as well as her time in West Virginia.

She began writing short stories in high school, sharing them with her friends. When she joined Reddit's NoSleep forum, her gloomy yet comedic stories about the gruesome folk horrors surrounding a fictional Appalachian village quickly formed a humble yet loyal fanbase.

After disappearing from the internet for several years to get treatment for a massive uterine tumor, she returned in 2023 to completely rewrite and re-imagine her previous work. Kel's writing often focuses on themes such as queer identity, grief, mental health, trauma recovery, and platonic love. Although horror is her main genre of choice, she wishes to branch out into other genres as well.

Today, she lives in Michigan with her partner and six cats, where she writes and works with local animal rescues as a bottlefeeder.

Reviews

[Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful short story collection that affirms Kel Byron as one of the best new voices in horror.

“As I began to paint the large open sky, the cloudless sunset, and the endless rows of corn, the purposeful absence of any end made my skin crawl just looking at it. Wide open spaces had always made me uncomfortable. If there was no road, no building, no landmarks to keep your eyes locked onto, one could easily imagine that it went on forever. That was the inspiration here: an endless field, bathed in red and orange, with no destination to cling to.” (p. 89).

We Don't Hear Crickets Anymore perfectly embodies what I find so unsettling about the Midwest. Driving across the flatness and wide open spaces has always given me the sense of a void that could swallow me whole.

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[Image: Book Cover]

Citation:
Byron, K. (2025). We don't hear crickets anymore (Kindle Edition). Kel Byron. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0G...

Title: We Don't Hear Crickets Anymore
Author(s): Kel Byron
Year: 2025
Genre: Fiction - Short Story Collection: Horror
Page count: 160 pages
Date(s) read: 11/17/25 - 11/20/25
Book 245 in 2025
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[Icy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story collection

Reads like a love letter to the vibe and heart of those dusty, oft forgotten places in the American midwest, only it's drenched in blood and trauma. The characters felt real and grounded, flawed in that perfectly human way. All six stories were strong, with unique individual voices that were at times touching, eerie, melancholic , and evocative of a nostalgic and bittersweet memory. A delightful collection that I didn't want to put down.

[The Atlas of Stars · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best way I can describe this is that it's a love letter to midwest gothic horror. Each story brought it's own feelings and questions. Everything about this was thoughtful, eerie, unsettling, heartbreaking, and bone chilling. My favorite from this whole book was Saint Lily. That one made my blood run cold and left me with so many unanswered questions. Kel Byron truly shines with every new release that she puts out and this is no exception.

[Jacki Hess · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a fun read with a variety of emotions! Every story had the right vibe while also providing a different spin. While I had my own favorite of the bunch, I would absolutely recommend all of them! This is my second of Kel Byron's books, and I cannot wait to continue supporting her work!

[Rereader · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent short story collection. It didn't wow me, but the writing was good and the stories were interesting. I'd recommend it to someone just starting to get into horror and/or someone looking for campfire vibes.

[Guera25 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I ADORED this. Horror where the monsters are actual, trufax monsters. The recent spate of psychological character studies and navel-gazing angstfests marketed as horror has dampened my enthusiasm for the genre, but this collection rekindled it in spades. What an absolute joy.

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t tend to gravitate to short story collections, but this is of the best short story collections I’ve read!! I really like this authors writing style, and the focus on turning something mundane and simple into something horrific and gruesome. Would read again

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

👻👻👻👻👻4.5 stars (rounded up)

With only three books out, Kel Byron is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. No one does creepy quite like she does.

The Lonely Broadcast is a book I recommend all the time, so I was really excited to dive into this short story collection — and it did not disappoint. The stories focus on quiet dread, unsettling atmospheres, and that creeping sense that something is just… wrong.

My ratings for each story:
• Trail Camera — ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
A creepy opening that sets the tone nicely.
• Before the Last Stop — ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
Emotional and haunting. (I’m not crying, you are.)
• Saint Lily — ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Creepy rage bait in the best way.
• Wide Open Spaces — ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
A slow-burn suspense builder with an unreliable narrator.
• The Mist Over Superior — ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genuinely creepy as hell and my favorite of the collection.
• The Shoe Tree — ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½
Gave me serious Penpal vibes — deeply unsettling.

Highly recommend this collection if you enjoy atmospheric horror, subtle scares, and stories that linger after you finish reading.