Dark Timelines: The Purple Room

by W. M. Stafford

SOMETHING’S SCRATCHING AT THE DOOR…

A stormy night.
An eerie green glow from a boarded-up window.
A forgotten library in the attic.

When Leo investigates the abandoned town hall, he discovers an old computer that shouldn’t be running at all.
A ghost in the machine — who calls himself Char_ly — has been waiting years for someone to hear his stories.

His first tale is The Purple Room, a creepy adventure about a kid exploring a haunted farmhouse filled with dark secrets… and a taxidermied raccoon that won’t stay dead.

The Purple Room is the first story in Dark Timelines, a new series of eerie, atmospheric, kid-friendly horror tales told by a long-lost digital ghost. Each book uncovers another cursed artifact, another forgotten urban legend, and another mystery buried inside the haunted library.

Perfect for fans Goosebumps

Stranger Things

Five Nights at Freddy's

Scary Stories–style folkloreWeird, unique creature horror

Haunted technology and urban exploration

Urban legend Scares
What younger readers Fast-paced spooky storytelling

Creepy, fun monster moments

Urban exploration vibes

A unique “ghost kid in the computer” narrator

Collectible lore and cursed objects


What parents & teachers Age-appropriate scares (no gore or graphic content)

Positive themes of bravery, curiosity, and problem-solving

Clean language; safe for classrooms and libraries

A healthy reading level for ages 10–14

A series structure that encourages continued reading
And for nostalgic adults…

Dark Timelines recaptures and celebrates the feel of '90s haunted mysteries, CRT glow, spooky campfire tales, and the weird, early internet creepiness of the pre-smartphone era, perfect for readers who grew up on retro scares and want something eerie, fun, and collectible to share with younger readers.

Book 1 The Purple RoomA haunted farmhouse.
A strange family’s dark secrets...
And a taxidermied raccoon that won't stay dead.

DarkTimelines.com is waiting for you.
Haunted stories. Cursed collectibles.

143 pages, Paperback

Published December 5, 2025

Reviews

[Alejandro Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark Timelines is a newer indie kids’ horror book series written by a fellow by the name W.M. Stafford. The universe aligns in weird ways, it seems, as I only found out about this series because I bought a $20 Shivers book on eBay—which came with a bookmark promoting (what I assume is the seller’s) Dark Timelines series. Promptly, I bought it. Is it worth a read? I reckon so. Something that can make or break indie material is writing, and I’m glad the author of this one is pretty damn good. Great prose and a the errors are minimal, almost exclusively being with the paragraph-ending quotations being present when they shouldn’t, which isn’t much annoying. Good editing in general; kudos. The set-up for the series is okay, with a computer in an abandoned building feeding the reader/in-universe fill-in these scary stories, the first being The Purple Room. It’s neat and leaves off fine, and there’s promise of more answers. Heck, I’d love to see the series maybe conclude with a book telling the story of CHARL_Y, and maybe that’s where it’s headed (too early to tell though). As for the majority of the book (the actual story)… I really liked it. The Purple Room has some darker themes and lore surrounding it which is drip-fed to us over most of the story as our primary focus, with scares taking a backseat. I enjoyed the climax a ton with this one, as it delivers some excellent and intense scenes and lets the writing shine, plus some answers as to what’s happening and where the information leads. The whole idea of this kid shooting an urban exploration video for YouTube mixed with some ghost hunting elements like a spirit box at one point is something you don’t see almost at all in kids’ horror, even nowadays, so nice to have a story that fully leans into that. Shudder Mansion mixed with Last Sleepover if you catch my drift. There’s also some modern lingo which was surprisingly not agonizing to read (mostly) and felt at home, so that’s also pretty cool. And one of the best things takeaways I have is the tone: chef’s kiss. Writing again shines with it and it the lack of supernatural stuff until the third act emulated that superbly. My only complaints with the book are the admittedly slow pace and rather thick exposition with CHARL_Y which already could’ve been a lot better. Overall, 8.5/10. Damn good for a first impression, excited to see where this goes. Bright Singular-Continuum.

[A.D. Aro · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the explosion of Goosebumps and other 90s kids horror inspired book series coming out lately, and Dark Timelines is a great addition to the mix.

Essentially the book is a "story within a story", with a wraparound tale (and what looks to be the setup for the series as a whole) about a kid exploring an abandoned building and finding an old computer terminal that chats with him via screen text, offering to tell him scary stories, the first of which being the titular "Purple Room". The actual story has a similar premise, an aspiring Youtube blogger goes off to spend the night in a supposedly haunted house in town that was once owned by the disturbing Sanders family, only to find he isn't exactly alone...

For a kids horror series, the backstory on the Sanders family was pretty dark, which I appreciate immensely. I love when these types of books go there and don't skimp on the horror simply because it's aimed at a younger audience. Looking forward to the next book in this series.