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Something Reaping
Set along the banks of Kentucky Lake, these stories borrow from ancient folklore to create a new mythos of cryptids and magic, paired with terrifying illustrations by Sara Smith. Characters and creatures connect across each story to build a complete, compelling world with every haunted page. Inspired by real-life nightmares and paranormal experiences, the collection blurs the line between childhood fears and real-world monsters. What begins as isolated horror uncoils into a predatory truth: a place shaped by what people take, what they wilfully ignore, and what exists on the boundary where reality fails.
Published by Atomic Bohemian. For more information, visit their website.
Published by Atomic Bohemian. For more information, visit their website.
286 pages, Paperback
First published February 27, 2026
About the author
DeAnn Bell
9 books10 followersDeAnn Bell has always been drawn to the darker edges of creativity. As a child, she talked to ghosts, predicted events, and unsettled those around her with an imagination that refused to stay within safe boundaries. That fascination followed her into adulthood, where folklore, ritual, and landscape became central to her writing.
With a PhD and over twelve years’ experience in creative writing, DeAnn is the author of Yule Moon (2023), Samhain Awakening (2023), and Beltane Ash (2024), as well as numerous short stories and poems. Her work is rooted in Pagan tradition, seasonal cycles, and the belief that there are places where older truths still breathe beneath the modern world.
Though she is Kentucky-born, she lives in Rhosgadfan, Wales, where she writes with three adored cats, one talented husband, and the whispers of a thousand ghosts.
DeAnn’s Favourite Cryptids:
Kelpie
Werewolf
Bigfoot
About Illustrator Sara Smith
Sara Smith has been creating creepy content alongside DeAnn Bell since they were both in kindergarten. As a child, she loved drawing, watching scary films, and devouring books on the supernatural, with particular enthusiasm for spontaneous human combustion, hauntings, and the Bermuda Triangle.
As an adult, her interests remain largely unchanged. She continues to draw, collects cats with a wide range of personality disorders, and harbours a deep resentment toward the modern world for failing to produce any new Bermuda Triangle phenomena.
Sara lives in Kentucky, USA, with her very patient husband, three children, and a menagerie of pets—including the aforementioned cats. Her illustrations bring a lifelong fascination with the strange, the eerie, and the unexplained to the page.
Sara’s Favourite Cryptids:
Fresno Nightcrawlers
Bigfoot
Kappa
With a PhD and over twelve years’ experience in creative writing, DeAnn is the author of Yule Moon (2023), Samhain Awakening (2023), and Beltane Ash (2024), as well as numerous short stories and poems. Her work is rooted in Pagan tradition, seasonal cycles, and the belief that there are places where older truths still breathe beneath the modern world.
Though she is Kentucky-born, she lives in Rhosgadfan, Wales, where she writes with three adored cats, one talented husband, and the whispers of a thousand ghosts.
DeAnn’s Favourite Cryptids:
Kelpie
Werewolf
Bigfoot
About Illustrator Sara Smith
Sara Smith has been creating creepy content alongside DeAnn Bell since they were both in kindergarten. As a child, she loved drawing, watching scary films, and devouring books on the supernatural, with particular enthusiasm for spontaneous human combustion, hauntings, and the Bermuda Triangle.
As an adult, her interests remain largely unchanged. She continues to draw, collects cats with a wide range of personality disorders, and harbours a deep resentment toward the modern world for failing to produce any new Bermuda Triangle phenomena.
Sara lives in Kentucky, USA, with her very patient husband, three children, and a menagerie of pets—including the aforementioned cats. Her illustrations bring a lifelong fascination with the strange, the eerie, and the unexplained to the page.
Sara’s Favourite Cryptids:
Fresno Nightcrawlers
Bigfoot
Kappa
Ratings & Reviews
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 11, 2026
* Recommended for fans of Steven King and Angela Carter *
I had the immense pleasure of being an ARC reader for DeAnn Bell's "Something Reaping". Sitting at 286 pages, her short fiction collection does what few collections achieve - the stories are absolutely enthralling and terrifying on their own right, but they also present a mystery as you keep running into the same characters over and over again and begin to realise that the stories fit together as pieces of a much larger, beautifully constructed puzzle.
The stories fit neatly into the horror genre, but DeAnn also has a deft, sharp way of characterising the protagonists that reminded me of other masters of the short story format, such as Angela Carter. The format of the stories varies, ranging from flash fiction to experimental form. My absolutely favourite story is "Sammy", which will have you questioning the protagonists' - and your own - sanity, and utterly unable to put the book back down.
I could not recommend this any more if I tried, even to readers unfamiliar with horror or the supernatural. DeAnn's writing style will suck you in, whether you want it to or not.
I had the immense pleasure of being an ARC reader for DeAnn Bell's "Something Reaping". Sitting at 286 pages, her short fiction collection does what few collections achieve - the stories are absolutely enthralling and terrifying on their own right, but they also present a mystery as you keep running into the same characters over and over again and begin to realise that the stories fit together as pieces of a much larger, beautifully constructed puzzle.
The stories fit neatly into the horror genre, but DeAnn also has a deft, sharp way of characterising the protagonists that reminded me of other masters of the short story format, such as Angela Carter. The format of the stories varies, ranging from flash fiction to experimental form. My absolutely favourite story is "Sammy", which will have you questioning the protagonists' - and your own - sanity, and utterly unable to put the book back down.
I could not recommend this any more if I tried, even to readers unfamiliar with horror or the supernatural. DeAnn's writing style will suck you in, whether you want it to or not.
April 28, 2026
This book I had to sead in sessions. Some of the stories are terrifying and others make you think. I definitely need to read it again because I'm sure I missed some pieces of the puzzle. If you like a good scare this is definitely the book for you.
March 11, 2026
Masterfully creepy. You'll need a night light if you read it to close to bedtime.
March 26, 2026
If you like the spooky, soul-gripping stories this collection is for you
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews