Dark Timelines: Dead Eye's Curse

by W. M. Stafford

EAT AT DEAD EYE’S.
WHERE THE BURGERS BITE BACK.

A spooky middle grade horror adventure for readers ages 10+.

A crumbling old restaurant.
A cursed silver dollar.
A creepy cowboy mascot that should not be moving on its own.

A few weeks after discovering a forgotten computer in the attic library of the abandoned town hall, Leo is desperate to return for another terrifying story. This time, he brings Priya, the new girl from across the creek who loves scary stories almost as much as he does.

CHAR_LY, the mysterious kid who communicates through the library's computer, has a new tale waiting for them.

His second story is Dead Eye’s Curse, a creepy adventure about Chloe, her little brother Danny, and their best friend Mason, whose family once owned a bizarre Wild West-themed chain called Dead Eye’s Quick Eats, Wash, Dry & Shine.

1/3 restaurant.
1/3 laundromat.
1/3 car wash.
100% cursed.

The family fortune has collapsed. The last Dead Eye’s location sits abandoned at the edge of town. When Mason’s grandfather sends the kids there to retrieve something from the family safe, they discover the desolate building still has long-buried secrets hidden inside.

A wax cowboy with a silver dollar hidden beneath his eyepatch.
A family fortune built on a terrible bargain.
A secret ingredient no one was ever supposed to know about.

And deep beneath it all, something ancient is waking up — hungry.

Dead Eye’s Curse is the second story in Dark Timelines, a 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

Are You Afraid of the Dark?

Five Nights at Freddy’s

Stranger Things-style small-town mystery

Scary Stories-style folklore

Weird creature horror

Creepy mascots and cursed objects

Haunted technology and urban exploration

What younger readers

Fast-paced spooky storytelling

Creepy, fun monster moments

A haunted fast-food mystery

A unique “ghost kid in the computer” narrator

Collectible lore and cursed objects

A bigger, scarier sequel

What parents & teachers

Age-appropriate scares

No graphic gore

Clean language

Positive themes of bravery, friendship, family, and trust

An accessible reading level for ages 10+

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, creepy roadside attractions, weird local legends, and the early internet eeriness 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 2 — Dead Eye’s Curse

A cursed coin.
A haunted fast-food empire.
And something in the burgers too awful to mention here.

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

206 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 31, 2026

Reviews

[Alex Joseph · Rating 4.25 out of 5]

The Dark Timelines series continues with a noticeably more ambitious follow-up book, being a lot longer and fleshing out the wrap-around story involving Leo and CHAR_LY—and a newcomer named Priya. I really liked the first book, and I think I feel about the same here for Dead Eye’s Curse. For self-published material, I am grateful for the thorough editing and legitimately good prose; indie stuff can be hit or miss on that so I’m glad it was hit. The main story has rich characters and lore which I found awesome. The lore goes hard just as plenty of the spectacle sequences do. There’s some killer moments and straight-up aura farming with a particular threat, and the familial themes here were great too. The wrap-around was good too; we got some more information on CHAR_LY (none of which surprising, more so just subtle confirmation from the prior book); Priya was a sweet new addition and seems like she’ll be a driving force in solving the mystery of CHAR_LY going forward; there was even some decent horror in what would be the least scary portion of the book, so that was appreciated. But… now to set my praises aside… I have some critiques. I feel Dead Eye’s Curse (the segment, not the whole book) had some large flaws, those being really just the odd plotting and some missed potential for the fallout of a larger story beat. After the first descent (per se, for spoilers), the story takes an odd turn with—whilst clearly awesome—oddly placed sequences. And after that, it rewinds back to where we were, rendering most of it as just really cool filler. I find it hard to complain about it but I feel the initial descent should’ve been combined with the ultimate one, and there’s a few ways to go about it, to allow the story to progress better and feel less like it’s dragging on, with it putting the larger and more alien threat to the book on hold (like an annoying Chekhov’s Gun) for a 40 page intermission. Then there’d been a secondary climax that ended with the car wash scene. And for my other issue, I feel there was room made for some emotional drama between Chloe and Mason, perchance from a misdirection about Mason’s intentions, that could’ve resulted in a compelling argument or astray. We almost got that—but not a sufficient standoff. But with these issues factored in, I still gotta say: what an impressive book. The spectacle in here helps make up for some of plotting, and I almost want to say I love it, but I’m gonna leave it at great. Overall, 8.5/10. On par with Purple Room. Dead Eye has insurmountable aura. Crepuscular Chronology.

[John Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man, what a gruesome cover. I love it. Dead Eye's Curse gives us another tale from CHAR_LY, following Mason, a boy with bad luck who is forced to pay a visit to his family's deteriorating fast food restaraunt. Right off the bat, the burger joint is such a creative choice for a horror location, and between its wild west theming, creepy wax figure, and the general state of the place, Stafford takes full advantage of this idea of a fast food joint gone wrong. Like the first Dark Timelines book, we have a family with secrets here, allowing for some fun lore behind Dead Eye's. It all leads to some neat gross-out horror and even a worm cult, which I'm always game for. The wrap-around segments with Leo and Priya are well-done too, and I like the way Stafford is clearly building to something here. And by that I mean, Leo and Priya aren't just listening to some spooky stories, they're an active part of whatever is going on with CHAR_LY. Intrigued how the series will continue.