Welcome!
I’m Richard Odell, author of The Corpse Door and creator of the Mabel Shirley Case Files—a series where shadows speak and the past refuses to rest.
This is more than a website—it’s a threshold. Here, stories unfold one chapter at a time, secrets are whispered between the lines, and the dead may still have something to say.
My second home is Pinterest, where I curate mood boards, haunted images, and writing resources to fuel the darker side of creativity. Come and explore.
Latest Posts
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A New Look for Mabel
Why I Bother (And Why I’ll Keep Bothering): The Curious Case of Mabel Shirley’s New Look No one’s really visiting the blog, let’s be honest. Most days, I’m probably talking to myself. But that’s all right. Because something odd has happened — and it’s worth saying out loud, even if the echo is all that answers back. I’ve been working hard — with quiet… -
Killing the Moment
When Writers Pull the Rug Out from Under Us In fiction, we’re often taught to expect tension to rise, build, and climax. But some of the most unforgettable scenes do something very different—they kill the moment. Just when everything feels intense or emotionally charged, the story flips, swerves, or deflates the moment entirely. This technique, though surprising, is a powerful literary device used to…