Home

Gary Kruse is a dark Thriller and Horror author from Hornchurch, Essex.

His short story, Hope in the Dark, won the November 2021 Writers’ Forum short story competition, and his short fiction has been published in several Horror Anthologies.

His debut dark Thriller novel, Badlands is an Amazon bestseller and was a finalist in the Read Freely Book of the Year Competition for 2023.

His new Supernatural Mystery, Bleak Waters is out now.

Bleak Waters – a supernatural mystery from Darkstroke Books.

Notes from a Writer’s Life

  • Finish what you start.
    by Gary Kruse
    Describe one positive change you have made in your life. Looking back over my writing life, it’s clear that there are essentially two separate parts to it. Part one spanned from my earliest scribblings in 1997 through to when I was made redundant from my day-job in 2009. Part two started in 2018 and continuesContinue reading “Finish what you start.”
  • And Repeat…
    by Gary Kruse
    What book could you read over and over again? As an author, I’m used to reading my books over and over again as part of the writing/editing process. But out in the real world there are a number of books I’ve read and would read multiple times and I’ve listed five of them here. 1Continue reading “And Repeat…”
  • Reflections…
    by Gary Kruse
    My first collection of short stories dropped this week. Featuring nine tales of horror, darkness, love and redemption, I’ve been stoked by the reception to Mistress of the Crows. This collection contains some of my favourite stories, some of which also represent important milestones in my writing career to date. Take Mirror Mirror for example.Continue reading “Reflections…”
  • OUT TODAY – THE MISTRESS OF THE CROWS
    by Gary Kruse
    And other tales of horror, darkness, love and redemption. PLUNGE INTO THE HEART OF DARKNESS WITH THIS COLLECTION OF NINE HORROR SHORT STORIES FROM THE AUTHOR OF BADLANDS AND BLEAK WATERS. A young girl wakes up in world of perpetual winter, a world with no adults, ruled by a strange changeling boy and haunted byContinue reading “OUT TODAY – THE MISTRESS OF THE CROWS”
  • Say “Hello” to “The Mistress of the Crows”
    by Gary Kruse
    Today, I’m super-stoked to confirm that my upcoming collection of short horror stories, “The Mistress of the Crows” will be released on Thursday 4th April 2024. Regular readers may be aware that February was absolute chaos, but from that chaos came the idea of releasing this collection of horror, darkness, love and redemption. With settingsContinue reading “Say “Hello” to “The Mistress of the Crows””
  • The Question That Plagues All Authors…
    by Gary Kruse
    What is one question you hate to be asked? Explain. Where do you get your ideas from? Okay, so hate may be too strong a word, but it’s certainly one of the hardest questions to answer, simply because the honest response would be “which idea do you mean?” Let me take my dark thriller, BadlandsContinue reading “The Question That Plagues All Authors…”
  • March updates
    by Gary Kruse
    Well, February was a month and a half… Didn’t expect to end up in hospital for three nights, or to be on the waiting list to have my gall bladder removed, but there you go. Life likes to throw curve balls. In the meantime, I’ve done a lot of hard thinking over the past monthContinue reading “March updates”
  • BADLANDS TURNS 2!!
    by Gary Kruse
    This weekend marks the 2nd anniversary of the publication of my dark Cornwall thriller book, Badlands. To celebrate, we’re dropping the price on the kindle edition to .99p (or equivalent). Grab your copy here and take a wild ride through the dark side of Cornwall, in a tale packed full of deception, betrayal and conspiracy.Continue reading “BADLANDS TURNS 2!!”