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Hopeful Horror

Gothic ghosts, daylight horror, and a light at the end of the tunnel


🌿 Hopeful Horror Books 🌿


🌿 What is Hopeful Horror? 🌿

Love reading horror but like to be left with your heart full of hope? You’re in the right place.

No matter how dark it gets, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel in the stories from the Hopeful Horror series.

Hopeful Horror is a series of standalone ghostly gothic novels by Sara Crocoll Smith. The novels are interwoven with flora and fauna folklore, daylight, and rich, atmospheric prose.

Several standalone short stories and poems are also part of the Hopeful Horror universe, including Sara’s newsletter exclusive “The Strangle of Ivy” (which is also a short film!). More stories and where to read them are listed at the bottom of this page.

This page may contain affiliate links, for which I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!


“I busied myself to think of a story, — a story to rival those which had excited us to this task. One which would speak to the mysterious fears of our nature, and awaken thrilling horror—one to make the reader dread to look round, to curdle the blood, and quicken the beatings of the heart. If I did not accomplish these things, my ghost story would be unworthy of its name.”

Mary Shelley, Introduction to the 1831 edition of Frankenstein

🌿 Hopeful Horror Short Fiction & Poetry 🌿

“The Strangle of Ivy”

Sara’s short story “The Strangle of Ivy” is exclusively available to readers on her newsletter.

“The Devour of the Saddle Flower”

Sara’s short story “The Devour of the Saddle Flower” is published in Ghost Orchid Press’s Chlorophobia: An Eco-Horror Anthology 🌺💀🌿

“The Hallowing of Pumpkins”

Find Sara’s short story “The Hallowing of Pumpkins” on page 42 of Hallowzine Issue 2🤰🪦🎃

“The Swallowing of Graves”

“The Swallowing of Graves” is a forthcoming audio production on Thirteen podcast’s Patreon.

“Trials and Tibialations”

Find Sara’s poem in the debut anthology from Bag of Bones Press 🦴

“Peach Cobbler for Communing”

Taste Sara’s “Peach Cobbler for Communing” recipe at Deathcap and Hemlock. From the recipe notes of The Haunting of Willow Creek’s Adriana Martinez.