What do imaginary friends want from us? What does a time traveler regret? What happens when beloved heroes become tarnished? Daniel Charles Wild, an artist and author in Champaign, IL, answers these questions and more in “Stories For Imaginary Friends: 50 Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi Stories, And Essays,” a collection spanning fantasy, horror, science fiction, and beyond.

These stories are all over the place – literally. First appearing online under a pseudonym, many of these stories were recorded by voiceover artists and online narrators, and a few were translated into other languages. Now readers can enjoy them in this new collection, compiled for the first time in book form, as the author’s dark gift to you.

This book is a true grab-bag – one that grabs back. It’s a delicious salad, and on top is a bloody finger wearing a diamond ring – which is to say, it’s gross, it’s beautiful, and it’s pointed right at you. So take a chance and dig in. If you do, you‘ll be horrified, delighted, and touched.

Here are quotes from some Amazon reviews:

Christopher Herron (five-star review): Excellent Stuff!

Dan Charles Wild has a writing style that screams “High Concept!” The writing is solid, the stories are entertaining, but it’s his ability to come up with a wild premise that really sells this in my mind. These are not your everyday plot lines! Anyone who enjoys short form fiction, or even wants to write short form fiction, should definitely check this out.

Anonymous review (five-star review) Great read especially if you’re looking for something different and excellent.

I love this author! So creative! So different than anything else I read and I love it.

Mark McLaughlin (five-star review):

A Cornucopia of Horror & Whimsy

The minute you see the charming, darkly whimsical cover of this extraordinary book, you’ll know you’re in for a special treat. Most of the stories are very short, but they all pack a punch. There are mixed elements of horror, sci-fi and fantasy throughout the book, all mixed with poignant insights into the human condition. Everything here is well-written and thought-provoking, so when you buy this book, buy his other books, too. You won’t want to stop reading!

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Daniel Charles Wild is also the author of Little People: A Fantasy Story About Fathers, Sons, And Monsters, and Horrible Writing: 10 Horror Stories You Probably Shouldn’t Read. His fiction has been shared widely online, translated into multiple languages, and made into over 60 multimedia productions which can be found on YouTube, SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

On Oct 22nd at 7 pm, he’ll be reading from, and talking about, the book at Champaign’s new bookstore and bar, The Literary. Here’s a link to the Facebook event.

For more information, visit these pages:

The Amazon author page of Daniel Charles Wild.

The Amazon page for the book, Stories For Imaginary Friends: 50 Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi Stories, And Essays.

Hey real friends, I owe you an apology for subjecting you to this ad for my new book, Stories For Imaginary Friends, because you’re not my target audience – your imaginary friend is. Remember your imaginary friend, and how much fun the two of you had together? News flash: they didn’t disappear when you stopped paying attention to them; they’re still around, they miss you, and they’re who I wrote this book for. They want you to buy a copy so the two of you can have fun reading it together.

It’s available as an ebook, paperback, and hardback if you’re classy like that. To get a copy, click here.

You can also loudly demand a copy wherever books are sold. Make sure to tell the bookseller it’s for your imaginary friend. I’m sure the clerk will accommodate you as quickly as possible.

I spent a little time making this new header graphic for my Daniel Charles Wild Facebook author page. Check it out. It features the titles of the three books I have on Amazon; two printed books and an ebook.

Driving to a caricaturing event in Dwight, IL, yesterday, I called my friend and mentor, the Bram Stoker award-winning author Mark McLaughlin, to catch up. When I’m taking long drives is typically when I call my family and friends. It helps pass the time because these drives, while beautiful, can get a little long and lonely.

It was an unfamiliar route, a single-lane road that wound through small, slightly creepy empty towns, vast rolling cornfields, and beneath the occasional shadows of wind turbines. While I drove, Mark and I talked about writing, publishing, and my newest book, Stories For Imaginary Friends. I sent him the first draft of the author proofs, and he’d made helpful suggestions. When I called to thank him for his help, he half-jokingly said that writing two books separates a writer from an author. “It shows the first book wasn’t a fluke!” He said, “This is something you’re going to be doing a lot more of!”

Today, I’m thinking about what he said. It feels true! I (probably) became an “author” when I published my dark fantasy novella, Little People. Before that, I just had tons of stories floating around the internet, most of which I’ve collected in Stories For Imaginary Friends. I’ve also published a little ebook, Horrible Writing, containing the ten most popular Internet stories. On my hard drive and in my phone’s Notes app, I’ve got manuscripts I can spend years turning into something more. But, at this point, I have two printed books available. They are two solid chunks of words, thoughts, and dreams that I’ve written, published, and that now occupy physical space in people’s hands, on bookshelves and coffee tables.

It feels like the beginning of a journey. It’s an unfamiliar and winding road. One sprinkled with strange towns, vast horizons, and towering shapes and shadows. But I am enjoying the drive because I get to talk to you, my readers, along the way.

View all my books on my Amazon author page.

Hey friends, I’m excited (and nervous) to announce that I have a new short story collection available. It’s called Stories For Imaginary Friends. It’s a collection of 50 fantasy, horror, and sci-fi stories and essays written over the last five years. I originally posted most of these online, where readers and narrators shared them far and wide. Currently, there are 60 fan-made multimedia productions of the most popular on YouTube, SoundCloud, and Apple Podcasts, with more in the works.

I’ve collected the stories, improved them, added new material, organized them by genre, and had the collection professionally edited. I created the cover art too! I’m pretty proud of it. The audience members you see are all characters from the stories – including me on the stage and my cartoon mascot giving me a thumbs-up.

This collection is book-ended by two essays about my experiences as a fledgling author. The forward is about the best movie in the world, and why it resonates so deeply with my creative journey. The afterword is about a personal loss, and the two discoveries that helped me rediscover the joy of writing after a 10-year hiatus.

In addition to the stories and essays, I’ve really put my heart into this book. It’s squished between the pages. If you read it, I think you’ll be able to tell. My cartoon mascot thinks so too. If you enjoy the book, please let both of us know by leaving a review on Amazon. While you’re there, check out my other books too! If you’d like to join my mailing list to get updates on future projects, drop me a line at dan@danwild.com. I’d love to hear from you.

Typically priced at 2.99, it’s currently on sale for 99 cents.

Little People: A Fantasy Story About Fathers, Sons, and Monsters is a 20,000 word YA fantasy adventure story that will appeal to readers of all ages. It deals with some pretty large (and small) themes, and just a heads up — it‘s a little dark. In it, a town is terrorized, an adult makes a terrible choice, and a child is badly hurt — and that’s just the first chapter. Things get even wilder after that.

Below is the title and plot description.

Little People: A Fantasy Story About Fathers, Sons, and Monsters by Daniel Charles Wild

Five days after his estranged father’s funeral, a young man is visited in his apartment by two tiny figurines from the father’s basement model train diorama.

They are desperate for help and claim that their world is in terrible danger. Their sun has been out for a week, the train has stopped running, and an unstoppable monster from the outside world has gotten into the basement.

This is a wild adventure that may or may not be true about a son’s discovery of and quest to save the hidden world his mysterious father left behind.

Here’s what early reviewers have to say about Little People.

“Swept away. Powerful and lovely tangle of imagery and emotion.”

“…a deeper story about memory, braveness, and forgiveness.”

“Found myself unable to put it down.”

“…it embodies all of the aspects that make a story worth reading.”

“A story of misunderstanding and hurt followed by forgiveness and redemption.”

“Gulliver meets Through the Looking Glass, but with more blood!”

If you like fantasy that has a heart and deeper message, you might enjoy “Little People.” On one level it’s a adventure story about a family, hidden worlds, and monsters. On another, it’s about how memories mislead, courage comes in all sizes, and how seeking to understand and forgive can be the greatest quest of all.

Most of the first chapter is free on Amazon. Let me know what you think! If you enjoy the story, please consider leaving a review. Reviews help increase the book’s visibly in the Kindle store, and let other readers know if it’s worth checking out.

Here’s a link to the book on Amazon.

About the Author: Daniel Charles Wild is an author and illustrator who lives inside his head. Little People: A Story About Fathers, Sons, and Monsters is his first published novella. It’s not the first story he’s written though, and it won’t be the last.

I’ve been posting fiction on Reddit for a few years. Some of the stories have been shared pretty far and wide, made into narrations and movies, and translated into multiple languages. I’ve collected 10 of the most popular of the horror stories into a little 10,000 word e-book. It’ll be the first of four short collections of equal size, the other three will be fantasy, sci-fi and creative non-fiction that I’ve written. Once all three collections are completed, I’ll eventually combine the four of them into a printed book with illustrations drawn by me.

Below is the cover and book description:

Horrible Writing: 10 Horror Stories You Probably Shouldn’t Read by Daniel Charles Wild

These 10 horror stories were originally posted online under a pseudonym. Some of them have taken on a life of their own. Cumulatively the stories written under this name have been read by tens — possibly hundreds — of thousands. Some have been translated into other languages, and many have been featured on podcasts, SoundCloud, and YouTube channels. A few have even been made into short movies.

I’ve edited and collected the most horrible of the stories here. You probably shouldn’t read these; they aren’t good for you. Still, I enjoyed writing them, and lots of people enjoyed reading them. You might too.

They are about horrible things that happened and might yet happen. Upsetting. things like rewatching movies we’ve all seen, what happens when we’re sleeping, and the horror of unconditional love. Creepy stories about trying to go home, things that happen at coffee shops, a strange flu, and a dog that wants so badly to be good. Disturbing things like appreciating art, the choices we make, and to end it all — a caricaturist’s love note to you, and you, and you. All awful, unbearable things. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

Here’s a link to the ebook.

I’m an event caricaturist. I get booked almost weekly for receptions and company events. In the back of my car I keep a folding table and chair, a pop-up sign, and a satchel for art supplies. I haul these to events, set up, and with a soft-leaded pencil and endless sheets of paper, I draw quick and flattering likenesses in under three minutes. I have a three-hour minimum, and I’ve put in 12-hour days. I provide entertainment, novelty, and a takeaway gift for the attendees, and I’ve been doing it for 19 years.

Over these years I’ve honed my craft to the point where I don’t have to think about it. I draw what I see — quickly. It’s automatic. If the conditions are right — enough light, enough people, an occasional snack — art happens. But managing the people, and putting them at ease while I’m drawing them, that’s work. It feels weird to be drawn. I make the process easier by chatting with my subjects. But the chatting wears me out, and the hardest part is that people ask the same questions, and make the same jokes, over and over.

“How long have you been doing this?”

“Do you have a real job?”

“Does your hand get tired?”

“Draw me like one of your French girls.”

“Can you photobomb a caricature?”

“I’m already a character!”

It’s disturbing that people are so predictable. To hear the same thing from different people at different locations at different times in my life. It’s honestly the hardest part of doing what I do. When people sit in front of me and parrot these lines, it’s like we turn briefly into marionettes, forced to do a repetitive dance.

It’s okay, though. I understand they’re uncomfortable and don’t know what else to say. Maybe they’re genuinely curious; maybe they’re tapping into some sort of cultural zeitgeist with their unoriginal jokes. I get it; we get past it. But the fact that they say these same phrases still unsettles me. In that way, I guess I’m predictable too.

Still, I always answer cheerfully, joke back, and ask them about their day, family, hobbies, profession, books, movies, sports — whatever. I try to find the thing that makes them relax, open up, and smile. Then I smile back.

Because I love caricaturing. I love getting lost in my weird craft. I love too, the way people react when I give them the thing I’ve drawn. Drawing people has helped me connect with and appreciate others. I guess I even enjoy — for the most part — talking to all these strangers. It’s hard to stare at someone for three minutes or so, and not feel a connection. I meet them, and I’m able to give them a souvenir of this moment in their lives. I honestly feel fortunate to be able to do that.

Sometimes I think about all the people I’ve drawn over the years, all these faces floating around the world, tens of thousands of them by now. How crazy is that? Some framed and on display, some lost and forgotten, but all still smiling. It makes me smile too.

I have a little announcement — I wrote and published a novella. I illustrated the cover too. It’s a 20,000 word YA fantasy adventure story, but I think it will appeal to readers of all ages. It deals with some pretty large, and small, themes, and just a heads up — it might be a little dark. In it, a small town is terrorized, an adult makes a terrible choice, and a child is badly hurt — and that’s just the first chapter. Things get even wilder after that.

Below is the cover, title, and plot description.

Little People: A Fantasy Story About Fathers, Sons, and Monsters by Daniel Charles Wild

Five days after his estranged father’s funeral, a young man is visited in his apartment by two tiny figurines from the father’s basement model train diorama.

They are desperate for help and claim that their world is in terrible danger. Their sun has been out for a week, the train has stopped running, and an unstoppable monster from the outside world has gotten into the basement.

This is a wild adventure that may or may not be true about a son’s discovery of and quest to save the hidden world his mysterious father left behind.

It’s available on Amazon as an ebook for $2.99.

The first chapter is free on Amazon. Check it out and let me know what you think. Also, if you enjoy it, consider leaving a review! Reviews help increase the book’s visibly in the Kindle store, and lets other readers know if it’s worth checking out.

Daniel Charles Wild is an author and Illustrator who lives inside his head. Little People: A Story About Fathers, Sons, and Monsters is his first published novella. It’s not the first story he’s written though, and it won’t be the last.