Fright Week Reflections: The Little Black Dog That Inspired a Little Black Cat

Well, Fright Week (aka Halloween 🎃) is finally here!

I know you’re as excited as I am to see all the creepy, cute, and clever decorations and costumes people come up with each year. As I prepare to curl up on the sofa in my most comfortable skeleton PJs and wait for those adorable trick-or-treaters to knock on the door, I’m also looking for a good book to read. That got me thinking back to what it was like before.

Growing up in the 90s, I had plenty of good books and series to choose from. Goosebumps. Are You Afraid of the Dark? Happy Halloween, Little Critter! There was never a shortage of Halloween-themed stories to set the mood.

But my favorite? The Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series.

In the second book, More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, there’s a story called The Little Black Dog. It’s a simple tale — eerie, yes, but also strangely tender. A story rooted in guilt, truth, and consequences. And that little black dog may have been the original inspiration for a certain little black cat.

The characters in Twilight Shadows also live in that same space between light and dark, where memory and reality blur together until they’re indistinguishable.

Stories like that remind me why we write: not to escape the darkness, but to find meaning within it. Every tale that unsettles us a little also shows us something true — about ourselves, about faith, about what endures.

But they’re definitely fun too. 👻

So what about you?

What were your favorite books to read near Halloween growing up? Did you love them because they made you feel something… or just because they were fun?

🕯️ For more reflections on writing, faith, and storytelling, visit wordsforgedwithfire.com

🐈‍⬛ And if you’d like to meet a certain ominous black cat, check out Twilight Shadows: Truth Triumphs in Shadow