Matthew Holvey 📻 station-dark.com 📡
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matthewholvey.bsky.social
Matthew Holvey 📻 station-dark.com 📡
@matthewholvey.bsky.social
Writer. Coffee drinker. I like my gods cosmic and unknowable, my black forests seeping with malintent. Octopuses are eight-tentacled hugmonsters.
Pinned
Something new to carry me through the dimming months. If you’re into shortwave radio, amateur writing, or hacky web design, check out this throwback to the surreal 1980’s with my first two stories: Signal Bleed and Ghost Frequency.

station-dark.com

#writingcommunity #5amwritersclub
Blew past my check-in, but here I am! Let’s get to it.

#5amwritersclub
November 12, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Good morning, fellow writers! I’ve got big plans, today. BIG! I hope y’all are equally motivated to brave the brisk air outside the bedcovers and carve out some words.

#5amwritersclub
November 11, 2025 at 10:07 AM
The lumber boom, then the mining boom, then the decline of both as farms spread, has created a unique atmosphere of haunting gothic that only the Midwest can bring.

#writingcommunity #writersky #indiewriters #authorsky #gothic #midwest #michigan
BLOG: Midwestern Gothic: Reflections from the Mid-Michigan frost line
The Quiet Kind of Haunted | A Different Kind of Gothic | What I Hope You'll Find Here
substack.com
November 10, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Heya, folks! Look at me, up and at ‘em, and it’s *before* 5am! I hope each of you writers out there is having a blessed morning.

#5amwritersclub
November 10, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Frog and Toad nail it every time
They went back to the woods and looked on the dark paths.
November 9, 2025 at 6:00 PM
This is the WWJ radio transmitter station in Detroit, opened in 1935 and abandoned in 1995. It hums from a memory in its bones with a song of Midwestern Gothic.

#writingcommunity #writersky #authorsky #indiewriters
November 9, 2025 at 12:56 PM
WHOOOOSH!… The sound of 5am check-in flying past me. But I’m here now, and I’ve got stories to write!

#5amwritersclub
November 9, 2025 at 12:46 PM
“I just need to make this one change to my site…”

I say just before a cataclysmic failure that reflects the downfall of man, somehow in miniature form within the now-nonfunctional walls of my digital domain.

I’ll just go back to writing now.

#writingcommunity #indiewriters #writersky
November 8, 2025 at 8:01 PM
I climbed out of bed into the chill morning air, coughed once, and strained my back. ‘Tis the season.
November 8, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Hear me out: I love WIP snips and character spotlights and self-promotions and adverts for services, but what I crave is dialog with writers. There’s so much *noise* out there, and bespoke curation is a lot of work. I guess I crave a personalized playlist.

#writingcommunity #writersky #authorsky
November 8, 2025 at 2:18 PM
morning, folks! How many of y’all are working on November writing projects?

#5amwritersclub
November 8, 2025 at 11:44 AM
I’ve yet to take a decent photo of my vintage lava lamp, but it sends good vibes when I’m in my writing zone.

#writingcommunity #authorsky #writersky #retro #vintage
November 7, 2025 at 5:31 PM
“How deep should stakes be driven for measuring earth resistivity?” is not a question I thought I’d be asking when writing a Midwestern gothic, but here we are.

#writingcommunity #authorsky #writersky #indiewriters
November 7, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Researching shortwave radio was fun. I love it when a story clings to the rough edges of real, tangle details.

Transmitters popping as vacuum tubes warm up. Fiddling with antenna tuners. A pirate broadcast from a van in the rural Midwest. Good stuff.

#writingcommunity #authorsky
November 7, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Morning, folks. The week is grinding down to a stub. Let’s make the most of the little bit we have left.

#5amwritersclub
November 7, 2025 at 10:55 AM
I’ve got one follower on Substack. Woot!

(It’s me. I’m the follower.)

I’ve been told it might take more than 24 hours to gain a following, so I’ll be patient.

*stares at screen* *drinks tea*

#writingcommunity #serialfiction #indieauthors #substack
November 6, 2025 at 4:32 PM
I made two coffees this morning and I only spilled one of them all over the counter (the first one). Let’s see what the rest of the day has in store.

#5amwritersclub #writingcommunity #coffee
November 6, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Sometimes my cat says *meow* and, I get it, the writing life is hard. But sometimes he says *meow*, and he’s right, the journey itself is rewarding. Thanks for being in my corner, little buddy.

#writingcommunity #writersky #authorsky
November 6, 2025 at 1:13 PM
STATION DARK #4: Paper Ghosts is live.

This serial gothic in the surreal Midwest continues as Cassie and friends gather theories from the locals about the recent haunts.

Check it out at station-dark.com and on Substack.

#writingcommunity #authorsky #writersky #serialfiction #gothic #horror
Station Dark
A serial fiction gothic of the surreal Midwest
www.matthewholvey.com
November 6, 2025 at 12:12 PM
I’m up an at ‘em! What’s everyone working on this morning? I’ve got to post my Thursday stories to my site and substack (because I don’t have scheduled posts set up yet), then a bazillion errands today.

#5amwritersclub
November 6, 2025 at 10:46 AM
**Accountability Update**
My Nov writing challenge is a serial fiction project (set in the surreal Midwest). This includes a website, substack, and silly branding. This has been a low-stakes way to learn all the intimidating things! Learning SEO next… 😳

#writingcommunity #5amwritersclub #authorsky
November 5, 2025 at 12:53 PM
Morning, folks! I slept in a bit, but I’m up and at it!

#5amwritersclub
November 5, 2025 at 11:59 AM
I started with a website (through Wix) instead of Substack because I wanted to trial a more immersive experience for this serial fiction experiment. Tonight I’m going to create a Substack account and see how gnarly it is to wrangle both. Any advice?

#writingcommunity #authorsky #writersky
November 4, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Gandalf burns through more magic fending off Gimli, Legolas, and Aragorn in Fangorn than in the rest of the movies combined.

#LOTR
November 4, 2025 at 7:48 PM
My serial writing project has been hugely educational. The short story format has compelled me to lean closer to the page, to make every word count. Instead of an 80k word arc, I’m managing tight increments that get threaded together. My craft is improving (I think!).

#writingcommunity #authorsky
November 4, 2025 at 6:31 PM