It's no secret that we're getting excited for Halloween this month at Wattmag. But that doesn't mean the Halloween spirit hasn't spread all around Wattpad too! Fans of the horror themed genre have gathered together to share their own scary stories that range from slasher-style tales to monsters that don't just live under the bed. 

'Dark Dreams' is a horror anthology that features a whole heap of awesome Wattpad writers that have come together to combine their short stories in one spooky themed book. It's all in the spirit of Halloween, and was created by members of the Wattpad community itself! 

We interviewed three of the amazing people behind the anthology dalainasdreams, rosaimee, and TaliaArcher to find out more about how Dark Dreams came about and discuss the horror genre.

Hi guys! Thanks for joining us here at Wattmag. So, can you tell us how the idea of this anthology came about and what got you all involved?

dalainadreams: I saw we had valentines anthologies as well as Christmas ones and I felt a Halloween one was needed. So I gathered a group up to see if they would like to put together a Halloween anthology. Then Amiee & Talia joined to help.

rosaimee: Dalaina communicated with me through messenger. A wonderful initiative to run in an independent profile. It was fun to see all the summoned writers reaction. Very positive.

TaliaArcher: Well, it was actually Dalaina who started it and I was all up for helping out. Slowly, I ended up controlling a big part of it and I was one of the main organizers.

What's been your favourite part of organizing this anthology? 

rosaimee: It was a lot of fun! Creating the Google group where the stories were sent, the calendar, and posting the teasers and covers to the promo book! I'm so glad so many great authors responded and now half of the stories are up in the anthology book. It's been a lot of work, buts it's worth it! Everyone's so excited about it! I'm beyond proud and so elated!

TaliaArcher: I think the best part about it was recruiting people to join because they always entered with fresh, innovative ideas that managed to get me super excited.

rosaimee: It was fun that process! Once the FB page was up we've got everyone's attention! Oh and the theme! Halloween always bring so much fun and great stories! Making author's who by norm don't write horror being interested in partaking, that was something to be proud of!

dalainasdreams: Adding everyone in a group & seeing how excited they were we moved fast together to make it happen.

rosaimee: True!

What about the stories themselves? Did any of you have a particular interest in reading scary stories?

dalainasdreams: I like to be surprised! I love ghost stories myself.

TaliaArcher: I absolutely adore horror! I was super excited to be organizing an anthology where I got to read the stories before they were posted. I love reading the range between horror, werewolf, suspense, and vampire.

dalainasdreams: Werewolves! Yes to them too! 

rosaimee: I do write scary, vampires, and dark gothic. Last summer my short Exorcismo was commissioned by The Gallows. It's my favorite thing to write!

Let's talk more about the horror genre now. What's your favorite scary movie? Is there a certain type of horror you lean more towards?

dalainasdreams: Sleepy Hollow with Johnny Depp and Stephan King's It.

TaliaArcher: My favourite horror movie is the first of the Conjuring series. I love chilling ghost/paranormal stories with plenty of jump scares and a meaningful plot.

dalainasdreams: I love true horror stories, they creep me out big time. Jump scares I don't do well with. Talia is braver than me.

TaliaArcher: I take pride in that! 

rosaimee: Oh yes the Conjuring! And The Others! Yet I'm old school! Roundin'up the forties. Children of the Corn is a classic. The one I hate is The Hills Have Eyes! I can't stand it! The one that gives me chills is Paranormal Activity one because that sh*t happened to me.

dalainasdreams: One I can never watch again is Jeepers Creepers. I hate it. It gave me nightmares for months!

And finally, what's your best advice for someone who is interested in writing a scary story? 

TaliaArcher: Think about your fears. I find doing research helps too. Also, keeping action short and to the point always helps.

dalainasdreams: Go to your deepest darkest fears - then keep the lights on cause you might need them! Then you are ready to write.

rosaimee: Think about, like Talia said, in your own fears and in which way it will induce fear to others. Think of phobias, of urban legends, of creatures that lurk in the shadows in your darkest dreams. Human beings fear what they can't understand... Or what they can't see. I like to think of my story as a second POV perspective. You're the narrator, evoke the scariest reactions into your audience. 

You can check out the Dark Dreams Anthology 'Tenebris Somnia' on the tenebris_somnia profile now. A new spooky story will be uploaded every day during the entire month of October.