As you read in my previous post, I had a short gothic horror story included in the “Tales of Fear, Superstition, and Doom” anthology by Redwood Press. It’s called “Wabash Valley Devil.” You can buy a copy of the anthology here. The Kindle edition is available now, the print edition will be available soon. Now, onto the fun facts/behind the scenes info about my story.
“Wabash Valley Devil” is set in the 1830s, in the Wabash Valley in Indiana. I didn’t specify what town it is based in, but you can safely assume it’s not too far from my home town of Terre Haute and within what is now known as Vigo County.
The main protagonist is a devil that terrorizes the valley. Its name is never revealed; the Wabash Valley Devil title is merely what the locals call him.
Indiana has many, many legends, folklore, haunted happenings, and gothic tales, which have influenced some of this story. But the devil in this tale is inspired by both the legends of the Bell Witch and the Jersey Devil.
Tosca Lee’s “Demon: A Memoir” had an influence on “Wabash Valley Devil.”
One of the characters is named Damaris. I imagine she resembles Dame Eileen Atkins as she did in “Cranford.” I’ll never be over dear Deborah Jenkyn’s death on that show.
When I was a teen, I was a huge fan of the revised Millie Keith series. It was a Christian historical series based in Indiana in the 1830s…There was a character named Damaris in the novels and obviously I borrowed the surname of Keith.
Damaris is a character in the Bible. She is mentioned in Acts 17:34: “Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.” I posted the King James Version because it is the version those in this story would have read.
My original draft of “Wabash Valley Devil” was, in my opinion, darker. But the editor of the “Tales of Fear, Superstition, and Doom” Ann van de Bergh encouraged me to make the story more redemptive and in many ways, evangelical. So special thanks goes to Ann!
Until next time!
Veronica Leigh 
Fun article and a great story. I really like it though I have to admit I had no idea Indiana was such a gothic hotbed!
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Thank you, and thank you for sharing it on twitter! We do have our share of gothic here, a good portion of it involves hauntings and ghosts. For an example, my aunt worked for our local university, ISU; the building she worked in, the Condit House, had strange occurrences over the years. The local news did a segment and interviewed her about it.
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