Indie Author Experiment · Day 66 · Thursday, November 5, 2026
Day 66: Gothic Games, Hellish Romance & Stephen King’s Other Worlds
Rebels, now go look at the image of the day once again… Yeah… you saw it? I’m giving you some tea, Rebels, but I drink Coke Zero. So, yeah… you got it. 😂
Yesterday I was digging around the World Wide Web, looking for information, gossip and some TEA.
This whole new thingy started with none other than our Sarah J. Maas. Remember all the digging I did for the release of the YEARRRR? Well, it opened up a whole new world for me.
Now, besides being your favourite indie author (DON’T LAUGH), I’ve also become Lupe Sherlock Holmes Farkas. Meaning I’m looking into everything, and I absolutely love writing about what I discover.
And do you know what I love even more? Discussing all these discoveries with the voices in my head. Unfortunately, even the voices couldn’t keep up with the amount of yapping I wanted to do every time I found something new.
So I decided I was going to start sharing it all with you during my Indie Author Experiment posts. Yeah, yeah, I know. How kind of me, right? RIGHT?
SOOOOO, REBELS! Today, besides the numbers, I’m bringing you some NEWSSSSSSSSSSSS! Now, let’s dig into it!
The reading radar · Dark gothic romantasy
What Exactly Is Phantasma — and Why Is Everyone Talking About Daemonica?
Kaylie Smith’s Wicked Games books are attracting attention again with the newly unveiled Daemonica, scheduled for April 13, 2027. And since I haven’t read Phantasma yet, the new-book announcement sent me back to the beginning of the series. The descriptions make it sound exactly like the sort of gothic madness worth investigating.
Phantasma, published in September 2024, follows Ophelia into a deadly competition inside a haunted mansion. She’s trying to save her missing sister. The prize is a wish, the contestants face nine increasingly dangerous trials, and a mysterious stranger named Blackwell offers his help for a rather disturbing price: ten years of her life.
Publisher Forever describes it as a dark, spicy fantasy romance. Think elaborate gothic settings, demons, bargains, frightening challenges and a romance with a morally grey love interest. The publisher also highlights OCD representation, an element I’ll be interested in exploring when I read it.
The next book, Enchantra (2025), takes readers into another dangerous game in a cursed Italian palace. The forthcoming third book, Daemonica, moves to a secret society in Hell. This time Gwen is searching for a cure for her dying brother when she encounters Sevin Silver, a former love who could become her greatest weakness.
The reading order
- Phantasma — 2024
- Enchantra — 2025
- Daemonica — April 13, 2027
It’s a world of deadly games and interconnected romances, with each book spotlighting different characters. Phantasma is going onto my reading radar; a proper review will come after I’ve actually read it.
Discover Phantasma and retailer links · See Daemonica’s cover and preorder details
Author event · Stephen King
Stephen King and Emma Straub: The Final Talisman Conversation
On Wednesday, November 4, Stephen King was scheduled to take the stage in Brooklyn with novelist Emma Straub for a conversation about Other Worlds Than These, published in October 2026. The book concludes the fantasy trilogy King began with Emma’s father, the late Peter Straub, in The Talisman and continued in Black House.
There’s something especially moving about the pairing. This new novel brings a decades-spanning collaboration to its conclusion, and King is discussing it with the daughter of his longtime friend and co-author. The story also reaches into the wider mythology of The Dark Tower.
The in-person event, hosted by independent bookstore Books Are Magic, sold out. Fortunately for readers outside New York, the organisers provided a free YouTube livestream, scheduled for November 4 at 7 p.m. Eastern, which is 1 a.m. on November 5 in Slovakia.
The official event video
Watch Stephen King in conversation with Emma Straub on YouTube
This is the official organiser-provided livestream link. At the time of writing, the event had not yet started in Slovakia, so replay availability was not confirmed. If you’re visiting later, check the video page to see whether the organiser has kept a recording available.
As more details emerge from the conversation, we’ll be listening for what King says about the novel, his collaboration with Peter Straub and the future of his interconnected fictional worlds.
Day 66 · Daily Pulse
Yesterday’s numbers
Wednesday, November 4, 2026. Our Instagram community has reached 468 followers, the author’s November 4 evening snapshot. That’s 24 more than November 3’s author-reported closing count of 444. Thank you, Rebels! We’re getting closer to 1,000 and those Instagram Lives.
Website, November 4: 153 views and 89 visitors, according to Jetpack’s completed daily report. That’s up from 127 views and 63 visitors on November 3. The daily traffic climbed by 26 views and 26 visitors. The bigger experiment totals still belong in our weekly report.
Fuel the rebellion
Buy Me a Coke Zero
Rebels, if you’re enjoying the numbers, the detective work and the literary chaos, you can help keep this independent author and her investigations going. Yes, my research is powered by Coke Zero.
Read My Books & Join the Rebels
If you want to support an indie author, explore my books and join our little rebellion: