How to Survive a Horror Story

by Mallory Arnold · 2025

When legendary horror writer Mortimer Queen dies, a handful of authors—each with a secret tie to the master—are summoned to his mansion for the reading of his will. Expecting a share of his fortune, they instead find themselves trapped in a deadly game. To move from one eerie room to the next they must solve riddles; failure means the house, built on the bones of the Queen family, claims another victim. As the manor’s hungry walls close in, the writers confront the very mechanics of terror they’ve spent their lives crafting. A pulse‑pounding blend of locked‑room mystery and gothic dread, this thriller asks: what does it take to survive the story you thought you could write?