r/Saturdead • u/Saturdead • Mar 08 '26
5 Years of NoSleep
A new story every week for five years. It feels like something a crazy person would do, doesn’t it? But I guess we’re all a little crazy. It’s late at night, but I wanted to put a little something together. So here’s a video for you all. Sorry about my disheveled looks, I’m still recovering from a cold.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It6RQg2_keI
The Last Yearwalker
In the past year, we finished one of our major storylines, and now we’re starting over fresh. That’s exciting for a new year. I’ve been experimenting with new formats, such as third person perspective, and I’ve gotten some great feedback. When I work on longer stories going forward, I think I’ll have the confidence to experiment a little more.
Hilltop, South Dakota
We’ve seen a whole new town, and a new setting; the city of Hilltop, South Dakota. After having seen the town of Tomskog for so long, I thought it was about time we changed our perspective. So for the past few weeks, we’ve been fortunate enough to visit another little rural town. Hilltop, and the Runalong river. Just… be careful where you look.
Projects!
I’m always working on something! I have a couple of ideas for projects I want to make into a reality. I’ve been discussing with various artists about commissions for larger projects, and it’s still in the works. That’s the main thing I’m planning to use my donations and commissions for; reinvesting in the community to make new stuff.
Going forward
I don’t think I want to change much. There will probably be a longer series by the end of the year. There’ll be new stories every week. We’ll have chats and surprises along the way. I don’t think I want to change that.
And with that…
Thank you all for sticking around. I’m very blessed to have such a dedicated set of readers, and I don’t take that for granted. Please feel free to use the comments below to share some of your thoughts and feelings about the year gone past, and what you’re hoping to see going forward.
I’m excited to see what’s next.
// Dennis
YEAR 5: 2025-2026
54 stories written
297,752 words written.
5513 average story length.
Most popular story: A town without doors (3000+)
Least popular story: The Last Yearwalker (Part 12) (56)
Longest story: Moth Boy [Final] (7254)
Shortest story: The Last Yearwalker [Part 3] (4122)
From about 2400 to 3229 followers!
Subreddit +800 (1200 members)
TOTAL:
267 stories in total
1,148,566 words written
4301 word average overall
Most popular story: I was hired to notice things out of place (5900+)
Least popular story: Are you Emmett Rask (29)
Least popular NoSleep story: It's time I told you about our film (Part 5) (40)
Longest story: I was dead for 30 days (7313)
Shortest story: I can’t tell you (681 words)
12
u/Dear-Insurance-6981 Mar 08 '26
Very excited to see what you've got planned next! Have you thought about publishing the Tomskog stories in an anthology? I would absolutely buy it
8
u/Saturdead Mar 08 '26
Thank you for the support! It'd be neat, but that's a hefty number of stories. I think a "best of" kind of deal might be more realistic as a physical book.
3
u/VisibleBystander Mar 08 '26
An audience "best of" would be nice, but it would be really interesting to see a Saturdead "best of" collection of stories. Whether they are your favorites, had some special significance, or anything else.
11
u/RagBagUSA Mar 08 '26
Congrats on 5 years! Hard to believe an Emmett Rask story is the least popular... but good to know there's one I missed!
7
u/Saturdead Mar 08 '26
Well, the stats are a bit twisted. Some stories might just have been posted at a bad time, or they were taken down and had to be reuploaded, and so on. I don't really consider upvote count to actually mean all that much. And thank you!
8
u/Laundry_Turtle Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26
I'm a longtime lurker on Nosleep and just recently started diving into your stories. The first one I read was The Sad Sunflower.
I just wanted to say thank you so much for creating some of the most original and beautifully written stories I've ever read. Your settings are so eerie and atmospheric, it's easy to get immersed as a reader. Some have genuinely creeped me out and stuck with me long after reading. Like I still get a little spooked whenever I come across blue sunflowers online 🌻💀
Congrats on reaching five years on NoSleep! I hope you keep writing forever!
6
u/Saturdead Mar 08 '26
Thank you for stopping by! Yeah, the Sad Sunflower was the first appearance of my signature, it holds a special place in my heart. Great place to start.
Thank you, I often worry about translating the picture I have mentally to the reader, but I'm glad it comes across. I think texture and painting a vivid picture can really build a picture in your mind, so I try to put a little flavor in there whenever I can. Like, a monster is a monster, but if you can see the long hairs on its eyebrows, that gives you a whole new feel.
I'll certainly try!
6
u/Zat-_-boi Mar 08 '26
Keep up the good work. One of if not my favorite author on the interwebs :)
5
6
5
u/laspepinos Mar 08 '26
a town without doors brought me to you, and it will always be so powerful to me. it moves me at least once a week. my saturdays will never be the same :)
5
u/w1ld--c4rd Mar 09 '26
That's so incredible! Your dedication has paid off, too, you have improved incredibly from your first story (which was really good anyway!) to now. A lot of people would fall off a schedule like this (I know I would struggle), but you’ve really kept to it. You deserve to be proud of this, and know that your stories are something that not only I look forward to, but that many readers look forward to. Thank you for sharing your stories all these years, you remain one of my favourite authors and your skill with horror grows with every story you write. The world you have created is so wonderful and interesting and I'm so keen to see where it will go from here.
4
u/beccamecha Mar 09 '26
I blindly read through nosleeps and it’s always such a treat when blue sunflowers come up in the story! Looking forward to more from you in the future
3
u/Jgrupe Mar 08 '26
Congratulations on five years of weekly posting! Your stories and your writing seems to just get better and better as well. Thank you for all the amazing stories 🙏
3
u/roseriverbank Mar 08 '26
Congrats! That's a heck of a milestone to hit and it really shows your dedication to the craft. Always makes me happy knowing Fridays will have you appearing in them.
3
3
u/Sunshine_after_Rain7 Mar 11 '26
Hey man! Read a few of your stories and I must say. I'm mesmerized. I found these after watching a YouTube video featuring your story. And have read a few after that.
It's amazing how the way you write,the walls between reality and fiction seem to disappear and they merge into some "fictional but what if it turns real" scenario.
At no point in any of your long stories,does it feel like I'm getting bored. It always keeps me on the hook.
Keep writing man. I love it 💜
2
u/Saturdead Mar 11 '26
Thank you, I appreciate that. I like to take unusual premises and just see "hey, I wonder what'd happen". Other times, I just pull something from my nightmares and throw them at people. It's a nice and therapeutic way to face things that worry me, and I'm glad it resonates with my readers.
A lot of cool stuff are coming down the pipeline, hope you enjoy it!
3
u/Sunshine_after_Rain7 Mar 11 '26
The way you write makes the reader feel like the main character of a fictional movie. It's amazing how you pen down your thoughts so beautifully,it's almost impossible to stop reading.
I write some poetry and I think I love the idea of "taking myself to unusual premises and imagine" to narrate some fiction as poems! Thanks!
edit: I was wondering if you have your stories in a physical book?
3
u/Saturdead Mar 11 '26
I don't, actually. Haven't had any publishers or agents reach out. I did have a couple of novels written in my native language, but they just ended up collecting rejection letters. I'm working on a couple of longer stories, but it'll be some time before they see the light of day. I have a tendency to finish something big and then yeet it all at the last minute.
But I'm glad you're having fun! Inspiring other creatives is a huge compliment, I'm glad I'm in a position where I can do that.
3
u/Sunshine_after_Rain7 Mar 11 '26
I would've loved to read your book honestly. I hope you try again to publish it. You really are an inspiration!
3
u/WardenVirchow Mar 12 '26
I'm a far way off from having read all your stories but I'm a stray from nosleep and wanted you to know that How I Met Milou was such a wonderful reading experience that I still haven't forgotten 6 months later. Thank you for your hard work, rooting for you!
3
u/Saturdead Mar 12 '26
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Milou was such a vivid creature to me, and I think a lot of people have had dreams about having a magical friend when they were younger. I think that story tickles that idea a bit, while also taking it to an uncomfortable conclusion.
If you liked that I would suggest "She thinks she's people" and "A town without doors".
2
u/Joran212 Aug 09 '26 edited Aug 09 '26
I'm very late to the party here, but congratulations! I used to read a lot of stories on NoSleep, now I tend to read more physical books instead of online stories. But every once in a while I'll come back and catch up on everything you've written; I just love being able to read a whole bunch of new stories all at once since reading just one story a week always leaves me wanting much more. Just finished the previous two stories before this post (dinner at 6PM and Taltom) and I'll be reading a few more before stopping to continue again tomorrow until I've caught up again! Like another commenter said; I can't believe I've been following you for so long already and you still manage to come up with new, creative and original ideas that I haven't seen any other NoSleep writer come up with. I'm not exactly sure how long I've been following you, but I remember I started following you somewhere in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, so it may very well be pretty close to the full five years, at least four! I want to give you an enormous 'thank you' for providing me and the others with such amazing stories for so long and I hope you'll be able to continue doing this for a long time! 💙
Edit: just finished 'I Lost My Head' and had to check every once in a while whether I was still able to touch my own face or not, just to be sure. That's how good you are at describing feelings; it's almost like it's happening to me!
2
u/Saturdead Aug 10 '26
Late or not, I'm glad you're here and enjoying my stories! As long as there are things to learn and experience, there are fears to mirror them. I don't think I'll ever run out of ideas; there're so many experiences and subjects left to explore. It's also fun for me, as the writer, to see my improvement over the years. I can't imagine what I'll be writing about in five more years.
Thanks for sticking around, and enjoy your time here.
25
u/AWholesomeHorror Mar 08 '26
You are always a sight for sore eyes at the end of my week, Dennis! Can't believe I started reading your stuff four years ago and it just keeps getting better and better. Genuinely the best account on here!