Afraid of the Dark

Post-Story Author's Notes

Anti was originally going to be able to use static in the same way which he did with Seán on everyone, while Dark was going to be able to control thoughts and not emotions. There was a version of the story where Dark forced Tyler to kill Ethan with his powers, because Ethan was going to be the first person to work out that Dark existed.

And then, just to put the cherry on top of all of this, Blank (BlankGameplays, Ethan's dark alter ego) was going to be a bigger part of this (he did play a small role, just very small), and at the last minute would kill Seán after he was saved from Anti. If you're wondering, if Ethan had an alter ego and he needed a trigger, his one would have been anxiety/sadness. I never decided, because he got written so that he never made an appearance.

A lot of things could have been different... the death count could have been much higher. The story could have been much darker.

Q: What was your favourite part to write and who was your favourite character?

A: My favourite character was Anti, although Dark was also very fun to write. I like writing the bad guys, especially when they are just fricking insane like Anti was in this book. It was a bit weird writing about a caricature of one of my favourite YouTubers get tortured, though. But then again, the real YouTuber in real life actively tortures one of his own alter egos, and himself, in his own alter ego story line, so I guess that makes both of us bad people (that's sarcasm).

As for my favourite part to write? The entirety of the bonus chapter "The Decent" was also really fun to write. I think the length of that chapter shows you that I got a bit too into that one when writing it, ha-ha. But my favourite was probably Chapter Seventeen, the one where Seán wakes up to see that Mark has passed out and Anti tricks him into thinking that he has killed the American man, causing Seán to become extremely desperate and scared and get tricked into trusting his demon when he says that looking into the static on the TV will help him this time. After all... it looks so beautiful, doesn't it?

Ḏ͙̪̹̹̖ͧͩ̽ŏ̪͙ͣ́͜n̶͚̤ͤ̂̿'̱̀t̰̳̍͆̌̚ ̹̪̠̐ͧͤ͑͛̑̓ŷ̤͖̳̫̼̗̫o̪̝͝ụ̻̝̼̲̒͋ͦ̄͢ ͎̱͍̟͑͠w̫̮͉ã̜̗̈́͛̉̋͗̕n̳͗̾͗ͫ̅̐̾t̠͍̮̼͓̙̔͂ ̰̫͈̬̻̻̃̏͌ͯͅt̸̖̖͎͒̌̍͂͋o̢̤̫̮͙͖̿ͦ̍̊ͣ ̺͔̞̩̤̱̣̀ͭ̒̾̚l̯̝͖̑̅̉ͦͥo̷̹ọ̧̮̥̹̠̣̊́ͥk̦͎̣̽ ͈̘̜͔ͧ͛̑ͧ̏̒͘c͈͚͚̱̻̗̎̄͑̎̆͂l̛̰̱̠̄̏͋͐͐͆̍ỏ͘ș̱̤͑ͧ͗̑͟e͚̼̠r̢͇̦ͦ́ͦ̇̚?̣ͭͧͣ

I actually used very little of that Zalgo text in the story, even though Anti is pretty well known for it. I don't often read stories myself, but the ones I have read where Anti has been in them, I always found the Zalgo text a nice touch at first, but then it quickly got a little difficult to cope with, so I only used it on the chapter names and a few specific words.

Anyway, back the question. The other part which I really, really enjoy writing was whenever Dark was using manipulation tactics. From being very persuasive, to being downright insulting, he knew how to get under people's skin...

Q: Are you making another book?

A: Yes! It is the Ego Sickness Trilogy after all, and I've only written two so far. However, if this is the first book in the series which you have read, you may be disappointed with what comes next. The first book contained a different set of characters who had their story end off on a cliff hanger. This book works as a standalone book, so that you would not have had to have read the first book to know what was happening here, as there were new characters with a new story line. However, their story has come to a close. It reached its end, whether that was an ending they did or didn't want. The third book will pick up where the first book left off, meaning that you probably won't get to see Seán, Mark, Tyler, Ethan, Anti or Dark again. I did warn you that this was a standalone book, so I'm sorry if that disappoints you. There is more information about the whole trilogy in the part after this one.