The 80s Horror Writer Who Came Back from the Dead (Metaphorically Speaking)
Hey there. I’m Chet Day, and if you’ve never heard of me, that’s perfectly reasonable. Back in the 1980s–during what horror folks now call the “golden age of paperback horror”–I wrote a couple of novels that promptly vanished into the great publishing void like most paperbacks of that era.
But here’s where it gets interesting.
The Resurrection Story
In 2017, horror authority Grady Hendrix featured my 1987 novel Halo in his acclaimed book Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of ’70s and ’80s Horror Fiction. Suddenly, readers who’d never heard of Chet Day were hunting down 30 year old copies of a book I figured had been permanently forgotten.
Turns out Halo–the story of Billy Halo, an All-State linebacker who’s also a stone-cold psychopath–had been quietly building an underground reputation. Horror readers started calling it “a stunning novel of institutional evil” and “one of the better paperback originals during the 80s horror boom.”
Oh, and… “Featured in Grady Hendrix’s ‘Paperbacks from Hell’ as an overlooked horror classic worth rediscovering.”
Who knew?
Why Now?
So here I am at 77, a widower living in rural North Carolina, and since I’ve finally managed to stumble my way through a seemingly endless briar patch of grief, I’ve decided this is a perfect time to get off my ass and get back to work.
Some folks my age take up golf.
I decided to resurrect a writing career.
Three Acts of This Unlikely Comeback:
- Act I: The Horror Classics – Halo and its newly completed prequel Counselor are now available for the Kindle. As is my creepy, sexy, and unsettling New Orleans nightmare titled Cordova’s Girl. I created CasaDay Press to capitalize on that “overlooked gem” status that Grady Hendrix helped establish.
- Act II: The Human Story – My memoir Ellen chronicles 47 years of marriage and the grief that follows. Because horror writers aren’t just monsters–we’re human beings who’ve loved and lost like everyone else. It took me five years to write this memoir, the hardest and yet most satisfying book I’ve ever worked on.
- Act III: The Wild Card – Through my CasaDay Press imprint, I’m pioneering human-AI literary collaboration with books like my free October Testimonies and my new Lost Pages series of documentary fiction. Call it literary innovation from someone old enough to know better.
Why This Matters (Beyond My Personal Quest)
If you’re a horror reader, you know the drill: hundreds of great books from the 80s boom got buried under time and publishing churn. Paperbacks from Hell has been like archaeology for the genre, helping readers rediscover forgotten gems.
I happened to write one of those gems.
Now I get to do something most writers never get: a second chance to reach the readers who might actually appreciate what I was trying to do back when Halo first appeared on drugstore spinner racks.
The difference between now and 1987? This time I know who I’m writing for–people who love reading over scrolling and who value discovery over marketing budgets, who understand that sometimes the best stories are the ones that almost got away.
The Bottom Line
I’m not trying to recapture my youth or relive past glories. I’m simply a 77-year-old writer and widower who stumbled into a second act thanks to a horror scholar’s keen eye and readers who still value authentic storytelling.
Whether you’re here because of the Hendrix connection, because you love rediscovering literary gems, or because you’re curious about one old guy’s quixotic quest to continue writing while his hair is falling out and his car keys keep disappearing, welcome.
Halo waited 30 years to find its real audience. Maybe it was worth the wait.
We’ll see, that’s for sure!
Oh, Three More Things…
- Start with the classics: Halo, Counselor, and Cordova’s Girl are available now on my Books page.
- Dig deeper: Learn about my grief memoir or explore the AI collaboration experiments.
- Stay connected: Surf over to my contact page to sign up for email notifications when I update my blog. I plan on blogging two times a week but more likely it’ll be as often as the spirit moves me. In those blog posts, I’m going to write about writing, AI collaboration, ebook marketing, and all the other stuff that keeps my old brain humming!
By the way, I have plenty of untold stories…
Stories about what it’s like to navigate life at this age (spoiler: it’s weird, wonderful, and occasionally terrifying). And stories about collaborating with AI to write books in ways that would have seemed like science fiction when I started putting words on paper. Stories about the daily realities, unexpected surprises, and hard-won wisdom that comes from three-quarters of a century on this planet. If you’re curious about authentic aging, writing innovation, or just enjoy good storytelling from someone who’s been around the block, subscribe to my weekly newsletter “Old Man Still Got Stories.” I promise to make it worth your time.