Interview w/ Author Daniel Braum

WWW: Hello, Daniel. Thank you so much for joining us as a guest at the Weird Wide Web blog.

DB: Thank you for having me!

WWW: Most authors have been penning tales since childhood, but what I want to know is: When did you start taking fiction-writing seriously, on a professional level?

DB: Right around the turn of the century! I’m old enough that I get to say that. I went to a professionally minded writing workshop in 2002 after a couple of years of attending writing conventions. I published my first short story, “The Yeti’s Hand”, in 2004, in a web journal called The Fortean Bureau. My first pro-level sale story was “Across the Darien Gap” which appeared in Cemetery Dance Magazine Issue #55 back in 2006.

One can read that story for free here: https://www.cemeterydance.com/extras/across-darien-gap-daniel-braum/

Psuedopod did an audio version of the story which can be heard for free here: https://pseudopod.org/2007/12/14/pseudopod-68-across-the-darien-gap

WWW: Your creative work is not confined to one genre in particular. In fact, it seems you’re quite skilled at blending the genres. How would you describe your work to those who have never read it?

DB: Horror is the genre that adopted me and embraced me. So certainly just “horror” or “dark fiction”. Refining that a bit, it has been described as “quiet horror”. It has also been put in the box of “weird fiction”, too. I usually tell first time readers that the stories are similar to the old Twilight-Zone-like shows. They often explore the tension between the psychological and supernatural. I’ve adopted the term “strange tales”—a term used by British author, Robert Aickman—because they are the kind of stories that are intentionally ambiguous as far as the supernatural goes. I love to read and write the kind of stories that two readers can get to the end and have a discussion about just exactly what happened and what it meant to them rather than it being perhaps a straightforward open and shut tale with a beginning, middle, and end or a linear plot.

WWW: Your collection, Phantom Constellations, was released through Cemetery Dance Publications in November of 2025 and has been described as “a masterclass in quiet strangeness” as well as “beautifully written, unforgettable stories that change how we perceive the night sky and our uneasy place beneath it.” Can you elaborate on what you think makes Phantom Constellations such a “strange” and “unforgettable” collection?

DB: I’d like to think it is the characters. And the emphasis on the character’s interactions and encounters with the supernatural or phantasmagoric. Because the supernatural is not necessarily presented as antagonists or obstacles or things to be overcome or defeated, the stories are open to explore different kinds of things. Such as human conflicts, desires, hopes and yearnings along with the fears and scares.

WWW: Phantom Constellation is your fifth short story collection. Has your writing approach and style changed since the first collection? If so, in what ways?

DB: I think my approach has become more confident and more intentional. This is a result of being more aware of genre and the big world of stories and their history out there. When I first started I was writing the kinds of stories I wanted to read—those intentionally ambiguous and strange ones I mentioned above—only I had no idea where they fit in the grand scheme, or if they even fit at all. Years down the road and having read a lot more, I’ve learned who has come before me, authors like Robert Aickman and Shirley Jackson, and that has helped me gain and maintain confidence in continuing to present these kinds of stories.

I’ve also learned how to communicate what my stories are about, at least categorically. While they may explore the range of the category, most of the stories can be called good old fashioned “ghost stories” (while not being old fashioned at all.)

WWW: What do you do for inspiration when you’re feeling creatively drained?

DB: I find inspiration in animals and the natural world. And setting and place is always an inspiration for me. As far as a writing tip, I sometimes “skip” to the fun part if I am stuck on a passage or even do something else, either another part of the story or another story if I am “stuck”. I’m fortunate to almost always feel inspired. Now, having adequate sleep, time, and energy to act upon that is a very different story though!

WWW: You are an author who appreciates short fiction. Do you have a favorite short story you have read that sticks out in your mind?

DB: Absolutely. I bounce back and forth between “The Jaguar Hunter” by Lucius Shepard and “Because Their Skins are Finer” by Tanith Lee as being my favorite. “The Swords” by Robert Aickman is right up there, too.

WWW: Your novella, Serpent’s Shadow, caught my attention with its cover and synopsis. What made you decide to explore a Central American theme focused on Mayan and Mexican culture?

DB: The Mayan and Mexican conflict in the Yucatan Peninsula back in the 1980s was something I experienced as a youngster. Some of those real world settings delivered a sense of wonder and horror to me and thus was something that was right there when it came time to write. Both cultures are so beautiful and complex and so interesting to me. It was a joy to write.

WWW: Your fiction has been said to “evoke the Twilight Zone sense of the unreal.” Do you have a favorite episode of Twilight Zone?

DB: Wow; there are so many good ones, I don’t think I have a clear favorite. At this moment, top of mind, “Perchance to Dream” written by Charles Beaumont comes to mind.

WWW: What is the weirdest story you’ve ever written?

DB: Perhaps that is in the eye of the beholder. In Phantom Constellations in the story “The Fourth Bell” one of the main characters is a psychic octopus who can communicate. Also in the same book, the story “The Ghost With My Father’s Coin” is a surreal one.

WWW: Where do you see yourself in five years?

DB: Hopefully somewhere sunny with an icy soft drink in my hand. With some cool wild animals nearby, if I get to choose.

WWW: Where can the Weird Wide Web blog readers follow, connect, and get updates on your work?

DB: I’m on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/DanielBraumFiction) mostly, and sometimes on the other places. My website is bloodandstardust.wordpress.com where I post updates there and one can also sign up for my mailing list.

DANIEL BRAUM writes short stories that explore the tension between the psychological and the supernatural. He adopts the term “strange tales” used by Robert Aickman for his stories which can be found in his collections The Night Marchers and Other Strange Tales from Cemetery Dance. Underworld Dreams from Lethe Press, Yeti Tiger Dragon from Dim Shores, and The Wish Mechanics: Stories of the Strange and Fantastic from Independent Legions.

His stories have appeared in places ranging from the The Best Horror of the Year Volume 12 edited by Ellen Datlow to Shivers 8 edited by Richard Chizmar to Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet and many anthologies.

He is the host of the New York Ghost Story Festival and the Night Time Logic reading series.

His most recent books are the illustrated collection Creatures of Liminal Space from Jackanapes Press and Phantom Constellations: Strange Tales and Ghost Stories from Cemetery Dance.

ABOUT PHANTOM CONSTELLATIONS

Step into the liminal spaces between what is and what we only think we see.

Phantom Constellations by Daniel Braum is a powerful new collection of ghostly, uncanny, and deeply human stories—exploring the fragile shapes we give to love, grief, memory, and meaning.

Featuring four brand-new stories and ten rare, hard-to-find favorites, this collection takes readers on a journey through haunted minds, haunted places, and the phantom connections that bind us all.

If you love literary horror, psychological shadows, and the strange beauty hidden in the dark, this is a must-read.

Get it wherever you buy books and here via Cemetery Dance: https://www.cemeterydance.com/PhantomConstellations.html