It was also included in my now out-of-print collection A Conspiracy of One. This is the first time the novella has been made available to a wider audience. While Old Scratch is a fictional creation, the other giant snakes of Pennsylvania mentioned herein are indeed based on actual legends, and sightings continue into present day. Indeed, as I was proofreading the final draft of this manuscript, the local news carried a brief story about another sighting of Raystown Ray. Apparently, when it comes to snakes, we grow them big here in rural Pennsylvania. That is one of the many reasons why I always carry a handgun and a stick when walking in the woods—and since I live in the heavily-wooded river bottoms along the Susquehanna, that’s pretty much all the time. People always wonder what a horror writer’s fears are. Most of mine are probably similar to yours. Harm coming to my loved ones. Cancer. Gravity (not heights or flying, but gravity). My number one fear, however, is snakes. As long as I can remember, simply seeing a snake has always filled me with an unreasonable, overwhelming sense of loathing, terror, and revulsion.
