The Coffin Chronicles: Poems and Stories (Book 3 in the Cabin Reading Series) by Megan Diedericks
The Coffin Chronicles: Poems and Stories by Megan Diedericks is a collection of dark poetry and short horror stories focused on vampirism. Published by Island of Wak-Wak, it’s the third book in the Cabin Reading Series. It released on November 28, 2025 and weighs in at 150 pages.
I love that the first thing I read was a quote from one of my favorite characters: Eric Northman from True Blood. This whet my appetite for all things vampire!
This collection is packed with dark poetry and short horror stories. Don’t let the premise fool you, though. It’s not all blood sucking and glamouring. Diedericks did a fantastic job creating a collection that explores a variety of emotions and situations you might not have even thought of when it comes to the undead. I found myself loving all of the ones that dripped with sadness and longing.
These pieces get deep, digging down into the basest wants and needs of vampires—as well as humans. The exploration of how events and life would transpire for a group of creatures who live a life of demonization and darkness, and their interaction with familiars and victims, had me absolutely rapt. I found myself forgetting this book is fiction. The use of first person narrative in the pieces along with the injection of raw emotion brought it to life, especially in the stories that are presented as journal entries. I found myself wondering if when Diedericks wrote this book if she took on a multitude of personas to make such a believable collection of stories and poems, kind of a method-acting technique. I feel like she jumped into the skins/corpses of these characters and brought them to life!
There are a handful of reimagined tales. I love how the author took license to transform familiar tales into modern horror, all the while turning the well-known characters into her own new and exciting beings that came to life (or death) on the page. I loved experiencing her twist on the originals and feeling like I was experiencing a totally new set of characters, especially with the integration of current technology.
There’s a delicate balance between vampires being power hungry and overcome with bloodlust vs vampires with a conscience who are just trying to be loved as well as humans haunting the vampires in a multitude of ways or simply longing to be turned. It’s a delicious state of equilibrium where the reader is conflicted with trying to decide whom the monster actually is.
Throughout the stories and poems, there is a smidge of dark humor lurking beneath the surface. It makes the characters feel more realistic, since their wry comments and thoughts are relatable and familiar.
These are my favorite pieces in order of appearance in the book:
Stillborn, Born Still: I adore the journaling aspect of this story. It felt so personal and real.
Timeless: Beautiful love and loss
When Vampires Stargaze: The last stanza. Love.
A Study in Crimson: I’m not usually a fan of mystery and crime fiction, but this vampire take had me enthralled because of the characters.
Shades of Red: My favorite short story in the collection. Talk about turning an original on its head! Reimagined, fantastic tale!
Stake for Hire: A unique take on what it’s like to be a vampire, and lots of monsters you didn’t know you needed.
Until the End: I feel like I’ve been staked through the heart! This hit me in the feels harder than I anticipated. Beautifully unfolded tale of friendship and loss.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Coffin Chronicles! I felt like I had been invited into a secret world to explore what it’s like to be a vampire—as well as long to be turned. I recommend it to horror lovers, vampire connoisseurs, and anyone who wishes they knew what it would feel like to walk in the footsteps (or sleep in the coffins) of the undead.
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Need more Megan Diedericks books & stories?!?!?
Who is Megan Diedericks?
Megan Diedericks is a biromantic ace from South Africa. Her first language is Afrikaans, but she primarily writes in English. Writing has been a passion since she wrote her first poem at around twelve years old, and that hasn't changed now that she's in her twentysomethings!
Megan's poem, Three Acts of Mercy, was nominated for the 2025 Rhysling Awards, and her work has been published over sixty times in various journals and presses, both online and in print.
*** taken from Megan Diedericks’s website
the darkest of times, the darkest of thoughts
Megan’s debut 206-page poetry & photography collection (tdot, tdot) is available at a price of your choice here.
Ebook copies of The Coffin Chronicles can be found on the Island of Wak-Wak website.
Who is Island of Wak-Wak?
Island of Wak-Wak publishes novels, chapbooks, anthologies, gamebooks, and the speculative poetry journal Sublimation. We intend publish 5–10 books (full collections and chapbooks) each year. Each book will be professionally typeset using Latex. Using Amazon’s and Books on Demand’s print-on-demand services are ideal for low-volume works like poetry books. If you get published by us, your work should remain in print for years, instead of having a one-time run of 100 or 200 copies.
*** taken from the Island of Wak-Wak website
