From the Red in the Dark universe

Original story by Leonard Voss

This is the prologue to the main Red in the Dark storyline.

Caleb Banks is a man of very few words.

He is alone in a motel room, listening to the radio on low. The news is ugly. A child killer has been charged. Another body has been found in the northern Maine woods.

Then his phone rings.

A call comes in from Marcus.

Caleb retrieves the trunk beneath the bed.

Passports. Money. Guns.

The story begins to move with three words.

Get. To. Maine.

You will see Caleb Banks again.

Author’s Note:

"The things we do to survive will eventually destroy us. But we do them anyway. Because survival is all we know."

PROLOGUE: GET TO MAINE

Caleb Banks sat in a chair pulled up to the motel window, radio on low, the volume just high enough to fill the room without competing with his thoughts.

The news reader's voice moved from weather to traffic to court filings like it was all the same thing.

“…Evan Roark was formally charged today with multiple counts, including child murder, rape, and kidnapping…”

His jaw set.

The report continued.

Dates.

Jurisdictions.

A prosecutor quoted.

A defense attorney promising cooperation.

Then another story slid in behind it.

“…another body was discovered overnight. Authorities say the victim's face had been removed…”

Caleb reached up and pinched the leather cord at his neck between his thumb and forefinger.

The wedding ring and the small metal charm hung warm against his chest, the charm of a little superhero with a cape bent at one corner.

He rolled them once, then let them fall back into place.

His phone rang.

He glanced down at the phone.

Incoming call from Marcus.

He placed the phone to his ear.

“What?”

A voice came through, cheerful, almost teasing.

“Caleb. Why do you always sound so damn tense? You should try yoga or something.”

Caleb didn't respond.

“You're needed,” the voice continued. Still light.

“Get to Maine.”

The line went dead.

The phone went into his jacket pocket.

A small trunk came out from under the bed and flipped open.

Passports.

Money.

Guns.

All in place.

The trunk was set by the door.

The radio clicked off.

The bedspread was smoothed once.

The lamp went dark.

He adjusted the cord at his neck one last time, picked up the trunk, and left without looking back.

Reading order:

1. Red in the Dark - Prelude: The Cabin in the Woods

https://www.reddit.com/r/creepypasta/s/btWLEcHmAO

2. Red in the Dark - Prologue: Get to Maine

You are here.

Audio narration of this story:

https://player.captivate.fm/episode/4c182da3-b08b-4506-b21a-42d107de89b5/

Original story by Leonard Voss / Red in the Dark

From the Red in the Dark universe

Original story by Leonard Voss

This entry opens the door into the world of Red in the Dark.

Ben runs because there is nothing else left to do. His brother is dead, the woods have swallowed every way out, and the only light he can find belongs to a cabin waiting in the dark.

Inside: a fire, a pot on the stove, a shelf of old books, and one story waiting to be read.

The Cabin in the Woods is the first step into a larger horror universe about trauma, violence, survival, moral ambiguity, and what people become when the dark starts feeling familiar.

The Irving Woods swallowed all light.

A man named Ben ran through them, breathing hard, covered in blood he had not spilled himself.

This is his story.

*He didn't even stop.*

*Jesus Christ.*

*The way he just kept chopping.*

Calm.

Certain.

*Like he was nothing.*

*Danny.*

The blood had hit warm on Ben's face when the axe found Danny.

Copper and salt still sat at the back of his throat. Swallowing didn't help.

*Run.*

His legs moved before the thought finished.

*Run.*

*Don't look back.*

*Don't you dare look back.*

No trails.

No markers.

The dark had weight.

Branches tore at his arms. Roots came up underfoot. Twice he stumbled. Once he hit the ground hard enough to see white.

Back up.

Keep moving.

Lungs burning.

*I'm gonna fucking die out here.*

*Danny.*

A sob caught in his throat before he could stop it.

A crack somewhere to the left sent Ben veering right on pure instinct.

*He killed him.*

*Right in front of—*

*Run.*

Then light.

Faint.

Warm.

Steady through the trees.

A window.

Ben surged toward it like a drowning man spotting the shore.

A clearing opened up around an old cabin that stood against a rise of stone, smoke climbing from the chimney into the black sky.

Both fists slammed against the door the moment Ben was on the porch.

"HELP!"

"SOMEBODY— PLEASE—"

Again.

Harder.

Wood rattled in the frame.

"HE KILLED MY BROTHER!"

Another strike.

"PLEASE—"

Bang!

Bang!

Footsteps.

Slow.

Unhurried.

The door opened to a tall, lean man standing in the doorway with a dark beard touched with grey.

A flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled to the forearms.

He looked at the blood on the porch.

Looked at Ben.

Looked at the woods beyond.

Then back again..

"Oh."

He went still for a moment.

"A visitor."

He stepped aside and opened the door wider.

"Come in."

The cabin hit all at once.

Woodsmoke.

Something simmering on the stove.

Rich and heavy.

The smell dug into an empty stomach hard enough to hurt.

Old paper.

Pine.

The scent of a place that had been lived in for a very long time.

"There's somebody out there."

The words came apart as they came out.

"He killed my brother. I need a phone. I need to call somebody."

"There's no phone."

"What?"

"No phone."

Ben stared at him.

"A radio. Anything?"

The man shook his head.

"No. I have nothing of the sort."

He turned back to the pot and lifted the lid, letting a wave of aromatic steam roll into the room.

Ben just stood there trying to understand how somebody could live out here with nothing.

No phone.

No radio.

Nothing.

The man replaced the lid.

The smell coming off the pot was even stronger now.

Ben's stomach clenched painfully in response.

"Did you hear what I said?"

"Yes."

"My brother is dead."

The man nodded.

"I'm sorry."

"He murdered him."

He nodded again.

"I'm sorry about that too," he whispered.

Ben waited.

Waiting for shock.

Anger.

Fear.

Anything.

Nothing came.

The man calmly pulled out a chair, the fire crackling softly behind him and the woods pressing against the windows.

"What's your name?"

Ben blinked.

"What?"

"Your name."

"Ben."

The man nodded once.

"Ben."

"How can you be so calm?"

The man shrugged.

"I guess I learned a long time ago that I could spend my days worrying about what might happen."

He looked toward the fire.

"Or I could enjoy the days while they're still mine."

His eyes drifted briefly toward the dark window and back again.

"When trouble arrives, I deal with it."

He gestured toward the chair.

"Until then..."

He smiled softly.

"...there's stew."

A short laugh escaped Ben's mouth.

"He killed my brother…"

The man's expression softened.

"I know."

He pushed the bowl a little closer.

"Which is why you should eat something."

Steam curled up between them.

"You've been running."

As Ben looked down, he realized how badly his hands were shaking; the man following his gaze.

"You need food, water, and sleep."

The bowl sat between them, patiently waiting.

"The dead will still be dead in an hour, Ben."

The words should have sounded cruel.

The fire worked steadily in the hearth.

For the first time since Danny fell, Ben realized how exhausted he was.

He finally sat.

"What is it?"

The question came out around a mouthful of stew.

"The stew?"

Ben nodded.

"It's good."

The smile widened.

"Thank you."

"No, seriously."

Ben gestured with the spoon.

"What is it?"

The man thought for a moment.

Then shrugged.

"Whatever the forest decided to provide."

Ben snorted.

He shook his head and took another bite.

The man stood and crossed to a shelf running along the wall, his hand settling on a thick book.

He pulled it free and brought it back to the table where he sat to open it.

"I've been keeping these for a long time."

He ran a thumb along the edge of the page.

"Stories."

Ben took another spoonful of stew before settling back into the chair, and for the first time since Danny died, he wasn't running.

The man found his place in the book and spoke.

"This one's called..."

He glanced down.

"Red in the Dark."

He began to read.

Audio narration of this story:

https://red-in-the-dark.captivate.fm/episode/start-red-in-the-dark-here-the-cabin

Original story by Leonard Voss / Red in the Dark

Author/Producer disclosure: This is my project.

I recently put together a dedicated "Start Here" playlist for the main storyline of my psychological horror audio drama, Red in the Dark.

Set in Maine, the story follows Leonard Voss and the people whose lives become entangled in a world of violence, trauma, addiction, and fractured morality.

The project combines narration, sound design, music, and character performances from multiple contributors. I handle the narration and some character roles, other characters are performed by voice actors, and some roles currently use AI voices where performers haven't yet been found. As new voice actors join the project, those roles are replaced and updated in both future and previously released episodes.

Main Storyline Playlist:

https://player.captivate.fm/collection/a97faf7d-e976-4a32-bf25-29c3ce11cc0e

I'd appreciate feedback from audiobook and audio drama listeners.

Over the last year I've been building something called Red in the Dark.

What started as a single story, and then a book, slowly turned into an interconnected psychological horror/crime thriller universe involving serialized podcast episodes, standalone stories, fictional broadcasts, recurring characters, and original music tied directly into the narrative itself.

I've decided the book I wrote won't be traditionally published. Instead, it's being released in podcast form, with chapters and stories expanding outward through audio episodes, written releases, music, and interconnected side narratives.

Most of it takes place in Portland, Maine and other parts of the state. If you're from around here, you'll probably recognize pieces of the world.

The main storyline follows Leonard Voss, while Beyond the Dark explores stories happening on the outskirts of the same universe — sometimes in parallel, other times in the past or present.

This world is violent, bleak, and heavily grounded in reality.

A lot of it focuses on trauma, addiction, manipulation, crime, mental health, corruption, and the slow breakdown of people over time.

Serial killers.

Extortionists.

Gangsters.

Predators.

Broken people trying to survive.

And ordinary people getting caught in the middle of things far bigger than they understand.

Some stories are deeply psychological.

Others are brutal.

The music itself is also part of the universe. Different songs are tied directly into characters, themes, emotions, and events happening within the world rather than existing separately from it.

Everything released through the podcast already exists in written form first.

Over time, I also plan to release the written material itself so people can slowly piece together the larger world through connected stories, broadcasts, chapters, and side narratives across multiple formats.

This project has consumed a massive part of my life over the last year. I've poured pretty much everything I have into building it and continuing to push it forward piece by piece.

This isn't something I'm chasing fame for. It's genuinely my passion.

If people connect with it, share it, review it, talk about it, or even just listen — it honestly means a lot to me.

And if anyone ever wants to contribute in some way — voice acting, editing, music, ideas, or anything else — I'm always open to talking with people who genuinely care about storytelling and worldbuilding.

Also, a genuine thank you to u/B_EE and u/Josh-_89 for being two of the first people to regularly reach out, give feedback, and support this project. Interactions like that keep this thing moving forward more than you probably realize. Without support like that, projects like this rarely reach their full potential.

If any of this sounds interesting to you, feel free to check it out.

Red in the Dark — Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/2c29CwAJFmKinboYCB8kuR

Red in the Dark — Apple Podcasts:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/red-in-the-dark/id1871882492

Website:

https://www.redinthedark.studio/