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What happens when a nightmare follows you for five years—and starts stealing the color from your world?
Author Mark Benson returns to Wildly Unplug to talk about his new young adult horror novel, The Scattering, a story inspired by a real nightmare he couldn't forget. The novel follows James, a gifted young painter plagued by the same terrifying dream every night: his family is murdered while he watches helplessly from beneath the floorboards. Even stranger, the nightmare has caused his world to fade into black, white, and shades of gray.
Mark shares how that single nightmare became a novel nearly a decade in the making, why he rewrote the entire book six times, and how he researched painting and color perception to create an artist whose identity is completely intertwined with color. We also explore the deeper themes behind James's story—fear, creativity, losing the thing that gives life meaning, and finding the courage to pick it back up again.
We also talk about:
- How James may have to paint his way out of his nightmare
- Mark's unique launch event turning a bookstore into an art gallery featuring work by local high school artists
- Why fear can keep us from making important decisions
- The influence of Stephen King, Shirley Jackson, and Mary Shelley
- Why Mark no longer believes in ghosts—but remains fascinated by the true histories behind ghost stories
- His idea for turning abandoned church steeples into community observatories
- Why access to art matters
- His next, even darker—and somehow much funnier—novel
- The simple, repeatable way he recommends reconnecting with nature
If you love YA horror, psychological horror, books about artists, creativity, nightmares, ghost stories, Stephen King, or conversations about fear and the creative process, this episode is for you.
🎧 Listen to Wildly Unplug and discover what happens when art becomes more than a passion—it becomes the only way out.
Guest: Mark Benson
Book: The Scattering
Website: Author Mark Benson
Instagram: @WaysideWriter
