The Witching Snakes 10-12

The Chapters where Paul & Agatha Reunite, but Something is Wrong

I just remembered that I put my novel on this substack as a paid subscription only piece. I didn’t get many paid subscribers from it, but hope springs eternal. Also I think that I should revise it again before I try either shopping it around or self-publishing. I like it. It’s based on the White Snake legend which I first encountered when I saw the Tsui Hark movie Green Snake, still my favorite version of the legend, but there are some cool Netflix cartoons.

The interesting thing about this legend is that it’s been told so many times that every character has had a chance to be the main character. It can be about White Snake, her sister the Green Snake (who is less inclined to humanity), that Buddhist monk who wants to drive them back into snake bodies and some from the perspective of the lover Xu Xian. For the most part, I followed a Japanese version that made it into a horror story from Xu Xian’s perspective as he slowly learns that his new wife is a big monster snake.

Only I still love White and Green Snake and I can’t make them totally evil. I also put my version in 1990s Minnesota. The main character’s name is Paul and he slowly finds out that Agatha is strange, but not so strange that she’s a snake. These chapters take place just before he discovers her true nature.

Also they are subscriber only, so if you want to read them all, you got until the end of December to get a full year subscription.

I don’t know why chapter 11 got 108 likes and ended up at the top of my articles, above the Neil Gaiman article even. But there you go. Here is the most popular substack article I’ve ever published. I suspect that Substack wants to emphasize the subscriber only articles since those make Substack money.

Finally, we get chapter 12 where the family goes on a picnic. If you want to keep reading, it’s at the bottom of the article and you can read the whole novel. But obviously, you need to be a paid subscriber to read the whole thing. So if you want to enjoy more than the samples I post, make sure to

And I’m a professional writer who has been inconvenienced by ChatGPT and is actively looking for work. You can help out by getting a paid subscription or throwing $5 at my gofundme. If you know of anyone who needs an editor, a writer, an English teacher (NYC only I don’t want to move), please email me at omanlieder@yahoo.com or

Finally, I have more self-published writing at Amazon and it’s the season for Sugarplum Zombie Motherfuckers.

I don’t just self-publish. You can find my fiction in many places including Cosmic Horror #57. Not only is “Go Ask Ophelia” one of my favorite stories but the cover is based on it.

And obviously, support Dybbuk Press by buying many many copies of Nothing in the Basement by Romie Stott.