Darkness Stirs

Malin Nofors

I am a single mother living in Malmö. I am a licensed teacher and preschool teacher, and I have worked within early childhood education since 2006. Over the years, however, I frequently encountered struggles with depression that gradually worsened until I realized, to my great sorrow, that I could no longer manage to practice my chosen profession. It was not until ten years later that I was diagnosed as bipolar, and through that diagnosis, I finally received the help I needed.

Ever since I was a child, I have loved fairy tales, stories, and legends, and I could never get enough. So, despite my reading and writing difficulties, I read everything I could get my hands on across all genres. I also began creating my own stories and poems at a very young age, and my work usually leans toward fantasy and horror.

My favorite fairy tale as a child was Beauty and the Beast, as retold by Rosemary Harris, a book I still have in my possession to this day. When I later heard of The Phantom of the Opera around the age of ten, I was in love. This remained in the back of my mind while writing my main characters, while many of the other characters have been with me for a long time, originating from various school projects and writing exercises. For a long time, I searched for something that could bind my scattered thoughts together, eventually finding it while reading the urban fantasy series Pax. Reminded of the folk tales I heard as a child, everything finally clicked, and I finally had a stage for my characters.

Beyond the monsters lurking in the shadows, there is also a psychological aspect inspired by my own life. A journey through burnout, mental illness, misdiagnoses, incorrect dosages of medication, sleeplessness, hallucinations, and hopelessness. Many of the monsters encountered in the story act not only with physical terror, but with psychological terror as well. I often see this story as a way for me to exorcise my own inner demons.