Today, we are leaving the safety of Earth and touching down on the bleak, red mining planet of Mors with Irish author Acacia Daniels. Acacia is the mastermind behind the upcoming self-published military sci-fi horror novella, She’s Waiting in the Corridor, launching on January 1, 2027.
When a private security unit defending an OreTech mining operation is decimated by giant engineered spiders from a neighboring planet, the bloodbath seems straightforward. But soldiers are dying in ways the spiders can’t explain. That’s where Captain Kane Ulyanov, a fiercely protective former powerlifter, and Specialist Yarina “Ice” Baranouskaya, a cold-under-pressure sniper and former medical student, come in. Kane commands; Ice solves.
With her work already reviewed by Ginger Nuts of Horror, picked up by Locus Magazine, and making massive waves on r/HFY, Acacia is setting a new standard for indie sci-fi horror. So, grab a strong, steaming mug of rations-grade coffee—or maybe something with a little Irish bite to calm the nerves—and let’s step into the dark!
Interview with Acacia Daniels
The Architecture of Fear: Folklore and Dark Femininity
Willy: Let’s dive right into the good stuff. The title of your novella, She’s Waiting in the Corridor, comes from Morsian folk songs that personify death as a patient woman who is always there. How did you dream up this chilling bit of folklore, and how does it set the psychological tone for a military sci-fi story?
Acacia: I’ve always liked ‘dark femininity’ symbolism – Death as mother, grave as ‘womb’ – I’m not sure where it came from and I think it comes less from one specific experience and more from fairly common pieces of symbolism seen in music and art. I was quite into Viking mythology as a kid and liked the concept of the Valkyries. A big influence was also a picture I happened to see online of a bell-mouth spillway – a structure sometimes used in dams to siphon water off to a reservoir. They are TERRIFYING to look at. My first response was to feel absolutely horrified and my second response was to file it away for use in horror stories. It’s where a lot of the ‘womb’ symbolism in Morsian culture comes from.
Opposites in the Dark: The Dynamic of Kane and Ice
Willy: You have a fantastic dynamic between your two leads. You’ve got Captain Kane Ulyanov, a 6’8″ anti-bureaucratic powerhouse who fiercely protects his unit, and Specialist Yarina “Ice” Baranouskaya, the sniper who runs cold when everything is falling apart. How do you balance that “Kane commands, Ice solves” dynamic while keeping them grounded in such a terrifying setting?
Acacia: The two are so drastically different I didn’t really have to do anything to balance them – they do this quite by themselves. He’s huge and imposing, she’s quiet and studious. They’re solid under pressure for different reasons – he’s had 8 years of combat experience, she’s had medical training so saving lives is not new to her either.
Balancing Bloodshed and Mystery
Willy: The OreTech miners aren’t just dealing with any threat—they are facing Megalonephila terribilis, giant engineered spiders from a neighboring planet. But the twist is that soldiers are dying in ways the spiders can’t explain. How do you balance the visceral, action-packed horror of giant monsters with the slow-burn tension of a central mystery?
Acacia: The more overt horror of the giant spiders came first. The slower-burn mystery is more subtly seeded in and happens later. It was a very delicate balance for me to lay the groundwork without spoiling the plot too early. I went through a LOT of editing passes and a lot of careful thought. It meant a lot to me when a beta reader came back to me and told me how blown away she was by the plot twist at the end.
Willy: She’s Waiting in the Corridor has already been reviewed by Ginger Nuts of Horror and picked up by Locus Magazine, and a short story in the same universe blew up with hundreds of upvotes on the r/HFY subreddit. What does it feel like to get that kind of massive validation from the sci-fi and horror communities before the official January 2027 launch?
If you’re ready to be seen, heard, and celebrated—this is your moment for an author spotlight.
Acacia: Exhilarating! The part I loved most was seeing people on r/HFY show up in the comments with their own thoughts, theorizing about what they’d do if they were on Mors and got attacked by giant spiders – I loved seeing people get genuinely invested.
The Grind of Indie Publishing & What’s Next
Willy: Our readers love hearing about the business side of the craft. As a self-published author stepping into a highly anticipated release, what is your strategy for launching a genre-bending novella, and are we going to see more of Ice and Kane in the future?
Acacia: A lot of cold outreach and a lot of self discipline. I’ve contacted 370 people so far – news outlets, Booktube channels, that kind of thing. I compiled a huge list of relevant contacts and I’ve been steadily working through it. It’s often very dull work sending email after email. I regularly remind myself that the world doesn’t owe me anything and that if I want the success I need to put the work in.
You will absolutely be seeing more of Ice and Kane. Mors is a trilogy, so you’ll get two more books, and I’ll later be publishing the anthology of my original short stories. There are also some smaller novelettes planned in this universe, so you’ll get to meet plenty of other characters, including a medical robot and an injured soldier who relearns to fire his weapon after a near-fatal crush by a fallen building.
Willy: Acacia, thank you for stepping out of the dark corridors to share your world with us! Readers, mark your calendars for January 2027 and prepare for She’s Waiting in the Corridor. See you next time on Authors & Allies, where the ideas keep sparking!
Thank you for visiting with us. For more Reviews or Literature related content, visit our blog at The Ritual. Copyright Mind on Fire Books.
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