Sometimes you read a story that resonates so much with your experiences that you wonder when the author was in your head writing your thoughts on their pages for you to read. Trey Stone’s At The Gate, was something I read in a single sitting that, upon finishing, immediately had to go back and read it again. I’m still processing some of the depth Trey has woven into the story. And as Inked in Gray, I am honored to bring his story to you.
At The Gate is dark and terrifying piece of psychological horror. It follows Joseph Podwell, a middle-aged travel-writer who drags behind him a life of romantic ruin, an unacknowledged drinking problem and a heart full of mourning. Now he’s looking for an excuse to end it all.
He checks in at The Gate—a formerly luxurious hotel—and he thinks he might just have found the place where he’ll be brave enough to commit to the afterlife.
But the mystery of a missing guest postpones his plans, and strange happenings at The Gate occupy his mind. His room doesn’t always seem like his, he loses track of days, and he could swear the broken elevator is actually moving.
Joseph disappears down a rabbit hole of mysterious events, all the while keeping up the battle against his own inner demons. When he finds it impossible to leave the hotel, Joseph realizes if he doesn’t find the missing guest, he may never go home again.
About Trey Stone
I’m married, in my early thirties and Norwegian. I’ve studied archaeology in England, lived on an Arctic island for two years, and I have more guitars than I practically have room for (the problem is really that my home is too small). I grew up on a farm in rural, western Norway, I have bunch of siblings, half-siblings and in-laws, and I’m uncle to – oh, I don’t know – twenty or so kids. They’re all pretty awesome, I think, it’s difficult to remember who’s who anymore.
I’ve been telling stories for as long as I can remember. I used to create “books” when I was little by folding and stapling a bunch of paper together, then I’d write and draw scenes on the pages. I wrote a bunch of short stories when I was younger and tried my hand at a fantasy novel as a teen (but hardly any of that ever got anywhere) – then I finally wrote my first thriller five years ago and I just never stopped. Thankfully!
What Inspired At the Gate?
There are many stories that came together to make At The Gate what it is, some of which I’ve lived myself and some of which I’ve experienced through others – but At The Gate is really about wanting to hide away and being scared to face your fears. It’s about trying to go it alone, even when you know you probably can’t.
The setting for the book came to me from a real hotel I stayed in a few years ago where I kept having so many strange experiences that I didn’t take many hours for me to decide that it needed to be part of a story. I’ve always gravitated toward dark and terrifying stories and when I started writing it, I just knew this was a horror story. There’s something real about being scared, something honest about that sense of fright that bubbles up from somewhere deep inside that I’ve loved trying to chase since I was a teen.
What do you do when you’re not writing?
I work as an archaeologist, which is a pretty awesome day job to have (though I have to mention that it’s hardly ever as cool as people think it is). I also write lyrics and music and can sit for hours playing my Takamine acoustic guitar in the style of Ed Sheeran or Andy McKee, or my ESP Eclipse in the style of Lamb of God. Give me a guitar and I can lose days at a time, I swear.
I got into weightlifting half a decade ago in an attempt to get fit, and now I’m not only one of those guys who loves going to the gym but I’ve also started running, so now I’m really annoying. Honestly, it’s not even fun all the time, but I keep coming back for more. Having a wife who’s a philosopher/personal trainer help a lot, and we keep challenging and motivating each other to get better, faster and stronger.
I can also sink quite a bit of time into video games (when I have it) and I love a good open-world RPG. I tend to stick with older games these days because I can’t keep up with the technology, so give me Skyrim, Fallout: New Vegas or an old Pokemon game and bowl of food and I’m good.
Oh yeah, and you’ve probably heard of “books” – it’s like a bunch of pages with words scribbled on them – I read those.
What are you reading right now? Anything good?
I’m reading three things at the moment, two of which are good and ONE that I want to say isn’t. Stephen King’s The Stand is something I’ve been wanting to read for ages, but I try to be strict with my TBR list so it’s been waiting in line for ages. Now I’ve finally started – I’m about 10% in – and I already love it so much! Can’t wait to spend another – counts on fingers – 7 months trying to get through that (it’s so long!)
I’m also listening to Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Being Norwegian I probably should have read much more Nordic Noir than I have, but I’m trying to make up for it now – and I’ve got to say the Millenium series is much better than I thought. I struggle to put it away sometimes, it’s really exciting.
Also, I have a paperback of Ken Follett’s Lie Down With Lions that I happily took off a colleague’s hands (because I’ve always wanted to read Follett), but at the moment, I’m not impressed. It’s not bad per se, and I’ll keep at it for a while longer, but it just doesn’t seem to have aged well (I think it’s from the mid-80s).
Does one of your characters hold a special place in your heart? If so, why?
This is where I say they all do, right? *cue humerous chuckle* But seriously, Joseph from At The Gate is something else. I surprised myself while writing him. He has a way of looking at life and thinking of people that has a lot of me in it (or maybe it’s the other way around?) and I recognize myself in him sometimes. He’s not too good at expressing himself, at the same time he says exactly what he means and he tries his best.
Also, Jordan Greer, the protagonist from my Columbus Archives series will always be special to me. He has a kind of rude arrogance toward the world that really stems from wanting to do the right thing, and he’s the type of guy everyone has a love-hate relationship with. He’s really fun to write – even when he’s being a pain in the ass – but he (almost) always ends up doing the right thing.
Do you have any more books planned? Are there sequels coming? What can we expect from you in the future?
So many books planned! You can expect a third book in my thriller series (which I hope will be coming soon) – I have several first drafts for things lying around, two of which I think readers of At The Gate will love, and I even wrote a sci-fi thriller earlier this years. Honestly, there’s so many things going on, I’m sometimes not sure where to start. I doubt there will ever be a direct sequel to At The Gate, but I’ve been playing with the idea of maybe building on the universe. There will be more books from me at least, that’s for sure!
What advice would you give to writers who are hoping to query with a small press?
I’ll give the same advice I give to anyone about anything: do the thing!
Because the thing is, you know that feeling when you’re sitting there reading a submission guidelines webpage, thinking: “I have exactly what they want, this is the perfect fit!”? That feeling is exactly the same feeling someone is eventually going to have when they open your email. So take your chance, try your best, and do the thing! You’ll be great at it.
Trey Stone is also the author of A State of Despair and The Consequence of Loyalty. Find him on his website, Facebook, Goodreads, and Amazon. For updates, subscribe to Trey’s newsletter.