archivist of dreams, nightmares, and aberrations...

"I opened a door that I never should've touched. In doing so, I've started something that I don't think I can stop..."

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About the Author:

Colby Coles is an Idaho-based author of horror, fantasy, and other speculative fiction.
Through stories drenched in the strange, the wonderful, and the horrific, he explores what might survive when we're pushed to our breaking points and beyond; examining how, even amid the most suffocating darkness, it is possible for us to find light.

What is the berkeley archive?

While clearing out my grandpa’s storage unit, I found a strange box filled with unpublished manuscripts, artifacts, and notes belonging to someone named "Rick Berkeley."The thing is, nobody in my family knows who "Rick Berkeley" is...Most of his stories are in bad shape, several aren’t even finished, and a few probably shouldn’t have even been written in the first place.And yet, I've somehow found myself working diligently to restore, rewrite, and publish as many of the stories from this strange Archive as I can. Along the way, I'm doing my best to make sense of the man who wrote them and the darkness lurking within.

The Berkeley Archive Thus Far:

Below are some of the most interesting things I've found in the Berkeley arhive thus far. Click to see where they take you...

While the manuscripts of the Berkeley Archive have yet to see the light of day, that won't be true for much longer. Below are some of the first stories I've had the pleasure of delving into.

Old Bones:

A tale of primal terror."65 million years it's been planning, waiting, evolving. We've been here for a fraction of a percentage of that, and we don't stand a chance..."After a mysterious earthquake isolates a Northern California prison from the outside world, the surviving inmates and staff discover prehistoric monsters clawing their way to the surface.
As if bloodthirsty archosaurs hunting them through the prison ruins isn’t enough, they must also contend with government agents seeking to cover the whole thing up, as well as their dark pasts that put them in prison in the first place if they have any hope of surviving.

Old Bones is a cosmic/paleo horror novel that blends apocalyptic creature horror with the claustrophobic tension of its prison setting.Old Bones will be sent out for query following revisions.

The Antiquary:

A lost manuscript, hidden away in an envelope, now come to light."You should've stayed out in the snow..."When a massive Idaho blizzard forces five strangers to seek shelter inside a labyrinthine antique shop, they discover that many of the store’s antiques hold dark histories and a lust for human blood.
As the storm traps them inside overnight, and each artifact reveals itself to be more deadly than the last, they realize that they’re in the fight for their lives against forces greater than they ever could understand, and not all of them will live to see the sunrise.

A claustrophobic, frozen nightmare, The Antiquary is the debut novella from author Colby Coles.Coming to booksellers near you, Fall 2026.

More updates on the berkeley archive arriving imminently...

Click the link below to see live progress on all of my current projects.