Ryan Stephenson

Daniel goes into the hospital for a routine procedure.

He expects sedation, recovery, and then to go home.

Instead, he wakes to a nurse who seems a...

or

Ryan Stephenson writes quiet, slow-burn horror about ordinary people in situations that turn subtly—and irreversibly—wrong. His work favors atmosphere over gore, implication over explanation, and fear grounded in human behavior rather than the supernatural. He publishes under the One More Before Sleep imprint, crafting stories meant to linger long after the last page.

Books

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Camgirl

By night, Sidney is QuietFlame—confident, controlled, and always just out of reach. From the safety of her bedroom, she performs for strangers who think they know her, who believe intimacy can be bought one tip at a time.

But anonymity is fragile.

When an unfamiliar screen name turns threatening and a private warning arrives too late, Sidney is...

Nightmare

Clarise hasn't slept through the night in months. Every time she closes her eyes, she's dragged into vivid nightmares that feel too real to dismiss. As the dreams return night after night, growing darker and more personal, Clarise begins to fear that something within them is watching... and waiting.

Clarise hasn't slept through the night in...

Stella

After a break-in shatters his home and work, Doctor Jensen claims his assistant never left. As authorities search for answers, one presence lingers, watching patiently. Stella is a quiet psychological horror about memory, denial, and what refuses to be forgotten. A free flash fiction by Ryan Stephenson. Note: There are two copies of this story...

Latest Updates

January 31, 2026

An Update: Audio Editions

One More Before Sleep is expanding—quietly.

I’ve launched a podcast and a YouTube channel featuring audio editions of some of the stories published here, presented in a slow,...

Blog

February 1, 2026

Recovery Is Now on Kindle Unlimited

I’ve officially released my first standalone short story on Kindle Unlimited.

Recovery started as a small idea—what happens when grief meets vulnerability in a place designed to make you trust the people around you. It grew into something quieter and more unsettling than I expected, and when it was finished, it felt like the right piece to try something new.

This is the first time I’ve put a story exclusively on Kindle Unlimited. Normally I publish wide, but this one felt like it belonged in...