Who Wrote The Short Story Darkness Falls In The Anthology?

I've hit that same little mystery more times than I can count — you pick up an anthology, see a memorable title like 'Darkness Falls', and then blank on who actually wrote it. I can't definitively name the author without knowing which anthology you're holding, because 'Darkness Falls' is a pretty common title and different anthologies (and even magazines) have used it over the years. What I do instead is walk through a quick, reliable checklist that usually solves it in minutes.

First, flip to the table of contents or the header/footer on the story pages — many anthologies list the story title with the author right there. If you don't have the physical book, search the anthology's ISBN or title on 'Goodreads', 'WorldCat', or 'Google Books' and look for the table of contents preview. Another great resource for speculative and horror fiction is ISFDB (the Internet Speculative Fiction Database) — search for the anthology title and it will usually list every story and author. If the anthology is older or small-press, try the Library of Congress catalog or the publisher's website; for recent releases, Amazon's "Look inside" sometimes shows the contents.

If you want, tell me the anthology's full title, editor, year, or even snap a photo of the table of contents and I’ll track it down for you. I love these little bibliographic scavenger hunts — they’re oddly satisfying and save future headaches when you want to cite or reread a favorite piece.

I love sleuthing through anthologies, so here’s a quick, friendly plan if you’re trying to find who wrote 'Darkness Falls'. Without the anthology title or editor, it's hard to name a single author because multiple writers have used that title. The fastest tricks: check the anthology's table of contents or the story headers; search the anthology title plus "table of contents" on 'Google Books' or 'WorldCat'; and use ISFDB if it's speculative/horror fiction. If you have an ISBN or editor name, that makes it trivial to confirm the author. I once solved a mystery like this by uploading a photo of the TOC to a book group and someone identified the author within minutes — if you want, share any small detail you remember and I’ll dig around for you.

I was once stumped by the same question while trying to compile a reading list, so here’s the practical route I take when a story title like 'Darkness Falls' shows up without an author attached. Start by noting any identifying details on the anthology: editor name, publication year, publisher, or ISBN. Those bits make searches far more precise.

Next, plug that info into 'WorldCat' or 'Google Books' and search for the anthology title in quotes plus the phrase "table of contents" — e.g., "'Darkness Falls'" "table of contents". If that fails, ISFDB is a treasure for speculative fiction anthologies; type the anthology title and scan the TOC entries. For ebooks, check the file metadata or preview pages on Amazon; for physical copies, the TOC is usually near the front. Social-reading sites like 'Goodreads' sometimes have contributor lists, and forum posts about the anthology can surface the specific author name.

If you don't have any anthology details, drop whatever clues you remember (cover art, a distinctive phrase from the story, or where you first saw it) and I’ll help narrow it down — I actually enjoy turning vague leads into full bibliographies.