Antlers is a completed supernatural mystery/horror web serial with interactive fiction intermissions, written by @charaznablescanontoyota (one half of the Card Zero Press team).
You can start reading with the prologue here.
For more Card Zero Press projects, check out our website, itch.io page, and Patreon!
Feel free to also join us on the Card Zero Press Discord!
hi i designed new merch for the fictional dead band in my web serial @antlerscolorado because it’s in re-serialization and my old paper museum shirt has a hole in it and i wanted to make myself a cooler one anyway
you can get these on teepublic i might design more soon they also come as stickers and shit
Hi everyone! Antlers, CO is turning 8 this year, and I wanted to do something special. So I’m re-serializing it over on Substack!
Starting next week, you can get Antlers “re-run” updates delivered straight to your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday - that’s the entire serial, from the very beginning! The intermissions are still going to be hosted on itch.io, but everything else will both be posted on the Substack page and delivered straight to whatever email you subscribe with. If you’ve already read Antlers, it’s a great excuse to re-read, and if you haven’t read it yet, it’s a great excuse to start! I’m really excited to revisit Antlers myself as the updates go live, and I hope you’ll join me on the trip.
- Marn
Happy Hallow-evening, everyone! I’m pleased to announce that the Chapter 1 rewrite/reboot/whatever you want to call it is now live on both this website and on Wattpad! It comes with a totally new banner, new scenes, and a new(ish) mystery that I felt was more cohesive with the rest of Antlers both in lore and tone. When I first wrote Chapter 1, I wasn’t sure where the rest of Antlers’ story was going to go, and having that knowledge now was a huge help when it came to revisions.
You can start the new version of Chapter 1 here, where Chapter 1 has always lived, OR you can pick up a full, formatted PDF of both the Prologue and Chapter 1 on my itch.io! The PDF will always be free to download, but there is an option enabled for tips, if you’re feeling generous.
I hope you guys enjoy! This rewrite has been stressful, but a lot of fun, and I’m very pleased with how it ended up.
- Marn
As of yesterday, it’s now been 5 years since the Antlers prologue kicked everything off! I always like to commemorate the occasion somehow (last year it was teasing DBB), so I have a very cool and special announcement to make: Antlers Chapter 1 is getting a complete rewrite/revision!
What does this mean? Well, the current version of Chapter 1 will stay exactly where it is until October 31st, at which point it will be replaced by an all new version. Similarly to the way webcomic artists will return to early chapters and touch up art and writing they don’t like anymore, I’ve rearranged some of the bits and pieces of Chapter 1 to make it fit better with the overarching plot of Antlers. Since Chapter 1 was written before said plot was completely solidified in my mind, there’s places that it could definitely use more direction, more thematic coherence, and a little more touching up than I’ve already gone back and done in previous years. Most of the characters and beats/events you remember will still be in place, but there will be plenty of new stuff to dig into!
In addition to updating the site and Wattpad, I’ll also be uploading a full PDF of the Antlers Prologue + Chapter 1 on itch.io, once the revised Chapter 1 is released! It will be a bonus, fully formatted version (with banner illustrations), that you’ll be able to purchase to own on your computer or e-reader. I’ll make a post with more details as we get closer to the release date!
I can’t believe Antlers has been around for 5 years, and I’m so grateful that so many of you are still around supporting me and recommending my work to others. I hope you’re all enjoying Prairie Song, and I hope to have more updates for you soon!
Hey everyone, since it’s DBB’s off week, I’m publishing an Antlers short that I just recently finished! It’s called the less we say about it, the better and it takes place in between Chapters 4 and 5. It basically has no bearing on the main plot, but I had a fun time writing it, and I hope you enjoy! You can read it here.
Hey everyone! Marn here, coming to your dashboard to announce that you will be able to read a new project I’m working on very shortly! Prairie Song is a web serial about four friends traveling through the post-apocalyptic United States, trying to outrun and outwit a dangerous gang of criminals. It’s got elements of horror, Westerns, science fiction, and basically any movie where a crew of unlikely friends bonds during a road trip. Prairie Song is a joint effort between me and my frequent collaborator/writing partner Alyssa, who is making the chapter banners (including the one in this post) as well as splitting the serial writing/editing work with me.
You’ll be able to read Prairie Song right here, starting January 5th and updating every Friday from there on out! There will also be character pictures and bios posted one at a time to the cast page, starting December 1st!
So…that’s it! Antlers, CO is over, after ~2 ½ years and over 230,000 words. Which is, quite frankly, wild. Antlers clocks in at the longest thing I’ve ever written, both time and length-wise, and it was the first big writing project I ever undertook. I’m a little amazed that it’s come so far, and that so many people have enjoyed reading it.
Where do we go from here? Well, hopefully one day you’ll be able to hold a print copy of Antlers (Books 1 and 2) in your hands. But in more immediate, short-tem news, I am working on both a traditional novel and another serial! The traditional novel is a supernatural murder mystery called Deep, Blue, Bottomless and it’s set in the same universe as Antlers, in a tiny Maine town called Armitage. The serial doesn’t have a proper title yet, but it should be launching in or by Fall 2017, and it’s a collab project! I’ll be sure to announce it here when it launches, so watch this space for more.
Hopefully someday I’ll write a proper sequel to Antlers. I have a ton of story ideas kicking around that I would consider spiritual sequels (DBB being one of them), but a direct sequel featuring all the same characters might be a long ways away. All the same, I’m really excited for you all to stick with me on this journey, and see what else I’ve got in store!
Thank you guys so much for reading!
- Marn
“I can’t define myself through irony and self deprecation.
I can’t deny myself being alive through my alienation.”
- Say Anything, “Mara and Me”
click here to play dig your own hole.
content warnings: this intermission contains descriptions of gore and body horror.
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