About Strange Country

Strange Country is a publication of speculative and literary fiction — mostly Southern, sometimes not. The premise behind the name is simple. The country I grew up in keeps refusing to hold still. The hill where the old highway bends, the porch light burning at three in the morning, the field that goes silent when you cross the fenceline — places I’ve been my whole life that still don’t quite let me see them clearly. Every other week, I write a story trying to.

Watch the Road follows a father and his sons as they work to build a life in a world that isn’t working anymore. Long Haul finds a trucker arguing with the ghosts of his past, with the needs of his loved ones here and now. The settings change. The mode is steady: stories that tilt the familiar a few degrees off-axis and see what falls out.

A new story every other Sunday

A new story arrives every other Sunday morning, in your inbox or on the app — however you read.

For now, everything is free. The writing, the archives, all of it.

Paid subscriptions are coming soon, and when they do, the difference will be audio. Every story will be narrated by me — recorded carefully, made for your commute or for the kitchen or for a long walk after the kids are down. The audio isn’t a perk. It’s how I’d rather you hear these — sentences written to be spoken, lines that only land when a voice carries them.

Subscribe now to get access to everything as I figure out in real time how to best do this.

About me

I’m Seth Ervin. I grew up in the Piedmont of North Carolina and live in the big city of Charlotte now with my wife and two sons. I design things for a living and write fiction in the hours that belong to me.

Comments are open and I read them. If something I write rattles around your head for a few hours, tell me. That’s most of why I do this.

Regardless, I appreciate you being here and reading these words. It’s my joy and passion to write, and I’m humbled by any human being who stops to read them. Thank you.