An Extreme Horror Short Story by Steve Stred
Some evil doesn’t stalk you.It waits for you to stop moving.
Once a drummer in a brutal metal band, Mongrel is now a traveling street musician—scraping together money city by city, sleeping wherever he can, drifting through towns that feel wrong the moment he arrives.
This one feels worse than most.
Chaos hangs in the air. Sirens echo. Violence simmers just beneath the surface. When Mongrel finds himself standing outside a narrow alley between a liquor store and a pool hall, he knows he should keep walking.
He doesn’t.
A woman dies in the darkness.
And something ancient and corrupt takes hold.
In ‘Traveling Wilbury,’ award-winning author Steve Stred delivers a bleak, sexually charged descent into possession, inevitability, and the terrifying ease with which ordinary people can be turned into instruments of unimaginable evil.
Set within the expanding universe of Try Not to Die: With Satan Inside, and continuing the story of Mongrel from Dethfest Confessions, this tale reveals how little Satan respects his hosts.
You didn’t escape.
You just stopped running.
The darkness catches up.
⚠️ CONTENT WARNING
This story contains graphic violence, disturbing imagery, sexual assault, religious horror, possession, and psychological torment.
Reader discretion is strongly advised.
For mature audiences only.
THE FIRST DESCENT — READ THEM ALL
These three stories form the opening descent into the extreme horror anthology Who’s Satan Inside?, expanding the universe of Try Not to Die: With Satan Inside.
''️ Chef’s Choice — Andrew Najberg
🩸 I Am Violence — Wrath James White
🧳 Traveling Wilbury — Steve Stred
Each story stands alone.
Together, they ask one question in three different ways:
Who’s Satan Inside?
These stories are only the beginning.
Seven more stories descend even deeper.
👉 Preorder Who’s Satan Inside?
🔥 Coming Early 2026
Follow Satan’s misadventures.
⚠️ For mature audiences only.
Genre: Horror
Used availability for Steve Stred's Traveling Wilbury