Joseph Falank combines personal drama with a spooky atmosphere in his newest book

Three couples. A weekend at a secluded lake house. What could go wrong?

Quite a lot, as it turns out. Joseph Falank’s new book, “The Vanishing at Echo Lake” (Oct. 22), combines the each couple’s relationships issues with a mysterious cabin where the living have a tendency to go missing without a trace.

Joseph talks about what inspired the book, not his first in the horror genre, and how he created both the world of the cabin and the people, in a way that makes them matter to the reader. He goes into the force surrounding the cabin and how we learn of its effect on the people there. The book’s set amidst the COVID pandemic and we look at why this was done and how it impacts the story.

Joseph even gives us a sneak peek at his next project, a fantasy story that his daughter helped inspire.