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Reston author Ivy Grimes has transported a Russian fairy tale into a dark modern survival story where a massive solar flare threatens society—and an unsettling secret waits beneath an already-creepy cellar.

Released in March 2026, “The Cellar Below the Cellar” is a 150-page novella published by independent press Violet Lichen. The paperback received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, which praised its expansive world and distinctive folk-horror elements.

Grimes based the story on “Vasilisa the Beautiful,” a Russian fairy tale featuring the legendary witch Baba Yaga. Her version pairs those folkloric roots with a Carrington Event-style solar flare and a community struggling to survive.

“I took the fairy tale ‘Vasilisa the Beautiful’ and did a modern-day spin,” Grimes said. “It’s a horror story, but it’s not terrifying. It’s just a little dark.”

Magic, hope and community resilience run through the contemporary survival tale. Grimes planned the ending and the protagonist’s journey from the beginning, shaping a quirky work of speculative horror that she said is suitable for readers 13 and older.

The story’s memorable elements include “demon jars” and the eventual revelation of the cellar beneath the cellar. Its brief length makes it possible for teens and adults to finish the novella in an afternoon—perhaps preferably outside in bright daylight.

Originally from Birmingham, Alabama, Grimes earned an MFA from the University of Alabama after studying law and creative writing. Her fiction has appeared in The Baffler, Vastarien, Hex, Maudlin House, Ergot and Potomac Review.

She also wrote the collections “Glass Stories,” published by Grimscribe Press, and “The Ghosts of Blaubart Mansion,” published by Cemetery Gates.

Available in paperback and as an ebook, “The Cellar Below the Cellar” features a black cover with pink-purple lettering and an eerie cabin illustration by Jack Hillside.