Dear Readers,
This is the English translation of Welcome to the Long Night Hotel.
I write the original story in Chinese first, then translate it into English. Since my English isn't perfect, I do use AI to assist with the translation process. — but I personally check every single sentence myself. Whenever something doesn't match what I originally meant, I revise it again and again until I find an English expression that feels as close to the Chinese as possible. Sometimes, I even rewrite parts myself with my limited English.
The English chapter titles won't always match the Chinese originals exactly, because I try to rethink what title best suits each chapter for English-speaking readers. I've also put a lot of thought into every character's English name, hoping to keep the feeling of the original while making sure each name reads naturally in English.
Honestly, translating this novel is sometimes genuinely painful. But seeing how many people are willing to read my story still makes me really happy, and I'm deeply grateful to all of you.
I'm writing this letter because the Chinese original has now reached Chapter 24. Please don't worry — I'll keep working to catch up to where the Chinese version stands, and I'll keep translating the rest of the story for everyone.
But while writing the most recent chapter, I ran into something I need to talk about.
Let me explain, slowly.
When I first started writing the Long Night Hotel, I only meant to write a horror novel. But as I kept writing, I realized what I actually wanted to write was something much bigger — a story that starts at the hotel and gradually expands into an exploration of an entire "Long Night world."
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Truthfully, more than horror and suspense, what I've always loved reading — and what I've always wanted to write — are adventure stories.
So if you came here specifically for pure horror atmosphere, I owe you an apology in advance.
There will still have frightening, suspenseful moments throughout the novel, and there will also be deadly scenarios where the characters have to solve mysteries in order to survive. But those are only part of the story.
Overall, this novel will focus more on exploration, mystery-solving, and adventure.
In other words, this book may not be quite what readers looking for pure horror expect.
And honestly, it probably isn't going to be that scary.
Why?
Well...
Probably because the author herself is scared of horror stories.
If you were looking for a pure horror-thriller novel, I'm sorry to disappoint you.
That said, I still really want to know where this story is going to end up, so I'll keep writing it my own way, following wherever it leads.
You might ask: isn't it a little ridiculous for the author herself not to know where her own story is headed?
But that's genuinely my situation.
I usually write this story one chapter at a time. Sometimes inspiration strikes and I suddenly know exactly where things should go next. But more often than not, I get stuck — because even I don't know how to connect the next piece of the plot together.
Even so, I still really want to finish a full-length novel that's truly my own. Even if it ends up with no readers at all, finishing a novel has been a dream of mine since I was a kid.
So, in a way, consider this a bit of a fair warning.
If you're looking for a pure horror-thriller, this story might not be for you. But if you're interested in adventure, exploration, mystery-solving, or stories about stepping out of the real world into another, unknown one — I'd love for you to keep reading.
I've already updated the book's synopsis and I hope that will help avoid any misunderstanding for new readers going forward.
Also — I promise I'll do my best to finish this book.
And if there's ever a stretch where I go quiet for a long time, please don't assume I've abandoned it. I've probably just gotten stuck again.
Please bear with this rookie author. 🥲
With gratitude,
Snow Easterly