Cochrane writer blends humour and suspense

Lauren Meister, CochraneNow.com | Tuesday, Jan 20 2026, 8:57 AM

Cochrane resident Al Dickie has transformed decades of storytelling into two self-published books full of suspense, dark humor, and eerie twists.
After a 40-year career in the Canadian army and a role as an intelligence operator for the government, Dickie says writing became his way to relieve stress.
“I started writing fiction just to clear my head,” he says. “Eventually I had so many stories I thought, why not put them into a collection?”
His first book, Death Deals a Dozen, features twelve short stories where characters often meet unexpected, sometimes darkly humorous ends. Inspired by Frederick Forsyth’s No Comebacks, the collection explores “what if?” scenarios, from deals gone wrong with the devil to tales of crime and misfortune.
The follow-up, Death Rolls the Dice, continues in the same vein with shorter stories that mix humour, the creepy, and the occult. Some even imagine death as a character wandering the world collecting souls. Dickie says, “If you like the humorous stories, there’s a few in each book. If you like creepy stuff that keeps you up at night, there’s that too.”
Dickie writes each story individually, often inspired by news events or sudden ideas. Some draw on classic horror influences like Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft, while others are slice-of-life tales with unexpected twists. One story from Death Deals a Dozen, The Hammer, follows a young boxer whose deal with the devil goes hilariously wrong, told from the perspective of sports commentators.
Both books are self-published and available exclusively on Amazon Kindle, with options for e-book or paperback. Dickie is currently exploring ways to bring his work to local libraries and independent bookstores, saying, “I’m hoping to do author readings and donate EPUB versions to libraries so people can borrow them.”