Dickey Maracheck

A famous war correspondent, journalist and documentary filmmaker in the Darkwood, 8 of his books on the Bog War, Bog history and current events reached the  #1 Bog Folk Times Bestselling list.

As an award-winning journalist, a contributing editor to The Darkwood Herald and a special correspondent for the Darkwood Chronicle, he has covered major news stories around the Darkwood since 1979, and has received both a Hound Award and a Peebutt Award. Marachek is also a documentary filmmaker whose debut film “Tears of the Hound: How one man single handedly duped the Bogfolk”  a feature-length documentary about Bruce VanLouen’s first attempt at his ill fated VanLouen institute in the early 90s (co-directed with Nathan Scott Lipless), was nominated for an Amber Town Award for excellence in film making and won the Mara Argento Prize at the Milk Rain Film Festival.

His third novel, “Of Trenches and Trikes: On the Frontlines of the Second Bog War,” which chronicled the deployment of a platoon of Anti-Hole King soldiers fighting on the front lines of the Sorrow Valley and Rim Ram Mountain campaigns during the Second Bog War, is widely considered to have broken new ground in war reporting. The novel was adapted into a film with raw footage taken during the conflict. Marachek has since produced and directed three additional documentaries about the bog wars and their aftermath, notably how PTSD has impacted the collective psyche of the Bogfolk and the decision making of its leaders.

“The Worm Road Home”, which premiered on a dark wood Public Access channel BBO, chronicles the life and career of his friend and colleague, Richard Lemming, whom he met during the first Bog War and developed a personal and professional fascination with. Filmed over three decades it has been described as, “a modern Greek tragedy that is at times darkly funny, encapsulating the evil places a beautiful mind can descend when exposed to dimensions they are yet not prepared to know.” The film is notable for another deeply unflattering depiction of Bruce VanLouen, who very publicly made a response documentary to clear his name: “The Healer: How I saved myself by saving others; the BVL story”. Bruce’s film was a critical and financial flop however, widely criticized for using paid actors to stand in as friends and family, and for the 300 animals that died during production.

Marachek’s next  novel “The Paw That Feeds” returns to the subject of small-town corruption in the Darkwood, linking back to Marachek’s constant thesis that the seeds of decay and dysfunction were planted by the horrors of the bog wars, and all societal issues can be linked back to the battles fought and alliances made during this time as well as BVL’s toxic influence on the communities. His next big film, “Searching for Joy in the Heart of Sorrow” which also premiered on the BBO (Bog Broadcasting Organization), examines the complexities of life for the marginalized and villainized communities in the Darkwood, like Ghouls, goofers and Rascals—all of whom experience discrimination and institutional racism even after serving alongside mightier beings as comrades during the Bog Wars. He explores these overlooked enclaves by traveling up the East Wood railroad lines with a film crew interviewing vagrants and individuals along the way.

Marachek has also written for magazines including The Hole, The New Horse Review, Dipe Aficionado and Boy’s Journal. His investigative  reporting on the loss of an entire college class in the Darkwood is credited bringing The Hole King to the mainstream Darkwood zeitgeist and was later turned into a novel "Into the Forbidden Gardens," which resulted in Dickey being placed number 4 on the Hole King’s list of enemies for the critical stance the book takes.

Despite his critical success he has remained relatively unknown due to TVs being incredibly rare in the Darkwood and an illiteracy rate of 90%, thus preventing mass consumption of his films and written works.