Get ready for "The Arbigast Group"!

I’m happy to announce today that my short story “Flesh and Blood” has been picked up and will be included in the upcoming 3rd Edition of Coach’s Midnight Diner. The Diner has been good to me, seeing my first short story “Flowers for Shelly” published in the last edition, and I’m happy to be a part of the crew this go ‘round as well.

“Flesh and Blood” marks, what I hope to be, the first of many adventures for my new cast of characters—The Arbigast Group, a team of no-nonsense, gunslinger-style monster hunters. These are the guys you hire in dark alleys to take care of that ghoul problem that’s plaguing your town. They ride in, get the job done—usually in bloody fashion—and ride off to find more things to shoot dead.

I first thought of The Arbigast Group back in 1998, when Halloween H20 came out. I remember watching the TV spot for the movie and thought “What if a group of guys with guns, guts, and years of supernatural know-how busted in on Michael Myers while he was skulking about and hosed him?” Well, that thought entertained me for a good long while and, over the years, I often thought of The Arbigast Group. When it came time to write the first drafts of The Coming Evil Trilogy, I had actually written a subplot in Book Three that would have seen the Group headed to Greensboro to face the Strange Man. For many reasons, I excised that particular plot, but the characters had really taken a life of their own in spite of their place on the cutting room floor. So, I lovingly scooped them up, gave them a little more polish, and now we’ve got their first solo adventure “Flesh and Blood” coming up.

The anthology is up for presale now. I encourage everyone to go out and order a copy. I’m really excited to be in this anthology, in particular, because I find myself surrounded by friends, including Kevin Lucia of Hiram Grange and the Chosen One fame, and Ed Erdelac—a fellow Star Wars contributor and horror writer (check out his Merkabah Rider for some Weird West action)!

I hope everyone enjoys the Arbigast Group in action. And, who knows, they might make it to Greensboro yet…