Let's Cast "The Coming Evil"!

Howdy.

I remember back in the day reading Wizard Magazine and always excited to see a feature called "Casting Call" whereby the staff at Wizard had a little fun and cast who they thought would fit best with hypothetical comic book movies.

Well, I thought I would give the same treatment to The Coming Evil Trilogy. Seeing as how this series began as a script (and one day I'd like to see it return to that format, if God so wills), I've always thought of this trilogy in movie terms. So, for fun, we're gonna sit down and cast The Coming Evil Trilogy. Some of these actors I had in mind while writing from Day One, while others I came up with just for this feature. Some of these actors have aged considerably, and some of them--sadly--are no longer with us. Therefore, this is a total dream cast, and I think that each of these actors embody the essence of the characters.

Here's the cast, broken down by each book. KEEP IN MIND, THERE WILL BE SOME SPOILERS BELOW!

THE STRANGE MAN

Dras Weldon: From the jump, I always envisioned Ethan Embry (circa Can't Hardly Wait) as Dras Weldon. I mean, come on, look at that guy! He's got this open face and this squirrely smirk. He seems to be the absolute last person you would choose to fend off the armies of hell--which is why he's exactly perfect for Dras.

Rosalyn Myers: While Eliza Dushku's turn as Faith Lehane in Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a major inspiration for the character of Rosalyn, I went through a major Jennifer Love Hewitt phase when I first started writing The Strange Man back in the late '90s. I think she's gorgeous; her eyes are so expressive and I think she has a great sincerity and vulnerability in her performances. In the books, Rosalyn goes from girl-next-door, to tormented victim, to lost soul. I think JLH could handle all of that and make us feel for her character's dark journey every step of the way.

Jeff Weldon: My wife and I agree that a young Tim Daly would make a perfect Jeff Weldon, while my brother leans towards The Vampire Diaries' Ian Somerhalder (who might also make a pretty good Strange Man, no?). However you cut it, we need an apple pie, upstanding good man and I think Supernatural's Jensen Ackles is a perfect fit. I think the early seasons of Supernatural show that Jensen is a powerhouse of an actor. He can be cute, threatening, burdened, desperate to please his father, and kind. He's got the full range (and I hear the girls think he's hot). Well, okay, I'll admit--he is a pretty good-looking man.

Isabella Weldon: When Jennifer Lopez is not all done up in her glamorous dresses, I think she displays a real down-to-earth beauty. She exudes strength, but also warmth and humor--everything a woman needs to play Isabella.

The Strange Man: This is a hard one, and I've changed my views on who should play the titular villain. But, these days, I'm gonna throw it to Tom Huddleston. Have you seen his creepy Loki grin? I think this actor could capture the suave appeal of the demon in his human form, as well as cutting loose and being wide-eyed evil and sadistic.

Lindsey McCormick: For the Strange Man's first victim, I would select none other than Vampire Diaries sweetheart Candice Accola. She's the right mixture of bubbly innocence and beauty--and we'd all instantly hate the Strange Man for taking her out of this world.

ENEMIES OF THE CROSS

Sheriff Hank Berkley: For my money, the late great Lane Smith will always be Hank Berkley to me, hands down. He played the father in Son-in-Law (yeah, Pauly Shore!), and Perry White in Lois & Clark on ABC. I see this man and some of the characters he's played and I just want to give him a big ole hug. And that's exactly what kind of reaction I get from Hank. Hank is fatherly, a bit dopey at times, but all Southern heart. Mr. Smith would have knocked that performance out of the park.

Danny Carpenter: As stated in a previous commentary, I've always envisioned Norman Reedus as everyone's favorite rebellious punk with a heart of gold.

Millie Walker: Precocious Mara Wilson from Mrs. Doubtfire would have been perfect for the soft spoken, though courageous, toddler who dared to shove a defiant finger in the face of hell.

Annie Myers: Michelle Trachtenberg was the cute, though annoying kid sister in Buffy, and I believe she would have served the same purpose as Rosalyn's cute, though annoying kid sister :p

Leonard Fergus: Again, as already noted in one of my commentaries for Enemies, I want Bill Cobbs to play Leonard. That voice, that gait! Accept no substitute.

Christopher Perdu: Well, it has to be a young Robert Redford, right? I mean, I said as much in the book!

Deputy Ryan Stevenson: We need a hulking guy with a sinister glint in his eyes. Browncoats rejoice as I believe Firefly's Adam Baldwin would be a perfect and intimidating Deputy (and later Sheriff) Stevenson.

Will Baxter: Okay, so I chose Hayden Christensen. Attack of the Clones notwithstanding, there's something about this actor that I want to like. I believe (a younger version of him) could play the shy, untried assistant pastor--but with a darkness brewing in his eyes.

Ray McCormick: "Doom! Doom!" Marvelous character actor Jeffrey Combs has all the Lovecraftian nuance to play Lindsey's grieving father who falls victim to terrible visions of the Doom That Has Come to Greensboro.

Earl Canton: I struggled with this one, but I think I've settled on Clancy Brown in the role of Earl, playing the embittered father who distrusts his local government and wants answers for all the "mysterious events" going on in Greensboro. I've loved Clancy Brown in everything I've ever seen him in, so I'm confident he would bring an intensity, and also a great sadness, to the role of Earl.

DARK HOUR

Jack Weldon: For the role of Dras and Jeff's father, I needed a man who could just look at you and either build you up or cut you down. The late Jason Robards is just that good.

Reid: When Christopher calls in for some angelic backup, he gets this long-haired hippy in a "God Is Nifty" T-Shirt. Dean Haglund as Langley in The X-Files and The Lone Gunmen was, quite obviously, the inspiration for Reid and I can't imagine another actor playing him.

Carter Ross: I pretty much just ripped off Carter's look from the character of C.J. in the remake of Dawn of the Dead anyway, so let's just cast the same actor, Michael Kelly, yeah?

Sarah Browning: This was a tough cast, but I really like Mary Elizabeth Winstead. I think she's a solid actress and would make a great "cute nerd" who makes eyes at Danny. She's smart, quirky, and confident: good qualities for the Haven's resident computer tech.

TJ Walker: Shawn Hatosy's turn as a discontent jock in '90s creature feature The Faculty puts him in the prime position for the role of misguided monster in our movie.

Rebecca Walker: Penelope Ann Miller was a name that sprung to mind while creating this list. She's got a tenderness, honesty, and fierce motherly instinct that could serve her well in the Dark Hour.

Franklin Whitaker: It's a Supernatural reunion! Papa Winchester himself, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, was always Franklin in my book. He's gruff, got the look of a hard worker, and has an easy-to-love smile.

LENGTHENING SHADOWS

Bonus round! I would be remiss not to include my dream casting for the Arbigast Group as featured in this e-novella that takes place between Enemies of the Cross and Dark Hour.

Jon Arbigast: I've already admitted in an earlier commentary that the character of Arbigast was directly inspired by my wide-eyed admiration of James Woods in John Carpenter's Vampires. Man, I love that guy.

Rashonda Spencer: I've never considered anyone else for the role of Arbigast's right hand woman than powerful lioness Angela Bassett.

Zabuto LeBeau: Idris Elba is everywhere these days, and there's a reason for that: He's just so blasted cool. He carries himself with humble confidence and power--perfect for Zabuto.

Nathan Callahan: Once again, the only person, in my mind, who could play the crude and brutish monster hunter is character actor Mark Boone Junior (and, hey, he's in Vampires too!).

Rachel King: Smoking hot Rachel Nichols would be a great fit as the rookie who has to prove her muster to the likes of Jon Arbigast.

So, there we go! The trilogy is cast! Do you agree or disagree with my casting? Who would you cast? Feel free to chime in and join in the fun!

The Trilogy is Complete

Look what came in the mail today, completing the set :)

To me, this story was never meant to be "The Strange Man and its sequels", but one story that could only be told when all three parts were fit together. It's a good feeling to know that the whole story--the real story--is finally told, and that they make such a striking trio on the bookshelf :p

Thanks to all who have taken the journey with me, and to those just discovering the path for the first time, welcome! Complete your own collection of The Coming Evil Trilogy, by visiting these helpful links:

The Strange Man
Enemies of the Cross
Dark Hour

Also available--Lengthening Shadows, an exclusive e-novella set before the dramatic events in Dark Hour.

"The Coming Evil"--The Story So Far

My publisher has informed me that all the last minute formatting is done on Dark Hour--the final installment in The Coming Evil Trilogy--and will be off to the printer shortly. That means you may be able to purchase the book in little over a week! This saga that has consumed my entire adult life is coming to an end. That fills me with a mix of emotions, but I might share those later.

Right now, in order to prepare you for this epic final confrontation against the Strange Man and his demonic hordes, here's a little refresher course on the series thus far. The following can be found as a preface in my recent enovella release Lengthening Shadows, which takes place after Enemies of the Cross, but before Dark Hour.

It goes without saying (and yet here I am saying it) that the below is filled with spoilers, and only skims the surface of events from the previous two books. Both The Strange Man and Enemies of the Cross are available online and in stores, so go out and buy your copy today to experience the excitement firsthand!

Now, on with the guide:


For over a hundred years, the small town of Greensboro has told stories of a Bogeyman lurking in the spooky North Woods. As an unusual storm blows through modern day Greensboro, slacker Dras Weldon discovers that the legends are terrifyingly real. A demonic “strange man” has returned to visit his wrath on the town that expunged him so long ago. However, the monster’s plans are temporarily put on hold when he spots Dras’ best friend, Rosalyn Myers. The Strange Man becomes fixated on the young woman, preying on her bitterness, desiring to have her for himself. Desperate to save his friend, Dras matures overnight, setting aside his selfish attitudes in order to combat the Strange Man. He first seeks the help of his older brother, Jeff, a pastor at the Good Church of the Faithful, but after a lifetime of being disappointed by Dras’ irresponsible living, Jeff refuses to believe his brother’s story. Alone, and armed only with a faith he once discarded, Dras faces down the Strange Man in the dance hall known as The Rave Scene. However, the Strange Man has orchestrated events to frame Dras for the murders the demon has committed while in town. Deputies led by Ryan Stevenson storm The Rave Scene and arrest Dras, beating him nearly to death. Dras is only spared by the intervention of Sheriff Hank Berkley.

Branded “The Greensboro Ripper”, Dras is sentenced to imprisonment in Wexler State Penitentiary. With Dras removed, the Strange Man steps up his pursuit of Rosalyn in earnest, repeatedly visiting her and tormenting her—but also wooing her to his side. Alone and vulnerable, Rosalyn begins to confuse right and wrong and suspects that, though she loathes the Strange Man for what he’s done to Dras, the demon might also be her only salvation from a town and people who have outcast her. Dras’ brother, Jeff, struggles with guilt and regret for not coming to his brother’s aid, even as he discovers a conspiracy amongst the Greensboro leaders to conceal the Strange Man’s actions. As Jeff learns, the conspirators—calling themselves “The Committee”—have been secretly aiding the monster in order to return prosperity to their dying town. Only now, Leonard Fergus, one of the conspirators, is having misgivings about their deal with the devil and reveals the terrible truth to Jeff. As Jeff gets closer to tearing down the conspiracy, the Committee responds in kind, using the young pastor’s newfound obsession as ammunition to have him dismissed from the pulpit. Jeff’s marriage to Isabella is on rocky ground as Jeff pushes everyone away, desperate to get revenge against the Strange Man and the men who collaborated with the creature. Jeff’s only friend is Danny Carpenter, a young drug pusher who, in the midst of his own rehabilitation, comes to trust the ex-preacher.

Together the duo unravel the mystery at the heart of their town and learn the truth: The Strange Man is orchestrating events to bring about something he calls the “Dark Hour” that will see the return of his Master to the Earth and the presumable annihilation of mankind. But the deeper Jeff descends into the Strange Man’s dark secrets, the more he loses himself, nearly succumbing to a supernaturally-charged viscous black goo that has the ability to bond to men and turn them into shambling monsters. Jeff’s only way to save himself is to renounce his cause and to do the nigh impossible—trust God to have a plan.

Conquering his inner demons, Jeff encourages Danny to back away from the fight, as Jeff reunites with his wife. Sheriff Hank Berkley and teenager Annie Myers, Rosalyn’s sister, have come to learn the truth, as well, and join the three in biding their time, waiting for the Strange Man’s next move, ready to act whenever God calls them to action. It’s a painful decision as the town is moving closer and closer to the Dark Hour. The knife is twisted even deeper into the backs of the faithful when Rosalyn finally gives in to the Strange Man’s will, consuming the black goo, lost to darkness…

"Lengthening Shadows"--Commentary

In case you missed it, last week I released a brand new tale set within The Coming Evil Trilogy. Lengthening Shadows is an e-novella set between Enemies of the Cross and Dark Hour. It sets the stage for that final book in The Coming Evil Trilogy--due to hit the market in February 2013. So, here we are for a commentary on the new story. However, because Lengthening Shadows introduces many concepts that will be explored in full in Dark Hour, I'm saving the commentary on those aspects for Book Three's commentary.

There is one thing that Lengthening Shadows has that marks it as a unique entry in the saga--the inclusion of The Arbigast Group.

An early roster of the Arbigast Group appeared in my short story "Flesh and Blood" found within the pages of The Midnight Diner Vol. 3. The Arbigast Group is my answer to the grizzled monster hunters--a not-so secret passion of mine. I get a thrill at the idea of a group of guys getting together for the sole purpose of hunting evil. I've always imagined what kind of brotherhood might exist in such a group, facing nightly terrors that the world refused to believe in. I imagined it would be a life of quiet sacrifice and no glory--save for the moment you were slaying some unthinkable creature.

More specifically, the Arbigast Group, and its inclusion in The Coming Evil Trilogy, was informed by two sources: John Carpenter's Vampires (based on the amazing John Steakley novel Vampire$) and that Schwarzenegger flick End of Days.


The leader of the Group--Jon Arbigast--is a thinly veiled homage to James Woods in Vampires. He's crude, loud, a bit egotistical, and a drunk. But, at the heart of him, he's a man who loves his team and would gladly die for them. I'm pretty sure Vampires was a flop at the box office and pelted by critics as being misogynistic. I suppose some of the latter criticism is warranted, but there is such a tenderness that Woods adds to his tough guy monster hunter that really left a lasting impression on me. I wanted to create a character like that to explore. Being knee-deep in my Buffy obsession at the time, it was refreshing to see hunters struggling to win. I had become so used to a hunter who barely had to fight to defeat a hellborn foe--and always had a cutesy comeback, to boot--that it was quite shocking to be reminded of how "blue collar hunters" had the harder battle. These guys had to rely on their teammates and their quick thinking and every inch they gained in the war against vampires was won only with blood and tears. I wanted to write hunters like THAT, not like Buffy.

Years passed. 2003 rolled around and I was looking to break into writing for the Halloween film franchise--ironically enough, also a John Carpenter movie. I wrote a script that saw a group of mercenaries--either originally built by Dr. Loomis or inspired by the wild-eyed bogey chaster--hired to hunt down Michael Myers. I even pitched it as "John Carpenter's Vampires meets Halloween". This team was called The Loomis Group. I made a lot of contacts that year in the Halloween machine (which would eventually lead me to write "White Ghost") and knocked on Dimension Films' door in order to pitch it. But, things fell through, no one returned my calls, and the script languished. Same old story. I was pretty bummed, even though looking back, I can already tell that my super action movie take on a Michael Myers movie would have probably ticked off quite a few diehard fans. Perhaps, then, it's better it didn't get made. Nevertheless, I really liked the concept and I liked the characters. Seeing as how I'm not a guy who likes to let a good idea go to waste, I started thinking about turning this script into an original story and bringing this group to life in an original work.

However, I couldn't very well call them "The Loomis Group" anymore (Well, I guess I could, but I didn't want to). I was aware that John Carpenter took the name "Loomis" from Hitchcock's Psycho. I decided to return to that source and mine Psycho for another name. Ironically I turned to the closest thing to a "monster hunter" you could get in the movie--that of private investigator Milton Arbogast, coolly played by Martin Balsam. I spelled the name phonetically, though, making for a one-letter difference. After giving the characters a name-change, I had a handful of gunslinging spook killers, but no one to pit them against.

I said my other inspiration for the Arbigast Group came from End of the Days. Now, I've only seen that movie once, and that was in the theater on opening weekend way back in 1999, but I remember that I did not like it at all. Back then, I was just starting to formulate the early versions of The Coming Evil in my mind, and it struck me that a big muscle guy with lots of guns and a mean snarl wouldn't do a lick of good against the Strange Man. The entire point of the Strange Man was that he had to be fought with faith, so, early on, I had the question of what would happen if the traditional Hollywood tough guy went toe-to-toe with my monster. So, after 2003, it finally clicked that I could bring in my Arbigast Group into The Coming Evil Trilogy.

The results are found in Lengthening Shadows.

That idea rotated in the back of my mind for a number of years, until I finally brought the Arbigast Group into the first manuscript of Dark Hour. But, honestly, I had so many things going on in that draft and was well over 200 thousand words (Enemies of the Cross was 120k for a point of reference) that I had to cut something. So, I took all the scraps from Dark Hour, re-fitted them, and produced Lengthening Shadows--a prequel tale.

Still, though, I struggled just a bit with whether to bring the Group into the world of The Coming Evil. Now understand that practically everything I write "fits together" into a single mythology. From Rift Jump to The Coming Evil to most (if not all) of my short stories. So, from the moment I first wrote the Group in "Flesh and Blood", I knew they were connected, but I hesitated on making that connection blatant. Why? Because the Group hunts various kinds of monsters, but I wasn't sure how open my Coming Evil readers would be to the idea that more supernatural creatures than the Strange Man existed in this world. The Coming Evil is rooted very firmly in a Christian worldview, and I was aware that most of my readers also adhered to such a view. How would they feel about me dropping in werewolves, vampires, and the like into their belief structure? Especially since I couldn't give the "Coming Evil explanation" for werewolves and vampires in this book, due to time constraints.

I essentially had to drop the bomb that traditional monsters were real without giving any explanation for them at this time. I wasn't sure how that would go, or if I was going to stretch the bounds of believability in the fictional universe I had created. In hopes of diffusing the tension a bit, I was careful when describing the things that Arbigast faces not by their traditional names, but by the somewhat vague description of "ghouls, ghosts, phantoms, things in the closet, things under the bed, flesh eaters, dead walkers, blood drinkers, savage man-beasts, unnatural predators, everything people feared as children and grew up to laugh at, before they discovered they were real".

I thought this would suffice to get across the idea of the things Arbigast faced without having to get TOO specific. Ideally I'd like to continue writing Arbigast stories sometime in the future, and then I can get more into the specifics of my versions of the classic monster mythologies. We shall see.

There is, at the moment, one other short story with ties to the Arbigast Group slated for publication and that's "Divide and Conquer" coming soon in the Monsters! anthology. That story also connects the Group to my other monster-chaser character Vinnie Caponi: Urban Mythologist who made his debut in last Halloween's A Cat of Nine Tales occult detective anthology. Could there be a full-length Arbigast Group novel in the future? Honestly, I'd love that, but at the moment, my plate is full enough for two Greg Mitchells. I need to clear that away before I'd be able to dive into such a project. But the Group definitely has more stories in them, and it would be great to finally cut loose and just write about some denim-clad gunslingers traveling the American backroads, blasting away every kind of monster I can think of. Sigh... Only time will tell.

Thanks for sticking around for these end notes to Lengthening Shadows. I hope everybody checks out the e-novella. It's available for $2.99 at Kindle and Smashwords. And most importantly, be here in February when we release Dark Hour!

The Coming Evil: Lengthening Shadows--Now Available!

Mornin'.

Look what came out today, just in time for Elvis' birthday?

I'm happy to announce that Lengthening Shadows--the brand new e-novella nestled within The Coming Evil Trilogy--is now available in all ebook formats! Hit up Kindle or Smashwords to download a copy for your platform of choice for $2.99.

Lengthening Shadows is an original tale that serves as an "inbetweenquel", bridging the gap between The Coming Evil, Book Two: Enemies of the Cross and the trilogy's final installment Dark Hour, headed your way in February. Shadows sets up some of the new characters you'll meet in Dark Hour, as well as laying the groundwork for that final tale. Think of it as an extended prologue, to get you ready for the trilogy's mind-shattering conclusion! Mind-shattering, I tells ya!

Buy your copy today, and stay tuned to this blog as I'll write up a couple posts about Lengthening Shadows, leading to the release of Dark Hour. You won't want to miss it.

ABOUT THE NOVELLA:

The Resistance Has Begun.

Rebellion is in the air as the demonic visitor known as “The Strange Man” begins his takeover of Greensboro. Promising prosperity and hiding his true identity, the creature adopts the name “John Graves” and makes himself at home in his position as the town’s new mayor.

It is a time of sedition as former pastor Jeff Weldon and a small band of faithful warriors plot to overthrow the hellish regime. By day, they carry on in their quiet lives, but at night they venture into haunted Greensboro on dangerous missions. A war is brewing in the town’s shadows as even the remnants of the Committee—the original conspirators who helped pave the way for the Strange Man’s arrival—now plot to betray him, hiring a group of hardened mercenaries to kill the monster once and for all.

In the middle of the conflict is Annie Myers, still reeling from the grim fate that befell her older sister Rosalyn. Annie’s blossoming faith is put to the test as she encounters a new and fearsome monster on the outskirts of Greensboro who is taking control of the skies.

As the Dark Hour draws nigh and the shadows lengthen, it becomes all the harder to determine who is friend and who is foe, and if anyone will survive the battle to come.

"Lengthening Shadows", an original e-novella, serves as the bridge between "Enemies of the Cross" and "Dark Hour", Books Two and Three of "The Coming Evil Trilogy".

Coming Soon--The Coming Evil: Lengthening Shadows

Little bit of news today for those of you who've been waiting. Back when I announced that the third and final installment of The Coming Evil Trilogy was headed your way early '13, I made mention of a special "inbetweenquel" e-novella to be released in a few weeks. Ready for more details? Howabout we start with this outstanding cover, whipped up by occult investigator/author/buddy Bob Freeman!

Nice, yeah? Now, here's what the book's about: 

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THE RESISTANCE HAS BEGUN 

Rebellion is in the air as the demonic visitor known only as “The Strange Man” begins his takeover of Greensboro. Promising prosperity and hiding his true identity, the creature adopts the name “John Graves” and makes himself at home in his position as the town’s new mayor.

It is a time of sedition as former pastor Jeff Weldon and a small band of faithful warriors plot to overthrow the hellish regime. By day, they carry on in their quiet lives, but at night they venture into haunted Greensboro on dangerous missions. A war is brewing in the town’s shadows as even the remnants of the Committee—the original conspirators who helped pave the way for the Strange Man’s arrival—now plot to betray him, hiring a group of hardened mercenaries to kill the monster once and for all.

In the middle of the conflict is Annie Myers, still reeling from the grim fate that befell her older sister Rosalyn. Annie’s new and blossoming faith is put to the test as she encounters a new and fearsome monster on the outskirts of Greensboro who is taking control of the skies.

As the Dark Hour draws nigh and the shadows lengthen, it becomes all the harder to determine who is friend and who is foe, and if anyone will survive the battle to come.

 
Stay tuned here in the weeks to come to read more about this new novella and to purchase your own e-copy upon its release!

Next Big Thing--"Dark Hour"

Last week, Weird Western author Ed Erdelac was tagged as part of the "Next Big Thing" Tour, where he was posed 10 questions about his latest book Terovolas (read his post here). As per the rules of the tour, Ed tagged another batch of authors to answer the same questions this week. Ed tagged me, so here I am, talking about my upcoming novel Dark Hour, the epic finale to The Coming Evil Trilogy, slated for an early 2013 release. Read it, yo!

1) What is the working title of your next book?

The Coming Evil, Book Three: Dark Hour

2) Where did the idea come from for the book?

Dark Hour is the final installment in The Coming Evil Trilogy, and the entire basis of this mega-story was my childhood desire to take my love for roller coaster monster movies like The Monster Squad and fuse it with my passion for the Bible. I am captivated by the struggles of the people of faith in the Bible, and how God used unremarkable people to accomplish feats of hope and inspiration. So, you know, I wanted to write that—only with tons of slimy, snarling, flesh-eating monsters.

3) What genre does your book fall under?

Christian Horror! It’s my goal to pit a group of Christian believers against a chthonic terror outside our perception of reality. It’s very Lovecraftian in the sense that it reveals how tiny we humans are in the cosmos, yet whereas Lovecraft’s characters despaired or fell to madness in the face of such truth, my characters have to stack that against their faith and worth in God. It’s a test of belief. Some will fail the test, some will pass. Therein lies the drama.

4) What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

Since The Coming Evil Trilogy originally began as a screenplay back in the late 1990s, I’ve thought about this question a lot. Over the years, my answers have changed. For the main character of Dras (drAHz), I think of Shia LaBeouf now, while I used to envision a young Ethan Embry back in 1998. They’re both boyish and squirrely enough to pull it off. For Dras’ best friend/soul mate Rosalyn, I imagine an I Know What You Did Last Summer-era Jennifer Love Hewitt. For the dastardly Strange Man who seeks to tear Dras and Rosalyn apart, I’m torn between Johnny Depp and, surprisingly Tom Hiddleston who recently played Loki in Thor/The Avengers. I need someone who can pull off creepy, but alluring as well. And he’s gotta be able to grin like a sadistic devil.

5) What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

As the demonic Strange Man’s master edges closer to Earth, a small band of monster fighters will have to make their final stand for the soul of their town.

6) Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

The book will be released by Splashdown Darkwater.

7) How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

At least a couple years of actual writing, but many more years before that of formulating in the back of my mind. The real kicker is the road to publication. I finished my first draft back in 2009, but then I went to work finding a publisher and getting the first two installments of the saga published!

8) What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Ah, books are tough. I’m a movie guy and, again, this started as a movie. I still think of it as a movie in book form. At its heart, Dark Hour is a war/invasion novel. I think of Battle Los Angeles or either major film adaptation of War of the Worlds in terms of intensity and scale and human drama with an alien invasion for a backdrop. Most recently, it’s a lot like the TV show Falling Skies. Very much about an outside force taking over and a ragtag resistance struggling to overcome their own bickering to do any good. And, of course, there are copious amounts of destruction.

9) Who or what inspired you to write this book?

Humanity. That’s a really broad and pretentious answer, but Dark Hour is all about the best and worst of humanity. We can be a sickening, hateful, arrogant bunch, but every once in awhile, one of us does something that is so outstanding and selfless and admirable that it captures the attention of the world. I think most people want to be “good people”, but we so easily lose our way. The road to hell, and all of that. Also, Hebrews 11 in the Bible has a big influence on me and this book. It’s often nicknamed “The Faith Chapter” and it gives a passionate overview of some of the most notables heroes of faith in the Bible—those who shut the mouths of lions and overthrew kingdoms and what not. But, what strikes me most is the latter part of that chapter that lists a plethora of unnamed saints who were brutally murdered in various horrible ways for their faith. They never saw the fruits of their efforts, but they died with their head held high and their sight on Heaven. The Bible said the world was not worthy of such as those. Those are my heroes—the nameless ones who gave everything for what they believed in. I hope that, when push comes to shove, I would have that kind of courage.

10) What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?

The first two parts of The Coming Evil Trilogy are available online and in stores everywhere. Look for The Strange Man and Enemies of the Cross and get all caught up before war breaks out when Dark Hour hits early 2013! Plus, readers might be intrigued to read my most recent novel release Rift Jump. It’s a teen-angst romance adventure story through the multiverse with parallel dimensions and the unknowable evil lurking in the dark spaces in between the worlds! Rift Jump is a cosmic take on my uber-mythos and gives some perspective on where all those nasty monsters in The Coming Evil Trilogy hail from. I also recently did an interview (with Ed, ironic enough) about the book. Check it out!

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Now it's my turn to tag more authors! Be sure to check out these blogs next Wednesday (the 28th) for their answers to these questions!

Bob Freeman
Frank Creed

Major Announcement--"Dark Hour" Cover and First Details!

This year, October has been an unusually busy month for me, between my first movie being released to DVD and a plethora of short stories I've written over the last couple years finally seeing print. But today--on Halloween--we have saved the best for last.

Here is the cover for the third and final installment in The Coming Evil Trilogy--Dark Hour!

Not only do we have the cover for you today, but I come with a major announcement: The Coming Evil is moving to a new home for its last act. None other than my pal Grace Bridges at Splashdown Darkwater will be publishing Dark Hour in 2013. Grace and I had so much fun working together when Splashdown published Rift Jump, and I'm looking forward to teaming up with her, once again, on this most important book. Dark Hour is my favorite book of The Coming Evil Trilogy. Absolutely everything I have written--really in my entire career--has been building up to this book. If you thought you knew The Coming Evil, you haven't seen anything yet. I have poured my heart and soul into every page of Dark Hour and for about 15 years now, I've been dying to finally reveal it to you all. The first two books in the Trilogy were only a prelude--this book is for all the marbles. To me, The Coming Evil was never three individual books, but one long epic told in three parts. Now, the story will be told in full.

While the first two books were released in February over the past couple years, I can't guarantee another February release for Dark Hour. With the move to Splashdown, I expect a small delay. But don't worry, it's coming and it's going to be epic.

So two big bombshells this morning--but I have one final announcement to make on this, All Hallow's Eve. In the weeks leading up to Dark Hour's release, I'll be releasing a brand new Coming Evil novella--for e-readers only--that will serve as an "inbetweenquel" bridging the gap between Enemies of the Cross and Dark Hour! That's all I'm willing to say on that front, right now, but needless to say, we're wrapping up this Trilogy with a bang.

Now is the perfect time to get caught up on the other two books in the Trilogy! Together, the three form one complete story. The Strange Man and Enemies of the Cross are both available in stores, as well as on Amazon and Barnes & Noble--in both print, Kindle, and Nook versions. Don't delay! The End is Near!

Enough talk. Ready for the details on Dark Hour? Read on and, in case you missed it, check out this interview I did yesterday over at New Author's Fellowship where I talk about my love for and approach to horror and, most specifically, "Christian Horror"! Happy Halloween everyone!

__________

THE END IS HERE

Greensboro has fallen.

Swayed by the demonic Strange Man, the townspeople of Greensboro have sacrificed their freedom for prosperity. Monsters lurk in every shadow and the few who oppose the new regime have been chased out of town, forced to wage their war in hiding. For ex-reverend Jeff Weldon and those under his care, it is a losing battle, but the tide begins to turn with the return of his brother, Dras. Dras arrives at his hometown to find it has descended into darkness—but the worst is yet to come. The Strange Man’s final plan is falling into place and the Dark Hour is close at hand. Dras, Jeff, and the last of Greensboro’s protectors work frantically to unlock the Strange Man’s secrets and uncover the key to stopping the Dark Hour before all is lost. But when Dras discovers the fate of his best friend—Rosalyn Myers—he will realize that he has more to lose in this battle than he ever imagined.

Dark Hour is the explosive final act in Greg Mitchell’s The Coming Evil Trilogy. All bets are off as the remnant of light clash with the armies of darkness. The final fates of Jeff, Isabella, Dras, and Rosalyn, along with all of Greensboro, will be decided in a desperate last stand.

"Rift Jump" Commentary (Part Five)

Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four

Here we are at the end of our commentary for Rift Jump. Thanks for tuning in. And don't forget--we're running a Goodreads giveaway! Enter for your chance to win a signed copy of the book, yo!

PART FIVE: FACE THE MUSIC

At last, our hero must face his destiny.

The Strange Man from The Coming Evil Trilogy

This is where our villain, the Maestro, makes his debut. To me, the Maestro has always been a pawn. The Rage is the real enemy. It was difficult writing the Maestro as I wanted to make him very different from the Strange Man (pictured left). Whereas the Strange Man is all about theatrics and delighting in the sound of his own voice, I wanted to make the Maestro completely unimpressed with everything. He's a composer of pain and very serious about his work. Unflappable.

The biggest surprise in this episode is the change we see in Sara. She's kicking some major tail up 'n here! Sara was always meant to evolve into a very tough fighter, but, honestly, I was going to save that for the second (and perhaps final) book in the Rift Jump sequence. But I wanted to give readers a little taste of what they can expect from Sara in the follow-up novel.

So what about this follow-up novel anyway? Tentatively the book is entitled Sara's Song. Whereas Rift Jump was more focused on Michael's internal bout with the Rage, its sequel will be Sara-centric. The entire story is about the pair of them, so it made sense to me that each one got their own book. Together, the two halves make a whole and their story will be complete.

The idea of the multiverse is explained in this section, as Michael comes face to face with Truth. Fellow Splashdown author Travis Perry wrote a very insightful essay on the nature of Chaos equaling the loss of choice. Great stuff.

Michael also faces his inner demon in this section--in this case, a giant sludge monster with his face. Again, like I talked about last week, this totally snuck up on me as a sort of an echo of the junkyard fight scene from Superman III. Also, with this fight, we now begin to see a stronger connection to The Coming Evil Trilogy. Yes, the black goop that Michael  hacks up in this section is the same evil slime that takes over Ray McCormick in Enemies of the Cross. It's sin, in its purest, most concentrated form. Sin creates monsters. It latched on to Ray and drove him mad, and it dwelt inside Michael for his whole life, pushing him towards violence.

In this section, we also meet Toby, who was originally based on my little brother, Jeff. There's a nine year age difference between my brother and I, but we've always been very close. We like most of the same movies, music, TV, books, video games, etc. A fact about my brother is that Jeff is a video game freak. He has been since he was two years old when I taught him to hold a Nintendo controller. He was cracking the Konami code--on his own--before he could write his own name. He's like that movie "The Wizard", without the autism. Seriously, he was six or seven and I'd take him to arcades with me and watch him wax the floor with guys twice his age on Street Fighter or Tekken. He was--and still is--that good. So, the original Toby--who was named, rather obviously, Jeff--was a pint-sized fighter. The original high school draft of this particular story featured "Jeff" as this eight-year-old street fighter, a kind of living embodiment of Jeff's gaming skills. It was pretty embarrassing, looking back, so I obviously took out the "eight year old street fighter" out of the current version, but I tried to give the character--re-branded "Toby"--a fighter's spirit. We'll see more of that fighter in the sequel, whenever I get around to writing it.


The real-life Jeff is, in a way, also the one to praise (or blame, depending on how you liked the book) for Rift Jump coming to your grubby hands. As I've said, the original Rift Jump stories were just things I wrote once every couple years or so to blow off some creative steam. I never took it very seriously at all. There came a point that I'd all but forgotten about it. It was just a funny little high school memory. But my brother is a writer, as well. For years he's been developing his own contemporary dark fantasy series. A mega-epic that spans generations and chronicles the struggles of good versus evil across, quite ironically, the multiverse. Jeff began writing his multiverse stories totally apart from me or mine. Like I said, we think a lot alike, and his daydreams eventually led him to parallel worlds as well--though in a different direction. When I discovered this, I told him "Hey, I wrote a multiverse story too, once upon a time." I told him about my old Rift Jump stories and told him he should totally have our characters meet. I thought it'd be a hoot. So, a couple years ago, he did just that, resurrecting my old characters and breathing new life into them. As I suspected, it was a riot. Jeff has a keen sense of ridiculous humor and he took my melodramatic characters and, essentially, lampooned them. It was such a thrill seeing my characters in a new light.

But it also got me thinking. Jeff's new take on my characters awakened something in me. I began to question how I would interpret these characters after all this time. I had grown up, and these were a child's characters. How could I take what they were, but put an adult spin on them? After that, my imagination took off. I started writing Rift Jump stories in earnest. Still for fun, and still with no desire to see them published. But it was a wild ride, and I turned out, maybe, 10 new stories in just a couple years. It just kept coming. The more I wrote, the more invested I got in my creations. The more serious they became to me. And, before long, I realized that I was writing a real story. One that I wanted to put out there, on the market, for others to enjoy.

Jeff's own story has gone through many drafts as he's experiencing a similar process with his own stories. He began writing them when he was 12 or so, but as he's grown into his own man, he's revising his stories. Re-crafting them. I've helped a little, but I've also backed off a lot. I think he's got some GREAT ideas and a real sense of drama and excitement. I know how his story ends and it's amazing. I can't wait to see him finish it and then the real adventure begins for him: publishing :p

Thus concludes our commentary for Rift Jump. Thanks for hanging around. I encourage all of you to go out and pick up a copy of the book. We've gone the small press route this time around and it is super hard to get your name out there. So, please, support the book. If nothing else, post and re-post. Let the world know that we're here with a wild ride through alternate timelines and alien worlds! If you're still shaky on whether or not this book is your cup of tea, I invite you to check out this nice (and totally unexpected) review by Jessica Thomas!

"Rift Jump" Commentary (Part One)

I debated on whether or not I wanted to do a commentary for Rift Jump, but aw, what the heck. Here we are. As the novel Rift Jump is broken down into five parts, I'll do likewise for this commentary, giving each "episode" its due every Monday for the next five weeks. So let's start with the Prologue and Part One: Little Brother.

As usual, be aware that there are HEAVY SPOILERS below. Read at your own risk. Or, better yet, go buy the book, read it, then come back here. I'll be waiting :)

PROLOGUE

Let me say that, at the risk of sounding egotistical, I love this prologue. This section is one of my favorite things that I've written. It's got a very Starship Troopers feel and shows a good man making his brave and final stand. It's full of quiet heroism, bittersweet determination, and unbridled courage. And, while this section features an army of gnarly monsters--they are not my focal point. The point of the prologue is to introduce you to one of many Michael Morrisons that populate the multiverse. I wanted you to get a sense of the pure evil that this guy is capable of. He doesn't say a whole lot, but the way he tears through these guys Darth Maul-style speaks volumes of his skill and cunning. That way, when we switch to a new Michael Morrison in the next section, you have some idea of the terrible things he could accomplish, as well.

Two special behind-the-scenes notes on this section:

1. Yes, there is a big fat typo. "Slashed" is misspelled "sl6ashed" in once instance. Embarrassing, yes. But weird mistakes happen at the last minute in the editorial process. In fact, I think I know the source of this particular mistake. Let me introduce you to her:

This is my two-year-old daughter Dani. Cute, isn't she? Well, don't let that adorable face fool you. She likes to sneak into my Batcave when I'm on a bathroom or snack break, maximize whatever book I'm working on and add her own little edits to them :p I'm just thankful it was only a "6" she got away with and not a "djjfoieafjoeikjnvpoiau" as I've found in some works-in-progress. Now THAT would have been tough to explain.

2. This army of monsters was ORIGINALLY going to be black-goo monsters similar to Ray McCormick from Book Two in my The Coming Evil Trilogy--Enemies of the Cross. Yes, Rift Jump and The Coming Evil are related. It's a big multiverse. We'll get to that more another time. But I didn't want to make the connection so blatant, so I created these new creatures. I've got a whole backstory for them, which you will learn all about in the sequel to Rift Jump I've already started writing. As for that army of black goo monsters...well...keep your eyes peeled, heh heh heh ;)

PART ONE: LITTLE BROTHER

So, as you're no doubt well aware of by now (as I seem to talk about it nearly every interview/write-up), I wrote the very first Rift Jump story--Second Chances--back in high school. To read it in all of its terrible glory, see Appendix B of Rift Jump. It was very much a product of my life at that point. I was 15 or so, so I made Michael 17. Oooh, an older man. How cool and mysterious, right? Also, I threw in this little info bit that Michael had been rift jumping for 5 years. I didn't want to make him a rookie, right? Not only that, but I gave him this tortured backstory about how he was a "hitman" before God recruited him for this hero thang. Not only THAT, but he also murdered the Sara Theresea of his world! Oooh, he's a bad man!

It only took me about ten or so years to realize that, if I did my math correctly, then he was all of 12 years old when he was this famed hitman and murdered this girl and recruited by God. Looking back, it was pretty stupid. But, a few years ago when I felt like knocking out a Rift Jump story for old times' sake (before I had any inkling to publish it), I thought, "You know what? Let's not ignore the stupidity of that backstory. Let's meet it head-on. In fact, let's make it make sense. Let's make it awesome." I sat down and wrote the first draft of "Little Brother" as a Book Zero to "Second Chances" one afternoon and really tried to get into the mindset of a twelve-year-old kid who had committed murder. I thought that, surely, Michael had to be some type of sociopath, so I didn't shy away from it. As my wife was reading Rift Jump for the first time last week, she said that Michael seemed like the kind of kid who would take a gun to school and start shooting. And that's right! He IS that kind of kid--if his double from the Prologue is any indication. Michael is capable of heinous evil, and his whole journey in this book is to battle that and become a good man.

Eventually, we see Michael meet his end. He finds God in the desert, wearing a Stetson. At this point, you may wonder "Why put God in a Stetson?" And, at this point, I shrug and say "Why not?" I liked the Western vibe. It made it personable and, if I dare say, a bit iconic. For those keeping score at home, I always imagine God in this book sounding a lot like Liam Neeson :p Patient, but powerful.

Something that was tricky in this section is that it takes place in 1991. Since I wrote the original stories back in 1996, this fits into the "five years thing" and pays homage to those original stories. Only, I didn't want to come out and say in a date stamp "The Year Was 1991". Because, modern novels don't make the distinction that the year is 2012 or whatever the publish date might be. It's 1991 to Michael, so it should be 1991 to the Reader, without me having to break the illusion and tell you such. However, all my mentions of Walkmans REALLY confused my editors who just thought I was woefully behind in the times, so I dropped some  references to Terminator 2 and Guns N' Roses and Straight Outta Compton to help you figure out what year it was. I probably overdid it, but ah well. Michael doesn't stay in '91 for long.

Behind-the-scenes nuggets:

1. Coach Seevers was really one of my teachers in high school. And he looked just like I describe him in the book. He taught history, too, and every year we watched Glory in his class. I think I had him for two classes in one day--so we watched Glory twice. To this day, I still love Glory :) Coach was awesome. He told us that he worked for the government and that, when he was absent from class, it was because the President had called him in on a top-secret black op. He also boasted that he had a gun in his desk drawer and if any of us tried to come at him to mean him harm, he was specially trained to have that gun out, locked, and aimed at our punk heads in .23 seconds, ha ha. He was awesome. I always wondered if he REALLY had a gun in that drawer, but I wouldn't dare peek ;)

2. Other characters such as Johnny Frawl, Edward, and Seth were all based on my friends--though names have been changed to protect the guilty. Back in the day when I first wrote Rift Jump stories, I didn't look very far to find characters to populate my stories.

Click over here for Part 2 of our Rift Jump commentary! Teen lust abounds! In the meantime, in honor of Coach Seevers, my most favorite scene from Glory. Denzel's performance still gets me.

Interview and Book Giveaway

Melanie over at Christian Bookshelf Reviews was kind enough to do an interview with me, as well as offering participants a chance to win a FREE copy of Enemies of the Cross. Head over to her site to enter!

In the meantime, I have been hard at work on editing Rift Jump, my newest book to be released by Splashdown Darkwater this summer! It's grueling work and I hope that you all enjoy meeting Michael and Sara and following them on their wild ride through the multiverse :)

"Enemies of the Cross" Commentary (Part V)

Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV

Happy Friday the 13th or, what I call, Jason Voorhees Day! (:p) Here we are--our final installment in the commentary for Enemies of the Cross. By now you should know to beware of spoilers but today's topic covers a HUGE spoiler, so I stress:

MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!


...still here?


You sure?


Okay. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Today we tackle a controversial topic. In The Coming Evil, it's already been established that faith (yes, specifically, the Christian faith--this is a "Christian Fiction" book) is the only weapon that will defeat the enemy. In The Strange Man, that was demonstrated by Dras quoting Scripture as a sort of ward, but, as with everything in Enemies, we crank that thought up a couple notches. We've got Isabella quoting verses and this light bursts forth from her--at one point, she literally breathes fire!

When my editor read those passages, he said, "Greg, you have to be careful, or else this is going to look like magic." A valid point I suppose, but my response went something along the lines of "Yeah. Pretty cool, huh?" Faith is not "magic"--but then again, isn't it kinda? Isn't real-life faith our connection to a supernatural being? Isn't it by faith that God can accomplish miracles through us, channeling His divine Earth-forming, dead-raising power to achieve His will? "Magic" is an ugly word because people connect it to the occult, but isn't faith a kind of "good magic"? Well, that's a point to debate for another day, and would probably just devolve into worrying over wording, but here's how I look at it. It's two-fold:

The "in-universe" explanation is this: The invisible is being made visible in Greensboro. Demons are appearing in physical form, either bound in leather or as hordes of tiny, hairless gremlins. Sin, itself, is making an appearance as a viscous black goo that consumes people. Doesn't it stand to reason that the things of God would also start manifesting in visible form? This is like the End Days for Greensboro--all the stops have been pulled out and it's a time of miracles and terror. So don't look at it as "magic" (if that offends you), look at it as the unseen being made seen. The veil separating the two worlds has been pushed aside.

The "real world" explanation is this: In spiritual warfare novels like this, we always heap gobs of cool special FX type stuff on the demonic--why can't the holy have just as cool, exciting, and dynamic visuals? If Christians confess that "our God is an awesome God", why can't we show that in the same type of creative ways we show the demonic? My longer answer to my editor went something like "Why does the devil get all the cool stuff? God should have cool special FX too."

I want this trilogy to be a summer blockbuster with lots of effects--but effects on both sides of the spiritual war, hence fire-breathing Christians.

The other heavenly aspect I added to the mythology with Enemies was angels. Yes, Christopher Perdu is an angel. "Perdu" actually means "out of sight"--meaning he was invisible the whole time. That's why you never see him eat, no one talks to him but Hank, and he has to scoot out of people's way when they march in his direction.

Unfortunately, Enemies is coming out after a show called Supernatural and their trenchcoat-clad angel Castiel. I fear folks will think I ripped it off, especially considering I've gushed about that show a time or two on this very blog. But, in fact, the idea for Christopher dates back--like most everything else in The Coming Evil--to 1998. I wrote a short film that I was hoping to shoot (yeah, that didn't happen) called "To Serve and Protect". It featured a quartet of plainclothes angels that operated like cops. They did wire tapping, had cell phones, wore trenchcoats, etc. Again, those were meant to be symbolic representations of what was going on in the heavenlies--in other words, our minds perceived a cell phone, as an analog to some angelic power we couldn't naturally comprehend. At the time, I really liked that script and liked the idea of these "working class" angels, shuffling around on Earth, fighting the battle, but in a quiet, super-spy kind of way.

When Enemies came around, I knew I wanted to bring angels into the mythology, so I created Christopher very much in the same mold as the "To Serve and Protect" angels. In fact, I'd go so far to say that they all know each other :)

My inspiration for Christopher beyond that goes back to my old favorite The Twilight Zone. In the episode "Nothing in the Dark", Robert Redford appears as a nice young man with an angelic secret.

I love Robert Redford. The Way We Were is a perfect movie and Sneakers is one of my favorites. He's got such an easy-going, suave, natural quality about him. So, not-very-subtly, that's why everyone comments that Christopher looks like Robert Redford :p

We'll be seeing even more of the heaven-side of the spiritual war going on in Greensboro in The Coming Evil, Book Three!

But, for now, this concludes our commentary for Enemies of the Cross. Some of you might be saying "What? That's it?" Alas, I could write a seemingly endless array of commentaries on all the themes and elements of Enemies. I think there's a lot to this book that's worth discovering--but part of the fun is discovering for yourself. I'd love to hear your thoughts about what you uncovered in this book: what themes or characters or ideas spoke to you?

Nevertheless, if you still have burning behind-the-scenes questions you need to know, feel free to visit our comment section and I will do my best to answer! Or perhaps you've yet to read the book, but now your interest in piqued. The book is available at your local bookstore as well as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kindle, and Nook!

Thanks for reading our commentary. We'll reconvene when The Coming Evil, Book Three: Dark Hour takes over the world! In the meantime, I leave you with a fond Friday the 13th farewell. Here's the teaser trailer for Jason Takes Manhattan. A wonderfully terrible film, but this trailer was my very first exposure to that lovable hockey-mask wearing lug--and it scared the crap out of me!

"Enemies of the Cross" Commentary (Part IV)

Part I
Part II
Part III

SPOILERS BELOW

Welcome back to the penultimate installment of our Enemies of the Cross commentary!

Today we discuss the black goo.

After reading the previous installment of our commentary, you might be thinking that I just totally ripped off the X-Files by having a secret conspiracy covering up a mysterious outbreak of mutating black goo. Not so! That's actually an amazing coincidence.

The origins of the black goo predate The Coming Evil entirely and was inspired by a surprising source.

Back in the early '90s, I was big into Spider-Man comics. One character that really jumped out at me was the villain Venom. For those who haven't read a comic, Venom is actually an alien symbiotic goop-thing that bonds with some poor dolt and corrupts his mind. I remember reading a comic where Spider-Man is attached to this thing (actually, to be fair, I think it was Carnage--Venom's eviler twin or something, but it's the same idea). This sticky goop was whispering to Spidey to "Kill. Kill. KILL!"

Flash forward to that Sunday in church and the pastor's talking about "the flesh" that we struggle with, meaning our own evil desires. Our base impulses. We struggle against "The Old Man"--our old selfish ways of thinking before we come to Christ. The way he kept describing "The Flesh", it almost sounded like this separate, sentient entity. With Venom still fresh on my mind, I juxtaposed the two and considered being covered in this second skin--a flesh--that whispers in your ear to cut loose and do all the things you don't figure you're supposed to do as a "good little Christian".


Since I was but a wee tot, the werewolf has been my favorite monster. The Incredible Hulk was my favorite hero. Both deal with the duality of man--our evil impulses and that other Voice that urges us to do good.

I really liked my Venom-as-sin concept and years later even used it as an example in teaching Sunday School classes to our Youth Group :p When The Coming Evil finally came about, I realized I wanted to introduce more types of monsters into this series--but not just traditional monsters. I wanted whole new breeds of creatures that are unique to this series. Thus, we have what happened to Ray McCormick.

The goo is simply sin in its purest form, corrupting everything, telling us to do terrible things. It's something we all struggle with. Jeff's feelings in this book are so personal to me. I have a terrible temper that I keep bottled up inside and it comes out at strange times and I'm instantly ashamed. Like Jeff, I can relate to having a beast inside, wanting to be loosed. Perhaps that's why I've always identified with the Wolf-Man and the Hulk. I understand the duality of man all too well.

In the struggle, though, I think we find some incredible stories.

I've grown so fond of the "sin goo" concept, that it's become a factor in my larger mythology. We'll certainly deal with it some more in the concluding chapter of The Coming Evil Trilogy, but--much to my surprise--it's already crept up in one other story. I love the battle of good versus evil--and what greater battle is there than what wages in the heart of Man?

Tomorrow will be the last installment in our commentary, where we'll explore angels, fire-breathing Christians, and the power of God! In the meantime, how about checking out this great review for the book over at A Flame in the Dark!

"Enemies of the Cross" Commentary (Part III)

Part I
Part II

SPOILERS BELOW!

It was the summer of 1998, I believe. By request of my friends, I entered the theater to see a movie that would have a massive impact on me.

Behold:



Of course I knew what X-Files was. Everyone in the '90s "knew" what X-Files was, but I'd only seen a handful of episodes. I understood the premise, but didn't know anything about Skinner or the Lone Gunmen (I have since been enlightened). I didn't want to watch the movie because I was for sure I'd be lost--but I went anyway. And I had a spectacular time.

"Trust No One", conspiracies at the highest level of government, eyes everywhere watching you, even your closest ally could be against you--exciting! I loved the moody paranoia.

It was this atmosphere that would eventually seep its way into The Coming Evil mythology in the form of the Committee.

The Committee didn't appear in the earliest drafts of the story. They actually originated in a short-lived sequel concept I had that would have taken place after the entire trilogy. Originally, the Strange Man would have shoe-horned his way into Greensboro. For the sequel I had this idea that one of my surviving cast would move to another town and, lo, the Strange Man is there too.

Yeah, it wasn't very original. It was a fairly dreadful script. But the twist for that script was, what if the Church simply stepped aside and allowed the Strange Man to enter? I thought that was a powerful statement on how the Church concedes on so many battles and compromises so many convictions, that we--by our inaction--allow Evil to march in and take over. I trashed that script, but liked the idea of the Church essentially inviting the Strange Man. It struck me, "Why save this for later? Let's just use it in the trilogy!"


I don't think I was purposefully channeling the X-Files when I wrote them. But, that amazing day in 1998 when I had my mind blown by the movie (and what an incredible score and soundtrack!), crept into my writing. It wasn't until my wife looked at me and said, "You do know you just wrote the X-Files." that it became clear what I was doing. Oh. Well, okay. After that, I just embraced it.

One draft saw even more betrayal--I had briefly considered Jeff's own father, Jack, being a member of the Committee, but quickly ditched that. There is so much corruption in Greensboro, including within Jeff's own heart, that I wanted to keep someone as the beacon of light in town. I needed that person to be Jack.

When reading Book One, some people commented on things they saw as logic flaws. "How come the deputies nearly beat Dras to death over a suspicion? Isn't that overreacting a bit?" "How come the Rave Scene is still open, even though the sheriff declared a curfew?"

Well, the answer is simply: The Committee. It's my hope that people will re-read Book One in light of the Committee's involvement, paying special attention to the scenes with Leonard Fergus. The scene where he witnesses the gremlins passing down his street (and the particular words he says) were always designed to retroactively hold new meaning now that Readers know the truth of Fergus' alliances at that point.

I've come to understand that the entirety of The Coming Evil Trilogy is about youth. Book One was about being a young kid just beginning to mature (as evidenced by Dras). Enemies of the Cross is about adolescence. The loss of innocence. The beginning of rebellion against the status quo. When we're small children, we think that adults know everything and can always be trusted--when we become adults ourselves, starting with our teenage years most times, we begin to think no one has any idea what they're doing. We're all just struggling to carve out our path.

That's ultimately what the Committee represents: the mistakes of the previous generation and a charge to Youth to decide how they are going to do things differently...and seeing if they can stay to that path.

In our fourth installment we'll explore the origins of the mysterious black goo!