Available Now--"Light's Last Stand"!

Today marks a very special day for me as it sees the release of the third and final book in the Old Greenesboro Trilogy--Light's Last Stand! 

The origins for the Old Greenesboro Trilogy date back to 2004 or 2005. I had just finished writing The Coming Evil Trilogy (though that wouldn't be published until 2011-2013), and still felt there was so much more to explore about the world of Greensboro. I immediately set out to think up a sequel to The Coming Evil, initially. I intended to write a single volume, but split into four sections. The third section was going to hit pause on the sequel narrative to go back in time to explore the events in Old Greenesboro that set the stage for The Coming Evil Trilogy. It was only envisioned to be a parenthesis to a larger story, at first, but the more I kept thinking about Old Greenesboro, the more the ideas started to flow. And the more I realized that it needed to be its own story. So I removed that section from the sequel, planted it, and allowed it to grow into its own thing. 

It was exciting at first...until I realized that I knew scarcely little at the time about Westerns, haha. I felt largely out of my depth, and I struggled for many years writing this saga. Not just because of its Old West sensibilities, but also because the characters were so new to me. I had been writing about Dras, Rosalyn, Jeff, and Isabella (the cast of The Coming Evil) for so long that it felt wholly unfamiliar (and maybe a little adulterous?) to write for a brand-new cast of characters set within The Coming Evil world. They were strangers and it took me many years to get to know them. More than once--more than a dozen times, actually--I nearly threw up my hands and scrapped the project altogether. I worried that I would never find their voices, never get to properly know them.

But I'm so glad I kept at it. Because now, after nearly 20 years, I've come to love Everett Greene and Virginia, Jesse, and Dead Eye Reggie. They've become just as much a part of me as Dras and company. I'm thrilled to see Everett's adventures reach their emotional and harrowing climax, and I am so very grateful to God to get these books out at long last! 

Now maybe I'll finally return to that Coming Evil sequel I began to develop so long ago!!

But, for now, please enjoy this concluding chapter in the prequel trilogy. For those familiar with The Coming Evil, I'm very excited for you to discover the startling revelations contained within--and the tantalizes connections it makes to my other works, namely my HITMEN saga. And for those who have yet to read The Coming Evil Trilogy, the Old Greenesboro books are the perfect place to start!

Rush out and buy your copy of Light's Last Stand today! Available in print and Kindle.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Old Greenesboro has fallen.

In the aftermath of Greenesboro’s fiery demise, Everett Greene and the survivors of the Dark Hour have ventured into the North Woods to rebuild their lives, all the while harboring a terrible secret. The Strange Man, that demonic figure who led Greenesboro to ruin, is chained deep within Greene’s camp, awaiting heaven’s final judgment. When heaven tarries in coming to claim the prisoner, the Strange Man begins his end game, seeking to breed mistrust and fear among his captors.

As Everett struggles to keep his fragmented community united, salvation seems to arrive in the form of his former companions, the Halloween Society, a clandestine cabal of gunslingers dedicated to battling devils. They seek to commandeer the Strange Man for their own mysterious purposes, and the remaining citizens of Greenesboro are all too eager to turn over their unwanted guest. Still, Everett hesitates, suspicious regarding the Society’s true intent.
Facing pressures from within his own camp as well as the Strange Man’s insidious mind games, Everett finds himself in a confrontation that will determine the fate of generations to come.

Light’s Last Stand is the final act in an epic new tale that sets the stage for the events depicted in The Coming Evil Trilogy.

Available Now--"WHISPERWOOD: Sequel to Halloween House"

It's June. The sun is bearing down on us, the humidity in Arkansas is building. Summer is in full effect, and my heart yearns for autumn colors and cool breezes and Jack O'Lanterns smiling back at me from inviting porches. If you're like me and would love a little taste of Halloween this blistering summertime, then perhaps I have just the thing for you.

Whisperwood, my new novella collaboration with writer and occult detective Bob Freeman is now available in print and on Kindle for your macabre enjoyment. Back in 2018 (has it really been that long??) Bob and I entertained one another by composing a novella whereby we each took turns writing a chapter. There was no forethought, no planning. We only sought to surprise each other with every installment--and periodically dropping our heroes in impossible situations to gleefully muse how the other author might rescue them. The fruit of that labor was Halloween House--a story of an old manse's demonic possession. 

 As stated in my introduction to Whisperwood:  

We set Halloween House firmly in Bob’s rich Liber Monstrorum mythos that occupies the majority of his writings, featuring his iconic protagonist, Occult Detective Landon Connors. What’s more, Landon’s sidekick in that yarn was none other than “Greg Mitchell”, a character Bob named after me some years ago in his Connors’ short story “The Cabin in the Woods”.

Now, while Bob’s spent these years writing stories set in the world of Landon Connors and his colorful supporting cast of hard-boiled characters, I, too, have been developing my own fictional universe of monsters and heroes spread across a number of novels. And, to return the favor he paid me in “The Cabin in the Woods”, I named a character after Bob Freeman in my novel Night World, which introduced Blue Squad: a government-sponsored task force dedicated to combating the forces of darkness, led by skeptic ex-cop Jack Mills. 

When it came time to do the follow-up to Halloween House, Bob suggested it was only fitting that, since our first co-writing venture took place in his mythology with my alter ego, we should take a trip across the multiversal pond and set the sequel in my story-world and include Bob’s fictional counterpart. I eagerly jumped at the notion, already growing excited about the concept of tying our two universes together by giving them a common extradimensional foe. 

  

Whisperwood is the result of that endeavor, and I'm very proud of the story we've crafted (by the seat of our pants!). This book is especially exciting for me as this is the inaugural title under my new Willowbrook Underworld banner. If you have read my (to date) two HITMEN collections, then you may be aware that, for over 25 years, I have been filming backyard blockbusters with my friends and family. These elaborate "home movies" have become the foundation of my fictional universe--a test bed of characters and ideas. The two HITMEN braided novels (Four Tales of Magick, Monsters, and Murder and Night World) are, in fact, expanded adaptations of a carefully curated selection of those home movies. The movies--and the books inspired by them--take place in the town of Willowbrook. I would love to continue adapting those movie projects into written form, but as the mythology has grown significantly over the last quarter century, finding the next selection that could fit thematically into a braided novel is becoming trickier.

It is my hope that the Willowbrook Underworld line is the solution to that conundrum. Now, I can release individual adaptations at a time, rather than trying to narrow down which ones to include in upcoming collections. There might still be collections, yes. And, under Willowbrook Underworld, I also hope to write all-new stories set within the mythology of those "home movies" that are very near and dear to me and my family. Whisperwood is one such story--an original tale set within the home movie universe, starring characters that you can meet in my novels Night World and Infernal City.

This summer, as the hot days draw out, I welcome you to the mist-shrouded forest of Whisperwood to uncover the monsters that lurk there...

ABOUT THE BOOK

When Special Agent Jack Mills of the National Clandestine Agency receives a call from an old partner, he is drawn to the small rural community of Whisperwood to investigate an unsolved murder from his past. Aided by his new task force of monster hunters, Mills must return to familiar paths fraught with peril and painful memories, leading him to Holbrook House--a mysterious ruin possessed of something not from this earth.

As the danger mounts, Mills seeks the aid of author and paranormal investigator, Bob Freeman, to unravel the mystery surrounding Holbrook House and the cult that has come to offer sacrifice to its new otherworldly occupant.

Finally, the veil between worlds is torn, unfathomable abominations emerge, and no one is safe within Whisperwood.

Order your copy today! 

 

 

Now Available--NIGHT WORLD, Hitmen Vol. 2!

 I told you the book release was just around the corner. ;)

Today, Genre Experience proudly presents my latest novel NIGHT WORLD, Volume 2 of my HITMEN saga. The book is available for purchase on Amazon in print and digital. As with the previous volume, this book is a "braided novel"--four novellas that interconnect (in this case, VERY heavily) to create a larger story. NIGHT WORLD is a celebration of monsters, fantasy, childhood, spooks, thrills, and all things Halloween. 

ABOUT THE BOOK

Every Halloween, the shadow of another world falls over the town of Willowbrook, and the monsters come out to roam. The blue-skulled giant who slew Boss Adrian Marcon’s criminal empire was not the first such creature to walk the quiet streets of this burg, nor the last. As more threats emerge from a mysterious realm, new heroes must stand against a rising cosmic evil that endangers the very fabric of existence.

In four tales of thrilling encounters with otherworldly invaders, Zoe, a teenage mother, must grapple with the shocking truth about her infant son; Jason and Jack Mills, twins raised to hunt the creatures of the night, search for balance between their tumultuous upbringing and passing their legacy on to a new generation; and Rosetta, a mystical exile in Willowbrook, finds herself faced with a decision that will forever alter not only her life, but the lives of everyone, in every world. A war of worlds has begun between the dominion of Man and the armies of the Night World.

Writing this book came as a surprise to me. If you need a refresher course, the original HITMEN novel began as a series of a no budget "home movies" that me and my childhood friends put together. They were only ever done for fun--just an excuse to chase each other with guns and dress up like monsters and tell stories that entertained us. But, man, was it a blast (read more about it here, if you're so interested). At any rate, around 2014, I had completed my epic The Coming Evil Trilogy, and I was looking for more stories to tell. I remembered those old home movies and decided--also for fun--to novelize them, greatly expanding them (think of it like a Director's Cut), to unleash on an unsuspecting public. Writing that book was a great excuse to look back on those years and was my way of saying good-bye to making home movies.

Only...I wasn't done, apparently. Or maybe those home movies weren't done with me.

After my girls were born, I dusted off the old camcorder and started making NEW home movies, letting them in on the fun. Together, as a family, we crafted stories of fairies and imaginary kingdoms and a world where monsters roam freely. As my "professional" writing took a backseat, we started making more and more home movies. Sometimes two or three a year. Elaborate productions that increased in cast, scope--but not necessarily budget, haha. They are still every bit "movies for fun", though, and will never be seen by a public audience, ha. However, as the home movies--and the mythology we were creating within them--grew and grew in my mind, concepts from these movies began to bleed over into my novels. So much so that I have novels-in-progress right now (including my next sequence of Coming Evil stories) that are almost wholly dependent upon some of the elements that we've introduced in these home movies. These are stories we've been telling each other for ten years or so, and I thought it was finally time to give them the novelization treatment. I am immensely proud of those stories, as they represent all those Saturdays that we went out, as a family, playing make believe and "fighting monsters" together. I hope that you will check it out and join in the Mitchell family tradition! 

As I write this, I'm finishing up post-production on ANOTHER home movie (I think we're approaching thirty installments now?), so there is still plenty of road left to travel if I choose to continue these novelizations. I think I will, as it is just so much fun giving a "big budget" update to our amateur films. Beyond that, though, this book marks another important occasion in my larger mythology. While the first story in NIGHT WORLD is, in fact, a prequel to HITMEN: Four Tales of Magick, Monsters, and Murder (starring Vinnie Caponi: Urban Mythologist), the follow-up sections take place later on the timeline, giving Readers their first peek of the world post-The Coming Evil! Aside from that, there are also tons of tie-ins to my loosely connected "In-Between Trilogy" of the Rift Jump dulogy, Infernal City, and of course the original HITMEN. The world that started in The Coming Evil continues to grow and grow, and NIGHT WORLD is certainly a quantum leap forward, laying the groundwork for all my upcoming novels for the foreseeable future.

Get your copy today!

Check out this incredible artwork done for the book by Bob Freeman!

New Book Announcement & Cover Reveal!

In keeping with my (apparent) one post a year theme, here's yours for 2021! Haha, seriously, I don't get around these parts much anymore, but for those one or two of you who are still following--I've got a new book coming out!

As related in a previous post, my "writing career" has taken a serious backseat to "fun writing". I burnt off my entire twenties and most of my thirties "chasing the dream", as it were, of becoming a "professional writer". And, while I DID achieve that dream, it never satisfied. I chased after that for so long, I really forgot to live my life, and, as my oldest daughter is now a full-fledged teenager, I see that time with them is short. So, on the professional side of things, my writing has slowed down.

But that doesn't mean that it's stopped.

Since the 2017 (!) release of my last novel Infernal City, I have turned my attention to writing machinima based on the old video game Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic AND I've taken a turn at doing some no budget Star Trek fan films. I co-wrote and released Halloween House with my friend and often-collaborator Bob Freeman, but mostly I've been churning out a bevy of "home movies" that I make with my kids and my friends. These are not meant to be show to a public audience (as they are VERY amateur and not kind to copyright laws, haha) but they are stories I am proud of nonetheless. If you're a frequent reader of my work, then you know that I adapted four of these movies--the original main canon installments--and released them as my novel HITMEN: Four Tales of Magick, Monsters, and Murder. 

Well, I've done it again. Allow me to introduce to you my NEXT novel, a new adaptation of four more of the home movies we've created: NIGHT WORLD!

With fantastic art, once again, by Bob Freeman, this book is a love letter to the stories/movies I've been crafting with my daughters for, quite literally, their entire lives. I'll go into it more upon the book's release, which should be in a week or so, but in the meantime, please enjoy the cover! Keep your eyes peeled and your ears to the ground for the release--this is one wild ride!

Boldly Going...

I look back over my life as a writer sometimes and am often struck by how eclectic my journey has been. From "Christian Horror" novels to Syfy sharksploitation movies to a non-fiction guide to the convoluted chronology of Back to the Future--it's really all over the map! Well, last month, I added a new destination on this wild ride--Star Trek fan films.

As has been discussed before on this very blog, I've been making "home movies" since 1998 with friends and family. But, unlike filming your kids at their soccer games kind of "home movies", mine involve an ever-evolving mythology with complicated characters battling all manner of monsters and devils. They've really become an extension of my professional writing, often serving as a test bed of ideas that will eventually find their way into a novel. In fact, I took the four original home movies that created the foundation for that complex mythology and adapted and expanded them into my novel HITMEN: Four Tales of Magick, Monsters, and Murder. Not only that, but I've taken four more movies and am currently writing another adaptation--a sequel to the HITMEN collection! But more on that in a later post.

The rule of these home movies, however, has always been in place: they are just for us. I'll never post them to YouTube. I show them to new friends and am willing to show them to just about anyone who drops by the house and is ready to sit through 30+ movies, haha, but they're not intended for public consumption (or critique). It's a simple matter of creative expression and having fun with my friends.

In 2014, one such friend was Grace Bridges. Grace, and her outfit Splashdown Books, was the publisher of my first Rift Jump novel. Hailing from New Zealand, Grace frequently makes "tours" of America, visiting her authors. I was the next stop on her list and, while at the house, I was showing her a selection of my home movies. She instantly fell in love with them and, before she left (two days later), she expressed the desire to do a home movie with me! I rarely say "no" when I meet someone who shares my passion in this sort of thing, so I said "Let's do it!".

Her suggestion: Make a Star Trek movie.

Though I'd seen all the Trek movies a few times and I'd caught a number of episodes of the various series over the years, I was not a Star Trek expert by any stretch of the imagination. Nonetheless, I agreed and, with Grace leading the writing and serving as my resident Star Trek guru, we quickly (two days, remember?) crafted Star Trek: Splashdown. It was a crazy rush, but we did it, Grace had a movie she was proud of, and she continued on her travels, showing our little movie to the friends she encountered along the way. And that was that. It was over.

Until it wasn't.

Fast forward to June of 2019. I've done MANY more home movies, but I've got this itch to do another. Most of my movies involve a core group of characters. I just ping pong back and forth between a few different storylines every couple years, and see "what happens next". But I felt as though I'd tapped out all the potential for the foreseeable future. All my various storylines were just stalled out and I couldn't think of any fresh take. So I turned my sights on movies in my saga that I rarely looked at. And I remembered Splashdown. I played "Commander Mitchell" in that movie, and I thought "I wonder whatever happened to that guy?" At the same time, I had, by accident (and a slow day at work) discovered the brilliant fan film series Star Trek Continues.

I fell in absolute love with that series and it opened up to me not only the world of fan films, but the world of Star Trek. I started watching Star Trek with a new appreciation for the first time. And the fan films--I was stunned to see that, all these years, people like me had been making their own "home movies" with complex mythologies and returning characters. They were even crossing over with each other's creations, making an elaborate expanded universe of storylines! I was excited, and it slowly dawned on me, then, "Hey... I made a Star Trek fan film too!"

That was when I wanted "Commander Mitchell" to return. Only, I had no Star Trek costumes, no props, no fancy CGI, no sets, no ideas, nothing. Just me and a camera and a desire to do something. How could I ever compete with something like Star Trek Continues? That's where Vance Major came into my life.

I ran across his name numerous times while researching fan films. This guy is a legend. His character of Erick Minard has existed across multiple eras of Trek and he's crossed over in so many other series. And characters from over a dozen fan film series have crossed over with his series! It's insane. Vance, however, is a man after my own heart. He has no real "crew", he shoots all his movies on his cell phone, and he just recruits friends, family (and any co-workers who stand still long enough) into his 70 some-odd short films. He has this intricate mythology with a core group of characters, all centered around his ship, the USS Constar--a ship that, by fate or bad luck, ends up at every major battle in the Star Trek canon, even though no one seems to notice or acknowledge their contributions. They are heartwarming films, honest films. Vance bears his heart and soul in these movies, speaking to things that are personal and meaningful to him. Seeing his movies--that they were more in line with the kinds of home movies I had been making all these years--was inspiring. "I can do that!"

I contacted Vance and plainly said, "I've got this character I would love to bring into one of your movies, but I have no costume, no sets, no props." Vance's reply was an instant "No problem! We'll figure it out!" And that's just what we did. Not only did I appear in that movie, I edited it too. Then we did another. And another. And another. Since June, I have now starred, written, directed, edited (and, yes, also bought a cheap Starfleet-esque uniform) in six or seven of his Constar Chronicles. Last December, he dropped all those movies onto YouTube ready to be binged.

Among them? The original Splashdown movie Grace and I made back in 2014, now including a brand-new bonus scene featuring Captain Erick Minard :) It's all come full circle, haha, and I've broken my Number One rule for the first and only time, putting one of my home movies on YouTube for public consumption and critique. But it was Vance who gave me the courage to do so, leading by example. You can now watch that movie right here.

We're not done yet, though! Vance and I have more ideas for future collaborations, expanding these characters and their relationships. Best of all--this October? I'm slated to step foot on a real Enterprise replica set to film a movie for the first time. Wow...

I am grateful for all the opportunities that Vance has given me, and for his friendship. I've found a kindred spirit in him as we have the same heart when it comes to telling stories in our respective mythologies. It's been another unexpected stop on my writer's journey--a detour, some might say--but, much like Star Trek, you never know what adventures await you down winding back roads in life. I'm happy to have taken the time explore this new avenue, boldly going...

(If you're interested in skipping straight ahead to my contributions, check out: Splashdown, Smoke and Mirrors, All Roads Lead to Home [which I wrote and directed], Wonderwall Part 2, The Scribbler)

Worlds Collide!

First, allow me the annual dusting-off of cobwebs on this here blog...

Now with the housework out of the way--Welcome! The leaves are changing, the wind is turning crisper, and my favorite season is upon us. Halloween is here, and I have returned to the interwebs with a treat to offer you.

Over the course of the last year and a half--among the other projects I've been tinkering on--my friend and fellow author Bob Freeman and I have been putting together our first storytelling collaboration. As you may or may not recall, Bob has already lent his incredible artistic talents to my HITMEN novel, providing the cover. But, this time, we agreed to tackle a novella together, trading off writing chores on rotating chapters, and making it a point to surprise the other. It was a lot of fun and, today, we present to you the fruits of our labors...Hallowe'en House!

This tale was especially thrilling for me as it involves the character Bob named after me, and it also marks the first time I've ever written in Bob's sprawling occult detective mythology. I've been a huge fan of his mega-myth for a number of years now, but actually contributing to it filled me with equal parts eagerness and caution. I think we've crafted a wile ride through the darkest corners of the cosmos and we hope you agree.

Also of note, readers of my own mythology (particularly my Rift Jump duology) might find some interesting connections inside the Hallowe'en House...

The book is available now in print and Kindle. Get your copy today--just in time for Halloween! A perfect little story to read by the soft flicker of Jack O'Lantern light.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Demonologist Greg Mitchell has discovered a secret from his father's past, a secret that not only sheds light on their strained relationship but on the path he has found himself upon, caught between Heaven, Hell, and all points between.

Turning to his former mentor, Dr. Landon Connors, Mitchell and the infamous occult detective seek out Hallowe'en House, a legendary transdimensional nexus that bristles with unfathomable eldritch energies.

But they're not the only ones who have come seeking out Hallowe'en House.

Everything You Need to Know About The "In-Between Trilogy"

During the years of 2011-2013, I released what would become the foundation of my magnum opus, The Coming Evil Trilogy.

The series that started it all...

Set in the small town of Greensboro, the Trilogy deals with an already beleaguered community that comes under siege by a demonic presence known only as "The Strange Man". To combat him, a group of heroes from various walks of life have to overcome their own personal demons to discover a faith strong enough to push back the Strange Man and his legion of devils. The Coming Evil was conceived back in 1999, and it was my way of combining 1980s Saturday matinee creature features with a story about faith, doubt, and ultimately, redemption.

But there is a heated speech that the Strange Man utters in Chapter 9 of Dark Hour, the third and final installment of that trilogy:

"Oh, you never mean to. You just pose your questions and make your debates and you think you have such a grasp of the world around you, but you have no idea. You can’t even begin to understand the places in between, the unknowable depths of eternity, the mind-shattering realizations that wait just beyond your rather limited peripheral understanding of space and time. What are you, huh? You people! You’re just dust! Dirt thrown together and given breath and yet you think you are owed explanations? You think you deserve to be in charge?" 

Since the final book in  The Coming Evil Trilogy was published in 2013, I have been writing the story of that space "in between" the worlds, and with the recent release of my new supernatural thriller Infernal City, a new thematic trilogy is finished.

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

The unofficially labeled "In-Between Trilogy" derives its name from the fact that all books involved deal with that dark space "in between" the worlds of the multiverse, as first mentioned in Dark Hour. It is also labeled thus as it fits nicely "in between" The Coming Evil...and my NEXT Trilogy, which I am currently writing.

The installments of this thematic trilogy--that is, Rift Jump (Volumes 1 & 2), Infernal City, and HITMEN: Four Tales of Magick, Monsters, and Murder--represent my creative journey to writing The Coming Evil. Rift Jump (or a version thereof) was begun when I was in high school and was the first story that I claimed. Later, in 1996-1998, when I realized I wanted to be a horror screenwriter, Infernal City (or "Soul Decision", as it was known before some boy band came out and stole my blasted title--I mean, seriously, what were the odds of that?) was the first script I wrote--with hopes of producing it myself at the age of 19 or 20 (I was pretty naive). I hung my hat on that script for a long time before I realized I did not have the proper connections, the money, or the equipment to produce a professional film on my own. So I found another outlet for moviemaking--home movies. As has been stated elsewhere, I set out to create a no-budget horror epic, just for me and my friends. From that simple mission statement, HITMEN was born. The novel bearing the same name is, really, just an elaborated adaptation of those original home movies.

These were three important phases of my creative development, all leading me to 1999/2000, when I began writing the first draft of The Coming Evil. I am not a guy to let things go, so I knew that, once The Coming Evil was finished, I would return to those old ideas that I cut my teeth on, dust them off, give them a polish, and release them--but now as part of the mythology begun in The Coming Evil.

This "In-Between Trilogy" interconnects, asking questions in one episode, answering them in another. They intersect at multiple points, weaving an intricate story web, though they are standalone stories with their own unique casts of characters, as well as plots and resolutions. This trilogy-of-sorts can be read in any order--all leading to that strange storm that kicks off The Coming Evil. Having said that, here's my personally preferred order of reading, the one that I think offers the most bang for your buck in picking up the various threads, themes, characters, and locations. There are far too many Easter Eggs and connections for me to list here (and part of the fun is discovering it for yourself), but here's a handy guide to get you started.

ROMANCE AT THE EDGE OF FOREVER

Greensboro and its battle against the Strange Man is only a small conflict in a much larger war. In the Rift Jump duology (Volumes 1 & 2, respectively), we pull way back to reveal just how big a war that truly is. These stories take you to the very edge of the cosmos, where we learn that Greensboro belongs to a reality that is only one of many in an infinite multiverse of parallel realities. We are introduced to star-crossed lovers Michael and Sara, two teenage runaways who travel the multiverse together, trying to stay two steps ahead of some unfathomable evil that lurks in the dark spaces in between the worlds. This Evil is looking for something--namely the means of his escape, as the multiverse is his prison--and believes that Michael and Sara are the key.

Teen love and angst in the multiverse!

On the surface, this sci-fi series seems a far cry from the "small town horror" of The Coming Evil. Readers will be whisked away to many bizarre and alternate worlds in a constant barrage of adventure, meeting costumed superheroes, robots, aliens, and demons. I've often compared it to a dark Doctor Who meets Lovecraft kind of tale, with enough cosmic horrors to keep the reader's head spinning. While "weird", the themes and struggles of its love-drunk protagonists as they make war against an outside Evil--and the darkness in their own hearts--will be instantly recognizable to fans of The Coming Evil.

Over the course of these two volumes, we learn that one world, in particular, holds great meaning for this Cosmic Evil. A very familiar world to us, where there is a City where it never stops raining, and lost souls can see their dreams come true...for a terrible price.

FOOL FOR THE CITY

This narrative thread leads us to my brand new novel, Infernal City. The massive scope of Rift Jump comes into sharper focus here. Now, knowing what we do about that Thing in between the worlds, we find our way back to the Earth of The Coming Evil Trilogy. Lurking beneath the City is a sleeping beast that hungers for souls. We are introduced to Quinn Holbrook, a down-on-his-luck ex-boxer who is employed by the City's representative--known simply as "Mac"--to retrieve those who would sell their souls to the City for wealth and pleasure, and then try to run out once the bill comes due. When Quinn is tasked with hunting one of these "Runners" who's hiding in the idyllic community of Watcher's Grove (a close neighbor to Greensboro), he begins to learn the truth of that Thing Beneath the City.

The new release!

In Infernal City, we, too, begin to get a clearer picture of the greater threat that is posed to our heroes back in The Coming Evil. Aesthetically, Infernal City is the closest of my novels to The Coming Evil. We're in familiar territory, in a small town plagued by a demonic force--with quite a few twists and turns along the way. This is a noir detective story, a thriller, and a romance told in Quinn's own words. And as Quinn starts to question his place in the shadowy underbelly of our story world, we are going to plunge headlong into that darkness for the third and final installment of our thematic trilogy.

SHADES OF GREY

Moral ambiguity abounds as a complicated tale of forgiveness is told in HITMEN: Four Tales of Magick. Monsters, and Murder. This book, itself, is a collection of four novellas that build upon one another, telling the bloody saga of Eli Ross, a hitman who has a crisis of faith that is precipitated by the appearance of a mysterious, hulking figure that has begun a campaign of slaughter against the criminal underworld's biggest players. Along the way, we meet world-weary Vinnie Caponi: Urban Mythologist, his young idealistic apprentice, Flynn, and the untamed criminal heiress Marcie, who has her fair share of secrets--as well as a tight hold on Eli's heart. These four unlikely heroes find themselves in the malevolent path of the Blue Skull--a supernatural killing machine--and must uncover the shocking truth behind his rampage and put an end to his reign of terror before they fall victim to his brutality. Adding to their problems is a villain who escaped the final chapters of Infernal City to come make trouble for our heroes...

A world of shadows...

HITMEN could be considered "darker" than what most people are accustomed to reading from me. Heroes are sometimes harder to discern, and the lines between good and evil blur. It explores the occult connections of my mythology, and the violence is cranked up a few notches. It's an unabashedly gory novel, and to some of my faithful readers' chagrin, it also contains a rarity in my fiction: coarse language and sex. Even at that, the language and sensuality used is safely within a PG-13 rating, but I realize that for some, that's too much. Nevertheless, this is a story of killers and thieves in conflict with their baser natures. HITMEN is about breaking through the darkness of the world you know, escaping the traps of your past to find a new fate. The road to redemption is never easy, and rarely pretty. These are damaged people in dark places, and the language and subject matter of the book reflects that, but is meant to ultimately serve a redemptive purpose.

HITMEN leads us the nearest to The Coming Evil, taking place just a couple months before the start of that original trilogy, and sections of the action even take place in Greensboro, itself. Readers will recognize some familiar places and faces, setting the stage for The Coming Evil.

WHAT'S NEXT?

Ultimately, the "In-Between Trilogy" reveals a larger world and conflict than seen in the original trilogy, and points to the cosmic importance of the events of Greensboro. It also raises many questions--questions that I am in the process of addressing in my next sequence of novels. There are many exciting mysteries left to reveal in Greensboro's distant past and even, in my mind, a future, final climatic battle to bring this mythology to a close. But while we wait, this new thematic trilogy offers many new adventures, heroes to cheer, monsters to fear, and an enticing look at the larger mythology of The Coming Evil Trilogy.

All books are available in print and on Kindle.

New Interview at Phasmafic!

Writer and pal TW Johnson (check out his weird and creepy new ebook Othveria) has interviewed me over at his site, Phasmafic about my latest release HITMEN: Four Tales of Magick, Monsters, and Murder. It's a pretty intense interview, delving into my musings on horror, my relationship with self-publishing, but mostly about some of the more "controversial" elements of HITMEN (at least from a Christian perspective). I asked TW not to pull any punches and I think the dialogue that came out of the exchange is an important one to have. Not sure we came up with any answers, but it certainly produced some food for thought.

Head over there to check out the interview and, while you're at it, why don't you order a copy of HITMEN? It's available in print and on Kindle.

"Snakehead Swamp" DVD Available Now--And An Announcement!

Happy October, ever'body! No secret that this is my favorite time of year. The air turns crisp, the leaves change beautiful shades of red, orange, and yellow--and Halloween is finally upon us: The one night a year where everyone sees the world the way I see it all year long :p

Already this is shaping up to be an eventful October for me. The wife and kids and I made our yearly sojourn to nearby Pumpkin Hollow where we perused the pumpkin patch (no Great Pumpkin sighting as of yet, but I remain hopeful), went on a hay ride, charted the corn maze, and sampled the fine pumpkin pie cuisine with an apple cider smoothie chaser. I've got a stack of monster movies to work my way through this season, watching in a darkened living room by light of an electric jack-o'lantern. And, of course, we're all preparing for The Big Night around the Mitchell home, stocking up on candy treats to hand out to our neighbors.

On top of such seasonal goodness, today marks the street release for my first Syfy Channel Original movie--Snakehead Swamp! The killer fish flick is now for sale at Amazon (and stores, you know) and also available to rent through Redbox. You've gotta see it to believe it! To read up on the movie, read my earlier blog post.

In related news--I'm writing my second Syfy feature as we speak! It's still too early in the process to go into specifics, but I've just turned in my first draft and I'm having great fun working on it so far. The road to making a movie is a long and winding one, though, and everything is subject to change, so I can't say much with confidence right now except to say that, no, it's not a sequel to Snakehead Swamp, but a whole new concoction of B-movie terror. I hope you'll all check it out once it finally airs (sometime next year, is the current plan). More on that as soon as the red tape is lifted. But for now--top secret!


In the meantime, go and check out Snakehead Swamp, or pick up a copy of my latest monster novel release HITMEN: Four Tales of Magick, Monsters, and Murder! Both are fun treats, especially for this time of year.

But, most importantly, enjoy the Halloween season. As the wind blows cold and the days grow short, this is a perfect time to hold your loved ones close by a warm fire, share fanciful stories of mystery and suspense, and drink a nice mug of warm cider together.

Don't waste it :)

New Story Included in "Grimoire of Eldritch Inquests"!

Howdy, folks. Some great news this weekend, courtesy of Emby Press. My short story "Divide and Conquer" has just been accepted for their Occult Detective anthology A Grimoire of Eldritch Inquests! The two-volume anthology is edited by Emby mastermind Miles Boothe and Joshua M. Reynolds--author of the super-awesome Royal Occultist pulp occult detective stories. Not only that, but my buddy Bob Freeman (read my most recent interview with him right here) has been tapped to contribute and write the foreword. I'm thrilled to be a part of the collection and am, as always, thankful for the chance to work with Emby Press and their impressive Monster Hunter line of anthologies.

My story "Divide and Conquer" is an original tale featuring an early case of my own occult detective, Vinnie Caponi: Urban Mythologist. As you should know by now (because I've posted a lot about it), Vinnie is one of the main heroes in my new book HITMEN: Four Tales of Magick, Monsters, and Murder. It was great delving into his old case files for another adventure with his faithful sidekick and brother-in-law, Josh. I love writing these two characters and I hope you enjoy my wild and woolly tale of...well, I'm hesitant to say what particular nasty they go up against. But, suffice it to say, it'll be wild and woolly. Fans of my The Coming Evil Trilogy should also take note of this short story as it includes one of my Arbigast Group characters from Lengthening Shadows. You won't want to miss it!

I was sort of a late(r) bloomer to the occult detective genre. I seemed to always be around it without ever really recognizing it. Growing up, my best friend Johnny was into Lovecraft and paranormal investigators and movies/shows like Angel Heart, X-Files, Lord of Illusions, and To Cast A Deadly Spell. I knew all these things through him and learned to enjoy and appreciate them. I even fashioned Johnny into an occult detective for my series of "Hitmen" home movies: you guessed it--he was the inspiration for Vinnie Caponi. Over the years, my love for pulp horror like Lovecraft and occult detectives have grown and developed, but the genre will always remind me of my early teen years at Johnny's, playing the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game, and talking about ancient tomes and eldritch horrors. Good times.

Fred Ward (that's the guy on the right) in "To Cast A Deadly Spell"

Look for the first volume of A Grimoire of Eldritch Inquests later this year. As of this writing, I'm not quite sure yet which volume I'll be included in, but they'll both be worth the look. In the meantime, get caught up on Vinnie Caponi by checking out HITMEN (available in print and ebook) or by reading this vignette of Vinnie's origins--for free, yo!

Blog Tour--Tag, I'm It!

So there's a blog tour going 'round these days, whereby authors answer four questions about their unique take on the craft. Last week, my buddy T.W. Johnson wrapped up his leg of the tour, as part of his promotion for his superhero/monster short story in the upcoming Metahumans vs Robots anthology by Lion's Share Press (I, too, might have news to report about that soon... :p).

As is the way with this particular blog tour, the responsibility fell on T.W. to pass the torch and keep this thing going, and he's tagged me! So here's my take on the four questions we've been posed. And away we go!

Q: What am I working on now?

This has been a busy year for me so far. Over the summer, I saw the release of my fifth novel HITMEN: Four Tales of Magick, Monsters, and Murder as well as the television debut of my first ever creature feature for the Syfy Channel--Snakehead Swamp. While I would love to spend the rest of the year kicked back, sipping sweet tea, and watching COPS all day, the allure of writing calls to me once again.

Right now I'm smack in the middle of work on my sequel to my 2012 multiverse sci-fi adventure novel Rift Jump. Currently sub-titled "Sara's Song", this book will (hopefully) answer all the pertinent questions from the previous book, take us to some wild and terrifying new places, and bid a fond farewell to this particular cast of characters. I've had Michael and Sara in my head since I was writing their first adventures on my Brother word processor in high school back in the mid-90s, so to finally tell their story in full and send them off into the sunset is something I look forward to, but also something I want to make sure I get just right. Even after all these years, these characters still surprise me with their choices as I learn more about them and more about myself in the process. It's an intense gig, and a crazy ride.

Q: How does my work differ from others in its genre?

That's one of those marketing questions that publishers always ask you. That's like asking for "selling points" or my "brand" or why you should buy my work instead of "the competition", but I've never been big on those kinds of questions. Perhaps I'd sell more books if I were. Really, the thing that distinguishes my work from the rest in the genre (in my case, it's horror) is that I didn't write all those other books. It's as simple--and complicated--as that. We all see the world slightly differently. Rather than comparing myself to other writers, I just want to grow from novel to novel, discovering more about myself and my own voice and saying the things that I want to say. I'll leave it up to others to judge and compare styles. I just write what I feel.

You should never write to compete with someone else. You should only ever be in competition with yourself. Look at your last work, own up to your mistakes, and do better the next time. In my life, nothing kills creativity quite like looking at my neighbor's work to see what they're up to and comparing it to my own.

Q: Why do I write what I do?

The short answer is that I write about monsters in order to stay sane.

The longer answer is that, with the advent of social media, I am constantly bombarded by the staggering amount of Evil in the world. You wake up in the morning and make a quick scroll through your newsfeed and--apart from the endless pictures of cutesy animals or people's bizarre obsession with taking snapshots of their feet (which is an evil of another kind)--you are overwhelmed by atrocities, violence, and hate from every side. And these stories are always followed by a charge--"Be outraged!"--but no one has a solution. Instead of finding a solution, we fight, curse, and kill about whose solution is the best, all while safely hiding in the anonymity that the web provides. I'm sure every generation says this, but--especially in this Internet Age--we've been exposed: we are the monsters.

So I write about monsters. That's all I know to do. Writing is the only way I know how to deal with this all-encompassing Ugliness that exists in the world and the hopelessness and helplessness that it creates in me. I am fully convinced that, apart from Christ, there's not hope for a single one of us. So, in my stories, I do my best to wrangle this massive Evil and bind It to a narrative and I fight It. I question It and my own complicity in Its existence. I struggle against It, I laugh in spite of It, and I dare to hope that we can overcome It if we stick together. This Evil takes many different forms in my writing--sometimes a demon, an alien, a vampire, or a giant man-eating fish :p--but it's always the same force. Other authors might write to explore or fantasize, but I write to fight.

Q: How does my writing process work?

I'm a very emotional and instinctive kind of guy. If I'm not "feeling" it, I don't write it. Writers better than me swear by the code that you should write x amount of words every day, but I just don't. Writing can't be mechanical like that. Editing can, but writing has got to be fluid. When I write, I've got to be able to cross over into my story and not "write" it, but just describe what I'm seeing and feeling. I've got to be living it. Many times it's music that gets me there. I almost always write to music. Sometimes when I've got a scene in my head but can't quite get there, I'll spend hours listening to music until a song clicks. Then I'll race to the computer, put that song on repeat (sometimes all day) and just write from pure emotion and discovery. I think, as a writer, I'm probably more like an actor getting into a role. I've also adopted a healthy balance of guiding a story and also letting the story go where it wants. Sometimes I feel a character pulling away from me. I might fight at first, but eventually I'll just let him/her go and follow close behind. I find that always leads somewhere fascinating and exciting that I would have never thought to go on my own. Trust your instincts--or, perhaps, your characters' instincts.

Well, that wasn't so hard, now was it :) Next Monday, follow along as graphic designer and author of the mind-bending supernatural suspense YA novel Uncanny Day (and a really cool dude) Cory Clubb takes the reigns of the tour over at his blog. Thanks for tuning in!

Win a copy of "HITMEN"!

Beginning today through August 15, I'm offering readers a chance to win one of three free copies of my latest monster novel HITMEN: Four Tales of Magick, Monsters, and Murder. How do you enter? It's easy! Head over to the Goodreads Giveaway page! Yeah, I'll even sign it for you. Why not?

So what's HITMEN all about anyway? Visit my behind-the-scenes blog post to read why this particular novel is so special to me.

Also, if you like what you see, check out this free excerpt from the book as well.

Now go enter the giveaway! Time's a'wastin'!

Free Short Fiction--"Metamorphosis"

Hey, all. Hopefully you're all buying and enjoying my latest release, HITMEN: Four Tales of Magick, Monsters, and Murder. Today, I bring to you short fiction featuring one of the heroes in Hitmen--Vinnie Caponi: Urban Mythologist.

The following originally appeared in the occult detective anthology A Cat of Nine Tales by Rookhaven, and is designed to be a simple vignette--a peek, if you will--into the origins of Vinnie Caponi. Of course, all of Vinnie's secrets are brought to light during the events of Hitmen, but I consider this a nice primer. Or, if you've already read Hitmen, then this story works on an even deeper level, elaborating on things only hinted at in the novel. I hope you enjoy the story and, once you're done, go pick up Hitmen and see how Vinnie's battle against the supernatural unfolds!

Josh Banks turned his key and entered the country shack. The place seemed colder these days without her there. On the wall, where portraits of her pretty face once smiled back at him, there was only bare wood-paneling. Vinnie had already removed all the painful reminders of her beauty, her warmth. Dirty clothes lay draped over furniture and empty bottles of Bourbon were scattered on the carpet, but what bothered Josh most were the stacks of strange books. Vinnie’s new obsession.

“Vin?” Josh called out into the evening gloom, barely broken by the glow of a lamp in the corner. Silence answered him. Maybe Vinnie was off doing more research on the case. Vinnie had always been thorough—that was what made him such a great private investigator. But this new Vinnie—one without Allison—was driven in a new and terrible way.

Drawn by morbid interest, Josh plucked a thin book off the top of the nearest stack. The spine read White Magic, Black Magic. “Aw, Vin…I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into.”

The cell phone stashed in his baggy jacket blitzed and Josh nearly dropped the book. He fumbled to bring the phone to his ear. “Yeah?”

“Josh.”

Vinnie sounded hollow and distant, a shadow of the jovial giant he had been only a month ago. “Vinnie? Where you at? You told me to meet’cha.”

“There’s been a change of plans. Meet me at the lake.”

Not that again. “What for?”

“I’m gonna summon Tanner’s spirit and I need your help.”

Josh’s blood froze in his veins. He felt like the Devil himself was standing behind him. At last, he swallowed hard. “I’m on my way.”

* * *

Vinnie Caponi pressed the chalk to the dock boards, finishing the runic configuration, mumbling the incantation as he did so. With each syllable, he felt himself slipping into darkness, crossing a line he’d never even knew existed a few weeks back. Allison had been a faith-driven woman and he respected her beliefs, though he never entirely shared them. Since he was a boy, Vinnie had been a practical thinker, observing physical facts to draw conclusions about the unknown. That, coupled with his desire to mimic the two-fisted detective stories he enjoyed in his youth, had led him to join the Willowbrook P.D. However, reality was not as rewarding as fiction, and corruption on the force drove him away. He went into business for himself, with Allison’s brother Josh at his side. It was an unlikely partnership, as his brother-in-law was lazy and undisciplined, but Vinnie had done it for Allison. He would have done anything to make her happy. To repay her for noticing him when so many others hadn’t. Vinnie better resembled John Candy than John Wayne, yet Allison made him feel accepted and loved.

But Allison was gone... Was she in heaven now? Had her faith rewarded her? Or was she someplace dark and cold and alone, waiting for him to save her? Or, at the very least, avenge her?

He’d watched the camera footage a thousand times. The thing that was there when Allison died…it wasn’t human. It took six slugs like someone was throwing pebbles at it. It bled dust. Its face was a ghostly skull, nearly luminescent in the dark. Vinnie had never believed in ghosts, but the way that thing—that Skullface—flickered out of sight and vanished…

The world had opened to him and proven itself a terrible, unknowable place, shattering every perception he held, ruining his life—and triggering his rebirth. He was shuffling around in the cocoon and wasn’t quite sure how he would re-emerge when the transformation was complete.

He straightened as he finished his task, readjusting the black trenchcoat and fedora that warded off the encroaching cold. Josh materialized from the shadows onto the small pier, stepping into the white-blue beam of the overhead lights. The string bean looked worn, reminding Vinnie that Josh had lost Allison, as well. But I’m going to make this right. I can fix this. For both of us.

“What do ya think you’re doin’?” Josh sighed, looking more annoyed than angry.

Vinnie regarded his intricate scribbling on the ground, mindful of the instruction book he held in his hand. It hadn’t been easy—or cheap—procuring the text. “It’s a summoning spell.”

“Dude,” Josh groaned, “what is your problem? Will you just listen to yourself? Spells, ghosts…this is dark stuff, man.”

Vinnie knew Josh was right. He’d buried himself in research the last few weeks, taking a crash course in the occult. Even from what little he read, he understood he was dabbling in powers he couldn’t control. He was aware of the thin line he walked between salvation and damnation. “If it gets me closer to the thing that killed Allison, then it doesn’t matter.”

“It does, too, Vin! What does it matter if you get your revenge, or whatever, but you lose your own soul in the process? Allison wouldn’t want that.”

No. She wouldn’t. There were a lot of things Allison wouldn’t have wanted. “Allison’s dead.”

Vinnie saw Josh flinch and marveled at how well he was holding it together. Josh was calm, clear-headed, though he had to be hurting. Sad as it was, losing Allison had been good for Josh, maturing him overnight into a good man. Am I a good man anymore?

“She is,” Josh reflected. “But that doesn’t mean you have to die, too.”

Vinnie set his teeth on edge, his heart pierced. “Are you going to help me or not?”

“I ain’t touching that magick stuff, man,” Josh snarled like Vinnie held a plate of spoiled sour kraut. Eyeing the tome in Vinnie’s hand, he asked tentatively, “What is that, anyway?”

“It’s one of the Nine Books of Carvac. It contains spells for conjuring spirits and binding them to corporeal form.”

Josh stared at him for a long moment. “Great plan, Sherlock. What do you plan on doin’ after ya got this Tanner cat where you want ‘im?”

The spirit in question was Jimmy Tanner, a twenty-six year old man who drowned in the lake back in the 1960s. He was backward and probably mildly retarded—but he was far from innocent. He was known to mutilate animals and spent too long lurking around playgrounds for parents’ liking. Tanner was a hulking man, and Willowbrook feared him. Then one day, he turned up missing. Years went by until, in the mid-80s, a group of men confessed to running afoul of Tanner when they were thirteen, returning from a Little League game. The boys teased the man, called him names, and provoked him into a fight. When Tanner lashed out, the frightened kids retaliated, nearly beating the man to death, and pushing his body into the water where he met his demise. The secret had stayed with the boys into their adulthood, until guilt moved them to confess what they’d done.

But Tanner’s body was never recovered.

Instead, his vengeful ghost became the stuff of stories told at the nearby summer camp. There had been a few unexplained accidents out there, often attributed to Tanner’s lingering fury.

Allison had died near those woods. Near the lake. Vinnie found a photo of Tanner—huge and lumbering—and believed it matched the shape of the phantom he glimpsed on the video.

At least, he wanted to believe.

“Check the bag.”

It was only then that Josh noticed the duffel on the ground, a sawed-off shotgun protruding from the open top. Josh knelt and handled the weapon with respect and awe, then looked back to the detective, his eyes betraying a broken heart. “Vinnie…”

Vinnie detected the hurt in Josh’s voice, knowing he had let down his friend. Vinnie had always owned a pistol as a cop and later a P.I.—had been trained to use one—but as a pacifist by nature, he preferred to make friends of his enemies and reason his way out of difficulties. Resorting to violence was traitor to so many things he once stood for. But he was changing. “The bullets are enchanted. I used one of the spells on them, so they should be lethal to a supernatural being.”

Josh stood, shaking his head. “You’re losing it.”

Vinnie could not argue.

Relenting, Josh exhaled. “So, after you kill this guy or send him back to hell or whateva’, then what?”

Vinnie hung his head. “I don’t know.”

“Because it won’t bring back Allison, you know?”

The truth stung like a slap to the face. Then again, what was truth anymore? Vinnie was starting to understand that the rules could be rewritten. With the right symbols, the right incantations, anything was possible. Anything… “Yeah…I know…” He felt the weight of the Book of Carvac in his hand. His eye was drawn to its yellowed pages. They held so many secrets about death—and life beyond. Maybe he could find a way to breach that veil and see Allison again. Maybe…bring her back. “This book is powerful…” he muttered, his heart tripping in his chest, as he felt himself sink a little further into darkness.

Looking up, he saw Josh’s eyes widen. The kid wasn’t stupid. He fixed an accusing glare on the book, then Vinnie. “No! Don’t even think it!”

“But if it works on Tanner, it could work on—”

In a display of anger Vinnie had never seen in him, Josh charged and slapped the book from his hand. 

“Stop it!”

In the second it took the book to drop, Vinnie drew his Colt 1911 from his shoulder holster and pressed it to Josh’s nose. Ice surged through him—hate and pain and grief—as he leveled the gun.

Josh paled. “What are you doin’, Vin? You gonna shoot me now?”

Vinnie’s hand trembled, his pulse pounding in his ears. Josh was standing in his way. Hadn’t he promised himself he would do anything to make things right? To bring Allison back into the world and make everything whole again?

Josh stared him down, growing bolder in the silence. He had Allison’s eyes. Maybe he had her heart, too.

What are you doing? Vinnie asked himself, echoing his friend’s words. He really didn’t know anymore.

Slowly, he lowered the pistol. Slid it back into its holster.

“I’m so lost, Josh…I miss her so much…”

Josh’s familiar easygoing, lopsided grin returned. He patted Vinnie on the shoulder. “I know, big guy. I do, too.”

Vinnie had lost Allison: his wife, his friend, his reason to get up in the morning. But maybe in the end, he’d gained a brother. Josh’s goodwill warmed his soul and he found himself smiling again at last.

“Come on,” Josh said, nodding towards the end of the pier, away from the lake and its temptations. “Let’s get rid of this crap and go get a pizza. I’ll even let you buy.”

It sounded wonderful, but there was one catch. “We can’t.”

“Why not?”

Vinnie looked to his boots and the chalk drawing beneath them. Already the symbols began to glow a faint red. He frowned. Too late to turn back now. “Because…I already did the spell. I already summoned Jimmy Tanner.”

A soul-shivering howl split the night and the screaming giant exploded out of the lake’s cold depths. Josh let out a curse and tumbled back onto his seat as the behemoth landed on the pier, cracking the boards under his weight. Vinnie stepped back, his hand hovering over his pistol, but not drawing it. The thing before him stood over six feet and wore coveralls and a discolored flannel shirt. Its shriveled skin was white as marble and bloated, its hair a strange shade of green. But Vinnie recognized the overbite, the bushy eyebrows.

This was Tanner.

But…this was not Skullface.

“Is it him?” Josh screamed, scrambling in a crab-walk, desperately retreating as the waterlogged giant clomped closer.

“No,” Vinnie said at length, his heart breaking. It wasn’t Skullface. He had disturbed this murdered man, stirring those decades of rage…for no reason at all.

Tanner’s grotesque body raised its arms for Vinnie, and the thing bellowed a hungry, hate-filled cry. Josh screamed like a small girl, but Vinnie steadied himself. Without fear or anger—even the grief was gone—he slid his pistol into his hand, took aim, and fired one magickally enhanced bullet. The spinning projectile flew from the barrel and struck the Goliath’s forehead. Tanner went limp, tumbling forward on the dock.

The waters bubbled, lit from below by a green light. Vinnie trembled, wondering what else he had released. Suddenly, the boards snapped, jutting skyward. Vinnie stumbled and was saved from impalement by Josh’s quick thinking and quicker feet. “Come on!” he squeaked, lugging Vinnie off the pier.

The two of them stood on shore watching as an eerie fog rose from the waters, moaning as if alive, and encircled Tanner’s limbs. Slowly, the mist dragged Tanner down into the lake, sealing what remained of his soul in its final resting place. As he sunk below the surface, the ghostly echoes faded and the waters grew dark and still once more.

Vinnie and Josh stood without speaking for a long time.

But Josh was never very good at keeping his mouth shut. “Did...we just see that?”

Feeling an odd sense of peace, Vinnie reached into his deep pockets and retrieved his favorite treat while on a stakeout—a Dum Dum sucker. He unwrapped a bubble gum-flavored one and popped it into his mouth. “Yep.”

“I vote we never do this again.”

Vinnie felt the same. He couldn’t save Allison. He couldn’t bend the laws of the universe to his own whims—the consequences were too dire.

But before he could voice his agreement, he realized he had emerged from the cocoon that her death had spun around him and knew what he had become. “I’m not so sure.”

Josh did a double-take. “Come again?”

Vinnie chuckled. “Easy. No more meddling with the Books of Carvac. I get that. But…I know, now, that there are some strange things hiding in the shadows. I can’t turn my back on all I’ve learned. There are monsters out there, and somebody’s gotta fight ‘em back. Maybe that’s me. Maybe I’m—”

“An urban mythologist?” Josh snickered.

Vinnie grinned around his Dum Dum. “That ain’t got a bad ring to it.”

The two of them contemplated the idea in the cool autumn breeze. After a moment, Josh stuck his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “So, you, uh, think you’ll need a partner?”

“It never hurt before. You interested?”

As they gathered their things and headed away from the lake and the ghosts they’d laid to rest, Josh explained, “Well, it just so happens that I used to work for this private investigator, but he quit the business. So you could say I’m in between internships. What does an urban mythologist pay anyway?”

Vinnie crunched on the sucker. “It pays in truth.”

“Aw, man, that’s really cheesy.”

Vinnie laughed for the first time since his world turned dark, and felt sure that somewhere Allison was laughing too.

Copyright 2012 Greg Mitchell