Look! Up In the Sky!

I'm pleased to announce today that the MONSTER anthology (seriously, this thing is gargantuan) Superhero Monster Hunter: The Good Fight is now live on Amazon from the fine folks at Emby Press! Right now, you can feast your eyes on the digital copy, with a hard copy soon on the horizon.

An original pic of Light Sphere I drew back in '97, I think

My short story "Red Fog" is included in this mammoth text, featuring my own superhero creation Light Sphere. I've spoken about Light Sphere and his creation before on this very blog, but I created the character way back in junior high in the early '90s when the X-Men were really cooking. Seriously, the comics were back in vogue and there was the new FOX cartoon (which totally blew my mind). "Mutants" were all the rage and I jumped in with my own variation on the concept, but I wanted something with a bit of a twist. In Light Sphere, I created a character whose greatest strength was his greatest weakness--he had the ability to blast energy from his hands, but to do so without wearing these special mechanized gauntlets, he'd fry his arms to crispy husks. It's a severe limitation and, I thought, would make for an interesting predicament. Or, at least I did when I was thirteen.

I wrote and drew (re: traced) two whole issues of Light Sphere back in ninth grade or so, in the back of my classrooms while I was supposed to be learning something. Then, after that, Light Sphere got stuffed in a shelf and forgotten until about 2012 when I resurrected him, gave him a fresh polish, and included him in my multidimensional cosmic horror romp Rift Jump. He showed up to duke it out with my main protagonist in that book (another comic book character I created later in high school--Michael Morrison) and, like any good superhero yarn, the two slugged it out before becoming friends and allies.

Since then, I've had fun crafting new stories for Light Sphere. Late last year he tangled with a very strange lycanthrope in Lion's Share Press' anthology Metahumans vs Robots. Most recently, Light Sphere made a return in my brand new novel Rift Jump II: Sara's Song!

Needless to say, the guy's making the rounds and it's been a real blast playing with this character after so long and telling his stories after all these years. As for "Red Fog" in particular, it is my homage to the classic Batman/Dracula series of graphic novels: Red Rain, Bloodstorm, and Crimson Mist. Those things were a revelation to me when I was a teenager, combining Gothic horror and the noble plight of the superhero. I hope I've done that style of story justice, as well as adding my own spin on the material.

Check out Light Sphere battling vampire hordes in "Red Fog" collected in the pages of Superhero Monster Hunter: The Good Fight! And now I leave you with this:

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!

"Red Fog" to Appear in "The Good Fight"

I got some really exciting news today--my short story "Red Fog" will appear in Emby Press' upcoming anthology The Good Fight!

Emby Press is the premier publisher of monster hunter fiction, and as a crazy huge monster hunter fan, it's an incredible honor to be featured in one of their anthologies.

What's especially exciting is that The Good Fight is a sort of genre mash-up, focusing specifically on superheroes fighting monsters! It's like my two childhood worlds colliding!

Of course, this style of story has been done before. I remember quite vividly when DC Comics published the first Batman/Dracula Elseworlds story. I was blown away by that story, my imagination completely captivated by Batman taking on vampires. It was that story that got me back into collecting Batman comics for awhile (though I have to confess that "normal" Batman--aside from Batman: The Animated Series--was never quite as cool to me as the Batman-as-Van-Helsing motif).

Last year, I caught up on my Tomb of Dracula reading, and it was always a bit of a thrill to see more traditional costumed superheroes crossing paths with the King of Vampires. It's a combination that probably shouldn't work, but there's something ingrained in this subgenre that really speaks to me.

If you think about it, it is the most boiled down, pure, depiction of Good versus Evil. A monster represents humanity's dark side, reflecting our most carnal, selfish, violent impulses. A superhero, on the other hand, embodies everything noble humanity could be. Superheroes--as a concept--serve as a sort of moral standard of selflessness, bravery, and compassion. So, to have these two opposite forces clash sets the stage for all manner of commentary on the struggles we face in that battle between Light and Dark.

For my own contribution to this battle, I present "Red Fog"--a tale that harkens back to my first taste of "superheroes vs monsters" from Batman/Dracula, and stars a superhero of my own creation: Light Sphere. My readers might remember Light Sphere as he also appeared in my comic book-styled action adventure novel Rift Jump back in 2012. It turns out I've got more Light Sphere stories left in me and it was great fun to revisit him and plant him right in the middle of a harrowing vampire encounter (read more about the creation of Light Sphere here).

The Good Fight is due for release this fall from Emby Press, the perfect time for battlin' monsters. I hope you all check it out. Head over to the official announcement to read the full list of contributors to this massive volume of superhero horror!

In the meantime, if you haven't heard my other good news, don't forget that my first Syfy Channel creature feature Snakehead Swamp will air on Syfy, June 28th at 9 PM Eastern!