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 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!

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

Available Now--"HITMEN: Four Tales of Magick, Monsters, and Murder"!

It's been a whirlwind couple months. Not only is my first-ever SyFy Channel creature feature "Snakehead Swamp" set to debut on June 28 at 9/8c (you can watch the trailer right sh'yere), but today brings the exciting announcement that my latest horror novel HITMEN: Four Tales of Magick, Monsters, and Murder is ready for your money!

As I talked about in this previous post, Hitmen began as a series of homemade movies I shot with my friends over the course of about a decade. They were a lot of fun and great memories. Despite the...hrm...cheap nature of those backyard masterpieces, I always felt there was a real story and real characters at the heart of it. So I've dusted off the old scripts, reworked them with an unlimited budget in mind, and set out to create something that, I hope, you'll find really special.

The book is available in print and also for Kindle and other ebook formats. Check out an excerpt right here. Read on below about the book and, as always, stay tuned to this blog as, in the coming weeks, I'll be posting my completely unofficial soundtrack listing for the book, as well as short tie-in fiction--for free, yo!

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Willowbrook: A town rotted by corruption and vice. For years, the feared Boss Marcon controlled the rackets and legitimate commerce, alike. But the stakes are raised when a mysterious figure--a giant of a man with a gruesome blue skull for a face--starts leaving mangled bodies all over town. The creature is silent and unstoppable, a hulking monstrosity surviving gunshot wounds and able to tear a man limb from limb. This monster is targeting Marcon's criminal empire, obliterating hardened hitmen with ease. Is it a rival assassin...or something worse?

Part crime drama, part brutal monster action, HITMEN is a collection of four-interconnected novellas, spotlighting those in the monster's path: Eli, the guilt-ridden killer who's had a spiritual awakening; Flynn, a young boy seeking to understand the mysteries of the supernatural; Marcie, the young heiress to Boss Marcon's empire; and Vinnie Caponi, an urban mythologist who has hunted the Blue Skull for years. Each character has a role to play in the mystery, their paths finally intersecting, leading them to their fate--facing the towering killer, once and for all.

"HITMEN"--An Excerpt

Hey, all. Here's an excerpt from my upcoming horror/crime novel HITMEN: Four Tales of Magick, Monsters, and Murder. The book will be here before you know it!

* * *

Joey’s twisted ankle swelled. He spat out a curse, gripping his leg while hopping on his other. Sweat drenched his disheveled bangs and they dangled in his face, obscuring his vision. The late afternoon sun leveled its glare on him, casting everything in dazzling diamond sparkles, but he could not slow or falter.

He slipped against the alley wall, knocking over a trash can, but righted himself on the grimy brick, hobbling along. His chest hurt from panting so hard, but he forced himself to keep moving, to get away. Tossing a glance behind him, he was momentarily relieved to see that the thing was no longer following.

Maybe I got a shot at this.

Turning back to the alley mouth, he saw the highway traffic blitzing by up ahead. No way would anyone stop for him—not in his torn jacket with embroidered patches depicting topless biker babes riding atop anarchy symbols, and a prominent upraised middle finger with angel wings across his shoulders. Fatigue threatened to undo him, but he knew he could survive this encounter, if he could just get a ride. Trembling too-thin fingers reached underneath his denim coat to brush the handles of the dual Ruger Super Redhawk .44 Magnums he had tucked in shoulder holsters. He was ready to draw them, to make someone stop for him, when the dark shape stepped into his path seemingly from nowhere, blocking the sun’s warm rays, suffusing him in cold black.

“N-NO!” Joey screamed as a black-gloved hand—impossibly icy—palmed the left side of his face and slammed him against the brick wall. Joey grunted in surprise, spitting out a geyser of blood and a couple teeth. His whole body shaking with shock, he slipped to the wet pavement, sputtering. “Stop…” he pleaded.

One giant boot stepped over him as the shadow descended, reaching for him. The right side of his face was raw meat and he couldn’t see out of that eye anymore, but Joey wasn’t ready to die. Not today. Not by the hand of this thing. Weeping, he rolled onto his back and drew his revolvers. Roaring now, he fired at the looming shape, hurling expletives as fast as bullets.

The thing twitched under the lead assault and Joey laughed, triumphant. He scooped himself up and wobbled back towards the end of the alley, headed for the road again. I’m gonna make it…I’m gonna make it…

His vision was blurry with tears, sweat, and blood, but he could just make out the speeding shapes of traffic. “Pull over,” he mumbled, not nearly loud enough for anyone to oblige. “Please, let me in…”

Weakly he emerged out of the alley, waving his pistols. “Hey,” he said, dreamily, fearing he was slipping into unconsciousness. Upon seeing him, nearby drivers swerved out of his way, honking.

“Wait! Wait, you gotta stop…”

Horns blared, tires screeched, and motorists dodged him as he approached the highway shoulder. “Wait!” he wept after them. “Let me in!”

He watched in helpless dejection as, one by one, cars passed by, his only hope of salvation leaving him behind.

Then he heard the crunch.

Joey whirled around and saw the thing rising to a stand in the alley, no sign of injury. No sign of slowing down. “God, no…” he whimpered.

What horrified him the most was the thing’s face. As the creature stood tall, drawing its strength, its face—that terrible skull face—began to radiate a soft phosphorescent blue glow. Against the backdrop of the shadowed alley, that head almost seemed to float, detached, and Joey could see nothing now but the grinning blue death’s head staring back at him. Moving for him.

“No!” he held out his hands as though they would keep the monster at bay. The thing stalked for him, ready to leave the alley behind and join him any second. Joey stumbled back into traffic, still flapping his arms, begging, weeping. “Get back! Stay away from me! I didn’t do nuthin!” 
A thunderous horn roared in his ear and Joey glimpsed the eighteen-wheeler bearing down on him too late—

Copyright 2014 Greg Mitchell

HITMEN: The Story Behind the Story

I'm pleased to announce that, in just a few days, my new horror novel HITMEN: Four Tales of Magick, Monsters, and Murder will be unleashed on the world. Similar to Rift Jump, Hitmen was sort of an experiment for me. It was an exercise in revisiting my past and dusting off an old concept that has been near and dear to me for a number of years. Today, I want to pull back the curtain a bit and share from the Foreword of the upcoming book to give you a glimpse into the story behind Hitmen.

The year was 1998. I was a couple years out of high school and trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. My childhood love of the horror genre was newly rekindled and I decided I wanted to write monster movies. I was getting my feet wet in independent Christian films and was starting to put together the story that would eventually become the novels in The Coming Evil Trilogy.  

In a show of support of my new filmic aspirations, my parents bought me a video camera. I was thrilled and set out to draft my friends into my own amateur horror movies. I was still toying with the idea of merging horror and religion and set out to make an ‘80s style slasher flick with a twist. The original concept for Hitmen was simple: Jason Voorhees (of Friday the 13^th fame) does great against half-naked camp counselors, but how would he fare against hardened hitmen with guns? I had a cheap plastic “blue skull” voice-changer mask that I bought on a lark at a Kay Bee Toys store some years prior and decided that would be the perfect frightening visage for my Jason-esque killer. 

Yeah, that's me playing "brooding hitman" Eli.

In the winter of ’98, I shot the first “HITMEN” movie on that little camera. I paid a small fee to go over to my friend, and Time Changer director, Rich Christiano’s house and cut it together onto a VHS tape. The movie was terrible—wonderfully so—but I was proud of that thing. I made a movie. My friends were supportive and didn’t complain too much when I called them at all hours of the day and night and gave them a simple “What are you doing?  Are you busy? Let’s go film.” 

They showed up on time, faithful to read over my rewrites and spout out my silly lines with zero practice or rehearsal. We finished the movie, had a popcorn night with our parents, and laughed at the fact that we’d made our very own movie. I’m sure everyone thought that it would end there. 

But, hey. This is me we’re talking about here. 

My little brother Jeff as wide-eyed Flynn Spanger back in 2000

Less than a year later, I had the idea for a sequel to my gruesome masterpiece. Once more, my friends (and now my little brother) simply got the call—“Let’s go film another one”. It didn’t end with that movie either, as I was now determined to create an epic home movie saga! Over the ensuing years, my loyal cast and crew followed me like a crazy-eyed Captain Ahab as I soldiered on through late nights and lunch hours and early Saturday mornings in search of a Moby Dick-sized vision. There was no pay. There was no distribution. There was no audience! Just the simple satisfaction that we were making something with our own two hands. 

In 2005, I finished editing “HITMEN IV: THE FINAL CHAPTER”. By that time, I’d made the transition to digital editing and DVD authoring, complete with trailers, outtakes, commentaries, and deleted scenes. I made a couple new friends along the way, and had even gotten married—and, yes, they were all eventually drafted into my massive ongoing storyline of “HITMEN”. In the films, I starred as guilt-ridden reformed hitman Eli, my brother Jeff portrayed precocious young ghost hunter Flynn, my wife Meghan became the sexy villainess Marcie, and my best friend Johnny pulled double-duty as lovable Vinnie Caponi: Urban Mythologist and our fearsome supernatural foe, the Blue Skull himself. 

Vinnie Caponi: Urban Mythologist

Man, it was a ride. Writing each new script at a feverish pace; throwing my camera, lights, and tripod in the back seat of my car on a whim to go pick up “one more shot”; sneaking out to the woods and having a hulking monster chase my wife screaming through the foliage; staying up at all hours of the night editing with Johnny, laughing and dreaming up even wilder scenarios for future installments—that was my twenties. They were some of the best times of my life. 

I never intended to show anyone outside our circle of friends our amateur movies. They are for us: a snapshot of a more innocent time. But, like the supernatural Blue Skull who slashed his way through our films, the “HITMEN” saga refused to stay buried for long. Fast forward to 2012. I’m right in the middle of publishing my magnum opus, The Coming Evil Trilogy, and I have this quirky idea to adapt some old stories I wrote in high school into a novel. That book eventually became Rift Jump, published in 2012 by Splashdown Darkwater. I had a lot of fun revisiting those old concepts and, as my mind is wont to do…I began to wonder: “What if I adapted those old ‘HITMEN’ movies?” They’d be greatly expanded on, of course, giving me the opportunity to do things we never had the budget to do in the original films. It could be bloodier, more action-packed—and way more ambitious, both in terms of character and story. A “Director’s Cut”, if you will. I was pretty excited, even as I laughed at myself for completely going off the deep end. That’s when I went to my former crew and cast mates and told them my idea of turning the four main Hitmen installments (we made a lot of spin-offs, you see) into a single “braided novel”. 

My wife Meghan and her cousin Drake as the conniving Marcie and Mr. Domingo

And the response was near-unanimous: “You’re going to do what?” We all had a good laugh and I didn’t really think I’d follow it through, to be honest. But, just for fun one night, I watched through those movies again, lost in bittersweet nostalgia and remembering all the funny and poignant behind-the-scenes stories. I began thinking about what I would do differently now if I had the budget and with my improved writing skills. I started writing the first part—now called “The Saint”—and surprised myself by how natural it felt. Cautiously optimistic, I adapted the second movie and then let my wife read what I had so far. She actually liked it. Hey, maybe I was on to something. 

The Blue Skull in all his black-and-white glory

I finished the book a couple months later and sought a publisher for over a year while working on other projects. No one was biting and, through it all, I kept thinking about putting the book out myself. It seemed only fitting. After all, all those movies we made, we made on our dime, with our own blood, sweat, and tears. I longed to experience that feeling of making something from scratch again. So that’s what I did. You’ll note that this book is published by Genre Experience: the same company that “produced” all those Hitmen movies back in the day. And, reminiscent of those bygone days of youth and excitement, I called up my pal, author/artist Bob Freeman at a moment’s notice and said, “Bob. I’m making a book. Can you do the cover?” Just like that, I’m fifteen years younger again, rushing off into the night to make monster movies with my best friends, making our own rules, entertaining ourselves. 

I hope you’ll come along for the ride.

And now, for the first time EVER outside of my living room, I am about to show you the actual trailer to the fourth (and final) chapter in the original Hitmen home movie saga, with voice over done by Zachary Malcolm, who also played Pastor Loomis in the movies. I've never shown anyone these, except for friends and family, but I think...yes, I think the world is finally ready.

Enjoy :p