Out Now-- "Strange Gods"!

Earlier this year, I released Hell's Dark Riders--the first installment in the brand-new Old Greenesboro Trilogy, which serves as an Old West prequel to my classic The Coming Evil Trilogy. It was my plan to release the entire trilogy in 2025, and that work continues as, out today, is the second book in the Old Greenesboro Trilogy--Strange Gods! 

Of all three books of this new trilogy, I think this second act was the hardest to put together. If you've read The Coming Evil Trilogy (and, if you haven't, what's stopping you?) there were quite a few off-handed references to events that took place during the Winter of 1884 in Old Greenesboro. Of course, at the time I made all those references, I never really thought I would ever come back and fully flesh out that history. So, when the time came to do just that, it was a wonderful challenge to stitch together all those disparate threads into a fresh tapestry, while also including as many surprises and twists as I could. 

Therefore, I invite you to travel back to 1884, for the first Dark Hour, and witness firsthand the harrowing history that laid the foundation of The Coming Evil Trilogy. 

As always, the book is available in print and on Kindle. Order your copy today!

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Dark Hour is here.

Winter, 1884.

Five years following his defeat of Hell’s Dark Riders, a new life of peace has at last found retired demon hunter Everett Greene. Far away from the wicked influence of the infernal City, Everett has settled his young family in the fledgling community of Greenesboro, where he hopes to raise his son away from the monsters and mayhem that he, himself, once battled.

But when the quiet town of Greenesboro is visited by a stranger promising prosperity, Everett senses that perhaps the evil he sought to leave behind has followed him, after all. The wealthy newcomer John Graves begins to poison the minds of the townspeople with a twisted religion, and soon Everett realizes that he will again have to face down the darkness. 

Everett is joined in this endeavor by his friends - the young widow Virginia Hallerin and outlaw Dead Eye Reggie, among others. Each one is put to the test, challenging just how much they can stand to sacrifice and how long their faith can last against the cunning of Graves, who shows himself to be both more familiar and more terrible than any of them had expected.

Strange Gods is the middle act in an epic new tale that sets the stage for the events depicted in The Coming Evil Trilogy.

A New Trilogy Begins

Welcome back. Three items of business to discuss this morning that I think fans of The Coming Evil Trilogy will be excited to hear, so let's get right to it.

Item 1: There is a brand new trilogy of The Coming Evil books headed your way! Back in 2011-2013, I published The Coming Evil Trilogy, a series of books that tells the story of the small town of Greensboro and its harrowing battle against the invading demon known only as "The Strange Man". The books were always my ode to the wild monster movies of the 1980s, and very much served as my own "coming of age", both as a writer and as an adult. It wrestles with questions of faith, friendship, bravery, and discovering what matters most when up against the darkest hours of our lives. As readers of the original trilogy know, over a hundred years before The Coming Evil begins, the town of Old Greenesboro first ran afoul of the Strange Man--events that have only been hinted at...until now!

Now, journey to the past to discover the origins of Old Greenesboro and how its feud with the Strange Man began! I am pleased to announce Book One in the Old Greenesboro Trilogy: Hell's Dark Riders.

The thing that excited me the most about this new trilogy--and was the most challenging--was how to present this story in a way that was fresh and surprising while also following the course that was clearly laid out within the pages of The Coming Evil. Readers of that first trilogy will already know the fate of Old Greenesboro and its citizens' first encounter with the Strange Man, so I knew this telling needed to expand on those things you know--and reveal truths that you could never have guessed. What's more, the events in this new series will provide new insight and a deeper context to the Coming Evil books already in circulation.

What's more, readers of my other works will see many familiar locations, characters, and mythology within the new trilogy. I have often said that Infernal City, my Rift Jump duology, and the HITMEN series were all cousins of The Coming Evil. If that's the case, the Old Greenesboro Trilogy is their common ancestor. Seriously, folks, it all begins right here, and I can't wait to share it with you at long last. Which leads me to:

Item 2: Each installment of The Coming Evil Trilogy was released in February, and things timed out in such a way with this new book that I felt no reason to break the streak. So, Hell's Dark Riders is scheduled to drop on February 4, 2025, in both print and Kindle editions! But wait, there's more.

Item 3: All three installments of the Old Greenesboro Trilogy will be released THIS YEAR. Looking through my writing journals recently, I was shocked to discover that I have been jotting down notes for this new trilogy since 2004! Indeed, I have made rare mentions of it over the years on this very blog, but I have resisted saying too much, as I wanted to complete the entire trilogy before announcing Book One. So, it is with much relief that I can safely announce that all three books in this new trilogy are finished and edited. I could stretch out the releases over the next three years, but I have been not-so-secretly writing these novels for the last fifteen years, and it's time to finally release them into the world. No hard dates are down as of yet, but I suspect Book Two will be released sometime this summer, and then Book Three will hit around November/December. So let's keep the party going throughout 2025 and make this the year of Old Greenesboro. 

I so greatly appreciate all of you who have read and enjoyed The Coming Evil throughout the years, and it is my hope to reward you with a wild ride through some very unexpected territory. As for Hell's Dark Riders, here's your first glimpse into this exciting new story:

ABOUT THE BOOK

The year is 1879. It is a time of darkness.

Four mysterious figures on horseback ride across the Ozark Mountains, leaving death and misery in their wake. Led by the false god Chemosh, these demonic Dark Riders seek to overthrow the world of Man and re-establish their wicked reign upon the Earth.

Everett Greene once fought such creatures, but has since retired, leaving that war behind. When Virginia Hallerin, a young mother who has suffered unspeakably at the hands of the Riders, beseeches Everett to intervene, the haunted hero is compelled to leave his life of peaceful isolation and anonymity behind to re-enter the fight. Aided by his mentor Jesse Crocker, an old, grizzled bounty hunter down on his luck, Everett determines to follow the trail of the murderous Riders.

Along the way, Everett and his companions will encounter hellish beasts as they fight their way into the very heart of evil. Yet, the Riders have an ace up their sleeve. Once Everett discovers that the villains have enlisted a certain “Strange Man” with an agenda of his own to join in their scheme, he realizes that this battle will be unlike any he has ever fought before.

Hell’s Dark Riders is the opening act in an epic new tale that sets the stage for the events depicted in The Coming Evil Trilogy.

It is coming...

 

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!

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 Release--Infernal City!

Out today, in both print and Kindle editions, is my new supernatural suspense novel, Infernal City!

Here's what's on the back:

There are those who come to the City, looking to cut a deal for the cost of their souls, and the City always collects what it’s owed in the end. Quinn Holbrook is a Retriever for the City, tasked with tracking down those who, out of fear or desperation, would renege on their Faustian deals. When Quinn is given a job to hunt one of these “Runners” in the small rural town of Watcher’s Grove, he suspects it’s just another job. Yet, as he’s welcomed into this warm and loving community, he begins to doubt his convictions. But the Grove is not all it seems, harboring a secret that could spell the end of the City’s demonic reign. A battle is drawing near, and Quinn will have to choose, once and for all, where his allegiance lies.

Fans of my The Coming Evil Trilogy will recognize the City, as it's been mentioned in that series (as well as my other works, but more on that in a later post). Infernal City is a sort of "sidequel", taking place just down the road from Greensboro and the events in The Coming Evil.

This book also marks a return to the type of "small town horror" that I explored in my earlier books. My faith-based readers should find much to cheer for in this new tale. Infernal City is a romance, a mystery, and it's got a ton of strange new creatures. I hope everyone checks it out!

Here's what Mike Dellosso--author of Centralia and Kill Devil had to say about the new book:

"Infernal City is a mesmerizing story. Captivating. And Quinn Holbrook is a dude you just have to root for. Mitchell's way with words puts you right in the middle of the action. This is a story that will linger long after completion."

Summer Update: Ozark Sharks! Infernal City!

It's that time again. Summer is upon us and, with summer, comes a bevy of new sharksploitation movies for Syfy's annual Sharknado Week. Last year I was fortunate enough to contribute Zombie Shark, writing its screenplay. But this year, there's a new finned menace in the waters. I present to you...

OZARK SHARKS!

This was a fun one that I had the opportunity be involved with in the early stages of pre-production. I helped develop the project, writing its first draft and later serving as Associate Producer. Marcy Holland came in and did a super job making the script her own, but still very much honoring what I originally put in there, and I am forever grateful to her for that. She rocks. As with Zombie Shark, this one is directed by Misty Talley--the first woman director of one of these Syfy Channel Original Movies we're told! Pretty awesome. She does a killer job (no pun intended) and the cast is great, bringing together some of my favorites from my previous two scripted Syfy outings (Snakehead Swamp and Zombie Shark), as well as some talented fresh blood.

I hope you check it out when Ozark Sharks hits on the Syfy Channel, Thursday, July 28 at 8PM Central.

What else is going on? So glad you asked. I'm doing my final edits on my next novel, and hope to release it very, very soon. It's coming along and I'm anxious to see what you guys think of it. In the meantime, behold the cover!

Artwork Not Final

Expect a full reveal/synopsis in the weeks ahead, but Infernal City tells the story of a City that, quite literally, eats souls! This one has been in the works for awhile now and it's very much a return to the themes and "flavor" of my The Coming Evil Trilogy, that no fan will want to be without. I liken the new book as a first cousin to The Coming Evil, so keep checking back here as we get closer to its anticipated (at least by me) release.

In the meantime, Ozark Sharks!

A Look Ahead

Happy (belated) New Year!

It's been forever since I've posted on here, mostly because I've been hard at work on a number of upcoming projects. Not only that, but I've been, frankly, trying to live my life a little. It's possible to have too much going on, and I was knee deep in that territory for the latter half of last year. So this year, I'm taking a bit of break. Still working, but these days I'm working more on my personal projects rather than "for hire" work--though there's some of that thrown in there, too.

So what's coming up?

First off, I'm pleased to announce that I have finished the manuscript to my seventh novel. Still have edits to do and then there's the question of what to do with it after. I've published my last three books on my own, without much success, to be honest. But I love the creative control and the freedom. Plus, with publishers becoming even more exclusive because of the increasing financial risk of publishing anyone who is not Stephen King or George RR Martin, I'm not sure where to turn. But that's all upsetting business stuff to worry about later. Right now, I'm focusing on just the simple joy of telling (and completing) a story. I don't want to say too much about it just yet, but what can I tell you about the next book? No title yet, as it keeps changing, but this is a story that I've been trying to tell--in one form or another--since 1998. In many ways, it's a return to my Coming Evil roots--simple people fighting off incomprehensible evil. It involves a City that devours souls, and centers on Quinn, a thuggish "Retriever" who makes sure that, well, let's just say he makes sure that the dinner doesn't scramble off the plate. It's a noir-type story, rife with monsters and a very faith-driven fight of good versus evil. Also, it fits squarely into my larger mythology. In fact, this book is the concluding chapter of my current "concept trilogy" that consists of HITMEN: Four Tales of Magick, Monsters, and Murder, and the Rift Jump duology. Together, they pull back the veil on the world introduced in The Coming Evil Trilogy, showing that the threat presented by the Strange Man has its roots in something much more cosmic. And that tasty morsel leads into my next announcement...

I've officially broken ground on the next Coming Evil novel. Still waaaay too early to say anything about that yet, but I've had this story in mind for many, many years. There are seeds of it sprinkled throughout The Coming Evil, and even more of its foundation is laid in the aforementioned "concept trilogy". I'm super excited about it, but nervous, as well. The Coming Evil has always been very special to me and I want to be extra careful to handle its continuation properly.

In other news, I've also had the opportunity to help develop another Syfy Channel Original. I'm buried way back behind the scenes on this one, but it's always fun to be involved in these creature features. Definitely can't talk about that one yet, but I'll be sure to keep you posted as the premier draws nigh.

Finally, my fellow Star Wars contributor Edward M. Erdelac and I have co-written an essay on that beloved saga to be included in Sequart's upcoming book A Galaxy Far, Far Away: Exploring Star Wars Comics. Very thankful to be included in this alongside other reputable Star Wars fans and authors. I think it's going to be pretty neat. Look for that later this year.

That's what I've been up to. I know I started this blog with saying that I wanted to be less busy, but, believe me--this is less busy for me :)

And, no, this won't be the last you hear from me for another six months. Coming up in the days ahead, I've got an interview with my buddy, paranormal investigator and author Bob Freeman. He's got a new book out!

Release Day--"Sara's Song"!

The wait is over.

Available today is my new release Rift Jump, Volume Two: Sara's Song--the concluding chapter of the Rift Jump duology! As always, the book is available in print, Kindle, and other ebook formats.

Folks, this has been a crazy ride. I knew when I wrote the original Rift Jump that I had one more book in me to wrap up Michael and Sara's trip across the multiverse, but Sara's Song has really surprised me. For starters, this is the longest thing I've ever written, and it is jam-packed with adventure, heartache, cosmic horrors, and explosive action--and the stakes have never been higher. All of existence is in danger of being eradicated, and our two favorite dysfunctional teenage runaways are at the very heart of it.

What was perhaps most surprising to me is that this book also lays the groundwork for the entire uber-mythology that encompasses most of my work, including The Coming Evil Trilogy. Trust me, you'll never look at the little town of Greensboro the same after reading this! It's all setting up for where I would like to take The Coming Evil series in future books.

So enough of the sales pitch. Go out and pick up your copy today. Here's the cover and synopsis. And, if you're behind on this series that spans space and time, you can also buy the recent Rift Jump: Revised and Expanded Edition and experience the journey from the beginning.

About the Book:

For over a year, Sara Morrison has been living a life she never dreamed possible. Rift jumping across parallel dimensions with her husband Michael, who is on a quest to battle the Rage, and their adopted son Toby, who possesses superpowers of his own, Sara has experienced wonders beyond belief. But she can't help but feel inferior to Michael as he saves the day time and again, and Sara longs for the chance to shin on her own.

When Michael and Sara encounter a cosmic storm that is shattering the worlds within the multiverse, Sara begins to uncover devastating truths about her past, her foretold future, and her connection to the reality-devouring storm. In order to overcome her own frightful fate, Sara will have to make a harrowing journey across the worlds and into the very heart of hell itself, before the multiverse falls to total darkness and her family is lost forever.

A Journey of Rediscovery

Sure has been pretty quiet around here. So, what's the deal?

Well, I'll tell ya. After the release of Dark Hour back in February, The Coming Evil Trilogy is at a close. It might seem strange to many, but I began this whole "writer thing" with one and only goal: See The Coming Evil Trilogy completed. And now it is.

Now I find myself with a bit of Empty Nest syndrome. I finished my baby (and a few other REALLY exciting projects that I can't discuss just yet) and now I'm left with a lot more free time on my hands. I'm still writing, of course. In fact, I'm working on three novels at the moment--one of them being my sequel to last year's Rift Jump. But I'm working at a much slower pace these days. I'm finding that I'm on nobody's timetable anymore, but able to create more freely; whenever I'm able to--as I always think of it--"catch a wave". In fact, I'm finding, these days, more of a return to my roots. I'm putting less words down on paper and, instead, I'm focusing on just imagining. I'm working on three books, but they're all in their infancy. They could go in any number of ways. I've known how The Coming Evil was going to end for over a decade, but I'm at a fresh beginning, now, and I'm not sure how some of these stories are going to end. The possibilities are limitless, and that's exciting and a bit daunting all at the same time. But it's affording me the joy of discovery again, as I meet new characters and learn all about them.

Also, I'm enjoying the rest. I love writing, but I'm not a fan of publishing. All the business and the hand-shaking and the marketing and social media--all of that. That's never been me and, while I think I'm able to turn it on and "perform" when need be, I can't be one of these career bloggers that's so focused on building my social media empire of celebrity that I lose all sight of doing what I love: telling stories.

So things are going to be a lot quieter around here for a time. There will be posts, sure. I've already got an interview lined up in the coming weeks with a returning favorite. But, if it's all the same to you, I'm going to enjoy my quiet time. I've spent a lot more time with my kids, spent a lot more time just enjoying life again. I've got some stories left in me that I'm dying to share with you all and we'll get there in due time. And, while The Coming Evil Trilogy is finished...I'm already planning my return trip to Greensboro. That's, perhaps, got me most excited of all these days. I've not written word one on that particular story, but--like Stephen King once put it, in regards to his magnum opus The Dark Tower--I'm finding the doors to that world again, in some unique and exciting places. I couldn't even begin to speculate when that story will be done, except to know that it'll be finished much like its big brother The Coming Evil was; all in God's timing. But I'm not thinking of publishing right now. Much like I was in the beginning of my writing journey, I'm just enjoying the writing process again.

For now, that's enough for me.

Let's Cast "The Coming Evil"!

Howdy.

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

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

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

THE STRANGE MAN

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

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

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

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

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

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

ENEMIES OF THE CROSS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DARK HOUR

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LENGTHENING SHADOWS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What's Next?

Now that The Coming Evil Trilogy is over, the question I get asked most often these days is "What's next?" I mean, I've only been working on this series for my entire adult life--where do I go from here? Well, as a matter of fact, I do have a lot of projects going on, but as for my next series, it's already started--and it fits squarely in the world of The Coming Evil!

"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."

This line is uttered by the Strange Man in Dark Hour, the final book of The Coming Evil Trilogy, and serves as a hint at my new book Rift Jump!

Rift Jump came out last summer through Splashdown Darkwater, my publisher for Dark Hour. In it, readers are taken to this "In Between" that the Strange Man was referring to and discover it to be the supernatural plane where all the angels and devils in all my stories, including the Strange Man and his gremlin hordes, originate. The In Between is the metaphysical glue that holds together the near-limitless worlds of the multiverse, an intricate network of alternate realities and parallel dimensions.

Rift Jump introduces us to Michael Morrison, the young man chosen by the Light to journey across this multiverse, combating some great Evil that is worming its way through the In Between, trying to consume the multiverse. The Strange Man knows this particular Evil very well and, if you've read The Coming Evil Trilogy, you might recognize it too, and already know the damage it could cause.

While The Coming Evil centered on the battle of good and evil across the landscape of small town Greensboro, Rift Jump takes that same battle to the cosmic stage. It's a clash of titans in this book, and shows what larger battles exist in the world--the multiverse--of The Coming Evil.

I have one more book to write in this new series, I believe. Among my many other projects, I'm slowly working on the follow-up to Rift Jump, that will bring to resolution whatever dangling plot threads remain after that first book. But, in the meantime, you can purchase Rift Jump from Amazon for its new low price in print or Kindle.

When Rift Jump was initially released, it was sort of lost in the midst of The Coming Evil Trilogy. But now that the Trilogy is finished, I'm hoping people will take another look at the book. It's already starting to get a little more attention out there in the world, garnering me a great new review and has even been nominated for a 2013 Clive Staples Award for Christian Speculative Fiction.

I hope you all go check out the book and get a look at the larger mechanics operating in my fictional world. Rift Jump is an action-packed wild ride, straight into the In Between where devils lurk and back again. Don't miss it!

Today, I'm over at Lisa Godfrees' blog, discussing all things Rift Jump, as well as offering two free copies of the book! But the giveaway only lasts for a week, so hurry over, read the interview, and leave a comment (over there) for your chance to win!

The Trilogy is Complete

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

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

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

The Strange Man
Enemies of the Cross
Dark Hour

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

"Dark Hour"--AVAILABLE NOW!

The wait is over!!

Dark Hour, the third and final installment in The Coming Evil Trilogy is here for your reading pleasure! Don't waste another second reading this blog post. Click here and purchase your copy right now! (then come back and finish reading :p) For those waiting for the ebooks, the book is now available on Kindle and at Smashwords in all digital formats!

It's a very exciting and surreal feeling to be here, at this moment. Literally my entire adult life has been spent writing this series, waiting for the day that the trilogy would be out in full--that the story, the full story, would finally be told. The journey has taken so many twists and turns. I began writing this in my parents' garage that they converted into a bedroom, but I ended the saga, living in my own home, married to my wonderful Meghan for a decade, and sharing our lives with two beautiful daughters. I grew up somewhere in all of that (eh...mostly), and the books have too. The Coming Evil began as a screenplay I wrote back in 1998/1999 and slowly worked its way into a trilogy of novels. I self-published in 2006, then went back to the drawing board, moving up into traditional publishing with the daredevils at Realms. Now this final book is coming out with my friend Grace Bridges--a woman who has come to be a great encouragement to me.

For over a decade, I've championed the cause of "Christian Horror", taking hits from both sides of the fence. I set out to begin an experiment--could I merge my love of the Bible with my passion for '80s monster movies? I've struggled, sometimes crossing a line between writing and "preaching", I fear. I've tried to maintain a balance of pure entertainment and thoughtful religious insight that could, hopefully, be of some benefit to all, whether they claimed the title "Christian" or not. I've tried to say something in all of my books, while trying my best to excite and share my love of the monster genre. I've given it my all every step of the way, and Dark Hour is the culmination of everything. All my dreams, my thoughts on humanity and our relationship to God, growing up, becoming a man, wanting to change the world. In many ways, The Strange Man and Enemies of the Cross were just the set-up. This was the book I had always intended to bring to the world. This is Christian Horror.

This is me.

Many of you have followed me on this journey and I am so grateful whenever I hear that someone read my book. It means the world to me, as I feel like I spend most of my life screaming into a chasm and no one cares. But you care. You've sent me letters, you've commented on posts, you've bought the books. I have shed sweat, tears, and blood over Dark Hour to deliver to you the absolute best of my writing ability at present. At this point in my life, I believe I can offer you no better than what I've given you in this book. Now it's up to me to continue to grow, to challenge myself, to rediscover who I am as a man and a writer. I began this book when I was barely into my twenties. Now I'm in my mid-thirties and the world appears a lot different to me. I've got some stories in mind to talk about that, and I hope to see you there when the time comes.

Thank you for everything. And to God, thank You, thank You, thank You. We made it.


Now seriously, people. Go buy the book. :p

"The Coming Evil"--The Story So Far

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

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

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

Now, on with the guide:


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

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

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

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

"Lengthening Shadows"--Commentary

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

The results are found in Lengthening Shadows.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Coming Evil: Lengthening Shadows--Now Available!

Mornin'.

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

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

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

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

ABOUT THE NOVELLA:

The Resistance Has Begun.

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

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

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

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

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