The Shape of... Horror?

The Shape of Water won four Oscars and a slew of other awards over the last few months. It deserved them; it's easily one of the best films of 2017. But it's far from the first piece of fiction to tell of the love between woman and fish-man.

Separated at birth? Left: The creature from Guillermo Del Toro's The Shape of Water.
Right: John Davie's illustration of the One from the Deep for Horror Heroes 2.

Two years before it even previewed, I released my own take on the love of a man from the depths of the ocean and a modern woman in a short story simply titled "The Beach House." As part of the anthology Horror Heroes 2, it told the story of a young woman named Lynda. Out on her own for the first time after a pampered childhood, she quickly finds herself in trouble when she moves into a beach house with several other students seeking freedom. But the strange boy that saves her one night on the sand quickly sends her life in a direction she could never imagine...

Perhaps it's nothing Oscar worthy, but "The Beach House" is a compelling entry in my writing history. It's well worth a check for anyone that wants to see more creatures from beneath the sea, or just want to see me write something a bit more romantic.

Horror Heroes 2 is an anthology of monsters turned heroes. It also features "Frankenstein & The Rejects" by Travis Hiltz and Darrin Albert's "Steamed,"  which features Bigfoot. It is now available in print and Kindle editions.

Sample "The Beach House", my contribution to Horror Heroes 2

I am current experimenting with a new social media platform called iAuthor. It has a set up to feature chapter samples, so through the power of embedding, here is a sample from my new story, "The Beach House", as our narrator Lynda first meets the mystery boy our story revolves around.

The Horror Heroes are here!

As announced yesterday at the new Metahuman Press, Horror Heroes 2 debuted on Monday. The new book features three new tales of monsters turned heroes. Travis Hiltz and Darrin Albert anchor the book, but I am happy to have added my own contribution in the form of “The Beach House”.

My new story takes sea creature and fish man legends, wraps them together with the Deep Ones, and creates a bit of romance around all of that. It is a wild little story different from just about everything I have ever written and I think it definitely takes a different twist on tales of monsters and heroes in modern fiction.

My Deep One hero as visualized by John Davies.

The new story joins two other great tales by a pair of talented young authors. Travis opens the book with a tale of the Frankenstein monster and a strange batch of new allies as modern day crime fighters. Darrin delivers a novella introducing the world to Littlefoot, a sasquatch hero looking to bridge the gap between her people and humanity.

Horror Heroes 2 is now available at Amazon.

The Horror Heroes are back!

I am proud to announce the new edition of Horror Heroes is on its way with a planned release date of October 19. I am equally proud of my story contribution to the new book continues my fascination with H. P. Lovecraft’s Deep Ones as I continue to carve out a place for the undersea race in the pages of the Quadrant Universe.

While the new story does not have any connections with Dracula from Horror Heroes, it does continue my expansion of the darker side of the Quadrant Universe. Read the full press release from Metahuman Press below.