Today I’d like to welcome an excellent writer and an extremely cool person to my blog. Hunter Shea seized everyone’s attention last October when Samhain Horror published his debut novel Forest of Shadows. Dreadful Tales called it “an amazing haunted house story,” and I completely concur. Hunter was kind enough to stop by to share the origins of (and an excerpt from) his new novel Evil Eternal.

Take it away, Hunter!

♦

You don’t always know when the seeds for a book are planted. We writers like to think they’re hand delivered by a beautiful muse in the night, but I’ve yet to see the nymph come waltzing through my door.

About a month ago, I was going through my old comic book collection that I store at my parent’s house and thumbed through my Captain America box (Cap being my all time fave…I even have his shield tattooed on my arm). I found my two favorite issues from 1981 and took them home to re-read them for the first time in decades.

It was a mind blowing experience. In these issues (#253 & 254 for you comic fans), Cap is summoned to England to help an old friend from his days in WWII as one of the Invaders. It appears that a vampire is on the loose, and only Captain America can stop the bloodshed.

Holy crap! Right there, in the faded color panels of my favorite comics, were the beginnings of my fascination with horror in comic books. And right there is where my book, Evil Eternal, was born, even though it would be well over 20 years before I would actually write it. My heart raced while I read those comics. It’s not very often where you get to see behind the curtain of your own subconscious.

So, this is why I love over-the-top action mixed with larger than life characters, all dancing to the tune of a demented horror maestro (me being that maestro). I’ve always wondered where the characters and cadence of Evil Eternal really came from, aside from an overactive, fractured imagination.

Here is an excerpt from Evil Eternal. I think  you’ll see the comic book influence…

Outside, it was starting to feel like yet another snowstorm was about to burst from the skies. Father Michael, hearing Aimee’s name mentioned inside, turned to Shane and growled, “Hold on to my shoulders, now!”

Shane checked to make sure his earplugs were in place and grabbed hold of the priest’s rock-hard shoulders. “It’s about…”

He was cut off as Father Michael jumped straight into the air, soaring across the street and above the Javits Center. His stomach flipped several times over as cold air bit into his face.

“You can fly?” Shane shouted. His hair blew out, stiff in the rushing wind.

“Only jump,” Father Michael surprisingly answered. “Very far.”

Two snipers stationed on the roof watched their approach. They were too shocked to even consider taking aim and pulling the trigger. Nothing in their training had prepared them for taking down flying people. Father Michael’s black overcoat billowed out behind him like great bat wings as they descended through the reinforced glass roof, shattering a section to pebbled bits. It was a long way down to the center of the main convention floor and Shane was sure they would be crushed from the impact. They landed with a loud thud, smack in the center of the main aisle, not far from the stage. Father Michael didn’t even grunt as his feet slammed into the concrete.

People around them jumped back, slamming into their neighbors in a blind panic. Those seated around them thrust their hands over their heads as the crushed glass rained down on them like hail.

♦

*Pick up your ebook copy of Evil Eternal today. You won’t be disappointed.