Howdy, friends! The below post comes courtesy of Hunter Shea, who’s not only a good friend of mine—he’s also an outstanding writer.

*Jonathan scurries out of the way, cedes the floor to Hunter*

As a horror/thriller writer, I often feel like Vincent Price’s character of The Inventor from Edward Scissorhands. I create my ‘monsters’ with love and good intentions. What they do when they escape my lap – erm, laptop – or how the villagers – uh, readers – react to them is entirely out of my hands.

A lot of authors refer to their manuscripts as their babies or their children. I once referred to my first book, Forest of Shadows, the same way to my agent. She almost had a cow. “Good Lord, don’t call it that! You have to edit it and do horrible things to make it just right. I wouldn’t wish that on a baby!” Her visceral reaction was enough to get me to kick the habit.

I do consider my brain my lab, my laptop the long table upon which I piece together my creations, offering them up to the thunder and lightning gods, along with the help of a ton of scary crap culled together from Tesla’s workbooks. Cue the sparks and oscillating zapping noises.

I even have my own personal Igor, who is better known as my first reader and editor, or even best known as my sister. No, she doesn’t have a hump (hump, what hump?), and she’s a heck of a lot smarter. The funny thing is, she’s not a horror fan. Anything that’s gory or squeamish or violent is to be avoided at all costs. Unless, of course, it’s all within the pages of my latest manuscript waiting for her eagle eye to spruce it up before I send it to my publishers.

Which is why I was a tad nervous when I handed over my latest invention, The Montauk Monster, to go under Igor’s microscope. I, The Inventor, went a little mad, weaving my creatures together, stitch by ugly stitch. I did have real life beasts that have washed up on New York’s shores to draw on, but naturally I took things in a darker direction.

I wrote the book like one of those classic old time cliffhangers, with each chapter moving as fast a bullet train. There’s violence, and blood, and terror and suspense. Would Igor be overloaded? She was my litmus test. If she could survive my creation, the world would be safe…just a little more afraid of being near the water.

I’m happy to report that both Inventor and Igor were on the same page, so to speak, and have no reservations about unleashing our monsters on an unsuspecting world. The Inventor is pleased (and will be alive to see what the villagers think). The question now is : do you have the guts to take on The Montauk Monster?

Hunter Shea is the author of the pulse-pounding new thriller, The Montauk Monster, named as one of the Best Reads of Summer by Publishers Weekly.

His horror novels to date are : The Waiting, Sinister Entity, Swamp Monster Massacre, Evil Eternal and Forest of Shadows. His obsession with all things horrific has led him to real life exploration of the paranormal, interviews with exorcists and other things that would keep most people awake with the lights on. Hunter is also the proud and slightly demented co-host of the Monster Men video podcast. A native New Yorker all his life, he waits with Biblical patience for the Mets to win a World Series. You can read about his latest travails, preview and purchase his books, watch Monster Men episodes and communicate with him without the need for a Ouija board at http://www.huntershea.com.