A Book of Monstrous Delights -The Jersey Devil - Hunter Shea

THE LEGEND LIVES

Everyone knows the legend of the Jersey Devil. Some believe it is an abomination of nature, a hybrid winged beast from hell that stalks the Pine Barrens of southern New Jersey searching for prey. Others believe it is a hoax, a campfire story designed to scare children. But one man knows the truth...

THE DEVIL AWAKES

Sixty years ago, Boompa Willet came face to face with the Devil—and lived to tell the tale. Now, the creature’s stomping grounds are alive once again with strange sightings, disappearances, and worse. After all these years, Boompa must return to the Barrens, not to prove the legend is real but to wipe it off the face of the earth...

THE BEAST MUST DIE

It’ll take more than just courage to defeat the Devil. It will take four generations of the Willet clan, a lifetime of survivalist training, and all the firepower they can carry. But timing is critical. A summer music festival has attracted crowds of teenagers. The woods are filled with tender young prey. But this time, the Devil is not alone. The evil has grown into an unholy horde of mutant monstrosities. And hell has come home to New Jersey...

 I have yet to read a Hunter Shea book I didn't love. The Jersey Devil is right up there with the author's most riveting stories. Here's my review:

Hunter Shea delivers again with his latest, The Jersey Devil. Here we have a legendary creature of mythical proportions – one all the locals have heard of, but not everyone believes in. Boompa Willet is not one of the sceptics, He knows this creature is real because sixty years ago, he came face to face with it. Now, along with four generations of his family, the time has come for him to wipe the beast out of existence once and for all. But, where once there was one, now there are many. A host of flesh eating winged beasts, part man, part monster, with appetites of fearsome proportions, are ready to feast on the local population of the Pine Barrens, which is about to be greatly enhanced by hordes of young people attending a summer music festival.

As with his previous books, Hunter Shea doesn’t just present a monster story with all the horror, blood and gore that entails, he presents a normal family, facing an extraordinary series of events. Real people suffering real dilemmas, emotions, fears, crises. The tension builds to a terrifying climax. This is a book that satisfies, entertains and thrills from start to finish.

Hunter Shea, Biography

Hunter Shea is the product of a childhood weaned on The Night Stalker, The Twilight Zone and In Search Of. He doesn’t just write about the paranormal – he actively seeks out the things that scare the hell out of people and experiences them for himself.

Publishers Weekly named The Montauk Monster one of the best reads of the summer in 2014, and his follow up novel, Hell Hole, was named best horror novel of the year on several prestigious horror sites. Cemetery Dance had this to say about his apocalyptic thriller, Tortures of the Damned – “A terrifying read that left me wanting more. I absolutely devoured this book!”

Hunter is an amateur cryptozoologist, having written wild, fictional tales about Bigfoot, The Montauk Monster, The Dover Demon and many new creatures to come. Copies of his books, The Montauk Monster and The Dover Demon, are currently on display in the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, ME.

He wrote his first novel with the express desire to work only with editor Don D’Auria at Dorchester (Leisure Horror). He submitted his novel to Don and only Don, unagented, placed on the slush pile. He is proof that dedicated writers can be rescued from no man’s land. He now works with Don, along with several other agents and publishers, having published over ten books in just four years.

Hunter is proud to be be one half of the Monster Men video podcast, along with his partner in crime, Jack Campisi. It is one of the most watched horror video podcasts in the world. Monster Men is a light-hearted approach to dark subjects. Hunter and Jack explore real life hauntings, monsters, movies, books and everything under the horror sun. They often interview authors, crytid and ghost hunters, directors and anyone else living in the horror lane.

Living with his wonderful family and two cats, he’s happy to be close enough to New York City to get Gray’s Papaya hot dogs when the craving hits. His daughters have also gotten the horror bug, assisting him with research, story ideas and illustrations that can be seen in magazines such as Dark Dossier.

You can follow his travails at http://www.huntershea.com, sign-up for his newsletter, or follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

Praise for Hunter Shea

“Shea delivers a tense and intriguing work of escalating tension splattered with a clever, extensive cast of bystanders turned victims…An otherwise excellent, tightly delivered plot…Fans of cryptid creatures are likely to revel in this love letter to a legendary menace.”– Publishers Weekly

“Bloody good read!  This guy knows his monsters!”- Eric S Brown, author of Bigfoot War and Boggy Creek: The Legend is True, on Swamp Monster Massacre

“Hunter Shea is a great writer, highly entertaining, and definitely in the upper echelon in the current horror scene. Many other writers mention either loving his work and/or having the man influence their own, and for just cause. His writing suits anyone with a taste for the dark and terrifying!” –Zakk at The Eyes of Madness/The Mouth of Madness Podcast

Purchase Links

  

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"Oh, the Games People Play..." - Glenn Rolfe

Chasing Ghosts is - for me at least - Glenn Rolfe's most explicit and full-on horror yet, with the darkest ingredients and his storyteller's ability to grab all the senses at once. I'm delighted to welcome him as my guest today. The sinister stage is all yours, Glenn...

When I set out to write my latest piece, Chasing Ghosts (Sinister Grin Press), I just wanted to put a punk rock band out in the woods, playing a show at a cabin, and letting my horror mind bring the pain. That original idea started out titled, The Last Show. After reading through the story for me, Erin, my editor, said, “why don’t you call it Chasing Ghosts?” I loved the title, but worried that readers might come in searching for that paranormal angle. In the end, the new title was too good to pass up. 

Where did it come from?  

At the beginning of the story, three pre-teen boys set out to play a game they call, “Chasing Ghosts.”  The idea is that they go out to the old creepy house in the woods and pretty much dare each other to go in, or get as close as you can without chickening out. Bad things tend to happen when kids mess around with creepy old houses…

Just think back to when you were 8, 10, or 12… What kind of crazy games did you play? For me and my dumb friends, it was “The Russians are Coming.”  We’d wait until dusk and hang out by the road. We had some ditches, some trees, and bushes to hide behind. Whenever a car’s headlights burst on the scene, we’d scramble and hide. If you didn’t get down before it went by, you were captured (and presumed dead!). We played it all year-round (hiding behind snow piles in the winter). I watched a lot of 20/20 with my mom, and had lots of irrational fears involving soviet spies and kidnappers. This was more than a game to me, especially when it got pitch black out and the vehicles that passed put their brake lights on.  Those two demon eyes stopped my heart every time. Of course, they were usually just turning into the trailer park, but my mind went a mile a minute with real life horrors each time. I never ran into any trouble playing this game until, at 14, I decided throwing apples at “The Russians” would up the ante. It sure did. That stopped the moment someone got out and chased my ass into my friend’s house where we locked the door and hid like a bunch of babies until they went away.

Anyways, I brought a small piece of my childhood and a whole bag of Richard Laymon-flavored tricks into Chasing Ghosts. I hope you’ll take a chance on the story and share your thoughts!

Cheers!

 Biography

Glenn Rolfe is an author, singer, songwriter and all around fun loving guy from the haunted woods of New England. He has studied Creative Writing at Southern New Hampshire University, and continues his education in the world of horror by devouring the novels of Stephen King, Jack Ketchum, Hunter Shea, Brian Moreland and many others. He and his wife, Meghan, have three children, Ruby, Ramona, and Axl. He is grateful to be loved despite his weirdness.

He is the author the novellas, Abram's Bridge, Boom Town, Things We Fear, and the forthcoming, Chasing Ghosts; the short fiction collection, Slush; and the novels, The Haunted Halls and Blood and Rain.

His first novella collection, Where Nightmares Begin, was released in March 2016.

Praise for Glenn Rolfe

“Things We Fear is a compulsively readable tale of obsession and dark suspense, with one of the creepiest villains I’ve encountered in recent years.” — Tim Waggoner, author of The Way of All Flesh

“Glenn Rolfe’s new thriller is addictive. A quick, compelling read. Rolfe creates tension with a minimal amount of words. His characters are so well-drawn they come alive (before they die).” — Duncan Ralston, author of Salvage

 “Fast paced and tense, with one of the most interesting monsters I’ve read about in recent times.” — Patrick Lacey, author of A Debt to Be Paid

“Glenn Rolfe is quickly establishing a name for himself as one of a number of excellent new writers to ensure the horror genre is kept alive and well.” — Catherine Cavendish, author of Dark Avenging Angel

“There is a definite old school feel about this novella (Things We Fear). It isn’t an over the top gore fest. Instead, what we have is a tense, psychological thriller that builds steadily towards a fitting climax.” -Adrian Shotbolt, at Ginger Nuts of Horror

 

Purchase Links

Amazon

Sinister Grin Press

Also available in paperback!