Picture this: a man’s head explodes into leaves thrown up and away into a hoary midnight.
That is the cover of the second of a trilogy of novels from author Michael Vance, “Weird Ho
rror Tales: The Feasting”. Like the first novel in the series, this second braided novel of fifteen interrelated horror, SF, and fantasy stories was written in the style and tradition of pulp magazines in the ‘20s, ‘30s, and ‘40s, and will be released in the fall of 2010.
The cover was done by France’s Christophe Dessaigne, a journalist, scenarist for role playing games, and photographer. Mainly influenced by the science fiction, horror, and fantastic genres, his atmospheric, surreal creations combine digital photography and manipulation in a dark and post-apocalyptic future. Dessaigne’s creations are fantastic surrealist photomontages. His work is desolate, vast and dream-like featuring huge structures and visions. His work has appeared in cover art books, on music CD covers, and in magazines including Advanced Creations and PSD Photoshop.
“I was immediately drawn to his outrĂ© work which I originally found on Flickr, a shared community on-line for images,” said the author. “His dark, subtle visions capture the heart and atmosphere of my own stories which try to capture the something other in an otherwise normal world instead of a slavish use of graphic horror.”
The interior illustrations are by artist Earl Geier, best known for his horror, fantasy and science fiction artwork.
"The response to volume one in this series by the pulp-horror community has been tremendous," commented Ron Fortier, Managing Editor of the series for Airship 27 Productions. "We know there is strong anticipation for this follow up book and I'm here to say Michael's fans will not be disappointed. This is a truly marvelous collection."
“My stories are founded on the premise that there is something larger than our narrow view of reality,” said Vance. “Each interconnected story is set in Light’s End, a creepy little burg of the coast of Maine.” These stories about the fictional town have been favorably compared to the work of H. P. Lovecraft and Ray Bradbury.
Vance has written for national and international magazines, and as a syndicated columnist and cartoonist in over 500 newspapers. His history book, “Forbidden Adventures”, has been called a "benchmark in comics history”.
The publisher of “The Feasting” and “Weird Horror Tales”, Cornerstone Book Publishers also publishes Masonic and esoteric books, selected pulp fiction, art literature, limited children's books, and poetry collections. The braided novel, “Weird Horror Tales, is available on-line, at book stores, and from Cornerstone. For more information about Cornerstone, go to www.cornerstonepublishers.com.
Airship 27 packages and publishes anthologies and novels in the pulp magazine tradition.
In the past, Airship 27 has released “Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective”, a series of “Captain Hazzard” pulp thrillers, more pulp fiction in “The Green Lama” and “Secret Agent X”. For more information on Airship 27, go to www.airship27.com.