THE SMALL HOURS UNLEASHED
Today I released my solo debut novel, The Small Hours, from Ghoulish Books.
This splatterpunk vampire novel has been rattling around in my brain for the past few years, and now it's no longer lurking in the shadows. It's undead, and thirsty for blood. It's funny, horny, and very bloody.
It's also a retelling/what-if of Dracula. I haven't shied away from this description, but I haven't shoved it in people's faces either. I mean, it's kinda hard to escape the long shadow of ol' Dracula nowadays. Dude is everywhere. The connections are there, if you care to see them, but if you don't, that's cool as well because I firmly believe the story stands on its own without the connections.
It is also splatterPUNK, which is different than extreme horror. The emphasis is on the punk aspect. During the 1980s and 1990s, there was a push back against the typical hero in horror stories, and horror tropes in general. Most horror stories back then featured squeaky clean, good at heart, protagonists whose only flaw was to overcome the one thing holding them back from defeating the evil. The houses were haunted, the vampires were sexy, and the good guys always won at the end.
Splatterpunk said NO to all of that. No more knight-in-shining armor coming to save the damsel in distress. Protagonists had a lot more to overcome than some internal character flaw. Now they had drug habits and faced discrimination, abuse, unemployment, alienation, depression, etc., etc., etc.. They were people on the fringes of society, the misfits, the ones that didn't fit in anywhere and liked it that way. And there were no more ghosts floating down the hallway, hovering in the corner of your eye. Now, if you faced a ghost, it would probably rip your face off, or make you rip your own face off, or make you think you ripped your own face off when in fact you were ripping someone else's face off.
Talk about some face offs.
There was more violence, but it was earned. It was there to add to the suspense, to show readers just how real the stakes were, that anyone, at any time, could end up mince meat from the monster, whether supernatural or human.
Extreme horror aims to see how far it can push readers.
Splatterpunk aims to see how far it can push characters.
Huge difference.
Splatterpunk can be fun horror. It can be funny, and The Small Hours is definitely funny. It's also horny. As a big fan of all things sexy and horny, there was no way I could pass up an opportunity to have totally nude sexy vampires in my story. So, if funny, horny, bloody vampires makes you clutch your pearls, this book probably isn't for you.
Michael David Wilson (The Girl in the Video, Daddy's Boy) sums it up quite nicely:
I'm extremely proud of this book, and I'm so happy it's out in the world. I hope you all enjoy the hell out of it. And if you did enjoy it, please leave a review!
peace&love
