ROB'S NOTES

The character currently known as Gabriel Pope has existed in at least two previous incarnations, one of which made it onto the web under the name "Rip Van Helzing" in the Flat Earth series. He makes at least one appearance here.

1. Blood Will Out

This story evolved as it went. I think that happens a lot.

Inspiration came from various sources. The character of "Inspector Jacob Cobb" is not-so-loosely based on the late Lee J Cobb (real name Leo Jacoby). You might remember him from such films as 12 Angry Men and The Exorcist. "Dick Haughman" is a thinly-veiled homage to Rick Hoffman, who (among other things) played the "American Client" in Hostel. The idea of the "Five Clans" was inspired by New York's "Five Families", but there the resemblence ends.

"Gammon House" takes its name (in a roundabout way) from Ham House in Richmond, London. I have a sneaking suspicion that the internal layout might match that of Croft Manor from Tomb Raider. The Fisher Building and Renfield Building are both modelled on structures in my home city.

All other characters and places are fictional and should bear no resemblence to anyone living or undead.

2. 11 Myths About Vampires

This started out with me thinking "What's the best way to establish the 'rules' of vampirism in this universe without peppering the stories with clunky exposition?" Answer: write a story where one of the characters just sits down and tells you what you need to know. It evolved from there, and ended up containing all manner of mayhem, violence and moral ambiguity.

I should probably give credit to Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs, since I mentioned "Sugar Shack" in the story without asking. I decided it would be a nicely unsettling touch for Abel Groesbeck to be sitting down in his lair listening to the #1 song from 1963 (that being the year he murdered his family). When I looked it up and found out that the song in question was called "Sugar Shack" and contained lyrics about a "cute little girlie", I couldn't not include it. I hope Jimmy understands.

3. Shades of Grey

I didn't completely hate high school, but an invasion by mind-controlling interdimensional parasites probably would have improved it a lot, so maybe that's where this story came from. Wilton Grey is probably the teenager I wish I'd been. By the way, Mel's theory about zombies falling into three main categories is based on peronal observations of how they've been handled in different movies (notably the works of Romero, Raimi and a few others).

4. Learning to Walk

For some reason, I wanted a significant part of this story to revolve around the characters going to a rock concert. I don't really know why, it just seemed like an interesting way to spin it, especially since the story largely revolves around teenage rebellion. While Blue Tattoo are completely fictional, they were intended as an amalgamation of several noteworthy New Zealand bands from the last thirty years or so. Lead singer Dave "Lucky" Finn is a sort of hybrid of Dave Dobbyn, Tim Finn and Jordan Luck. In other words, he's literally made of awesome.

By the way, Libby and her little entourage are loosely based on a group of kids I saw hanging around a Starbucks once. They didn't teleport anywhere, at least not while I was watching.

5. Salvage

The title "Salvage" has been in my head for some time, I just needed a story to hang it on. I knew it would be a redemption story, but I didn't want it to be some grand world-moving redemption. I just wanted it to be a story about one little act of absolution, one miserable piece of shit getting a little bit of his soul back. The Salvage Man was inspired by the Lurker, a minor character from a Judge Dredd story I read as a teenager. I just made him worse and, in at least one way, better.

6. Agenda

The reason for this story was simple enough: Johnny Fantôme and Salomé Argyros are supposed to be major antagonists in this series, and neither of them had made an appearance for the last four stories. I also thought it was time to properly introduce the other clan bosses, and a general meeting seemed the simplest way to do it.

Vadik and Jerzy are probably the answer to the question: "What if the bratva were run by vampires?" The name "Orlokov" is derived from "Orlok", but they're probably no relation. Edgar Moon was loosely inspired by Tim Gunn, while Miss Saffron is based on a sales rep I once dealt with. I bear neither of them any ill will but hey, it's an action/espionage story with vampires. There's going to be a body count.

7. Gravity Always Wins

If you clicked the link at the top of the page, you'll recognise Helena Downwright as one of the main protagonists from the Flat Earth series. In that story Gabe (or Rip, as we called him back then) was her ex-boyfriend. Once I sat down to write this story, I decided it might be more interesting to redefine their relationship into a "childhood friends bonded by tragedy with vague romantic overtones" kind of deal. The glimpses into Helena's background and family, and particularly the death of her parents, are all part of a much bigger and messier plot which will hopefully see the light of day in other projects.

8. 'Til the Sun is in the Sky

The inspiration for this story was a bit unusual: I saw a pretty girl sitting by herself on a train. I was thinking plots and vampires and, erm... vampire plots, and somehow my brain spat out the premise of an innocent girl killed and reanimated as a vampire, but - like anyone else infected with a nasty incurable disease, or surviving a truamatic experience - trying to go on living as normal a life as possible. The first scene, with Emma taking a train to work and avoiding her fellow passengers, was fully-formed in my head by the time I got off two stops later. The rest of the story ended up rather more action-oriented than I first intended, but the ending was decided early on in the brainstorming process.
Anyone else would have just gone over and talked to the girl, but I apparently have a higher calling. Or something.

CONTACT ROB

THOM'S NOTES

The Beginning

0. Her Black Wings


This was my grand idea for a "reboot" of a series of five or six novellas I had written about my Faceless P.I. after I decided that I wanted to do something in a more Mythos vein. I wanted to introduce my P.I. along with his mentor on the long, dark roadway into that Lovecraftian night, Simon d'Argent. I have ideas and theories about who this mysterious "Simon" is, but those will keep for future stories. It may even keep for a novel, I don't know.

The first version of this story (then titled “The Rusted Key”) saw its first audience at Fantastic Horror as part of the submission process there. It turned ugly (my fault), but in the end, some of the recommendations put forward by the trio of editors were valid and some were downright necessary. Of course, I made a scene and got booted, but I think that I might have learned how to take criticism.

The Joining

1. Come Together


This story, the first of the actual storyline for The Joining, is in the capable hands of Peter Worthy as he works to place his Nyarlathotep anthology. The premise of the story, and indeed of the entirety of The Joining's story arc, is that an aspect of Nyarlathotep has decided to merge with one of its other 999 aspects. To what end was never revealed, but the possibilities were only limited by the 999 Faces of Nyarlat . . . and, of course, by my own talent.

2. Black Pearl


This was originally written for James Ambuehl’s SHOGGOTHS! anthology, but that book never got off the ground. It fits, however tangentially, into The Joining's arc, but this isn't fully revealed until the events of "Skull Ring." The story got shelved and worked on bit by bit, until I took it to the PIT and it got looked at through a terrifying microscope. I think the story got traumatized, but it all worked out.

3. Black Ice


Direct sequel to “Black Pearl,” the first (and only) of these written that was almost totally dependent on another of the stories to make sense. It also a complete departure from The Joining's storyline, but as a companion piece to "Black Ice," I didn't know where else to put it. This one wraps up a very large loose end from the previous story and introduces the P.I.'s cousin, the Mage Io.

4. Skull Ring


This story is written from the ashes of the very first of my earlier P.I. stories (called "Possession: Nine Tenths of the Law") and became the wrapping-up of The Joining’s storyline . . . for now. It brings together several threads from previous stories, including one from “Come Together,” even though none of you have read that (yet). This was also meant to introduce Io, but the story stalled for a bit, and I got to writing "Black Ice," which worked as an introduction.

The Darkening

5. Five Magics


This is the first story written specifically for the website with serialization in mind, so the pacing is (finally) going to be right. I'm borrowing bits of it, specifically a conflict, from another early P.I. story, "Lupus Rex." The bits with Fringe (his two "Magics," is it is) are my first forays into a Choose Your Own Adventure-style, and I hope it works. The Faceless P.I. at this point is an unlovely creature, has had no contact with Simon or Io for quite some time. I hope his hopelessness reflects in the way he goes about things.

6. Sleepwalker

This story will be constructed from the bones of an earlier story, "Get Carter." The 'Carter' in this one was a descendent of Randolph Carter, and I may keep part of that in there, but the story will be more widespread than just that. More of the Faceless P.I.'s descent.

7. Sun Doesn't Rise

Here we find out more and more about the Temhota Group and why they chose Faceless, and more about the enchanted revolvers.

8. Cold Piece

"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you."
Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, Aphorism 146
The Faceless P.I. must travel to a small, snow-trapped town and find out what's being done there by a denizen of the Outer Worlds . . . and put a cold stop to it, by any means necessary.

SOUNDTRACK

And why not?

1. Opening: The Fading Collection - Blame the Artificial Ones

HER BLACK WINGS
2. The Whuppin' of Matt Irish: Drowning Pool - Bodies
3. Police Assault: Anthrax - Superhero
4. Die, P.I. Die: Ozzy Osbourne - Devil's Daughter

BLACK PEARL
5. Sewer to Ghoul: Mushroomhead - 43
6. Postal Ghouls: Slayer - Stain of Mind
7. Shoggoth: White Zombie - Real Solution #9

BLACK ICE
8. Eating Oliver: Iron Butterfly - Flowers and Beads
9. Train Station Attack: Sam & Dave - I Take What I Want
10. Hotel Ghoul: Clarence Carter - Snatching it Back
11. Mordiggian: The Monkees - (I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone

SKULL RING
12. Robbery: Faith No More - Epic
13. Playground, Henchmen bits: AC/DC - Flick of the Switch
14. Wardens: Kiss - Snowblind
15: Transformation to Giant Robo and Fight: Judas Priest - The Hellion/Electric Eye

16: Closing: The Fading Collection - Space Station

Other

Saturday Night Special


Rob had told me time and time again that he would share his toys if'n I wanted to write something set in his Universe. The idea of Corinna MacManus and her . . . well, I don't want to give it away just yet, since the story still isn't all posted, but hers is a tragic tale, and it will eventually dovetail into another storyline of an up-and-coming Hunter in Rob's Universe, also of my own making. As Rob works on his expanded and revised history of the area, I'll have more to add here. Until then . . .

Simon

A character sketch introducing Simon d'Argent is available online here at the Temple of Dagon; however, comma, the formatting there has gone all wacky. So, for your viewing pleasure, it is now also here.

Thank You

Special thanks is due to the Permuted Press Writer's Pit (for all their assistance in finding just what the hell I did wrong) and to my Beta-readers at work, Thompson, Jake, Mike, Kurt and Robert. I also have to thank the founders of Fantastic Horror for ejecting me, because that experience made me realize that, no, I wasn't as good at this as I thought I was.

And most of all, to Kitty, who makes it all worth it.

CONTACT THOM