Welcome to the Atrocissimus

 After what felt like an interminable amount of time, my first book, The House on Blackstone Hill , has finally been published. Isn't that cover art lovely? I certainly think so, though I am admittedly biased. What's the book about, you ask? Here is the blurb for it from Amazon, which is the easiest place to get it right now. You can click here if you want to buy it -- and believe me, you do!  Adam Long is an award-winning journalist, trying to come to terms with the professional consequences of quashing a controversial news story that has ruined his reputation. His life changes after he and his wife Ava move to a colonial mansion. Adam seems obsessed with the building, which has a long, dark history of madness and murder. Digging deeper, Ava realizes that the horror in the old mansion is much darker than they could have ever expected. But can she protect her family - and save her husband's sanity - or will they both lose their lives to the darkness that lives in The...

Vampires are another one of those foul, evil creatures that appear throughout history and in every culture in one way or another.  In ancient Persia, blood-sucking creatures that attacked people in the night were thought to be some kind of demon or some other evil spirit -- which is fairly close to the truth, as I will reveal in time. The ancient Babylonians had the Lilitu while the Greeks had Empusa , which we would understand as alluring female vampires. Meanwhile, ancient India had the Vetalas , which were more like ghouls, and Indonesia has the Manananggal , a beautiful older woman who, at night, separates her upper body from her lower half and sprouts bat-like wings in order to feed on the blood of unsuspecting victims.  Other stories can be found in cultures all around the world and through different time periods. The idea of an undead creature connected in some way to demonic power has been part of the human psyche since long before humans wrote, so it is fair to say th...

 Ghosts are, perhaps, the oldest member in mankind's collection of supernatural characters. There are documented ghost stories that date back to the earliest epochs of the ancient world, and is actually something that dates in undocumented forms much further back even than that. Humans have whispered to each other stories of vengeful or lost ghosts for as long as there have been humans on the planet to speak.   The ghost is something we see in cultures all across the world, and in every time period. Suffice it to say, ghosts are ubiquitous. Despite modern skeptics and the hoards of people that, when presented with clear evidence of a ghost scream "It's a hoax," I can tell you ghosts are most assuredly real. Ghosts are a very distinctive element in the Atrocissimus, as I explain in The House on Blackstone Hill : Ghosts are true, too, and are used to terrorize people, to cause as much psychic angst as possible for the tortured delight of some wretched demon. These are t...

 Sure, why not? Posting videos certainly makes keeping up to date with the blog entries easy while I continue to toil away on my second book of the Infestissumam -- a horror tale that combines political intrigue, werewolves, and witchcraft. You're going to love it! But until that time, and until I get to post a more detailed entry about the creatures of the Infestissumam, enjoy this video offering:  

 I had one of the brothers to whom I'm the closest here at the monastery create this video for me. Please check it out. While you're there, subscribe to my YouTube channel to get similar videos and to stay abreast to when and where my writings will be made available.  Enjoy!

In our quotidian world the word "devil" has a somewhat muddled definition. After all, in every day usage demons and devils seem to be the same thing, and if they're different there's no clear explanation as to how they differ. This goes even to the point that Satan, Dark Lord of the demons, is often referred to as The Devil . So, there's a lot of room for confusion.  In the Infestissumam, however, the distinction is very clear and absolute. As I explain in my first book, The House on Blackstone Hill : It is a world of devils, too, but please note, Dear Friend, that demons and devils are not at all the same things. Demons are fallen angels, imbued with massive supernatural powers, whereas devils are twisted little creatures the demons themselves have made to further their goals, having taken them from creation. Demons cannot create any new life, they can only pervert what already exists and use it for their own evil purposes. This is what devils are, horrific bea...