Fall is always a busy time of year for monster hunters, demon fighters, and occult adventurers on television, what with Halloween on the way. You’ve got tonight’s third-season start of Sleepy Hollow, followed by the eleventh-season opener of Supernatural on October 7, and the fifth-season premiere of Grimm on October 30. Well, if monster-fighting heroes are your thing, then perhaps you might be interested in meeting a teenaged Goth adventuress who specializes in dealing with the creatures of the night…
The Saga of Pandora Zwieback is a young adult, dark urban fantasy series that I write. It chronicles the adventures of sixteen-year-old Pandora Zwieback, a Gothy horror fangirl who’s spent the last decade being treated for mental health problems because she can see monsters. It’s only after she meets Annie that Pan discovers she’s never been ill—her so-called “monstervision” is actually a supernatural gift that allows her to see into Gothopolis, the not-so-mythical shadow world that exists right alongside the human world. You’ll find Pan battling evil in the following titles:
The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0: A free, downloadable comic that serves as an introduction to Pan and Annie—with an 8-page story written by me and illustrated by Eliseu Gouveia—as well as Pan’s first novel, Blood Feud (via a pair of preview chapters). You can access it by clicking on the “Download Free Comic” link you see in the sidebar to the right.
Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1: This critically acclaimed novel is the beginning of Pan’s story, explaining how she, her parents and friends, and Annie are drawn into a conflict among warring vampire clans searching for the key to an ultimate weapon (or so the legend goes)—a key that just so happens to have been delivered to the horror-themed museum owned by Pan’s father. It’s a character-driven action-fest that was enthusiastically greeted by critics and dark-fantasy fans alike.
“Blood Feud is far and away one of the best young adult supernatural fantasy novels released in the last few years. Pan is exactly the kind of teen heroine that readers should be standing up and cheering for.”—Melissa Voelker, HorrorNews.net
Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2: Pan and Annie face even greater challenges as the vampire clans draw up plans to go to war with humanity. Leading the charge is a fallen angel named Zaqiel, whose previous attempt at subjugating the world was stopped by Annie—who, back in the day, was Zaqiel’s lover!
“If Blood Feud, the first volume, took some deliberate pacing steps to build Pandora’s character, this volume eschews that as it thunders along at breakneck speed, barely pausing for breath at any given time (and, I must say, the volume was devoured at speed as well)… I thoroughly enjoyed this volume.”—Andrew Boylan, Taliesin Meets the Vampires
The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1: A spinoff from the novel series, this 56-page, full-color comic special—with cover art by award-winning artist Henar Torinos (Mala Estrella)—finds the teenaged Goth adventuress battling vampires and a jealous, man-stealing siren. It features three original stories of what I’ve termed the “Paniverse”—tales that take place within the fictional universe of The Saga of Pandora Zwieback.
- “Song of the Siren,” written by me and illustrated by Eliseu Gouveia (The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0) involves Pan and her boyfriend, Javi, attending one of his family’s picnics in Central Park, and running into an ex-girlfriend of Javi’s. An awkward situation, to be sure, made even worse by the realization that with her monstervision, Pan can see the girl is really a siren: a creature from Greek mythology that can hypnotize men with its voice!
- “After Hours” is by writer Sholly Fisch (Scooby-Doo Team-Up) and comic-art legend Ernie Colon (Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld), and involves a working-class demon dropping by his favorite bar.
- “Shopping Maul” is a short story written by me, with title-page art by Elizabeth Watasin (writer/artist of Charm School). Pan, Javi, and their friends stop by a Queens mall to do a bit of window-shopping—only to find themselves caught in the middle of a fight between Gothic Lolita vampires and Pan’s monster-hunting mentor, Annie!
Blood Feud, Blood Reign, and the Pan Annual are available in print and digital formats. Pandora Zwieback #0 is a digital exclusive. Visit their respective product pages at Pan’s publisher, StarWarp Concepts, for ordering information, as well as sample pages and chapters.
Panatics who are fans of classic television horror (and really, aren’t we all in some way?) should head over at the StarWarp Concepts blog for today’s special post. That’s where I talk about the 45th anniversary of the 1973 TV movie The Night Strangler, in which downtrodden yet intrepid journalist Carl Kolchak (played by actor Darren McGavin)—the frumpy newspaper reporter who became a reluctant vampire hunter in Las Vegas, Nevada, in the 1972 telefilm The Night Stalker (which I celebrated last year)—finds himself investigating a new series of murders by yet another monster, this time in Seattle, Washington. Accompanied by plucky belly dancer Louise Harper (Jo Ann Pflug, seen pictured here), Kolchak works hard to put an end to the killing and get an exclusive on the story.
To celebrate this year’s 145th anniversary of J. Sheridan Le Fanu’s gothic vampire classic, Carmilla, Pan’s publisher, over at the StarWarp Concepts blog I’m doing a series of blog posts in which I’m reviewing various adaptations (comics, films, TV) of this strange and creepy paranormal romance.
Living with her widowed father in a dreary old castle in the woods of Styria, Laura has longed to have a friend with whom she can confide; a friend to bring some excitement to her pastoral lifestyle. And then Carmilla enters her life. 
Panatics who are fans of classic television horror (and really, aren’t we all in some way?) should head over at the StarWarp Concepts blog for today’s special post.
Tonight is the broadcast premiere of Van Helsing, the SyFy Channel’s latest entry in their ever-growing scripted-series schedule, and one that has no connection to that terrible Hugh Jackman and Kate Beckinsale movie from 2004. To quote the press release: