Bad news, Pandora Zwieback fans, but I have to announce that StarWarp Concepts won’t be attending this year’s Brooklyn Book Festival. And yes, that means I won’t be there, either.
Long story short, from the Department of Too Much Information: On Friday, I got hit with one of my very rare eczema flare-ups (they usually pop up once or twice during the winter). To control the maddening itching, I slathered on hydrocortisone cream, as one typically does in this situation.
Guess what I’ve become allergic to, at this stage of my life?
Marv from Sin City…or allergic me? You be the judge!
The results have been…disturbing, to say the least. Swollen face, puffy eyes—I’ve been told I resemble Mickey Rourke’s character, Marv, from the Sin City movies. My doctor says it could take a week or two to completely get back to where I was before the flare-up, since the allergic reaction made things worse.
And so, to not frighten children or cause book lovers to run screaming in horror, I’ve pulled The ’Warp from the list of BBF exhibitors. But don’t worry, folks, I have every intention of returning for next year’s show…now that I know to stay away from the itching creams.
Sorry for the inconvenience!
As you may have heard, at this week’s Comic Con International: San Diego, digital comics distributor Comixology announced that they are making titles from certain independent publishers—including Image, Dynamite Entertainment, and Top Shelf—available as 
That’s a great innovation (I’ve already downloaded some of the comics from my own account), but I’ve got news for you digital comics fans: StarWarp Concepts’ comics and graphic novels have been that way since we began offering them through our webstore and DriveThru Comics. The teen Goth comics 
The Day of the Triffids, by John Wyndham: First published in 1951, it’s a fast-paced, enjoyable science fiction adventure that would seem to have been an influence on the quasi-zombie apocalypse film 28 Days Later (a patient in a hospital wakes up to find himself apparently the only unaffected person in a ravaged London). Except instead of zombies, you have carnivorous plants hunting a human population that’s been mostly stricken blind by the light of a passing comet. But as the lead characters quickly learn, it’s not the Triffids that pose the greatest threat, but the other unaffected humans…
Rosemary’s Baby, by Ira Levin: The 1968 Mia Farrow–starring film adaptation is a horror masterpiece, and Zoe (Guardians of the Galaxy) Saldana starred in a 2014 television miniseries remake that was well received, but Ira Levin’s 1967 source novel is a brisk, entertaining masterpiece of its own. Rosemary and Guy Woodward move into an NYC apartment building with a long history of witchcraft and devil worship—and the current residents have plans for Rosemary… Apart from cultural references that firmly set the story in 1960s New York, the story remains as enjoyably horrific and humorously macabre as it did almost fifty years ago.
The King in Yellow, by Robert W. Chambers: This 1895 short story collection influenced not only writers like H. P. Lovecraft, Grant Morrison, and Stephen King, but also served as a major plot point in the first season of HBO’s acclaimed series True Detective, starring Matthew McConaghey and Woody Harrelson. The conceit is that The King in Yellow, a fictitious two-act play, drives people mad when they read the second act (which is never reproduced in the book). The first four stories in the collection are linked to the play. Download The King in Yellow e-book for free from 
Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1: What, I shouldn’t plug my first Pan novel—on the very site dedicated to the series it’s part of? 😉 With its sequel, Blood Reign, soon to make its long-awaited appearance, this is the perfect time to catch up on the start of Pan’s debut adventure (if you or your book-loving friends haven’t already read it, that is). Warring vampire clans! Fallen angels! Monster hunters! Romance! Danger! Pick up a copy and find out why HorrorNews.net called Blood Feud “far and away one of the best young adult supernatural fantasy novels released in the last few years.”
Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2
And please keep in mind that Pan’s publisher, 
Don’t worry, Panatics, the wait is almost over! The highly anticipated Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2—the second part of Pan’s debut literary adventure that began in the novel Blood Feud—is on its way (and I deeply apologize for the lengthy delay between books), but in the meantime you can download a free chapter of Blood Reign!