Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome back to the Capes and Tights podcast right here on Capesandtights.com, i'm your host, Justin Soderbergh. This episode is once again brought to you by our friends over at Galactic Comics and Collectibles at galactic comics and collectibles.com this episode features Patrick Barb, author of books that are weird, dark and horrifying. He has a number of novellas and short story collections out there right now. His new novella, part of the killer VHS series Night of the Witch Hunter, which is the sixth book in the series, is comes out March 18 from Short Wave Publishing. Patrick was fantastic on this episode, but before you listen, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, bluesky, threads, all those things. You can rate, review, subscribe over on Apple or Spotify or wherever you find your podcasts. You can find us over on YouTube as well as Capesandtights.com enjoy this episode with author Patrick Barr.
Welcome to the podcast. Patrick, how are you?
[00:00:54] Speaker B: I'm doing great, Justin. Thanks for having me on.
[00:00:57] Speaker A: Absolutely. You know what's so funny is like, if Short Wave continues to put these killer VHS books out, I think I have no shortage of guests that I would want to have on the podcast for sure.
[00:01:06] Speaker B: That was the idea, right? We just said get the assembly line for Justin about it.
[00:01:12] Speaker A: Then at some point I got to get Alan on. Like, that's like, you know, the architecture of it. All right.
[00:01:17] Speaker B: Really a great, great guy, smart publisher, just really knows what he's doing. And it always feels good when you work with somebody that knows what they're doing. So that helps a lot.
[00:01:31] Speaker A: It seems like he's passionate. That's one thing. I think if you follow someone on social media and you see them repping their thing, sometimes you just feel like you throw stuff out there to be like, okay, like my stuff or buy my stuff. But then there's like this way of a personality that puts things out there, being like, I'm putting this out there for you to buy. Yes, I need to make money, but. But I'm also passionate about what I'm doing. And I think that's what Alan has for sure with Short Wave.
[00:01:57] Speaker B: Totally. He's got a. Like you said, he's got the heart, he's got the business sense. And it's a killer design sense. I mean, look at the covers alone. That'll tell you everything you need to know.
[00:02:08] Speaker A: I thought about it this morning. You mentioned that. The design sense. Then before we get dive into a little bit about you in your book. But Was that how dope? I mean, I've had Tim Jacobus on the podcast before who did the artwork for the Goosebumps original covers. And I was like, how dope would it be for Alan to like, design? Because Alan does the design around the actual illustration in the middle, like on your book Night of the Witch Hunter. But the artwork in the inside would be dope if Tim did one because it's been compared to like the adult Goosebumps. How amazing would it be eventually to have like a Tim Jacobs cover for. I don't know if he's allowed to because of the fact that it's been compared to Goosebumps, but, you know, it'd be kind of a cool thing.
[00:02:46] Speaker B: Yeah. Who knows? Who knows what can happen? And there's always special editions, right?
[00:02:51] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:02:52] Speaker B: Let's plant some seeds right now with Alan and see what we can make happen.
[00:02:56] Speaker A: I always think they just put it out in the ether, just say it and it will come maybe one day. And if it does come at this point and they've been working on it for a long time, I'm going to take credit for it still, though.
[00:03:05] Speaker B: Exactly. There you go, you're getting it.
[00:03:09] Speaker A: But I mean, before we get into Night of the Witch Hunter specifically, what's your history with horror and horror writing in general? Tell us a little bit about yourself, Patrick.
[00:03:19] Speaker B: Yeah, so I grew up,'80s-90s kid in Virginia and Tennessee, went to college, went to New York and worked in book publishing for many years.
Six years on the east coast in New York and then a few years in California before ending up here, where I'm at now in Minnesota. And writing had always been a part of my life, like something since the first grade. Once I figured out that people wrote the stories that I was reading, I was like, I, this is the best job I want to do. This Horror came in, in fits and starts, so got really into the universal monsters when I was in elementary school. Then I got into the slashers and horror movies around the time of like Screaming, which was the first R rated movie I ever saw in the theater.
And then I'd always wanted to write in that genre. Like something clicked eventually where I was like, I like scary stories. I used to be terrified of horror movies. I couldn't even watch the commercials on tv.
And I tried screenwriting for a bit and getting that sort of form down. But I had been hesitant to try prose, short stories in particular, until probably around 2019, which is when we moved to Minnesota and I took some time off to be freelance, which is the first time when I didn't have a 9 to 5 job, didn't have that kind of grind of.
Especially working in book publishing where you're reading somebody else's work so much you run out of fuel. At least I did for the creative process yourself. So here I was, I had a blank slate, so to speak. And I just started reading all the horror fiction I could get my hands on. You know, everything from like short story collections, Weird Fiction, Laird Baron, Stephen Graham Jones, Kelly Link, Gemma Files, other people like that, absorbing and absorbing. And then I had time to start writing and start submitting stuff and so sending out short stories, eventually getting stuff published, eventually kind of getting stuff noticed. And then I had a. I sold a novella and another novella and then I sold a collection of short stories. And things kind of blossomed from there where, you know, eventually I could come to, to Alan and say, hey, I got this idea for the killer VHS series and can I kind of pitch you? And he said yes, and here we are.
[00:06:01] Speaker A: Yeah, that's funny because it's obviously a question that people probably ask you or other people in interviews and things like that, which is, were you approached, did you have an idea, so on and so forth. The killer vhs. Was this a story, I'm guessing Night of the Witch Hunter now you mentioned, is a story that you had percolating that fit into the killer VHS series.
[00:06:19] Speaker B: Yeah, this is an idea that I'd had for a long time. I wanted to do this kind of Witch Hunter and coming into the 20th century, it said in 1999 and bringing in like the ancestor of a witch.
And I had it as like a screenplay idea and I was playing around with it for all these different forms and trying to figure out the right. You try to figure out the right bucket for it, right when you have these ideas. And the killer VHS series came out and I read first two books in that series, the Melonhead Mayhem by Alex Ebenstein and the Candy Cane book by Brian McCauley. And I was like, okay, this is, this is it, this is the form because it's novella length. So you, you know, it's all killer, no filler, basically when you're at this length, but it's still long enough to tell a story, to get kind of this in depth experience and to meet a lot of characters. Whereas a short story, you're kind of limited to certain parameters, whether it be like character or setting or whatever.
So yeah, I reached out to Alan and, and he knew of my work from. He published my short Story Haunting Lessons as a chat book at shortwave.
And I guess he kind of knew. Knew me otherwise as well from just being online in the horror and writing spaces. So, yeah, he said, I'd love to take a look at it. And it sounds like a great pitch because, you know, we, I think we pitched it as something like the Craft crossed with Nightmare on Elm street because I wanted to have this kind of supernatural, Freddy Krueger esque figure, like, thinking more of like Freddy in the very first Nightmare on Elm street where, yes, he's saying things that are clever, but he's not punning, he's not like rapping or whatever. You know, he's. He's. It's. You're still afraid of him, basically. And so that's where that was the basic idea based off that he was like, send me a pitch. So I wrote something up and then the rest is history.
[00:08:23] Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. I mean, so it's, it's, it's based in 1999. It's getting ready for Y2K in Fallen Church, New Hampshire. Is, is there, Is there. Other than the fact that witches are prevalent in New England, in the lore of New England, other than that, is there a reason why Fallen Church, New Hampshire, that being in New Hampshire is a reason why you put it there?
[00:08:43] Speaker B: I guess it's a mix of things. I feel like Massachusetts, that had a lot of coverage on the witch front, so I wanted to, like, give a little nod to, to another part of their. The area. I have some friends and an ex girlfriend from New Hampshire, so I figured, you know, I had this strange familiarity that stuck with me with, with New Hampshire. And so that was sort of where it landed from.
[00:09:10] Speaker A: It's funny too, because we've had a previous guest and a friend of the podcast. Travis Gibb, a comic book writer, has a book called Granite State Punk, which is a witch story based in New Hampshire. And he does it on purpose. Same thing. Because there was witches in lore, in history in New Hampshire. And so he's like, yeah, it's same thing. There's too much witches stories that happened in Massachusetts. Let's just do. I mean, it's not like people didn't travel back and forth or here and there or, you know, things didn't travel in that area. New England.
[00:09:34] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly.
[00:09:35] Speaker A: Witches.
[00:09:36] Speaker B: So, yeah, so I was like, let's spread the love a little bit.
[00:09:40] Speaker A: Did you see Y2K? The movie?
[00:09:43] Speaker B: I have not. It's on my list.
I, you know, once that trailer came out, though, I was like, okay. I feel Like, I'm onto something here. It's in the air.
[00:09:53] Speaker A: But I know the reason I brought it up was because. And I discussed this actually on a previous episode recently. I don't know why it came up. I can't remember now, but, like, the Y2K had so many references to Y2K, and I was born in 86, so, yeah, the Y2K. I was 14 years old. Like, I vividly remember where I was in the basement when the ball dropped and all that stuff. And there were so many cliche references to the 2000s, early 2000s, late 1990s, but in a way where I was loving it. Like, it was like, to the point where I was like, oh my God, it's so much of that here. Like, to the point where they were like chatting on aim and he sends a message and it. Cause an away message comes up and he's burning a cd. Like all these things that we've done, you know, on a computer at the time and dial up modems and things like that. But. But the reason I bring it up is because it's so much. But it's on purpose and like, to get that vibe in there, you have it well in this, you do it really well. In Night of the Witch Hunter, I think. I think you brought me back to the 19, late 90s, early 2000s, but not overwhelmingly to the point where I was like, okay, Patrick, enough of this shit. Like, I get it. I get where we are. I get the understanding of the time.
You balanced it so perfectly. And I think it brought me right back to that time. You know, I'm not that I wanted to be back to be 14 years old again, but I'm just saying, like, in a way that it was very nice that you did it then that way.
[00:11:06] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, that was something that was definitely like, maybe not top of mind, but like in the back of your mind when you're working on something like this is. It's very easy to just like drop a lot of music references and to like, have it be very, like you said, cliche and kind of fits that. That mold. But I was looking for the emotional truth, I guess, of. Of being a teenager in the 90s. I was 16, 17 in 1999. So, like, I was right there. Like, I remember the people, the. You know, I hung out with, the kids in the. The black trench coats and like the stoners and all these other kids. And so, like, I wanted to capture the emotional truth of it. And then I figured just by.
By doing that the references would come along naturally. And so that's what my idea was like, not to force anything. But if I remembered something, then that's. It's something that stuck with me. And that's something that'll probably resonate for other people as well.
[00:12:12] Speaker A: Yeah. And that's. So I watched Y2K on my own. I'm at 38, will be 39 this year. My wife's 28, so she's 10 years younger than me. So she born 96. And so there are things in life where you're just like, I don't think you're going to get the same out of this. This Y2K movie was made for us. Like, it's not made for her. And that's the thing. So, like, but, but this kind of a story, she's not really into horror, but if she was into horror, she could read this story. I feel like she would get the references and she would understand the references, but it wouldn't be like one of those things that if you didn't get them, then it would take away from the book. And I think that sometimes that balance needs to be met to be like, okay, we're trying to put you back in time to this specific period of time, but not overwhelming, to the point where if you don't understand that time, then you're not really going to get what's going on. And I think you balanced it really well. And that's what I was trying to point out.
[00:12:57] Speaker B: Awesome. Thank you.
[00:12:58] Speaker A: Absolutely. And I think it's one of those things that this whole 90s, I think this whole killer VHS series has been able to do through all the authors. It's put us into a period where VHS tapes were more the regular thing. You pop the VHS tape to watch something. And I think that's what this whole series is about. And I think one of the cool things that I had never heard about you, no offense to you at all, but until killer vhs. And that I think is a huge thing to me in this series of books where Ned of the Witch Hunter falls into, is that I didn't know, you know, some of the other Alex Epstein. I didn't know who they were when I, when I first, you know, picked up these books. But it's given me the opportunity that now I'm probably going to read every killer VHS book that ever comes out, even if I don't know the author or anything. And I think the cool thing is they all fit. They all, like. I feel like if you didn't know, it was different Authors you wouldn't know in a way that you guys all have your own touch on the books, but they also also have the same vibe to them. Which, which what makes it work, in my opinion. Like, I think that's what it does.
[00:13:56] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, I think like I said about Alan, it's like he's looking for the talent and the stories and finding the right projects that fit the vibe. So whether it's like somebody like Alex or me who's maybe like not broken out into like a broader audience past like the sort of smaller horror writing enclave or like Brian who's like had books with the bigger publishers and done some screenwriting and stuff like that. You have somebody who has, has that background.
And yeah, each book I think I love the series as well. It's, it's. They all feel like you could find them on the shelf, but it doesn't repeat itself like on the shelves in like the Blockbuster or the Hollywood Video or something. You could go and like find these or at Suncoast Video in the mall or something. Like you would see these on the. On display. And each one's a different experience, but same vibe. Similar vibes.
[00:14:55] Speaker A: And they touch on different characters really too. I mean, if you think about it. And they're also, you know, for anybody who doesn't know, these killer VHS series of books are not connected in any way other than the fact that they all feature VHS tape in it basically.
[00:15:05] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:15:05] Speaker A: And so like that's the basic, you know, link between them. They all have cool covers. If you look at them on the shelf, they look, you know, again, people can compare them to the modern day Goosebumps in the sense that it's an adult Goosebumps because again, they also look so good on the shelf together and all that stuff. And. But yeah, but they also individually, like, you know, there's only been two books by the same author. So that's. Brian has his own, you know, killer, you know, Kenny can kills and Kenny King kills again. But otherwise it's all different authors and each feature like a monster or a specific character or like they're not all basically the same story told from different authors. And that's what's really cool about this too. It's like you mentioned it, it's like an anthology almost, but in different novella formats. And I think that you set yourself apart with this witch hunting part. But also there's this like fish out of Water moments. I loved about it too where like there's this like elements that like would be more in a Comedy, straight up comedy than you would have in a horror book.
And I think that was pretty cool on it. There's some, some, Some drama, there's some horror, there's some jokes, there's. It's just. I think it has everything. And you packed it all into a novella, which is very impressive in my opinion. Not to make your head really. Yeah, you know, the screen's only so big right now.
[00:16:16] Speaker B: I'll take it. I'll tell. You know, let's just see how far we can exp.
Go for it with the story. I wanted to get as much into it as I could because get an opportunity like this with the killer VHS novella. It's a series that's been established. It's a series that's had a lot of success, that has had a reach to an audience. And so there is a pressure that comes on to perform, to reach that standard or live up to it or surpass it or wherever you land. And so you. I knew the story couldn't just be horror. It had. There is the chase element. There is like you said, that fish out of water, the time travel. There is a lot going on and I tend to write long and then cut down. And this is the case. And so when you do that, one of the benefits I think is that you learn how to like keep a lot of stuff, but tighten it up so it fits within those boundaries. And hopefully that's what's what's happened here.
[00:17:19] Speaker A: I think so. I'm actually even more impressed now that you mentioned that because I didn't read it as someone who cuts and things out like that. You definitely read it, read it like a story that you written that way. So it's nice to see that you actually write long and cut short and actually flows pretty well.
I didn't feel like it was choppy or anything like that. I felt like it's smooth and through the whole story. Do you have a fandom for witches? Like, did you have to research to do to make sure you got things correct in the sense of that stuff too? Or is it just something that.
[00:17:48] Speaker B: No, you know. No. And I say that because I knew that there is a. A big, you know, the Wiccan community and people who are interested in witches. I didn't want to step on any toes, so to speak. I didn't want to kind of get things wrong. So I sort of set out to make this, I think of this book. And this is around the same time period like X Men comics from the 90s or like Buffy the Vampire. Slayer, where, yes, you're giving nods to the history, to the lore, to these other things, but ultimately it's like one girl with powers versus this evil man who has powers and may be stronger than her. And it's a question of how do you overcome these powers? Like, I. I grew up on the X Men comics in the 90s, and, like, the sort of, like the cartoons and everything, like the bombastic use of, like, we're blasting lasers and rays and, like, I wanted to have that feeling in a book like they were blasting our powers and our different auras and everything like that. And so basically, I wanted it to be more.
I don't say more comic booky, but kind of have that feel of, like, this is a big actiony type of thing. Don't look too deeply for, like, specific spells and stuff. They will not be in here.
[00:19:20] Speaker A: Well, I mean, does that help with not taking yourself too seriously? Does it. I mean, does that help with the book? It's not like. It's not like a book. You're gonna be like, oh, if you. If you're in. In the Wiccans, if you're into witches, you're into this whole thing. Like, this is definitely going to be your book. This is more of a. I hate to say campy, but, like, has that campiness to it. So it's not fully. To take itself seriously.
[00:19:40] Speaker B: Yeah. And I mean, that's. I. I look at those, like, movies from that time where it's. Again, you're giving nods, you're giving winks to things, but you're not necessarily laying out a full ritual for someone to perform. I think that's a different book. It's not the book that I was. Was writing. This is a book ultimately about the characters as well. It's about Josie. It's about her relationship with her, with her family, with her friends, with her town. And then how the appearance of Goodman Price, this evil witch hunter that she summons accidentally, like, how that throws everything into chaos and how she. She deals with it and overcomes it, hopefully.
[00:20:21] Speaker A: Yeah. And I think that. That you go along that journey in this, and it's not a long book, like you mentioned, so this journey is not so. So long in the sense that it takes you a long time to read it, and you feel that. You feel like the journey is there. You feel like you're doing it all along with you. You relate to some of the characters in this book, and I think you did a great job with that. I think the length of it is something that's Going to do what? How? One. Another reason why it's going to be successful, in my opinion. Like, so killer vhs. Obviously you have that background now of the five or six books that have come before yours, that helps, you know, set a solid foundation for people going, killer, yes, I'm going to buy this book no matter what's going on in it. But also I think the length nowadays with things like Goodreads, counting the number of books you read in a year and TBR list and all that stuff, I think people want that shorter book. I think that's. Our attention spans are a lot less. Like, I'll throw one in there. When I'm reading a couple long books where I'm just like, okay, you know, Alan just sent me an advanced copy of a book D7 that is like 76 pages or something like that. I'm like, perfect. So I can get it between my two longer books. Like when I'm reading a Stephen King book, I just read Order of the Phoenix.
I've never read the Harry Potter series, so I'm reading through those ones and damn, that's a long freaking book.
And now I'm ready for a novella to just take, get something in there, read something quality and get a good story but not be, you know, reading it for a month and a half.
[00:21:46] Speaker B: Yeah, I am, I am the same way. I, I tend to have, I'll have a novel going and a short story collection going because I need, I think people just respond to different links to story. It's like you get a different experience from it.
And yeah, sometimes it's. You don't want to call it a palate cleanser necessarily, but maybe like the length palette cleanser where you're like, I, I love a good doorstop, don't get me wrong. Like, I'll read a good Stephen King big book that, you know, can, you know, do curls with or something. But like, ultimately you also need something short. And that's hopefully what we have with the killer VHS series.
[00:22:21] Speaker A: And you do. And I think it fills that gap. And it also, in my opinion, like, if those people, like, I wasn't huge into prose reading, I didn't read novels. I was reading comic books. I read short stories here and there, but I just didn't read that much until, you know, recent years. And, and this would have been an entry level thing for me too. Like, I'll get this in there, get a rich book read. Oh, this is a quality book. This is what it can be like. And then step it, you know, step to the next size and so on and so forth. I treat some of Stephen King's books like I actually have. I'm planning to read the Stand this year, maybe it. And I think I'm gonna read them in, like, three chunks. So I'm almost reading them in, like, three part stories. I'm like. I'm trying to figure out where's a good stopping point. But, like, I feel like as I read it, I'm like, okay, this is a good stopping point. I'm gonna stop. I'm gonna read another book in between and go to the next. Next part of the book. Because, damn, it's a long time. I don't know if I could be entrenched in a world of Stephen King's mind for that long.
[00:23:08] Speaker B: It's a lot. I read the Dark Tower series a couple years back, and that is massive. It's several books, and some of them, towards the middle and end of the series are chunky as well. So it is something where you are in this world for a long time, and sometimes that can be a good thing. Sometimes it's very rich and dense, and other times you need a break. And I do not fault you for that at all.
[00:23:34] Speaker A: Yeah, well. And sometimes I also feel like I find myself in the middle of a book. Like, say, even a Stephen King book. I read it, I go, he could have cut this out. I probably wouldn't have said that if it was shorter. Meaning that, like, my mind, I think, immediately goes to, this is a super long book, and I don't need that segment. I did it when I was reading. Was reading Order of the Phoenix from Harry Potter. There were sections in there where I've seen the movie. And so I'm like, the movie doesn't have specific things in there. I'm like, yeah, she probably could have cut all this out and it would have been fine. It would have been. Instead of a thousand pages, it would have been, you know, 600 pages. It would have been fine. But I think I only do that because I'm thinking about how long the book is. And so, like, if the story was written well, and most of Stephen King's stories are written well, it's just there's sometimes because of how long the book is, I'm like, yeah, you probably could do without this. And I probably wouldn't do it if it was a shorter book, you know, I got you.
[00:24:20] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, that's what they. With this book, the Night of the Witch Hunter, because it's the killer VHS thing. I came into writing and editing it as thinking, this is the movie version already. So this is. What would the movie version of this be like? And like you said, there's. When you look at the Harry Potter books versus the movies, you can see how they've condensed and tightened things up. So I wanted to skip to the condensed and tightened up version for Night of the Witch Hunter. And so hopefully that's what we have.
[00:24:52] Speaker A: I'm hoping for. I mean, a feature film would be great for all of these things, but I'm also thinking they all like, like a Black Mirror esque style TV show somewhere where the GH episode is a different killer VHS novel or, you know, so like you have like a specific episode or whatever that's based on another the Witch Hunter. And then, you know, I think that's the future. That would be amazing.
[00:25:13] Speaker B: From your lips to Hollywood's ears.
[00:25:15] Speaker A: I would also take feature films of all of them. So that's also where I'm. Where I'm at on this stuff. Because I will say that. And I'm not just saying this because you're on here, because I could shit all over the other, the other offers if I wanted to. I'm not that kind of guy anyway. But they're all good. That's the thing too is, you know, that's probably, you know, we've mentioned Alan enough times on this podcast episode. But like, it's probably one of those things where you're not the only person to pitch him a story like Night of the Witch Hunter to him to say, hey, this is a good killer vhs, you know, story. And then him saying, no, it's not, you know, we're going to pass. You're probably not the only person who pitched him stories. And you know, it's not like someone pitches him a story. Be like, yeah, I need a story, let's put it out. There's probably a number of people who have been declined on their stories for the killer VHS series and there's only a certain number that he wants to put out at certain times financially and, and just, you know, overloading the market. And so, yeah, your story was past the grade on that. Did you have to cut it down? You mentioned you cut it down, but did you have to cut it down because of the novella size of it? Like, was this a longer book as it was in general or you just write long in general for novellas?
[00:26:18] Speaker B: Yeah, I just wrote long for the novella. And I don't think necessarily this was quite far over the word count or where I was aiming. It's just that there was enough extraneous material that when it went into editing, it's easy to kind of find the places to make cuts or to combine things, you know, I give all credit to Alan and his editing team as well for finding these opportunities. And just I like an editor who says stuff like very simple solutions, right like. Or simple. And they sound. Seem simple. Where it's like, please add a little bit more tension here. Which is a broad note. It can be taken in a lot of different ways. But I like that because then it's like a challenge. It's like trying to figure out, okay, how do I make this? How do I fulfill that in a way that's true to my writing and what I have there. And so that's really helped ramp up the drama and then just ramp up the sort of like the journey of the characters and making sure that each stop along the way is there's something dangerous that will. That is confronting them, then pushing them on to the next location in the story.
[00:27:31] Speaker A: I Talked to Brian McCally on the podcast about his killer VHS books as well as other novels too, but he had a sequel. Is this something that. I mean, I've read the book and people haven't read the book yet, so we're not going to spoil the ending and stuff like that, so on and so forth. But I would be remiss if I didn't ask you this question. Like, would you. Is there more story that you could tell in a different version, different take, different whatever to have a sequel of this book come out? Or is this it? Like, this is just your story?
[00:27:58] Speaker B: I say never say never. I'll give that cliche, the cliche author answer who's not willing to commit just yet. But there was definitely like seeds, big seeds planted in the story where there could possibly be a.
I don't know if you would call it sequel. I would say like the, the. The time travel element definitely inspired a lot by the back to the future movies, you know, and how the timelines can, you know, things can happen. And that's where I'll leave it at.
[00:28:32] Speaker A: Well, time, you have the time trial aspect, you know, with the, the timing of a VHS tape, which had things like back to the future, so on and so forth. But also it's a horror or horror book. I mean, and so like horror never dies. Like that's the thing. Like it's always an opportunity for some to be like, you know, at the end of a horror movie for them to eye open and you're like, oh, they're not actually dead and look at that, they're moving on and those kind of things and the tropes that go involved with those things. So there's always opportunity, even as cheesy as it might be. And as much as we would go, God dang it, why did they do that? There's always an option for in that sense. But yes, I just thought, I didn't know. Like, I know you obviously lived in this world while you were writing this. And so here's here, I guess it's a follow up question and that is like, would you want to like, is this something like, would it be something fun to continue telling stories in this thing or would you just rather. Here's my question. Would you rather just Alan be like, hey, we didn't tell another story with VH killer VHS12 with an entirely different plot either.
[00:29:27] Speaker B: Both, I think. Both. I'm greedy, I'm greedy. I'll take both. But honestly, like, you know, it's, it was written starting out as like a supernatural slasher and it's a little bit more than that, I think. But you know, slashers always come back and whether, you know, different context.
Who knows, maybe it'll be Night of the Witch Hunter in space.
[00:29:47] Speaker A: I can't say that like you took the words out of it.
I love it. Night of the Witch Hunter versus Candy Keane. There you go right there.
[00:29:56] Speaker B: Well, I would love to work with Brian on that. So put it in the ether.
[00:30:00] Speaker A: Right now Alan just needs to do like the Marvel, like television series version of this. Like the Defenders on Netflix. Brian builds them all together. So like all of a sudden I know where all these, you know, people, all these characters from all these different killer VHS is like in one book where they're all like trying to fight crime.
They're all superheroes.
[00:30:20] Speaker B: You know, stranger things have happened.
[00:30:24] Speaker A: I love it. So I, I also we mentioned a little bit about the, the, the packaging behind it. You know, again, it looks like killer vhs. It has that cool thing. I don't have one right here. I, I pre ordered it, I'll tell you that much. But I don't have the actual book in front of me. But the, it has the, it looks like, oh, there goes vhs. So it has like a VHS look to. It has the purple. This is purple, which is cool because there's different colors for different ones. The artwork, the design. We mentioned that. But I wanted to point out the fact that it's. I'm a designer by trade, so I actually am, you know, in love with Alan's work in general, books, covers do help sell books, let's be honest, right? I mean, like, you're, you're. When you pick open the book up and you're halfway through the novel, it's the, it's the actual writing that keeps you going. But to actually look at the Internet nowadays, where most of us are buying books online and things like that, you're actually looking at the COVID before anything else. You're not calling your local bookstore as often and being like, hey, can I get this book? Without even knowing what it looks like, you know what it looks like. And so this cover is going to draw people in, in my opinion. You know, Alan's design work on it is fantastic. But also Mark Voltage, I think, yeah, did a fantastic job bringing the Witch Hunter and your characters to life in a way that totally shows late 90s horror and VHS style to me. Like, it's perfect, in my opinion.
[00:31:43] Speaker B: Yeah, I, I totally agree. I thought Mark just like knocked it out of the park, really, with the, with the design. And I worked with Alan on figuring out, because each of the killer VHS covers, I probably hope I'm not revealing anything, trade secrets or anything, but is inspired by a movie poster or a combination of movie posters. And so I went to Alan and he was like, well, what movies do you think of when you think of your book? And like, what design elements would you like to see? So I sent him a bunch of ideas. He had some ideas as well and kind of mocked them up. And then you turn it over to the artist and say, here's this. Make something beautiful out of it. And then he does. And you're like, wow, okay, this is amazing.
I wanted something that captured that mood of two girls being menaced by this supernatural force and having like the school there in the background and yeah, I mean, just knock it out of the park. And with the, with the purple. I think it's just a cool visual experience for folks.
[00:32:59] Speaker A: And it has like, with the horror sticker on. That's on all of them, that little sticker on it, like the VHS for a while there before these books came out. I know a buddy of mine, Joseph Schmalky, who's a comic book writer and creator here in Maine, had some comics come out that had the VHS variant cover. And so the whole thing looked like all vhs, like writing stickers on there, Please be kind. That kind of thing. And it became a thing for a little bit, like, oh, this is kind of cool. And again, I think we live in an age where nostalgia and thinking back to the 1990s and things like that is a cool thing. First of all, anybody thinks it was better back then is probably crazy anyway because let's be honest, there's, there's a lot more. I don't know if we just got pushed back to the 1990s, whether or not you'd be happy or not, you know?
[00:33:38] Speaker B: Right.
[00:33:39] Speaker A: There's a crazy world going on right now. But still, I think that like the 1990s were probably not as, as luxurious as people thought they were. But I think we have this vibe nowadays that people want this like nostalgic look to things. And I think this fits perfectly in that. And it brings you back and it makes you want to watch those. It makes you want to watch classic horror films and slasher films just by looking at it.
[00:33:58] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, that's the hope, right? And like the thing about nostalgia is like, you get the, the better, the best or better version of the past without having to be back in it and like, deal with like, you know, hanging out in high school and things like that. I'm like, leave that stuff behind, but give me the movies, give me the books and stuff like that. I'll take, I'll take the media. Yeah, leave everything else behind. I have no interest.
[00:34:24] Speaker A: Yes, exactly. Well, I was thinking about the other day when I was trying to play. So I, I have a co worker of mine who is, who's a huge into basketball, like I am. And I, I, you know, some things happen and I was like, oh, I want to play NBA 2K again on my Xbox. I don't play that. I don't play video games that often. I have a three year old. Yeah, 11 month old. I don't play video games that often. And so I put it on and I'm like, oh, cool. I started playing and I sucked at it. I couldn't get the shots down and the timing was off. I couldn't. I was like, this is horrible, I don't want to do this. And I'm like, I got to my 30, I'm only 38, but I still was like, crotchety old man here. I'm like, do you remember when you press the button and it shot.
It was not like this whole like timing thing and each person had different timing and all that stuff. Like there was like six things you could do on a controller. I said, I missed that NBA Jam.
[00:35:04] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. So games I grew up on, it was very straightforward. Now it's like you're like in, you have to give interviews and Stuff and do press conferences in the game. I'm like, oh, I didn't sign up for this mode. What's happening here?
[00:35:17] Speaker A: And they're like, yeah, you didn't play well the next game because the fans didn't like you because you said something wrong. And I'm like, what did I do?
I'm just trying to play basketball here. I don't know what the hell's going on, but it was just kind of funny. I'm like, I feel like the whole thing. But that's the kind of thing I would take. I take, like, play Mario in my house. That's what I would play. You know, that's the kind of thing I want. I wanted old. I've actually looked at, like, I remember sitting after high school playing video games in a buddy of mine's house. And I've always remembered, like, the game's completely different than I. They actually are. So, like, if I go to actually find the game, I'm like, this game was fantastic. You used to be able to drive these ATVs, and you could go anywhere and come to find out you could go, like, nowhere. Like, it was like, you go up this mountain. That was it. My mind. I was like, I could go to New York City if I needed to. It was insane. No, never. Never turns out the same way as you remember it, for sure. But. But what this series does and what Night of the Witch Hunter does is it gives you that opportunity to. To have new things, new stories that are created in a timeframe when you are back there without having to go back there physically and actually be back there, Which. Which is fantastic. And I think it's. It's short, to the point, and I think you nailed it out of the. Out of the park with the. With this. With this book.
Would you. I mean, now it's not out until March 18th, as we're talking here, which is about a month away. But, like, are you happy 100% with the way the book turned out and are excited for people to see it?
[00:36:30] Speaker B: Yeah, totally. Absolutely.
You know, I think it really surpassed my expectations for.
And I had high expectations before going into it, knowing what Alan had done with the other books in the series. And, you know, just the word of mouth so far has been great. I've had a lot of people, you know, people finding me for the first time, like. Like yourself and other folks who are saying, like, hey, I haven't heard of you, but this sounds amazing. And, you know, earlier reviews, when you see somebody say, I've never read Patrick Barr before. But I'm going to go seek out more stuff. That's the best compliment I can get. Like, I. And I love people who are already reading my stuff. Keep reading it if you're out there. But new people is so great because it's like I'm. You're reaching somebody and you found the right way to them. And this story was one, like I said, been working on it for a long time in terms of like back of the mind, sort of letting it percolate and everything. And then to see it in as a book, see it as part of this series, see the design, the artwork, the page. Like the interior pages being like in that sort of design for the interior, it really is something special and I'm hoping folks are gonna connect with it once it's out in March.
[00:37:52] Speaker A: The other cool thing I'll say with this killer VHS thing is the packaging. If you order it from Short Wave, which I recommend you doing, order it directly from their stores. Like, you get it in a box that looks like. Has Blockbuster themes to it and it has this. You get a membership card. I have one right here, actually. Yeah, you get a membership card that's the killer VHS membership card with a number on it and all that stuff. Like you're going to go to a video store. Which is so funny because like the number of people who actually like the younger generation who are like, what's a membership card to something. But yeah, it's because I actually have. I have. For my. For the podcast, I made some like homage stickers and one of them is the Blockbuster logo, but it's escapes and dice on it and said and so on. And it's so funny. I went to a comic convention and set up a table and panning out promotional stuff and stuff like that. And the number of people, kids who walk by, the parents like you don't even know what that is.
Yep, it's true, 100%.
But yeah, the packaging is like, that's a cool thing. So you order from. From shortwave directly. You get it in a way that's different than if you would order it from, you know, your local bookstore. Not they say you shouldn't. But like, this is a cool. With shortwave being such a small publisher, this is a cool way that you can support the publisher and the writer in a way that's different than, I think some of your bigger publishers for sure.
[00:39:06] Speaker B: Exactly. You get a lot for your dollar there when you're getting the packaging. I don't want to throw them away. The boxes that they come in.
Not only am I an author, I'm also a customer. And Alan puts together such fantastic packaging.
[00:39:22] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:39:22] Speaker B: And I'm one of those guys who I love like special edition Blu Rays and special edition hardcovers of comics and you know, I have to have the absolute edition and the archive and whatever and like this feeds that need that I have. The, the packaging alone is just spectacular.
[00:39:41] Speaker A: I've actually, I think I've sent people books and things like other packages to people in the boxes too because I've had some like, you know, there's five or six of them and I was just like thinking to myself, I'm like, oh, it's kind of cool. Someone else is going to be like, what the hell is this? Hopefully that's market and that's like I've sold like a Blu Ray on ebay or something like that. I've sent it in that box because like it's going to get that packaging and be like, what the hell is this shortwave stuff? And maybe they'd google it and find out. But yeah, it is kind of funny how you keep those and you want to, you want to keep them all because even when I sign up every once in a while, like if, you know, for the Candy Cane Kills, I missed that at the Witch Hunter. But for the Candy Cane Kills again, I was able to get on the list of press people who get the advanced physical copy and he sends those in the full get up. Like it's not even like you send it in a padded envelope just because you get the book to read it. Like it's the actual book in a box with the membership card and all that stuff. And I was like, that's, that's a really cool, cool thing that Alan's doing over there. And, and I know he had some hiccups with just distribution because of a major distributor, you know, going bankrupt. But hopefully things turn out well in the future. People can get more because I want more access to them. I want people to get it. But until there's more access to it, Shortwave Publishing's website is the way to get A Night of the Witch Hunter. If you order it now, the other thing you get is a benefit. I think he sends them out like a week or two prior to the actual release date.
I think what he does. So if you, if you order it on bookshop.org or Amazon or any of the other places you can order online, they ship it out pretty much on release date or like a day before. So you get it on Release date, Alan. I think if you pre order it, it might be on your mailbox, like March 11, which is even cooler if you're really excited about getting it because it will get to you like a week earlier. Not promising that, but I'm saying that there's a better chance that's going to happen. And that might not just be a cool, fun thing. That might be Alan, just being like, I got to get these things out. When I get these things out, a.
[00:41:26] Speaker B: Little bit of column, a little bit of column B. I think, you know, it's one of the benefits of like ordering direct from the publisher. Any, any kind of smaller press or medium press. You're going to get that personal touch and you're going to get like the packaging. You're going to get it early.
No matter how you get it.
Hopefully folks are enjoying it. But there are bonuses.
[00:41:47] Speaker A: Yes. Well, that's always what I said. I've always said to people on the end of a podcast where I'm like, okay, buy the book. I'm like, if it's between buying the book on Amazon and not buying the book, buy the book on Amazon. Because if it's not, buying the book means you don't support anybody. If you buy the book on Amazon, yes, you're supporting a major conglomerate corporation, but. But you're also supporting the writer and the publisher. So, like, it's. If you have to pick a choice between that, that's your only options, then do it. The benefit is, is there's other places like bookshop.org and your local bookstore where you can get it without support. Are you supporting a major corporation? And so that's where I hope. Or short waves website. I hope you order it from that. But if it's literally comes down to I'm not going to get the book unless I order it on Amazon, then just order it on Amazon.
[00:42:31] Speaker B: And I would say this. If, even if you're like, if you're that pressed and need the book. Yeah.
Talk to your library.
[00:42:38] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:42:38] Speaker B: Order book orders.
Libraries order what their patrons ask for. You know, if you have enough people that say, I want this book in the library, they're going to reach out and buy it and buy it for their shelves and then you can read it that way. Might take a little longer. You might have to wait, hopefully, if there's a line for it.
But that's another way. I, you know, I don't. For me, it's like, find the way to get the book in your hands in a way that is legal in a Way, you know, we don't want that, but, you know, whatever it takes. If you, if you want to get it from the library or, or direct or wherever, as long as you're reading it, I'm happy.
[00:43:22] Speaker A: And something that a creator, a comic creator brought up to me last episode, which was Matthew Rosenberg. But about the other thing that's big is if you actually tell your local bookstore that you're wanted. So, like, our local bookstore in Bangor, Maine, is the Briar Patch. If I were to call him and say, hey, Jabran, I would like Night of the Witch Hunter. Is there any way you can get it? And he would be able to figure out how to get it, and so on and so forth. And in all likelihood, because I called for one, he might actually order two or three because I showed interest in it. He thinks that, okay, if someone shows interest, there's possibly I could sell two more just because of that one person's interest and maybe he'll stock it on the shelves or so on and so forth. So there's that also, like, if you go into your local bookstore and ask them, or so on and so forth, there's a possibility it could go from one copy being brought in to three copies being brought in just because you're showed interest in it. And I think that's a huge thing too, because it shows people in the future that you're worth, that you're worth investing time and energy into. And it shows that like, you know, the series and so on and so on and so on. So it's a big thing. Just so, just if you, if you contact your local bookstore, they will find a way to get it. It's not like, you know, it's not like they're going to be like, sorry, we can't get that book. They'll call Alan and ask if they can get a book.
[00:44:30] Speaker B: It's a small thing you can do, but it has a big impact, I think, is the way I look at it. And, you know, bookstores don't, they don't always hear from people like that. I found calling for my own books, you know, and sort of spreading the word that a lot of times you have to do these things to stand out to get your name out there. And then they're like you said, they're willing to order a copy and take a chance on a book because someone is called. And I think readers calling especially is even bigger, an even bigger impact.
[00:45:03] Speaker A: But yeah, my local comic book shop is the same way. When I, because I collect the copies of the trade paperbacks of the ones they use my pull quotes on. So I've had a number of pull quotes used on the back of these things. And so I always get the physical copy, even though I've bought the single issues all over the time. And, you know, like, whatever. I was like, I still want the. I want that collected edition because it has that quote on it and I have a little spot on the shelf for them and so on and so forth. And my LCS owner will always order an additional copy for the shelf once that happens, because he's like, well, then I want to be able to pitch it and say, hey, check the quote out. You know, so on and so forth. So it's like, yeah, it adds that. That cool, you know, and bring it in and actually be able to go into a bookstore and see these killer VHS shelves on the shelves is cool, too. Some bookstores will just order your copy and put it off to the side and never order another copy again. It happens, but it is what it is, you know, I'd rather that than them been stuck with it forever and ever and ever and ever either, because it also hurts the bookstores. Yeah, sometimes, too. So, again, local bookstores, I'm not really worried about the Columbia bookstores. They'll be fine. They'll be fine. But, yeah. So Night of the Witch Hunter is a part of the killer VHS series. It's book number six in the series. Author number five. I'm excited. There's another one coming out this year. Book number seven will be out. So make sure again, they're not necessary to read the next one. But why not, right? I mean, same thing with Goosebumps. You don't need to read them all to understand it, but you might as well read them all, right? I mean, there's no reason not to.
[00:46:26] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:46:27] Speaker A: So grab them all. It's like Pokemon cards. You got to collect them all. No, and they actually go well on the shelf. I actually have mine literally in my Goosebumps collection, which I'm only missing a few now then, it's my killer VHS series. I mean, they fit next to each other. It works perfectly on the shelf there. But, yeah, I'm super excited for people to read it because I absolutely, thoroughly enjoyed it. Said it brought me back in time to the Y2K time. It also, you know, scratched the ditch for witchcraft, supernatural horror, superstition. It was atmospheric, it was wonderfully written, and it brought me. Transported me to that time and really enjoyed it. And I hope other people go out and grab it March 18th from Shortwave Publishing. I'm really excited for people to read it. I hope you are. Hope you're not nervous.
[00:47:17] Speaker B: No, no, no, no. I am excited. We're, you know, it's one of those things where it's soon, right. And you're like, okay, this book's going to be out there in the world. And I'm very proud of it. Very proud of the work that we've done. Alan Mark on the COVID art. The whole thing is just something where I am excited for people to read it, experience it, and to, you know, tell a friend after they do.
[00:47:46] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:47:46] Speaker B: Leave a review, you know, all those good things.
[00:47:49] Speaker A: And I will say, I usually say don't look at reviews, but I just quickly glance your goodreads and you could, you could read reviews. You're fine right now. Right now. You could read reviews.
[00:47:56] Speaker B: I know. I'm, you know, for now. Check it out. I will let you know. We'll add an addendum maybe like when it, when it's, when it, when the turn comes. Hopefully it doesn't, but you never know. Maybe I'll cast a spell on it.
[00:48:08] Speaker A: Exactly. Right. Well, I was gonna say, like, it's one of those things. Reviews are really not for you. They're really for the other people reading it. So there's no real reason for creators or authors or people have to have to read them. But sometimes it's nice and at this point in time, it's a, it's a safe zone for you. But I can't promise that will be like that for a while. People, for some reason, weirdly hate the fact that it was based in 1999 Y2K. Like, they'll just hate that part. That's like, they'll hate that altogether. And for some reason, I'll tell you.
[00:48:37] Speaker B: Like you said, it's not there for the readers. They're not for the authors. I completely agree with that. I've had a short story collection get a review where somebody said, I hate short stories.
[00:48:46] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:48:47] Speaker B: And I was like, well, okay, one star. Fair enough. The funniest one star review I've ever had. I wish I could, like, I. Someday I may push out, put it on a shirt, put it on the wall, you know, just know that's my North Star. That one star is my North Star. It's my guiding light.
[00:49:08] Speaker A: It's a, it's a, it's a fun thing. I work in the brewery, so I work as a graphic designer for the brewing industry. And, and it's always funny. I one star. I hate IPAs. And it's like, well, that. Then. That doesn't make any sense. Or I hate sour beers. It was too sad. But then you're rating it on what you like and not on the. But whatever, right?
[00:49:25] Speaker B: Exactly.
[00:49:26] Speaker A: In the end, I'm like, it's. Why are we arguing with this thing? We used to care so much. It used to be one of these things that we, like, actively look online for these reviews, and now we're not there. Now we can't move past that. It doesn't matter. People are going to say what they want to see on the Internet. We've learned this in recent times, that the Internet has no filter. And what we did have for a filter has gone away in recent weeks and months. But I really appreciate you taking the time out to chat Night of the Witch Hunter, your killer VHS book that's coming out March 18th. Patrick, we're so pumped. I'm excited to read everything else you have on your thing. It's going to be added to my thousands of books tbr. So I read here and there. In between my Stephen King books, I'll read a short story.
[00:50:06] Speaker B: There we go. There we go.
[00:50:07] Speaker A: Right in there. You're the perfect author for that. And I'm looking forward to anything else that comes out in the future. I'm really excited. But, yeah, people should pick up Night at the Witch Hunter, the killer VHS series, on March 18th. Sound good?
[00:50:19] Speaker B: Absolutely. Thanks, Justin. I appreciate it.
[00:50:21] Speaker A: Thank you so much for taking the time out and coming on. I really appreciate it. We'll talk soon, okay?
[00:50:25] Speaker B: All right, man, talk.
