stretchin' out them stories!

I think I first heard the phrase “uncompressed storytelling” via the great John Byrne, comic artist and writer, and man of very strong opinions. He was criticizing some other writer or comic series (I don't remember which one) about hinting at stories that wouldn't ...

Blade Slayer has always had his own set of disturbances ranging from hallucinations to manifested hauntings that were eating him alive ever since he was a young boy. His mother, a true non-Believer and skeptic in the Spiritual world, is not one to believe that any of her son’s ...

Inktober 2020 (October 18) Submission. “Trap” by Andreas_Helixfinger. Traditionally drawn with pencil and inked with fine liners and brush.

A freshly drawn picture for the “TRAP” Inktober theme on this corresponding day of Oktober 18th. A scene of my comic anti-heroine Molly Lusc at a museum, trying to steal a ...

Might as well get it out of the way: if you're a mentor in a story, chances are you're going on a boatride over the river Styx at some point.

When a mentor dies it's often the signal that the main character, the one being mentored, is ...

We live in a world of routine, predictability, and pedestrian problems. (2020 doesn't count. Much.)

Magic doesn't really seem to exist in our world.

Or does it?

Perhaps we live above a very thin surface, like floating on a tranquil lake, and just underneath it there are ghouls ...

Who doesn't love a happy ending?

Eh, there are a good few people I've met that just turn their noses up at happy endings, because apparently according to their opinion, happy endings are for the weak.

But for all other normal people, a happy ending is a good ...

Now that's a little TOO scary!

Horror is perfect for metaphor and allegory. In fact, a horror story is often allegorical by default, what with its bizarre landscapes and freaky beasties.

Here are some categories of horror and some thoughts on what they symbolize:

Reality Bites


psycho killer! Qu ...

Seven months into this new reality and coming to terms with this idea that the world is becoming more digital is a lot to wrap my mind around. Just last week when I reported (in-person) at my job, I overheard a conversation about a person who had shown up to ...

The witch is different than a sorceress, though their affinity with magic and their powers often can overlap: the sorceress carries status; the witch carries fear.

It's not that the sorceress is not potentially feared or the witch is not potentially respected- it's that the core of their ...

I was surprised and saddened to learn just the other day that Rene Auberjonois passed away at the end of last year. Even before the upheaval of the pandemic hit us, I think life was busy and a bit chaotic, and I just missed it.

I'd been a fan ...