I have found the fountain of youth and it’s not in Florida
and, surprisingly, there is no water. What is it that keeps me feeling like a
kid, day in and day out? I can tell you in one word.
Monsters.
That’s right, the world of brutish beasts and curious
cryptids rejuvenates my blood. It hasn’t done much to stop the gray from taking
over, but it’s how you feel inside that counts. At least that’s what I keep
telling myself.
When I was a kid, I was totally fascinated by the monsters I
saw on Kolchak : The Night Stalker, The
Twilight Zone and In Search Of.
Leonard Nimoy’s voice, backed by an eerie synth soundtrack, still haunts my
dreams. What that show did was give me hope that some of the creatures they
featured might actually be real. My father had a heck of a time finding every
book he could on lake monsters, ghosts and Bigfoot to satisfy my thirst for
knowledge. I could spend an entire weekend conjuring tales of Lake Ogopogo’s
sea serpent, creating grand adventures in my head, even while I was playing Wiffle
Ball or pool jumping up and down the neighborhood.
I actually used to set up a tent in my yard, hoping to catch
a glimpse of Bigfoot in Yonkers, a city right next to Manhattan. Needless to
say, the hairy guy never made an appearance.
The world of monsters, real and imagined, always instills a
sense of wonder in me. Whenever I sit down to write a novel or story about a
monster, I feel just like that kid in his musty tent in the backyard, jumping
whenever a fat raccoon waddled by. That sense of wonder is truly the fountain
of youth. It’s so easy to get jaded as we get older, wisdom and cynicism
trumping hope and mystery.
For me, as long as I have my monsters, I have a direct link
with my youth. Getting to write about them is a dream come true. Bringing them
to life in someone’s mind as they read my books is better than picturing Nessie
wrestling Bigfoot while swinging at a whistling Wiffle Ball curve.
The urban mythologies of the Montauk Monster and the government labs on Plum Island unite to cause staggering levels of mayhem when mutant animals with toxic blood descend on a Long Island town. This wholly enthralling hulk of a summer beach read is redolent of sunscreen and nostalgia, recalling mass market horror tales of yore by John Saul, Dean Koontz, and Peter Benchley. — PW
Advance Praise:
"Shea combines ancient evil, old school horror, and
modern style." --Jonathan
Maberry, New York Times bestselling author
"Hunter Shea is the real deal..
. .intense." --Gord Rollo, author of Valley of the Scarecrow and Crimson
"Shea delves deep into the
unknown. A thrill-ride of a read!" --Alexandra Holzer, author of Growing
Up Haunted
Called
“Most Anticipated Summer Read of 2014” by The
Horror Bookshelf along with Stephen
King’s Mr. Mercedes and Brian Moreland’s The Vagrants.
Hunter Shea is the author of paranormal and horror novels
Forest of Shadows, Swamp Monster Massacre, Evil
Eternal, Sinister Entity, which are all published by Samhain Horror. The June
3, 2014 release of his horrifying thriller Montauk Monster is published by Kensington/Pinnacle.
He has also written a short story to be read prior to Sinister Entity, called The Graveyard Speaks (it’s free, go
download!), and a book of stories called Asylum
Scrawls. His next book from Samhain Horror, titled HellHole, came out July 1,
2014, and is his first western horror. As you read this, he has a
few more books in the works from both Kensington and Samhain and release dates
should be announced soon.
His work has appeared in numerous magazines, including Dark
Moon Digest, Morpheus Tales, and the upcoming anthology, Shocklines : Fresh Voices in Terror. His obsession with all things
horrific has led him to real life exploration of the paranormal, interviews
with exorcists, and other things that would keep most people awake with the
lights on.
He is also half of the two men show, Monster Men, which is a
video podcast that takes a fun look at the world of horror. You can read about
his latest travails and communicate with him at www.huntershea.com, on Twitter
@HunterShea1, Facebook fan page at Hunter Shea or the Monster Men 13 channel on
YouTube.
Montauk Monster Truth or Fiction:
Is the Montauk Monster made up for the book or an urban
myth? Is there some truth that propels the story? You can find out more about
the real Montauk Monster story here:
To purchase a copy, simply click one of the links below!
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