The world of Eberron offers an industrial take on fantasy storytelling with trains powered by lightning, airships docking above cities lit by magical streetlamps and manufactured humanoids walking among the elves and humans of the land. Eberron: Rising from the Last War is a 320-page book detailing the war-torn continent of Khorvaire, along with a […]

Foreshadows: The Ghosts of Zero is a 19-story anthology of dark science fiction intertwined with a 19-track album of songs and soundtrack music, created collaboratively by a veritable shadow gallery of speculative fiction authors and musicians, under the banner of the Very Us Artists, to be published by Blindsided Books.

In this essay, editor and author Jeff LaSala tells us what sort of stories are contained therein…

Foreshadows: The Ghosts of Zero is a 19-story anthology of dark science fiction intertwined with a 19-track album of songs and soundtrack music, created collaboratively by a veritable shadow gallery of speculative fiction authors and musicians, under the banner of the Very Us Artists, to be published by Blindsided Books.

In this essay Jeff and John LaSala tell us a bit about how the project got started and just what readers can look forward to as this project continues…

A new twist on one of our favorite monsters is brought to us by author Jeff LaSala (Darkwood Mask) with art from Bradley K. McDevitt (Blood!).

Watch the rooftops, you never who, or what, may be watching you…

Glaring Hunter

Created by Jeff LaSala
With Art by Brad McDevitt

Everyone knows what gargoyles are, but very few legends have survived the ages concerning these gruesome stone antiquities. One such story that has endured in some circles is that of the anomalous statue known as the Glaring Hunter. Though it is far less famous than its Notre Dame brethren, the Hunter is the only gargoyle said to appear, without explanation, in more than one place.

The earliest confirmed account of its existence came from a 14th Century anchorite in the north of England who described its perch upon an old abbey wall. An ancient scroll rumored to be one of the lost Gospels also made reference to “the Staring Demon” whose presence Biblical scholars say follows the steps of the Devil.

Matt Forbeck writes about superheroes. And mutants. And parodic, homicidal American football players in his Blood Bowl novels. He does some Weird West, too.

In fact, there’s more than a little cowboy thrown into every thing he does. Check out the Lost Mark Trilogy for an idea of how seamlessly the Wild West and heroic fantasy can meld into something much bigger than the sum of both genres.

For the last twenty years, most of Forbeck’s work—game design, fiction, non-fiction—has in some way or another been connected to a shared world or licensed setting. He has worked with many settings from just about every possible angle—writer, editor, and developer.

A while back, Forbeck and I talked about writing in general and shared world writing in particular.

Interview by Jeremy Jones

Wizards of the Coast sat down with The Darkwood Mask author Jeff LaSala recently for an interview: Wizards: How would you describe The Darkwood Mask to a reader thinking about picking it up? Jeff LaSala: It is an action murder mystery in a world where magic (or other supernatural power) is arrayed against you and […]