Following my muse...

It was probably just the wind...

If I was a camp counselor gathered around the final campfire on the last night before the kids were to leave for home in the morning and I wanted them to have that one magical moment they'd never forget for the rest of their lives, I'd ask Scott Allie to tell a ghost story. I close my eyes and I can hear the sounds of a crackling fire and crickets chirping in the night. I can hear the voice of Scott as he begins a tale with, "It was a night where the mist upon the moors seemed to writhe and coil around our legs like a living beast..."

Wherever he'd take the tale from there I'd know for a certainty that by the time he reached the end of it the kids would be taking home the story they'd never forget. That is the magic of Scott Allie. The way he tells a story captures the imagination and holds you spellbound from start to finish. And he does it in that quiet voice that has you holding your breath and hanging upon every word. He doesn't horrify or terrorize. He doesn't send you screaming into the night. He simply fascinates and mesmerizes his audience with the well crafted tale.

In an age where so many seem to believe that bigger and grander is better, Scott Allie weaves wondrous magic from the simplest of threads. And he does it in every story he tells. From the scraggiest of moors to the humble streets of Exurbia Scott always manages to lift the most ordinary of moments into the realm of poignancy. Don't believe me? Go here and read his wonderful piece on Myspace Dark Horse Presents. Go ahead, I'll wait...

Nice, huh? A return for deposit bottle. The simplest of items become the vehicles for the most profound of adventures. Scott has a real gift for it. He tells our stories; the tales of the everyday Joe. And the way he does it makes our tales as wondrous as any space opera to be found in the world of comics today. He makes me feel good about us when so much else only seems designed to make me feel bad about us.

What does this have to do with Solomon Kane you ask? I'm not sure, but sometimes a writer just has to follow wherever the muse leads him and tonight she beckoned me into the deep waters of one fine writer, Mr. Scott Allie. Now go enjoy the beginning of a good scary story, read Solomon Kane, Death's Black Riders part one. And when you've finished with that, go out and buy Exurbia the TPB. I think you'll like that too...