Terror Town

Author's note: Terror Town, my second novel, was written before I had started my publishing company, Books of the Dead Press. Originally, the rights for the book had been signed away to two separate publishers, one was planning to release the trade paperback and the ebook while the other had dibs on the hardcover. After my publishing company was created I reacquired the rights before the book had been released. Terror Town is now available in paperback and ebook formats; currently there is no hardcover edition.

Unlike my first novel, The Dead Parade, I wanted the plotlines in Terror Town to break some of the writing "rules" I had learned in school. I wanted to explore a little, and find out what happens when you add an extra amount of some components, and remove some of the others. I also decided to push the "horror" element up a notch, so the book is quite graphic once it gets going.

I can now safely say that messing with the writing rules can bring mixed reviews. I've had people tell me that Terror Town is one of best horror books ever written, while others have said they hated it. Also, graphic violence, I've discovered, is something that many horror fans do not enjoy, which honestly surprises me. Somehow watching gory stuff in films is amazing but reading gory sentences is considered too much. Strange.

One of my favorite books is Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot. The amazing thing about Mr. King's storytelling is his ability to make the reader believe that a town like 'Salem's Lot exists, with real people living within it. He sets up a lot of characters and makes sure to bring each of them to life. By crafting his story this way his town comes alive on the page. And later on, when he destroys the world he created, the reader feels it.

That's what I aimed for--I created lots of rich characters, and I did my best bringing the town to life before knocking it over.

There are too many stories with no "real" town, country, or planet. Too many tales where the author decides to obliterate something that had not yet been created. Saying "the city was overrun with monsters" is not the same as showing it.

Terror Town is a BIG book--lots of characters, lots of plot lines, lots of monsters running wild in the streets. You know how everything turns crazy in the film, The Cabin in the Woods? That's how extreme everything becomes in Terror Town. There is an absolute TON of stuff happening, and the story develops into something that is as violent, gory, and as gruesome as possible. Also, there's a villain inside Terror Town that is the true embodiment of evil. The way his mind works is atrocious.

So, is Terror Town the right book for you? I don't know.

If you like the hardcore books from Edward Lee, Brian Keene, and Jack Ketchum... then maybe. But make no mistake... Terror Town is hardcore horror, not for the squeamish. Meaning, if you want your fiction to be soft and gentle, this is probably not the right book for you. But if you're thinking about walking on the wild side, maybe just once, strap yourself in... this book is it.

Happy reading.

~James Roy Daley