Brian Kirk

A Journey of the Imagination

Tag: Samhain Publishing

We Are Monsters Gets Endorsed by Brian Keene

Friday, October 2, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Okay, it’s official. We’ve slipped into an alternate reality. And, no, I’m not talking about the Berenstain Bears conspiracy. I’m talking about an email I just received from Brian Keene with a blurb for We Are Monsters that I couldn’t be happier with had I wrote it myself. Here’s what the Grand Master of Horror had to say about my debut book.

Brian Keene

“We Are Monsters is fantastic — a frightening and intense thriller and one hell of a debut novel. I was blown away. Brian Kirk is exactly what readers need — a talented new voice with original, awe-inspiring ideas that can push the genre forward.”
-Brian Keene, best-selling author of Ghoul and The Rising

There’s simply no way this happens on the same time line I was following five years ago. This is nuts.

I’m assuming most everyone reading this post is familiar with Mr. Keene, but for those who aren’t, Brian Keene is among the most renowned horror authors of the last decade. Dude does everything: writes novels, comic books, short fiction, non-fiction, and movie scripts. He’s won multiple Bram Stoker Awards and been on bestseller lists. His 2003 novel The Rising is often credited with inspiring the resurgent zombie craze that continues to this day.

The Rising

He’s one of just 25 authors to be honored with a Grand Master Award, ensuring his eternal place in the horror fiction hall of fame. He hosts one of the most popular and entertaining podcasts in the horror genre, The Horror Show with Brian Keene. And he is a renowned leader within the horror fiction community, fighting for the fair treatment of authors, selflessly offering guidance and advice to up-and-coming scribes.

Sorry if I’m gushing a bit here, I’m just a little overwhelmed and extremely grateful that he would take time out of his insane schedule to read a debut novel from a no-name like me.

I’ve read several of Brian Keene’s books. Hell, I bought a stack from him at the World Horror Convention where I pitched my book to Don D’Auria with Samhain. While I would recommend any one of them, I’ll go with the book Stephen King recently recommended for fans of THE MIST (one of my personal favorite’s from King’s canon), which is DARKNESS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN.

Darkness on the edge of town

But don’t stop there. CLICK HERE to find the complete catalog of Brian Keene’s esteemed work. IWeAreMonsters_Print urge you to pick up another book or three.

I’m equally grateful to the other authors who have been kind enough to endorse We Are Monsters. Click on the following links to find out what Mercedes M. Yardley, Robert Ford, Jonathan Moore, and John F.D. Taff have had to say.

Mercedes M. Yardley Endorses My Debut Novel

Wednesday, April 15, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Early reviews of my debut novel, We Are Monsters, are coming in, and the feedback has been extremely kind. Here’s a wonderful blurb from one of the most skilled, and original writers I know, Mercedes M. Yardley. If you haven’t read her work, please do. It will break your heart and rebuild it. Here’s what she had to say:

Mercedes M. Yardley

“Brian Kirk’s We Are Monsters takes us into the intricate Jekyll and Hyde world that exists within us all. It’s a high quality, smoothly written novel featuring characters who are both monstrous and horrifyingly human. Kirk’s book combines shades of Edgar Allan Poe’s The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether and Stephen King’s The Green Mile in order to make something satisfying, surprisingly humane, and uniquely his. Easily the best book I’ve read this year.”

-Mercedes M. Yardley, author of Pretty Little Dead Girls: A Novel of Murder and Whimsy

I’ll admit, I was terrified when I learned Mercedes had agreed to read an advance copy of my book. Not only do I admire her courageous approach to storytelling, and her lyrical prose, I respect her taste in literature. I knew this would be a tough test to determine the subjective worth of my work. I am both thrilled, and terribly relieved, to have received such flattering feedback from a writer whom I admire as much as her.

Pretty Little Dead GirlsCheck out her latest release: Pretty Little Dead Girls: A Tale of Murder and Whimsey. It’s a fun and ecstatic fairy tale that rivals the best of Neil Gaiman. Order from Amazon HERE.

To learn more about We Are Monsters, or to pre-order the Kindle edition now, go HERE. The print edition will be available for pre-order in June.

We Are Monsters Cover Reveal

Tuesday, April 7, 2015 / / 1 Comment

I’m pleased to reveal the official cover for my debut novel, We Are Monsters, scheduled for release on July 7th. As you’ll see, we chose to go with a clean, simple, and iconic design.

We Are MonstersI’ll be honest, this took some work. Simplicity often does. Too often, people are inclined to cram as much stuff onto a cover as they can. More is considered more. For me, and my personal tastes, the cover is not meant to work as a movie trailer for the content inside. Instead, it should evoke a feeling or emotion similar to the one the reader can expect to experience while reading the book. It should pique one’s curiosity, not satiate one’s desire to know what the story’s about. That’s what the back cover, or inside flap, is for.

We explored two other completely different concepts in addition to this one. Both had their merits and limitations. All the while, I kept drifting back to this design. It made me feel uncomfortable for some reason. There’s a tension to it. A subtle sense of unease (or disease).

We Are Monsters is a story about our inner demons. The ones we face and fight every day. And a psychiatrist’s experimental drug that unintentionally casts them out into each character’s world, where they are forced to confront them. Some may call that bad medicine – anti-medicine, as the upside down staff implies. But it just may lead to the asylum we all seek from the monsters within ourselves. You’ll have to read the book to find out.

You can pre-order the Kindle edition HERE.

The trade paperback, and audiobook, will both be available soon.

When Fiction Becomes Reality

Tuesday, January 13, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Everyone is afraid to die, but virtually no one is afraid to sleep. To dream. To drift off into some strange oblivion that no one really understands.

Where do we go when we dream? Into our subconscious? Some subterranean psychic chamber that stores everything we’ve seen and heard and are secretly afraid of.

Or, perhaps, our consciousness ventures into other realms that we assume are imaginary, but actually exist. Places where our minds can travel, so long as we leave our bodies behind.

Continue reading

Latest posts

Social Media Icons

Visit Us On TwitterVisit Us On FacebookCheck Our Feed

© 2024 Brian Kirk

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑