I consider myself a right-brained horror writer. What does that mean? I love serial killers and monsters. I love the stuff of nightmares. But I have to care about the characters. I have to be invested in their fate for horror to work. Think Laurie Strode in the original Halloween. Or Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs. When Clarice was trapped in the basement with serial killer Buffalo Bill, I couldn’t breathe. My heart was in my throat. Because I didn’t want Clarice to die. I wanted her to survive. To defeat the darkness. Even if the victory was a brief one.

Shadows of Miskatonic is a character-driven series, centered around the lives of two people: Andrew Carter, a professor at Miskatonic and Ellen Logan, a student eager to find her place in this strange world.

H.P. Lovecraft created Miskatonic University more than a century ago in 1921’s Herbert West-Reanimator. Many writers have used Miskatonic as a setting, but I have never read an in-depth exploration of the place. Of the people that work there. That dedicate their lives to the pursuit of terrible knowledge. And what better way to do that than focus my stories on the experience of a professor and his eager (and sometimes misguided) student.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t shy away from monsters or blood and gore. I just need to the human element. I want to watch people struggle. With each other as well as with the horrible things they learn and experience.

And what about the bureaucracy? I was an instructor for almost ten years at San Diego State University. Miskatonic University is first and foremost an institution. It has rules. I can’t even imagine how a place like this could possibly work. And that’s the attraction...

 I’m not sure how many books will be in the series, but here’s what I have lined up so far.

Darkness Below

Released on March 13, 2023, Available on Amazon

In the depths of an abandoned mine, an ancient creature is summoned. Enraged at being awakened, it threatens the nearby town of Arkham. Only two people know what’s going on: Andrew Carter and Ellen Logan. Can they stop the creature? Or will they fall victim to the darkness below?

Thin Places

Released on October 2, 2023, Available at Amazon

A bat-like creature appears in the skies over Miskatonic University. The mysterious sightings coincide with the appearance of a man who claims to be a demon. A man who takes an unhealthy interest in Ellen. When one of her friends is kidnapped, Ellen and Carter follow a trail that takes them to the border of another world.

Shadow Zone

Final edit underway, planned release 2024

 A brazen daylight robbery of an art gallery. Activity in a local graveyard. Reports of dogs roaming the halls of a nearby retirement home. Random events or signs of something more sinister? As Ellen and Carter investigate, they find themselves face-to-face with a legend. A legend that threatens to disrupt the world around them.

Crisis Apparition

Working Title

Ellen moves to New Orleans, to find out more about her missing family. While there, she runs into something from her past at Miskatonic University. She calls Professor Andrew Carter, who comes to New Orleans to investigate. Ellen finds Andrew Carter a changed man. One she’s not sure she knows. Or trusts...