Getting ready for publication…

Note: All of the links and excerpts to American Monsters have been removed as I am finally preparing the manuscript for publication. Please come back soon!

A few preliminary notes

Teratology was the branch of Anthropology, Psychology and Sociology that focused on the study of monsters and monstrousness. Monsters, historically, have taken many forms. There are the monsters we imagine in films and stories. Then there are the real-life monsters, also known as freaks, who may differ physically from what mainstream society considers normal. Bearded Ladies, Alligator Men, serial killers, etc. Anyone who does not fit the average model of what a member of a given society should be. Postmodern theory likes to deconstruct the notion of normal by proving that the entire idea of normal is a myth, and even the most normal of people have traits, physical or otherwise, that put them into the borderland world of freaks and monsters.

This novel, American Monsters (formerly titled: Terata Americana of the Raving Variety), focuses on a particular breed of monsters: American. American Monsters is comprised of three parts, the first being The Succubae Sideshow, which is a series of episodes not unlike what one would find in a comic book that introduce various characters inspired by Anthropological, Sociological and Psychology-related theories of monstrousness. The Phantastic Carnival is the second part and is a horror movie, written as a screenplay and involves all the comic book characters in action. The final part of American Monsters is The Compiler: On Truth and Synchronicity, a brief overview of the theories and inspirations behind the novel.

I wrote this novel during a time of great personal disillusionment and loss, which is reflected in most every episode and story. The violence that permeates the novel is not something that I endorse in any way, shape or form at this moment in my life. But, that said, this novel is a dark journey into the world of one particular youth culture and its dangers, especially for girls and women. I leave the novel more or less as it was created in 2001 because it serves to remind me of my own experiences, my own rage, and the fear I felt (and feel) for the girls and women who are particpating in cultures that seem to be egalitarian in theory, but in practice are only a masked form of exploitation and abuse. I will be publishing this novel with the hopes that it will help women to not make the same mistakes as those of us who learned the hard way, and to encourage women’s awareness of themselves as they participate in global and local cultures.

Prague, Czech Republic

March 25, 2009