Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, the Bride of Frankenstein, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dr. Moreau, the Headless Horseman, the Invisible Man, the Phantom of the Opera, the Wicked Witch of the West—they’re all here, in a brand new, record-breaking collection of horror short stories that reimagine, subvert, and pay homage to our favourite monsters and creatures. We chat with James Aquilone on Classic Monsters Unleashed, which releases on July 12th 2022, the incredible success of the Kickstarter campaign, and how authors, editors, artists, and four (four!) publishers came together to produce this amazing upcoming anthology.
First, why “classic monsters”? What is it about these characters that inspired a new take on the old tales?
The classic monsters are the foundation of horror. Dracula, Frankenstein and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde are probably the most important books in the genre and the archetypes for all monsters—and when it comes to archetypes, they are great to play with and reshape and reimagine. Every monster story basically deals with these classic characters in some way.
This project started as a Kickstarter campaign—can you speak more on that. Did you expect such a response to the idea?
There’s always an ambivalent feeling attached to a project. You believe you have a great idea — why else would you do it? — and think it deserves to be embraced by the world, but on the other hand, you know everyone feels that their ideas are great ,and the world should embrace them, so maybe you’re wrong. Did I believe the project should be very successful? Yes. Did I think it would be very successful? No.
There is a tremendous roster of authors on this collection. How many were invited, and how many open?
I think it worked out to be about 75% were invited and 25% came from the open submissions.
How did you select the right authors to invite for this collection?
I started with the best authors in the horror genre and began contacting them. Fortunately, almost everyone said yes.
Likewise, there is a tremendous amount of artistic talent in this collection, both in the Kickstarter version and in the trade publication. Did you go into this project with an idea of illustrators/artists in mind?
I knew I’d work with Colton Worley. He’s done amazing covers for me in the past, including my Dead Jack series, and he loved the idea of doing something with classic monsters. It was a pipe dream to get art from Frank Frazetta, but I took a chance and contacted the estate. (The Frazetta art, though, is only in the Kickstarter edition.) And when I saw Sam Shearon’s Frankenstein illustration, I knew I had to have it in the collection, because it was just such a perfect fit.
How did the Kickstarter campaign success help with securing a traditional publishing deal?
There was tremendous interest in the campaign as I was promoting it before the Kickstarter launch, and the excitement built and built. Then, when the Kickstarter went live and it took off like a shot, it wasn’t difficult to secure the publishing deals. Some publishers reached out to me and I reached out to some of them, and I wound up with four publishers (ebook, print, audiobook, and Italian translation) by the end of the campaign.
Talk more about the release details for the book editions (print, digital, audio)?
The book will be released as an ebook, paperback, hardcover, audiobook and an Italian translation. As I said before, this book has four publishers — Crystal Lake Publishing (ebook), Black Spot Books (paperback and hardcover), Blackstone Publishing (audio), and Independent Legions (Italian translation) — all of them, except Crystal Lake, joined the project during the Kickstarter campaign.
The hardback has a very cool black-and-white cover, which aligns very well with classic monster movies from the 1930s, and that, along with the paperback and ebook, is available for preorder. The Italian edition and audiobook are being put together now, and I’m very excited to see them when they’re finished.
