Talking With James Aquilone About His New Kickstarter For ‘Dead Detective Society’

James Aquilone has a new crowdfunding campaign just launched with Kickstarter for new anthology, Dead Detective Society. And, he has recruited some of the best in the biz to contribute all-new stories that mixes crime-noir with horror to create a selection of tales of terror, as well as his plans for future publications.

Olly MacNamee: James, we’re here today to talk about your new Kickstarter for Dead Detectives Society. An anthology of prose detective stories, but with added horror. And from a rather enviable stable of writers too, using characters that some of your readers may be familiar with. But, how would you describe this new book?

James Aquilone: Dead Detectives Society is an anthology of stories featuring supernatural detectives, some you may already be familiar with and others that are making their debuts. Kevin J. Anderson has written a new Dan Shamble story and Steve Niles has a new Cal McDonald story and Nancy A. Collins adds a new Sonja Blue story. David Avallone has literally revived pulp detective Nick Carter for a story. In all, we have 13 stories, each one accompanied by a full-page illustration.

MacNamee: Of course, detective stories with overtures of horror are no stranger to you, having previously successfully crowdfunded an all-new Kolchak The Night Stalker graphic novel. Did this previous project have any say over your decision to do more with this detective/horror hybrid genre?

Aquilone: Dead Detectives Society was very much inspired by the Kolchak graphic novel. I had so much fun putting that project together that I wanted to do more stories in that vein — stories that combined horror and mystery and occasionally humor. I also wanted to showcase my favorite zombie and vampire and whatever detectives as well as to have writers create new characters.

MacNamee: And, if successful, your plan is to make this an annual publication. Is that correct?

Aquilone: Yes. I’m hoping we can expand this subgenre and continue to publish the adventures of the characters in this book and add more characters as we go along.

MacNamee: Of course, it would be rude of me to ask for any favourites in the book. But, drilling down into some of the individual stories, which ones maybe surprised you, or you included because you were a fan of their work and their characters?

Aquilone: I had originally asked John Jennings to contribute a story featuring his zombie detective character Frank “Half Dead” Johnson. The rights weren’t available so he showed me sketches of a new character called Saul When: Halloween Detective. I loved the artwork and asked if he’d write a story for this project. He agreed and then I asked him to illustrate the cover for Dead Detectives Society, and, boy, did he do an amazing job. 

MacNamee: Then there’s always the various pledges to offer the discerning fans. What can readers expect for their hard-earned cash? Any stretch goals, for instance?

Aquilone: We’ll have T-shirts and signed books and prints. Everyone will get a signed and numbered Dead Detectives Society membership card. But the big reward, outside of the anthology, is the launch of Monstrous magazine. It will be digest size and include a mix of comics, prose stories, and articles, and like Dead Detectives Society, the magazine will be an ongoing thing.

MacNamee: Finally, with a few very successful campaigns now under your belt, what are some of the long-term goals you have for Monstrous Books other than an anthology annual?

Aquilone: My goal is to turn Monstrous Books into a full-fledged publishing house with distribution in bookstores and comic book shops. Soon, I’ll open to submissions for projects by other writers.

MacNamee: James, thanks for your time, and all the best with the Kickstarter.

Aquilone: Thanks, Olly!

Check out the Dead Detective Society Kickstarter campaign here now.