Fright Night: WWII

Met with Gene Moyers today, a writer friend of mine in Portland. Hogshead would like to see some new WWII horror books for their Fright Night line, and Gene will be co-authoring them with me. He's a WWII guru and gamer and a good writer, so it'll take some of the stress off me, since we're committing to anywhere from 2-5 books, depending on how the first ones of the series sell.

The first will be set in the Ardennes in May 1940 during the German blitz. The others will follow chronologically. Here's a sneak peak at the proposed line as it stands in earliest stages:

1. The Forest - Set in mid-May 1940 in the Ardennes. A retreating armored crew is cut off from their unit during the Blitzkrieg and find themselves lost and alone in the dark, wet forest of the Ardennes. Roving Nazi patrols become the least of their worries when the forest itself comes to life.

2. The Trench - Set in October 1941 during the siege of Tobruk, in North Africa. Besieged and low on supplies and ammunition, Allied soldiers soon learn that the night holds enemies far more terrifying and deadly than the ones they face beyond the trench.

3. The Bunker - Set in mid-1942, in and around an abandoned Maginot fortress complex. As the Allies invade occupied France, a small group of soldiers infiltrate enemy lines only to find themselves trapped in a crumbling bunker and surrounded by German forces. Cut off from escape, the unit soon finds itself being stalked by an ancient evil bent on their destruction.

4. The Fort - Once again we return to North Africa, this time in early 1943, in southern Tunisia. Operation Torch was a success, and now Allied forces have moved into Tunisia. A small band of soldiers holes up in an ancient Foreign Legion outpost, only to find the ghosts of the past are more than just memories.

5. The Monastery - During the deep winter of 1944-45, a mysterious monastery set high in the Italian Alps holds the cream of Hitler's occult artifacts. As Nazi Germay collapses under the onslaught of Allied advances, Heinrich Himmler prepares the way for a Fourth Reich - an eternal one allied with the ultimate evil.

The titles are not anywhere near finalized; they're just for Gene and I (and the Hogshead folks) to be able to refer to books this early in the process. The first manuscript is due July 1, 2005 and should be out late this year. The subsequent books will follow over the course of the next couple years (assuming we get through them all).

Looking forward to doing these books; it's always fun to do something based in reality, but be able to tweak on it and have fun with it.
- posted by Brian Underhill @ 4:53 PM