Scary Town

Cass Corridor Chapter 6: "Scary Town" is the first of 3 parts which will form the 3rd issue of the Cass Corridor comic book (when it sees print). By the end of Chapter 8, many questions will be answered, such as: Who is this Hooded Lady, really? Where did she come from? Why does she kill? And why has Rona, of all people, met her in person and lived to tell the tale? How is Jen's friend, the priest who sees dead people, connected to all this?

Stay tuned...

With this chapter, I'm also experimenting a bit with format. If you have Windows Media Player, you can listen to the song "Scary Town" from The Hungry Ghost CD while reading the comic. Just click on the Play Audio link.

I implemented this idea on a whim. Some may find it odd, but I've tried it myself and it's actually kind of cool. It took me roughly the same amount of time to read the comic as the duration of the song (about 4 minutes).

Also, based on feedback from readers, I've changed the interface so you can now click from one page to the next.

As always, let me know what you think...

Sick Among the Pure

Just read a review of The Hungry Ghost CD on Sick Among The Pure, which I found interesting. It always makes me glad, and proud, when a publication I dig chooses to write about my work. SATP contains well-written articles on a variety of 'alternative' subjects. For instance, in the current issue there's a fascinating piece on the incomparable Alan Moore focusing on his Promethea comic which I'm a big fan of.

Anyways, I appreciated the CD review for its honesty and, at the same time, sensitivity. The reviewer spelled out quite clearly what he liked and disliked about the album. The main reason I'm writing is to address his concerns about my being, as he puts it, "fixated upon vampires, ghosts, and werewolves". While I'd argue that there were only, perhaps, three songs on the CD in which this was explicit, I do know what he means. I never intended this to be a "concept album", but I can understand the listener having that impression. I had the same concerns when I listened to the finished recording, and I attribute it to the fact that a lot of feedback I received on my last album appeared to say that it lacked focus and cohesion. So maybe this was a backlash... I was subconsciously thinking, "OK, you want cohesion? I'm going to make an album so focused it'll make you claustrophobic!"

I'm not saying it's good or bad that it turned out that way, just my attempt at rationalizing my creative process. I've heard from folks who love the CD for the very reason others may have been put off by it. Ultimately, I follow my muse, wherever it takes me. Or at least I think I do. Perhaps I'm more affected by the opinions of others than I'd like to think I am. But aren't we all?