Back when I was in high school, about a million years ago, the “goths” were the misfits. My twin sister ran with the crowd, nearly all of whom wore black clothes, cake makeup, and “Doc” Marten boots, smoked cigarettes while hanging out at Denny’s, and listened to the musical musings of Jane’s Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, and The Cure. Amidst that gloomy backdrop was a single rainbow: the vampire hippie.
I don’t remember her name, but she was such a paradox. She wore flowers in her long hair, Birkenstocks on her feet, and tie-dyed clothes. She belonged to the goth group, but she was so … colorful. Cheery. Perpetually stoned. Groovy, man.
As an outsider—to all cliques—I found it so interesting that someone could stand out so much yet still mesh so well. The girl fascinated me. She left such a lasting impression, she ended up inspiring an entire novella series.
The contrast between hippie and vampire had, I felt, the makings for a wide spectrum of creativity and expression. The dichotomy of colorful and dark, vegetarianism and bloodlust, youth and years … ended up coming out as a mesh of horror, drama, and dark humor. The series, as I describe in the introduction for Volume 1: Revival, initially came to me simply as the title.
Beyond revolving each installment around a hippie who’s been a vampire since the ’60s, I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do with her story. Initially, I’d hoped for a more lighthearted counterbalance to all of the dark material I tend to write, although I did want to include some elements of horror. As I developed Jane and decided her story needed to unfold as an episodic series of novellas and novelettes, I opted to use a few dark, dramatic television series as my model: As in Kung Fu (1972-1975), Jane is haunted by her past and often falls into flashbacks in order to make sense of her current trials; much like in The Incredible Hulk (1978-1982), Jane wanders from town to town, ever struggling to keep the monster within her at bay; and similar to Forever Knight (1992-1996), Jane seeks an end to her plight and secretly hopes that, if she does enough good in the world, she’ll eventually find redemption.
I realized early into writing the series that it was going to end up far darker than I’d anticipated. Jane’s past is riddled with horrors that she struggles to come to terms with even fifty years after the fact. Homeless, ever wandering, she often appears only to add to her burden with each new town she passes through. As good of a person she strives to be despite her nearly constant blood lust, she seems to attract trouble at every turn. The following “episodes” offer a small window into a world of supernatural creatures living right under our noses, a hidden and ongoing battle between good and evil, and the lives forever changed after getting caught in the crossfire.
I can say I managed to create a body of work that is unquestionably unique to my portfolio, the series having ended up more drama than horror. I must qualify that, however, with a very clear disclaimer that the stories within this collection are also notably dark and contain bits of extreme horror that some readers might find extremely disturbing.
I don’t remember her name, but she was such a paradox. She wore flowers in her long hair, Birkenstocks on her feet, and tie-dyed clothes. She belonged to the goth group, but she was so … colorful. Cheery. Perpetually stoned. Groovy, man.
As an outsider—to all cliques—I found it so interesting that someone could stand out so much yet still mesh so well. The girl fascinated me. She left such a lasting impression, she ended up inspiring an entire novella series.
The contrast between hippie and vampire had, I felt, the makings for a wide spectrum of creativity and expression. The dichotomy of colorful and dark, vegetarianism and bloodlust, youth and years … ended up coming out as a mesh of horror, drama, and dark humor. The series, as I describe in the introduction for Volume 1: Revival, initially came to me simply as the title.
Beyond revolving each installment around a hippie who’s been a vampire since the ’60s, I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do with her story. Initially, I’d hoped for a more lighthearted counterbalance to all of the dark material I tend to write, although I did want to include some elements of horror. As I developed Jane and decided her story needed to unfold as an episodic series of novellas and novelettes, I opted to use a few dark, dramatic television series as my model: As in Kung Fu (1972-1975), Jane is haunted by her past and often falls into flashbacks in order to make sense of her current trials; much like in The Incredible Hulk (1978-1982), Jane wanders from town to town, ever struggling to keep the monster within her at bay; and similar to Forever Knight (1992-1996), Jane seeks an end to her plight and secretly hopes that, if she does enough good in the world, she’ll eventually find redemption.
I realized early into writing the series that it was going to end up far darker than I’d anticipated. Jane’s past is riddled with horrors that she struggles to come to terms with even fifty years after the fact. Homeless, ever wandering, she often appears only to add to her burden with each new town she passes through. As good of a person she strives to be despite her nearly constant blood lust, she seems to attract trouble at every turn. The following “episodes” offer a small window into a world of supernatural creatures living right under our noses, a hidden and ongoing battle between good and evil, and the lives forever changed after getting caught in the crossfire.
I can say I managed to create a body of work that is unquestionably unique to my portfolio, the series having ended up more drama than horror. I must qualify that, however, with a very clear disclaimer that the stories within this collection are also notably dark and contain bits of extreme horror that some readers might find extremely disturbing.
What are your thoughts about Jane? Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of Jane the Hippie Vampire: Hair, and stop by tomorrow for another excerpt.
About Hair: She’s broke and homeless. She’s a vegetarian. She’s undead.
Jane has had one hell of a time ever since she bumped into the wrong guy during the Summer of Love, but she’s taken it all in stride. Wandering from town to town, she seeks out the needy and the broken in hopes of breaking the curse that's left her bloodthirsty and forever seventeen.
In this third novella in the dramatic horror series, Jane the Hippie Vampire, Jane goes south for the winter, hoping to find reprieve in the forests of the Blue Ridge Mountains. A supernatural stalker of the shape-shifting variety has different plans, however. Will her new-found ally—a park ranger with secrets of his own—and his redneck family be enough to save her from a fate worse than undeath?
About Hair: She’s broke and homeless. She’s a vegetarian. She’s undead.
Jane has had one hell of a time ever since she bumped into the wrong guy during the Summer of Love, but she’s taken it all in stride. Wandering from town to town, she seeks out the needy and the broken in hopes of breaking the curse that's left her bloodthirsty and forever seventeen.
In this third novella in the dramatic horror series, Jane the Hippie Vampire, Jane goes south for the winter, hoping to find reprieve in the forests of the Blue Ridge Mountains. A supernatural stalker of the shape-shifting variety has different plans, however. Will her new-found ally—a park ranger with secrets of his own—and his redneck family be enough to save her from a fate worse than undeath?
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