Merkabah Rider: High Planes Drifter
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tehillim (singular: tehil) ‘praises’ or ‘Book of Praises.’ The Biblical Psalms.
teshuva – Redemption or repentance. A return to God from sin. Traditionally sins against individuals must be rectified by atonement to that individual – making murder a particularly grievous offense.
Torah – (‘teaching’) The Pentateuch – the five books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy).
tzadik nistari (plural: tzadikim nistarim) ‘hidden righteous one.’ One of the fabled 36 Hidden Saints. Every generation there are born 36 righteous Jews whose presence in the world justifies the continued existence of mankind in the eyes of God, even in the face of barbarism. It is said that if even one of the Nistarim dies the world will end. Tradition holds that a tzadik is not aware of his own nature. In the Order of The Sons of the Essenes, the ruling rebbes of each enclave are bestowed the title tzadik and are thought to be actual Nistarim, although there are only thirty two.
tzitzit – Four fringes traditionally attached to a tallit which hang down outside the clothes, worn as a remembrance to keep the commandments.
Yenne Velt – The ‘other world.’ The astral plane perceived and navigated by mystics. A shadowy spirit world mainly inhabited by lost ghosts, a reflection of the physical world, but not Heaven, not Hell.
Edward M. Erdelac is the author of twelve novels including Andersonville, The Knight With Two Swords, and Monstrumfuhrer. His fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies and periodicals ranging from Occult Detective Quarterly to Star Wars Insider Magazine. Born in Indiana, educated in Chicago, he resides in the Los Angeles area with his family. News and excerpts from his work can be found at http://www.emerdelac.wordpress.com
M. Wayne Miller has become a well-known name in the field of horror illustration, and is equally adept with science fiction, fantasy, and young adult themes. Welcoming the opportunities of each genre and, frequently, combining them all, he has carved a place among the best in the industry, and continues his quest to learn and grow as an artist and illustrator. His list of clients includes Dark Regions Press, Thunderstorm Books, Modiphius Entertainment, Chaosium, TOR, Pinnacle Entertainment Group, and Necro Publications, among many others. Visit his gallery of work online at http://www.mwaynemiller.com or contact him at illustrator@mwaynemiller.com.
Hailing from Tochigi, Japan, cover artist Juri Umagami started painting at Uskukubo Art Ateilier when she was only 8 years old and received her BFA from Otis College of Art and Design. She now lives in the Los Angeles area where she works as an instructor at the Kline Academy of Fine Art. For commission inquiries, she may be contacted at umajuri78@gmail.com
ANDERSONVILLE (Del Rey-Hydra)
In 1864, 30,000 ragged Union soldiers pray for a way out of the disease ridden confines of the South’s most notorious prison camp, unaware they are about to become unwitting accomplices in a dark ritual enacted by a madman to turn the tide of the Civil War. When Mary Todd Lincoln’s spiritual advisor has a vision of the nation awash in blood, Union Black Dispatch agent Barclay Lourdes is dispatched to infiltrate Andersonville prison and put a stop to the terrible events about to enfold….
PRAISE FOR ANDERSONVILLE
“[Edward M.] Erdelac makes a heady brew out of dreadful true events, angel and demon lore, secret societies, and the trappings of Southern gothic novels. This is thoughtful horror at its best, and not at all for the faint of heart.”—Publishers Weekly Starred Review
“Andersonville is a raw, groundbreaking supernatural knuckle-punch. Erdelac absolutely owns Civil War and Wild West horror fiction.”—Weston Ochse, bestselling author of SEAL Team 666
“If you took a tale of atmospheric horror by Ambrose Bierce and infused it with the energy of Elmore Leonard, you would come close to what Edward Erdelac has accomplished with Andersonville. But even that combination would sell the novel short. What Erdelac has done is not just splice genres together but create his own voice in telling of the horrors, real and supernatural, inhabiting the most infamous prison camp of the Civil War. This is U.S. history seen through the eyes of the tortured dead, told with amazing skill by an author who knows how to create genre literature with a purpose.”—C. Courtney Joyner, author of Shotgun and Nemo Rising
“Andersonville definitely stands out . . . with its nuanced language, complicated characters, engrossing narrative, and subtle commentary on the past and the present.”—LitReactor
MONSTRUMFUHRER (Comet Press)
In 1936 Dr. Josef Mengele discovers the lab journals of Victor Frankenstein and is tasked with replicating his reanimation procedure by the Reich Institute.
In 1945, a Jewish boy uncovers the secrets of Mengele’s horrific experiments behind the barbed wire of Auschwitz KZ. He escapes and heads north in search of the only being on earth who can stop the Reich’s insidious project – Frankenstein’s original creature.
But the Creature has its price….
PRAISE FOR MONSTRUMFUHRER
“….profound; a wrenching and tragic look at the horrors of war, tortured dynamics of father-and-son relationships, race and ideology, pride, belief, ambition, survival, philosophy, brotherhood, the very nature of humanity and life, and the darkest insights into our collective psyches.” – The Horror Fiction Review’
“….absolutely devastating.” – Cemetery Dance
“Highest possible recommendation.” – Confessions of a Reviewer.
TEROVOLAS (Journalstone)
The recovered personal papers of Professor Abraham Van Helsing recount the events which took place immediately following the account of Bram Stoker’s DRACULA.
Following the killing of the nefarious count and his vampiric wives, Van Helsing suffers from violent, recurring fantasies and commits himself to Jack Seward’s Purfleet Asylum for treatment. Upon his release and seeking a relaxing holiday, Van Helsing volunteers to transport the remains and earthly effects of Quincey P. Morris back to the Morris family ranch in Sorefoot, Texas.
He finds Quincey’s brother Cole embroiled in escalating tensions with a neighboring outfit of Norwegian cattle ranchers led by the enigmatic Sig Skoll. When men and animals start turning horrible mutilated, Van Helsing suspects a preternatural culprit, but is a shapechanger really loose on the Texas plains, or are the delusions of his previously disordered mind returning?
PRAISE FOR TEROVOLAS
“Professor Abraham Van Helsing in the Wild West! What more could one ask for? [Erdelac] melds the stylistic concepts [of Dracula] perfectly with those of the classic western tales.” - The British Fantasy Society
“Erdelac manages to recreate the style of Stoker without lacking originality as one might expect. By staying true to the tradition laid down by Dracula while simultaneously putting his own spin on the story, Erdelac breathes new life into an old tale. The action scenes are crisp, the characters well developed, the plot filled with surprises.” – Brett J. Talley, Stoker award winning author of That Which Should Not Be.
COYOTE’S TRAIL (Comet Press)
In 1886 a bloodied and battered Chiricahua Apache boy drags himself out of the Arizona desert, intent on revenge. He kidnaps a Mexican prostitute and with the help of a sadistic whiskey peddler, uses her as bait to lure the cavalrymen who massacred his family out from the safety of their fort, unaware that the woman is pursuing her own bizarre course of revenge.
"With COYOTE'S TRAIL, Ed Erdelac has created a story as raw as the wound from a bullwhip. His blistering prose, combined with superb use of time, place, and character, gives COYOTE'S TRAIL the kind of life that springs off the page and into the reader's consciousness. That's a rare thing these days, and in the world of genre fiction, rarer still. This is a damn hard story about damn hard men, and told damn well." --C. Courtney Joyner, Author of SHOTGUN and NEMO RISING
ANGLER IN DARKNESS
In this collection, a frontiersman of bizarre pedigree is peculiarly suited to tracking down a group of creatures rampaging across the settlements of the Texas Hill Country….. A great
white hunter is shaken to his core by a quarry he cannot conceive of…. A bullied inner city kid finds the power to strike back against his tormentors and finds he can’t stop using it…. Outraged plumbing plots its revenge…. Here Blackfoot Indians hunt the undead, the fate of nations is decided by colossal monsters, a salaryman learns the price of abandoning his own life, and even the Angel of Death tells his story.
PRAISE FOR ANGLER IN DARKNESS
“If you’re new to Erdelac’s work, Angler in Darkness is a fabulous introduction, a bizarre medley of the perverse, sinister, and strange. Erdelac weaves a refreshingly unabashed tapestry, his blunt naturalistic dialogue hitting as hard as the visceral thrills splashing across the pages. Most importantly, his work gives voice to diverse points-of-view, his protagonists arriving from walks of life often overlooked in genre fiction. Angler in Darkness is a provocative, compelling, and deliciously devilish anthology from one of the most talented voices in fantasy fiction, and a must read for aficionados of the unusual.” – Cemetery Dance
“Erdelac’s first collection of 15 reprints and three previously unpublished stories runs the gamut of monster mayhem and historical weirdness, with plenty of gore to satisfy horror aficionados…. Erdelac has a gift for inspiring fascination with whatever era he chooses to write about, especially the Wild West, where he shines. This entertaining and varied collection, enhanced by the author’s story prefaces, will appeal to a wide variety of horror readers.” – Publisher’s Weekly
"You'll find history not sanitized and prettied up for modern sensibilities; this is the raw stuff, the gritty stuff, with the ugliness and racism right there alongside the bravery and beauty. Sometimes, the tales focus on the small-scale, families or individuals, lonely journeys, confrontations with cruel mortality and truth. In others, the fates of nations are at stake. There's variety here, a display of ranges -- temporal, stylistic, genre -- and it all serves to reinforce my initial opinion. Whatever the era, Ed Erdelac does historical fiction RIGHT." - This Is Horror
WITH SWORD AND PISTOL (Crossroads Press)
Collects four fantasy adventure novellas.
RED SAILS - In 1740 a British marine and a Dominican Blackfriar are captured on the high seas by a blood guzzling pirate captain and turned loose on a cannibal isle to be hunted down for sport under the full moon by his shapeshifting crew.
NIGHT OF THE JIKININKI - In 1737 three disparate men, a casteless bandit, a sadistic samurai sword tester, and a mad, child killing monk band together to fight their way out of a feudal Japanese prison as it fills with the walking dead.
SINBAD AND THE SWORD OF SOLOMON - In 796, Sinbad the Sailor and motley crew undertake a mission from the Caliph of Baghdad to retrieve a magic sword from a demon on an enchanted island.
GULLY GODS - In 2005 a young South Houston gangster learns the horrific secret behind the power behind a seemingly unstoppable clique of Liberian ex-child soldiers taking over a South Chicago neighborhood.
Hundreds of years removed. Thousands of miles apart. They all make their end WITH SWORD AND PISTOL.
If you enjoyed the Rider's adventures, you might also enjoy the adventures of Ashe Armstrong’s gunslinging orc, Grimluk. Join Grimluk as he travels his world, fighting demons in A Demon in the Desert, DemonHaunted, and coming October 2018, The Demons Within!