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- Heroes and Monsters: The Unofficial Guide to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (MonkeyBrain, 2003). An annotated guide to the first volume of Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neill's graphic novel series The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, explaining all the references, panel-by-panel, page-by-page. Also includes essays and an interview with Alan Moore himself.
- A Blazing World: The Unofficial Companion to the Second League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (MonkeyBrain, 2004). An annotated guide to the second volume of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Includes input from Kevin O'Neill on the annotations and a long interview with Alan Moore.
- The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana (MonkeyBrain, 2005). An encyclopedia-length guide to 19th century genre fiction, covering everything from the Gothics to Russian newspaper serials, Vietnamese epic poetry to fictionalized sexual handbooks. Now available as an ebook.
- Pulp Magazine Holdings Directory: Library Collections in North America and Europe (McFarland, 2007). A guide to the collections of pulps in various libraries in North America and Europe. Essential reading if you're at all interested in doing research into the pulps.
- Impossible Territories: The Third Unofficial Companion to the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (MonkeyBrain, 2008). An annotated guide to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier. Includes input and commentary from Kevin O'Neill on the annotations and a long interview with Alan Moore.
- The Pulps (self-published, 2012). A year-by-year guide to the pulps, covering important magazines' debuts and cancellations, trends in sales, statistical data, and commentary on various important aspects of the pulps, including side-by-side comparison with dime novels and description of external trends which influenced the pulps.
- The Fables Encyclopedia (DC/Vertigo, 2013). An encyclopedic guide to the characters and events of Bill Willingham's comic series Fables. Gorgeously illustrated by Mark Buckingham. Each entry describes the real-life background to the comic book character--what fable or myth or legend they came from, and where and when that fable or myth or legend first appeared--and then describes the character's place in Fables.
- The Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes (self-published, 2013). The most comprehensive guide possible to the comic book superheroes of the years 1935-1949. No character too small to be included; I cover the big leagues (Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman) as well as the second- and third-tier heroes, everyone from Abdul the Arab to ZX-5. Currently available as a web site and as part of a very good Kickstarter campaign, but in the coming months I will make it available for sale.
- Strange Tales of the Century (Evil Hat Productions, 2013). The definitive guide to roleplaying the pulps. Designed as a supplement to Spirit of the Century, but usable by anyone who is doing any pulp gaming.
- The Victorian Bookshelf: An Introduction to 61 Essential Novels (McFarland, 2016). A guide to sixty-one of the most famous/necessary/best books of the Victorian canon, from Austen to Zola. My argument for what each book is about, why each book is important, and whether or not each book is worth reading. A kind of sequel to The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana, focusing on the canonical authors and works rather than those existing in the corners of the genres (although I cover the major Victorian genres of Sensation, domestic, and historical fiction as well).
- The Encyclopedia of Pulp Heroes (self-published, 2017). The definitive guide to the heroes (and in some cases villains) of global popular culture of the years 1902-1945. Over 6000 entries--the entire book is 768,000+ words long--with characters from over 50 countries, The Encyclopedia of Pulp Heroes covers characters from the pulps, the slicks, novel series, comic strips, opera, and every other medium which produced heroic fiction. To give you an idea of the size of the book, the table of contents is here--and it takes up 27 pages. NOW ONLINE!
- The Evolution of the Costumed Avenger: The 4000-Year History of the Superhero (Praeger, 2017). The definitive history of superheroes: where they came from, how they developed, and what they became. Beginning with Enkidu, from the Epic of Gilgamesh--the first superhero--and continuing through the millennia, The Evolution of the Costumed Avenger shows the trends and historical characters, both fictional and real, who influenced modern superheroes and in some cases created the models for them. I've got an excerpt up here.
- The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Pulp Heroes (self-published, 2017). The definitive guide to the heroes (and in some cases villains) of global popular culture of the years 1902-1945 who appeared in works of science fiction and fantasy.
- The Encyclopedia of Pulp Adventurers (self-published, 2017). The definitive guide to the heroes (and in some cases villains) of global popular culture of the years 1902-1945 who weren't cowboys, detectives, or the heroes of science fiction and fantasy stories.
- The Encyclopedia of Pulp Cowboys (self-published, 2017). The definitive guide to the cowboy heroes and heroines of global popular culture of the years 1902-1945.
- The Encyclopedia of Pulp Detectives (self-published, 2017). The definitive guide to the detective heroes and heroines of global popular culture of the years 1902-1945.
- Red Planet (Evil Hat Productions, 2017). A Fate Worlds product designed for play with Fate Core. Communist space opera like you've never seen it before.
- The Ministry (Evil Hat Productions, 2018). A Fate Worlds product designed for play with Fate Core. The X-Files set in London, 1958, a.k.a. the only Professor Quatermass roleplaying game any of us are ever likely to see.
- Horror Needs No Passport (self-published, 2018). A guide to international (non-US/UK) horror fiction in the 20th century. Also available as an ebook.
Horror in the 20th Century: Exploring Literature's Most Chilling Genre (Praeger, 2020). A history of horror fiction in the 20th century. Horror Fiction in the 20th Century was named one of the ten outstanding reference books of 2020 by the Collection Development and Evaluation Section of the Reference and User Services Association of the American Library Association.
- The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana, Second Edition (self-published, 2020). An updating, revision, and expansion of the 2005 first edition. A guide to 19th century genre fiction, covering everything from the Gothics to Russian newspaper serials, Vietnamese epic poetry to Wuthering Heights. Currently available as an ebook; print edition forthcoming.
Book Chapters I've Written
Anthologies I've Edited
Novels
- The Datong Incident (self-published, 2016). Steampunk espionage set in a China that never was. In 1914, on the verge of World War One, in a Shanghai powered by steam-fueled technology, an aging English spy and a half-Chinese commercial spy, both friends, find themselves on a collision course when their individual missions seem to conflict. Can they preserve their friendship (and perhaps something more) when confronted by enemy agents and the impending start of a war?
- The Road to Prester John (self-published, 2016). A historical fantasy. Thirty-five years after Prester John's letter arrives in Europe, everything seems to go wrong for the civilizations of Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. Crops fail, the weather turns unwholesome, previously mythical monsters begin appearing, and even mighty empires face defeat and dissolution. Warriors and priests, imams, and shamans from a variety of cultures arrive in Damascus, summoned by the Sultan or by prophecies or dreams, and a great conclave is held which ultimately decides to send an emissary of brave men and women to ask for help from Prester John himself. However, nobody, not even the Sultan, was or could have been prepared for what happened next.
- Stagecoach Mary (self-published, 2016). A Weird Western set in Montana in the 1890s, about the lesser-known adventures of "Stagecoach" Mary Fields. Stagecoach Mary is a collection of eight short stories, featuring ghosts, legendary beasts, the Devil, town-wide madnesses, phantom airships, supernatural threats, magic-spawned blizzards, and the rescue of innocent men framed by an uncaring legal system.
Stories
- "The Student and the Rats," Shimmer #11 (2009). A look at the animals that Frankenstein experimented on before he created the Creature.
- "Stagecoach Mary and the Ride over the Mountain." This Twisted Earth (Six Minutes to Midnight, 2016). On an Earth where different geographies and peoples and times collide, "Stagecoach" Mary Fields agrees to ferry meat over the mountains to the futuristic city of New Boston. Unfortunately, in the mountain passes, something waits for her....
- "Reverse the Charges," Skelos #2 (2016). A Lovecraft story like no other--a first person account of what drew someone to become a Cthulhu cultist.
- "Je Est Autre Chose," Skelos (forthcoming). Arthur Rimbaud has an uncanny encounter in the Yemeni desert.
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