Welcome to the blog tour for Days of Darkness, the new Hellscapes novel from award-winning author Stephen Zimmer! The Days of Darkness Blog Tour will run from June 17th to June 24th, featuring guest posts, interview, podcast appearances, and reviews!
Days of Darkness is a stand-alone novel, and marks the first full-length novel in the franchise following three volumes of Hellscapes short stories! Visceral and macabre, the Hellscapes worlds have strong appeal to readers who enjoy authors such as Clive Barker, Wayne Barlowe, H.P. Lovecraft, and others!
Get ready for a thrill ride into the Hellscapes realms!
Behind the Scenes
of Days of Darkness
By Stephen Zimmer
Creatively, these stories bring me into some different
territory than my other work. They are
no-holds-barred horror in nature, where the visceral and macabre move to the
forefront in the stark and often gruesome depictions of the infernal realms.
I have enjoyed writing these stories immensely, and
exploring the themes contained within them, but I had never attempted to write
anything longer than a short story with these tales, even though I have written
numerous larger novels in other genres.
One evening, while having a conversation with my friend
Tommy B. Smith, a fellow writer who excels at horror fiction and is an
award-winner, he suggested to me that I should write a full-length Hellscapes
novel.
After Tommy spoke with me, I thought about some of the ideas
I had for future Hellscapes stories, and the more that I thought about one in
particular from my pool of ideas, the more I recognized that it had the
potential to become a novel-length story.
I had always wanted to tell a story that included some of
the elements from a little-known prophecy in the Catholic world regarding the “Three
Days of Darkness,” a prophecy that tells of three days of solid darkness across
the world during which demons roam free in what becomes a global purging of the
wicked. The prophecy is fascinating, and
I encourage others to research it, as it makes for a wild and highly
interesting deep-dive.
For my story, I thought it would make for a very interesting
perspective to follow a character, named Ambrose, who is initially depicted
going about his daily life and work in a city setting, that experiences
something akin to the initial phase of that Three Days of Darkness Prophecy;
the difference in my story being that the Darkness that shrouds his world
brings with it something even more extensive, and much worse, than what is told
of in that prophecy from our history.
Those familiar with my Hellscapes tales already have a good
idea of what Ambrose’s world actually is, and where things are ultimately
leading to. The story told in Days of
Darkness unfurls, layer after layer, in an escalation of events and entities
that all lead to a diabolical grand finale.
The stages that I had in mind for the structure of this
particular story offered plenty of room to deliver something of novel
length. Every phase the scale gets
larger, and more fantastical, as Ambrose journeys toward the moment of ultimate
revelation. The world around him is one
in constant transition, heading toward something that is frightening to a
degree that it would drive most into throes of madness.
The scale of the story allowed me to explore the nature of
evil across the expanse of an entire society, from urban to rural, and
everything in between. The nature of the
horror genre gives me the room to show these evils in a most grotesque and
vivid fashion, which can make for some wonderful creative opportunities in the development
of other characters and various kinds of creatures and entities.
Looking back on it, I can see many different influences of
mine all across the novel, including writers like Clive Barker, Lovecraft,
Wayne Barlowe, and Dante. There is even
an homage to Edgar Allen Poe, and my favorite story of his, in one particular
scene that takes place in a multi-room apartment where a lavish party is taking
place.
In a structural and literary sense, this was a highly
interesting book to write, and creatively it had no limitation. It is my wish that readers find it as much of
a thrill ride as I did when writing it!
And to think that all of this started in motion simply because a friend and fellow writer encouraged me to write a full-length novel in a franchise where I had only written short stories before!
About Days of Darkness:
Ambrose awakens to find dense, rolling layers of ash-gray clouds spanning to the far horizon, shrouding the city beneath in a drab pall. He begins his day, thinking it no different from any other.
Though it is in the height of summer, an icy, anomalous chill sifts into the air later that day, until it becomes colder than the depths of winter.
Then, the sun sets, and darkness falls.
The night does not end, as there is no sunrise to follow.
Bizarre and frightening apparitions begin appearing across a city and world shrouded in an inexplicable darkness. It is only the beginning of an unfurling, deepening nightmare, one that will take Ambrose on a terrifying journey of self-discovery and revelation.
For Ambrose, and everyone in the world around him, the Days of Darkness have only just begun.
Meet the Author:
Stephen Zimmer is an award-winning author, filmmaker, and broadcaster based out of Lexington, Kentucky. His titles as an author include the Rayden Valkyrie Tales (Sword and Sorcery), the Ragnar Stormbringer Tales (Sword and Sorcery), the Hongvi Shadow Walker Tales (Sword and Sorcery) the Faraway Saga (YA Dystopian), the Rising Dawn Saga (Cross Genre), the Fires in Eden Series (Epic Fantasy), the Hellscapes short story collections (Horror), the Chronicles of Ave short story collections (Fantasy), and the Harvey and Solomon Tales (Steampunk).
Stephen’s visual work includes the feature film Shadows Light, shorts films such as The Sirens and Swordbearer, and the Rayden Valkyrie: Saga of a Lionheart TV Pilot. Stephen also co-hosts the Star Chamber Show, a weekly live audio podcast featuring creative talents from around the world.
Stephen is a proud Kentucky Colonel who also enjoys the realms of music, martial arts, good bourbons, and spending time with family.
Author Links:
Website: www.stephenzimmer.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/stephenzimmer7
X App (Formerly Twitter): @sgzimmer
Instagram: @stephenzimmer7
Threads: @stephenzimmer7
TikTok: @stephenzimmer7
Tour Schedule and Activities
6/17 Sapphyria's Books Blog Guest Post
6/17 The Scribblings of Sarah E. Glenn Blog Interview
6/17 War Dove (YouTube channel) Podcast Interview
6/18 SandySaysRead BookTube Channel Podcast Review
6/19 The Book Lover's Boudoir Blog Review
6/20 SandySaysRead BookTube Channel Podcast Interview
6/21 Sako and the Moon Podcast Interview
6/21 Sheila's Guests and Reviews Blog Guest Post
6/21 Eccentric Tea Woman Podcast Review
6/23 Deal Sharing Aunt Blog Interview
6/24 The Literary Underworld Blog Guest Post
6/24 Sheila's Guests and Reviews Blog Review
6/24 John A.Douglas YouTube Channel Podcast Interview
Purchase links for Days of Darkness:
Print Link: https://amzn.to/3XqaWey
eBook Link: https://amzn.to/4etr05i
