J. Rocky Colavito

In Myths, Monsters and Memories, J. Rocky Colavito takes inspiration from mythology, folklore, cryptids, and the strange creatures that have haunted stories for generations, and gives them new places to live.

A Japanese school bathroom becomes the hunting ground of Aka Manto. Travelers stranded in the Australian Outback discover that some legends are better believed. A forbidden river hides creatures that do not take kindly to trespassers. Samurai find themselves in a forest ruled by things far worse than the soldiers chasing them.

Across this collection, familiar myths and lesser-known monsters collide with modern life, history, horror, humor, and the unexpected. Some stories are frightening. Some are strange. Some take a darker or more playful turn. But each one begins with the same question: what can an old legend become when you give it a new story?

Drawing from classical mythology as well as global cryptids and yokai, these stories are a celebration of the creatures, tales, and half-remembered nightmares that continue to inspire us.

Come meet the monsters. You may recognize some of them.

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J. Rocky Colavito, aka Dr. Damned, aka The Breathing Trigger Warning, lives in the desert Southwest where the heat is dry and the javelina, bobcats, and coyotes roam occasionally through his neighborhood. On good days, an unkindness of ravens pays a visit, sometimes bearing shiny trinkets. He works in a cluttered space, filled with toys, books, curios, and things that he shouldn’t eat. From this space, he writes works in keeping with his brand All The Genres of The Dark. His work ranges from quiet and “safe” horror to extreme forays that have gotten him banned in certain business and in all likelihood made his former workplace very uneasy. He is the creator of Buck Neighkyd (porn star turned occult detective), a series of neo-giallo novels, another series best described as Cocaine Bear, but with cryptids, noir fiction set in the world of 1960’s beach party movies, and a raft of stories that appear in collections from Wicked Shadow Press, Alien Buddha Press, Twisted Dreams Press, The Butchered Writers, collections by Sidney Shiv, Judith Sonnet, and Kevin Kennedy, and, of course, WATG press. His stories also appear in a diverse set of magazines: Caveman, Carnage House, Werewolf Magazine, Schlock!, Dark Dossier (rip), and The Horror Zine (rip). With settings ranging from the rings and locker rooms of professional wrestling to infected swamps and bayous, Rocky is at home where ever his writing takes him. He is a former college English professor turned full time horror writer, and still proudly wears the mantle of the one they warned you about.

His epitaph will read: Somebody had to do it; damn glad it was me.

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