THE PURPLE SCAR #5 IS COMING

As I mentioned in January, a new Purple Scar/Miles Murdock volume is on the way from Airship 27 Productions. It will consist of two novels, one from Gene Moyers and one from me, both being illustrated by Aiden Belcher, who created the interiors for my opus, The Persona, Vol 3: Silver Skin. 

I also have a Purple Scar story featured in Vol 4, called "Golem Clay," which holds a weird, supernatural angle, based on Hebrew legend. The tale grew from an unpublished one I penned decades ago, but was discouraged to do anything with it, thanks to a big-time, discouraging know-it-all. ("Golem Clay" is, in truth, a manifestation of vindication and comeuppance for me, and this goes well beyond its angst-ridden plot.)

The Purple Scar Vol 4 also features stories from Mr. Moyers, Felix Cruz and Fred Adams Jr., which do well by the Scar's eerie legend.

Why not check out Vol 4 (or even the earlier lead-in, Airship 27 volumes) before Vol 5's release?

Pay a visit at

https://www.amazon.com/Purple-Scar-Four-Gene-Moyers/dp/1953589448

THE PURPLE SCAR RETURNS: AIRSHIP'S VOL #5 (COMING SOON)

My novella, Fossil of Fear, will be featured in Airship 27's The Purple Scar, Vol 5. It will be teamed with a novella by Gene Moyers, with interior artwork by Aiden Belcher, who illustrated my novel, The Persona, Vol 3: Silver Skin. 

My particular story can be summed up by the following, "provisional" blurb: 

A FIENDISH FOSSIL FLOURISHES!

Revered plastic surgeon and nocturnal vigilante, Miles Murdock, wears a mask to combat crime. The mask was taken from a mold of his dead brother’s acid-scarred face, the result of a mob assault. Now Murdock, aka the Purple Scar, stands as an emblem of caution and vengeance to all who prey upon the innocent and unsuspecting.

For this adventure, Murdock travels to a secluded, rural niche to settle a rift between a chemical-company heir and a naïve inhabitant who places faith in a monstrous head dug from the ground.

To add to the strangeness, willowy apparitions appear on the land. Murdock is not immune to their spectral effects and begins to experience visions of his brother. Will the stalwart surgeon overcome his cerebral predicament, or will the rustic phantoms end the Purple Scar’s righteous crusade against evil once and for all?

Fossil of Fear holds elements of Demonoid: Messenger of Death, Blood on Satan's Claw and Doctor Who's "The Hand of Fear." I trust the inspired mix clicks with readers. 

Knowing that The Purple Scar, Vol 5 is in the pipeline pleases me to no end. Further information on its progression will be shared in the near future. 

PURPLE SCAR, VOL 4 BACK COVER, SNEAK PEEK

The Purple Scar, Vol 4 is in countdown mode. To pique interest, Airship 27's Captain Ron Fortier has released the back-cover design for this long-awaited submission.

Gene Moyers, Felix Cruz, Fred Adams Jr and yours truly have contributed to the anthology. 

The Purple Scar chronicles the adventures of plastic surgeon Miles Murdock, who uses the guise of his dead brother (deformed by mobsters) to strike avenging fear into the criminal underworld. 

Get set for some twisted, investigative fun! More details to come, including the official, front cover...

THE PURPLE SCAR #4: GOLEM CLAY'S ADDITIONAL INFLUENCES

"Golem Clay", a terror tale I composed a few seasons back, will appear in Airship 27 Production's The Purple Scar, Vol 4. In an earlier Sept post, I mentioned that not only does Hebrew monster-mythology distinguish my story, but a creepy component culled from Universal Studios' The Mummy's Curse. 

In truth, "Golem Clay" also embraces other influences, including that of a '50s horror/science-fiction movie that sprung from a related, '50s horror/science-fiction short story.

The former is producer Jack H. Harris' The Blob, written by Theodore Simonson and Kay Linaker and directed by Irwin Yeaworth and Russell Doughton; the latter is "Slime", written by Joseph Payne Brennan. (The second inspired the first, though it took a lawsuit to clinch the evident.) 

In addition, The Purple Scar/Miles Murdock's foe adapts a slick flexibility akin to DC's Clayface, or so one could argue. As a result, Murdock's adversary is much more monster than he is. Let's not forget, Murdock's persona is but a revengeful ruse: a means to strike fear into the hearts of baddies in the style of The Shadow, The Spider, The Black Bat and The Batman. 

The full content of "Golem Clay" will come to light before long, for The Purple Scar, Vol 4 has entered its final, production phases. In the interim, Bizarrechats will continue to report on this eerie anthology's escalating progression. Stay tuned. 

MICHAEL HOUSEL PENS A PURPLE SCAR!!!

Ron Fortier recruited me to pen a "Purple Scar" adventure. My story will appear in Vol IV of Airship 27 Production's ongoing series.

The Purple Scar is a character attributed to John S. Endicott, though some historians claim that the name is just a cover for a number of pulp writers who contributed to the saga in the early '40s for Exciting Detective.

For the record, the Purple Scar is in truth a brilliant plastic surgeon named Miles Murdock. Murdock's brother was murdered, his face blemished by acid and his carcass dumped into the river, only to be discovered days after the grisly fact. To cope and avenge his brother's death, Murdock wears a mask molded from his sibling's deformities. Talk about striking fear into the hearts of evil!!!

I became familiar with the Purple Scar after reading Ron Fortier's crossover novella, "Faces of Fear" (see June '17 review), where the crusader teams with the fabled Black Bat. 

My yarn will pit the Purple Scar against a mythological monster, though there will be a twist to the creature's origin and progression.

I'm honored to be a part of this classic, pulp hero's tapestry and will keep all posted on the volume's inevitable publication.