David Bernstein’s Episodes of Violence Cover Revealed

At Sinister Grin Press, we are thrilled to welcome back David Bernstein to our publishing catalog again this year. For July, we are releasing his novel, Episodes of Violence, in limited edition hardback. Orders will be taken until July 30. Soon after, it will also be available in print and digital formats too! David feels this is one of his most brutal and emotional manuscripts yet, and we feel it’s one of his most accomplished. If you’re a fan of the books of Jack Ketchum, you’ll want to pick this one up. You’ll definitely want it if you’re already a fan of David himself. Let us entice you further with the outstanding piece of art that is the cover, created by none other than artist Zack McCain. Check out the synopsis below, view the cover, and then continue to read, as Zack explains about the covers creation.

 

 

Episodes of Violence, Synopsis –

Amber had been looking forward to college life. She loved high school and was certain college would be even better, especially since she pledged one of the sororities on campus. At least that was what she thought, until one night her soul was fractured and darkness awoke within her.

Unable to cope, she returns home hoping to heal. Unfortunately, her hometown is wrought with brutal violence. People are being slaughtered in random fashion. The police are clueless. Despite the surrounding chaos, she is still determined to thrive.

However, when the violence shows up at her front door and rips her life apart, she realizes that the darkness within her is the only thing that will keep her sane and alive.

From the storyteller mastermind David Bernstein, author of Witch Island and A Mixed Bag of Blood, comes one of his most gut-wrenching tales yet. You might not sleep after this one.

 

 

PRE-ORDER LIMITED EDITION HERE

 

Creating the Cover
by Zack McCain

 

My direction from Sinister Grin was that there was to be three images stacked on top of each other, but slightly offset.  The top image was to be of someone playing “mailbox baseball.” The middle image should be a close-up of a woman’s eyes with a terrified look.  And the bottom image should be of a woman carrying a knife in one hand and a severed head in the other.

 

I started off by doing a sketch.

 

 

Once the sketch was approved, I began drawing it out on a comic book board.  Once I had it scanned into the computer, I began adding color and texture to the background.

 

 

After laying down some color, I realized it needed more contrast so I began adding highlights and making the darks… darker.

 

 

As soon as the images started to look right, I started trying out different fonts.  League Gothic seemed to fit the best.  But I wasn’t very happy with it being a straight line across the top and the bottom.  And the cover was still lacking something that would make it flow better from top to bottom.

 

 

I decided to offset the text and have it stacked just as the images are stacked and offset from each other.  The cover began to flow much better after that.  The final piece was adding some blood spatter to the background connecting each of the images.

 

 

A very straightforward cover compared to some.  The real challenge was finding a way to give movement to a cover that had the potential to be very static.

 

At Sinister Grin, we feel  that Zack really made this cover pop with his artistic talent to create something unique that you’ll want to own to accentuate the stellar content inside.

PRE-ORDER LE LINK HERE

David Bernstein, Biography -

 

David Bernstein is originally from a small town in Upstate New York called Salisbury Mills. He now resides in NYC and misses being surrounded by chainsaw-wielding maniacs and wild backwoods people that like to eat raw human flesh. He’s grown used to the city, though hiding bodies is much harder there.

 

He is the author of Amongst the Dead, Damaged Souls, The Tree Man, Witch Island, Relic of Death, Apartment 7C, the short story collection A Mixed Bag of Blood, and now,  Episodes of Violence. David writes all kinds of horror, from hair-raising ghost stories to gore-filled slashers and apocalyptic tales of terror. He loves hearing from his readers.

 

You can reach him on Facebook, at www.facebook.com/david.bernstein.3. Visit him at his website: davidbernsteinauthor.blogspot.com email [email protected], or on Twitter at @Bernsteinauthor.

 

Sinister Grin Press

While you’re here, check out what else Sinister Grin Press has to offer by looking around our site. We have plenty of books in all sub-genres of horror that are sure to “carve a smile on your face.”

 

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Cover Reveal for We Came Back by Patrick Lacey

If you Dare, Knock on the Front Door of Lynnwood High School:

Cover Reveal for We Came Back by Patrick Lacey

Now six months later since the release of the popular novel Dream Woods, with Sinister Grin Press, Patrick Lacey returns with another novel to entertain adults who grew up reading the adventures of R.L. Stine, and those who like the fantastical of H.P. Lovecraft, but with the more important layers of adulthood themes blended in. We Came Back features a good number of teenage characters, but the parents also richly shine through with their well-rounded personalities and struggles.

All of Patrick’s personal proceeds will go to a cancer-related charity in his late father’s name to help those with the disease. We Came Back is now available for pre-order and will be out in e-book and print on April 15, 2017.

 

Pre-order Link

 

And now, Sinister Grin Press presents the cover for We Came Back, graphically created by Scott Carpenter! Keep reading after the cover for the synopsis and a short interview with Patrick about his  cover and the book.

 

 

We Came Back, Synopsis -

Growing up dead.

Melvin Brown sees things that aren’t there. Monsters with tentacles and razor-sharp teeth. Ever the social outcast, he is bullied to the point of suicide. And his hatred of those who did him wrong does not die with him.

One decade after Melvin’s death, something strange is happening to Lynnwood High School’s smartest and most popular students. They begin to act out and spend time at the former high school, now abandoned and said to be haunted. And their numbers grow at an alarming rate.

Is this just a passing fad or are the rumors true? Does Lynnwood really have a teenage cult on their hands?

 

How important a role does your cover play in the plot of your novel?

A *very* important role. I like it to hint at some major part of the book without actually giving it away. What does the title mean and why is it written on the doors of what appears to be an abandoned school? And is that blood? All this and more will be revealed just by reading through a measly 360 pages!

Your book has many layers. Do you feel the cover serves as a portal to one or encompasses the whole general aura of the book?

I’d like to think it covers the general aura. I’d also like to think there are layers aplenty in We Came Back, though they all seem to point back to this apparently abandoned school, don’t they? Which means the cover does a perfect job of inviting the reader through its blood-splattered door. Literally.

Not quoting the synopsis, how do you describe your book to readers?

Great question. A revenge tale from beyond the grave? A teenage coming-of-age novel with (possibly) monsters and cults? Some combination of the two?

What were some of your main inspirations for the book?

Here’s an interesting (I hope) tale. I’m from a small town in northeastern Massachusetts by the name of Gloucester. When I was a young lad of about eleven or twelve, there were rumors running rampant about a little club (cult) calling themselves The Gloucester Vampires. I became obsessed with them. There were all sorts of tall tales that, to this day, I’m still not sure are true. One of them became a large plot point in my novel, involving railroad spikes, but I won’t get into that for fear of spoilers. Another involved a depraved/perverted initiation activity that nearly made it into the book but I figured I’d save it for a future project. Never a bad idea to spread out the depravity.

Patrick Lacey, Biography

Patrick Lacey was born and raised in a haunted house. He spends his nights and weekends writing about things that make the general public uncomfortable. He lives in Massachusetts with his Pomeranian, his mustached cat, and his muse, who is likely trying to kill him. Find him on Facebook, follow him on Twitter (@patlacey), or visit his website at https://patrickclacey.wordpress.com.

Pre-order We Came Back Here.

Follow all the great titles and news about Sinister Grin Press on our site. We publish “horror that’ll carve a smile on your face” as well as sci-fi and fantasy.

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