The Making of Lord Caterpillar Tales: An Introduction

Just look at that horrible cover. That awful, disgusting, disturbing cover.

It's awesome, of course. Lesia outdid herself here. Pansies, such as those who ran my old Student Union, would describe this as "disturbing". Okay, okay, in this case I would agree with them. Then again, this is a horror novel. It's meant to be horrifying. That was the purpose of this cover, looking over other covers and worrying I would be typed as a sci-fi or fantasy author. Oh no, no, no; I'm a horror author. You can stick it.

There's not going to be any merch or t-shirts for this book. Would you look at that cover? It looks like an anti-abortion ad. I don't want to sell t-shirts or mugs with that on.

That this book would be a real horror book was my intention. Even if it is less violent than something like Ugly Botany or Ripper Beach. Those books at the dawn of 2025 heralded the start of a new, mean and ugly year. We're in Trump's second term, now, it's time to take off the gloves and stop pretending this world is a cosy, cuddly place, or that it ever was. Ugly Botany and Ripper Beach are reflections on the Victorian era just as Lord Caterpillar Tales is. If Lord Caterpillar Returns hypothesizes there would be no explosive twentieth century without the nineteenth, Lord Caterpillar Tales is more of a fantasy novel (ironically for such a bloodthirsty horror cover) with its Little Mermaid villainy and flights to Neverland and Sandman-haunting of nightmares.