Monster Encyclopedia: Hulla & Elnok

Image of a hulla: long curved neck, wings, and a human face.

This monster (to me) is one of the creepiest. They have human-like faces, but the bodies of birds. They fly, and can sort of talk—but they’re also kind of dumb.

One of the creepier parts of hulla is that they eat carrion—anything dead, too: monsters, humans, animals, you name it. They tend to sense when a battle or a big fight is going down, and they will fly around waiting for it to be over so they can feast. They rarely intervene in the actual battle, and when they do, it’s only because they think it means more food for them in the long run. They don’t care who wins in these situations, only that everyone involved dies.

The good thing about hulla is that they aren’t after you when you’re alive. They’re also pretty soft and fleshy, so if you do want to kill one, anything sharp should do the trick. They will attack from above though, so watch out.

Elnok is the Queen of the Hulla, and appears later on in the book.

In Tentacles and Teeth, hulla & elnok play a pretty important role both the plot and Askari’s realizations about the extent to which humans and monsters can interact on a civil (or not) level, so I won’t go into too much detail about them because [spoilers!].

Instead, I’m going to talk about the drawing process a little. I knew hulla and elnok looked similar, and when I did the first drawing, I liked it so much I thought it was going to be the elnok. This was my fifth or sixth drawing, and I was getting a lot better the more I did. I loved the tail feathers on this, and thought the face was pretty good.

Creepy bird with human face.

But I still needed another drawing, and when I got about halfway done with the second one, I realized that no, the second one would be the elnok. It was crazy better (in my opinion), and I had given it hands, which made sense that the Queen would have hands and the minions wouldn’t, because [spoilers].

I loved the detailing on the wings of this monster, and the sort of neck feathers. I thought (and still think) it was so creepy and weird-looking.

In other news, the book is now available!!! Click here to buy it on Amazon and read about all these monsters.

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Launch Day of Tentacles and Teeth!

Today is the day!

I'm stoked to announce that you can now purchase Tentacles and Teeth on Amazon! The e-book is $2.99, and the hard copy is $15.99. 

To celebrate, I'll be doing a Facebook Live event at 7:00 PM EST on my author page. You can click here for more information. There are still a few hours left to enter the giveaway, as well! If you're interested, just reply to this email and tell me what your favorite monster is in film, literature, real life, or wherever, and why. The prizes include books, a backpack, journals, drink tumblers, and lots of fun monster-themed items.

If you purchased the book from me at an event over the last few months or are a member of my Patreon, I would be eternally grateful if you left a review. Reviews help the book get more visibility in the Amazon algorithms as well as give me more options for advertising platforms--not to mention, it gives other people a glimpse into what you thought of the book. Click here to leave a review.

I am thrilled about this book, and thrilled to have the opportunity to share it with you!

For updates on Tentacles and Teeth, book launches, and more, sign up for my mailing list!

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Monster Encyclopedia: Kover

The kover is a pretty popular monster. Quite a few people have told me it’s their favorite, and I understand why: it’s gross, yet familiar. Like finding your favorite gym sock under your bed, all stiff with dried sweat—gross, yet familiar.

I love my initial drawing, including the little person running as fast as they can away from the giant slug-like garg.

Pencil sketch of a small stick figure running as quickly as it can away from a giant slug with big teeth.

As you can see, a kover essentially looks like a giant slug. Its back is covered with porcupine-style quills, but they can shoot out of its back and fly quite a distance. It has teeth, horns, creepy eyes—but best yet, it’s covered in slime that will paralyze you if you touch it. They can also hear absolutely anything—their sense of sound is unparalleled. In terms of size: think train car. The really big ones, though? They can get up to several train cars in length.

The one advantage you have is that they are slow, and they will only pursue you for a short while, but if you step in any of the trails of slime it leaves behind, you’re out of luck, my friend. They also need space to move around. Kovers tend to like abandoned towns with wide roads, woods with wide trails cut through them, or fields.

My recommendation would be to avoid these creatures at all costs. If you come across one, always, always, go the long way around.

This is the stippled drawing of the same monster, slug-like, with quills on the back and big teeth.

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Monster Encyclopedia: Pok

Everyone hates this monster, and for good reason. It’s gross! And weird. And, well, you know how people talk about wanting to burn down their house when they see a big spider?

[Image of burning buildings with meme text that says, “There was a spider. It’s gone now.”]

[Images of a burning house with Grumpy Cat in the foreground and meme text that says: “Spider? What spider?”]

So yeah, now here’s a picture of a pok, complete with face tentacles, eight spindly legs, and a scorpion tail.

Their features include: face tentacles, six spider-like legs, two pincers, and a scorpion tail. There are as big as SUVs or giant pick-up trucks. Poks live in groups, typically, but they will go off and hunt on their own. They have a hard exoskeleton, so they’re hard to kill with a blade, though they don’t like being shot in the face with arrows. Their face tentacles are squishy too, so you can lop those off, and if you have a powerful enough swing, you can chop through their legs. They’re fast though, so be prepared to run.

Poks are pretty single-minded, with their main objective being acquiring food. The things never stop eating. If there is enough food in an area, more than one of them might live in the same place, but when food gets scarce, they tend to head off on their own. Their shell is pretty much impenetrable, and their scorpion tail filled with venom.

Fun fact: the easiest way to kill one of these is to cut off all six legs. The problem is that they are really fast, and only need three of their main legs to move, so it’s really difficult to get close enough to chop off a leg six times without dying yourself.

Another fun fact: Askari (the main character in Tentacles and Teeth)’s mother was killed by a pok when Askari was five.

This monster is interesting to me, because it’s just a random collection of things people find gross: spiders, scorpions, crabs—so people have pretty strong reactions to it. They might say, “gross!” or “keep that thing away from me!” But I have noticed that it tends to be a favorite monsters among 9-year-old boys.

As you can see, there are fun times ahead for Askari and the gang.

This pok was my first conception of it. The hair all over the body and legs still makes me shiver a little lol

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Monster Encyclopedia: Gamba

Gambas are hilarious. This monster really did come out of the story, too. Askari has been sent off on her own, so I needed a monster that she wouldn’t be afraid of and that she could technically handle on her own, but that would ultimately prove to be a problem—and the gamba is what I came up with.

This is my first sketch ever, which I still love. Its mouth is so creepy.

They are “masters” of disguise—or not, actually. They have a mushroom hat that they hide under, but it’s so big it’s pretty obvious that they aren’t actually mushrooms. The only people they fool are ones that haven’t encountered them before.

They have hairy bodies, sharp claws, and a sort of oily… oil on their bodies that is slippery, but also flammable.

Their main mode of hunting is to track something throughout the day, wait until it is in a vulnerable position (like sleeping) and then attack. They love land animals, but aren’t smart enough to get their claws on them very often, so tend to eat fish and ducks more often than human or deer.

Honestly though, I love this monster. I think they are cute, hilarious, and have engaging personalities—despite the fact that they only want to eat you.

This is the stippled drawing of the gamba. It took about 6 hours, but I used a combination of gray manga markers and sharpie, which gives it a little extra depth.

And just for fun, here is a little teaser from Chapter 3 of Tentacles and Teeth, detailing a piece of Askari’s first encounter with the creature.

“She walked a few more feet towards the river and saw another mushroom. This one quivered briefly, like it had just been brushed by something moving past it. Frowning, Askari turned and looked back at the previous mushroom. It was gone.

Her frown deepened as she walked slowly past the new mushroom, keeping an eye on it over her shoulder. What exactly was it? A weird plant? A hallucination? As soon as she was past, the mushroom miraculously sprouted ugly, hairy legs and scurried behind a tree.”

Yes, the wonderful little gamba behind the tree. It can’t see the quote box, in case you were wondering. Also, in case you were wondering, I made all these teaser images in PowerPoint. :D