Archive for the ‘Artwork’ Category

“You Have What I Need” now available

I’m very excited to announce the publication of a new Black Lands story.Screams From the Dark 

“You Have What I Need” is the kickoff story in the new anthology Screams From The Dark. Edited by Ellen Datlow and featuring 29 stories by some of the finest authors of horror and dark fiction today. I’m honoured to be included among them, and even more to have a Black Lands story in such an incredible collection.

This is another of my standalone Black Lands tales, meaning it doesn’t feature recurring characters like Felix Renn or Jerry Baldwin. Instead, I wanted to explore the day-to-day (or in this case, night-to-night) lives of other people and how they deal with a world where paranormal has become the norm. 

Vampires are one of the many monsters that exist in the Black Lands, and they’re among the deadliest. In addition to being vicious, blood-thirsty creatures, they also carry a deadly virus that can turn their victims into vampires themselves. 

In this story, a woman with a bite on her arm walks into a hospital emergency room… and then the horror truly begins. 

“You Can’t Save Them All” now available

I can’t think of a better way to start the spooky Halloween season than with a new Black Lands story! 

And I’m even more excited because the story gets to make its debut in the inaugural issue of Weird Horror, a new pulp horror magazine from the excellent Undertow Publications

The story is called “You Can’t Save Them All,” and I don’t want to say too much about it except that it’s a “standalone” tale, in that it doesn’t feature Felix Renn or Jerry Baldwin. 

The story is about a social worker who finds herself getting drawn deeper and deeper into her latest assignment which involves a mysterious young girl. 

I hope you’ll check out the story and support an excellent new magazine. 

See you on the nightside! Happy Halloween! 

“A Glass Darkly” now available

What better way to celebrate the fall season than with a new Black Lands story! 

Space & Time #134

In “A Glass Darkly,” Felix Renn receives an unpleasant blast from the past when he’s asked to help an old colleague set up a meeting with the Paranormal Intelligence Agency. 

What follows is a nightmarish bloodbath from which Felix might not be able to escape. 

This was a fun story to write, in part because I got to explore a bit of Felix’s backstory, but mostly because I got to cut loose with some visceral action featuring PIA agents going toe-to-claw with some really nasty Black Lands entities… with Felix caught in the middle. 

On a rather cool side note, I believe the magazine features the first artist rendition of Felix Renn. There’ve been many Felix stories published over the years, but I’m sure pretty sure none of the artwork thus far has provided a glimpse as to what Mr. Renn looks like. 

Space & Time is available in print and electronic versions. This issue also features fiction from some other excellent authors, so I hope you’ll check it out. 

“Black-Eyed Kids” cover, synopsis, blurbs

The lead-up to the launch of “Black-Eyed Kids” continues with the cover, synopsis, and a couple of blurbs by a pair of authors who were kind enough to take time out of their busy schedules to read an advance copy of Felix Renn’s latest adventure.

The cover of Black-Eyed Kids

Felix Renn is a private investigator in a world that co-exists alongside The Black Lands, a dark dimension filled with  terrifying creatures.

After the woman he’s hired to follow turns up dead, Felix discovers he has drawn the attention of the Black-Eyed Kids – supernatural entities so dark and mysterious that even the government’s elite Paranormal Intelligence Agency knows little about them.

As the bodies continue to pile up, Felix quickly discovers he has no one to turn to, and that it’s only a matter of time before the Black-Eyed Kids come calling on him.

Advance praise for “Black-Eyed Kids”

“Since first encountering Ian Rogers’s private investigator Felix Renn – and his run-ins with the mysterious Black Lands that lie bloody cheek-to-jowl with our own reality – I have been following each of his cases with avid interest. Now, in Black-Eyed Kids, Renn has met his most dangerous challenge yet. Truly, this is one of the most chilling horror stories I’ve read in years. Make that, that I’ve read period. By the time it’s done you’ll be looking over your shoulder for sweet little children with obsidian eyes. And more than that, you’ll be looking over your shoulder in the hopes of seeing the next Renn adventure sneaking up on you.”  – Jeffrey Thomas, author of Punktown

“With Black-Eyed Kids, Ian Rogers continues to raise the stake for his Felix Renn stories. … This time out, Renn finds himself confronted by a pair of sinister children whose power to evoke sheer, unbridled fear is just this side of irresistible. His efforts to understand their connection to a series of gruesome murders without winding up a (horribly mutilated) corpse, himself, form the backbone of this fast-moving, highly entertaining read. Renn’s encounters with supernatural monsters (especially a tree that’s every gardener’s worst nightmare) are as well-handled as ever, but it’s his interactions with monsters of the human variety that give this narrative its kick.”  – John Langan, author of Technicolor and Other Revelations

“Black-Eyed Kids” will debut a week from today, Sunday, September 25th, 2011, at the Word on the Street book and magazine festival in Toronto.

“The Ash Angels” cover, synopsis, blurbs

It’s a cold winter’s night and private investigator Felix Renn is still haunted by his experience in the Black Lands – that dark dimension populated by dangerous supernatural entities.

After discovering a strange mark on the snow-covered ground, Felix finds himself thrust into a deadly race against time to protect the city from a paranormal plague that preys on all the dark secrets of the human soul.

But what is Felix to do when the next victim is himself?

Advance praise for The Ash Angels:

“With The Ash Angels, the second Felix Renn tale, Ian Rogers again delivers on a fast-paced entertaining story that gleefully mashes up all-things-supernatural with his hardboiled PI. In this installment, Renn – who is unable to shake the icy touch of the Black Lands or the lingering feelings he has for his ex-wife – delves into darker and more personal territory, all of which gives The Ash Angels a true sense of unease.”

– Paul Tremblay, author of In The Mean Time

“Wry and stylishly bizarre, Rogers hits the mark dead on with The Ash Angels. Hardcase investigator Felix Renn has entered the weird and wild urban fantasy front; I hope he’s on the job for years to come.”

– Laird Barron, author of Occultation

“Rogers continues to demonstrate the skill with pacing that distinguished Renn’s previous outing, Temporary Monsters, and Renn’s voice is pitch-perfect, an evocation of the classic, hardboiled detective that skirts the edge of parody without ever falling into it. With The Ash Angels, however, Rogers takes Renn to new places, deepening the character’s emotional life in unexpected ways that demonstrate Rogers’ ambition and abilities as a writer. It’s that rare thing; a sequel that makes you eager for what comes next.”

– John Langan, author of House of Windows

The Ash Angels will be making its debut one week from today at Toronto’s Word on the Street book and magazine festival. I will be signing at the Burning Effigy Press table from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. I hope to see you there!

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What are the Black Lands?

The Black Lands is a dimension filled with supernatural creatures that lies next to our own world. This alternate reality is the setting for a series of stories by Ian Rogers.

To find out more about the Black Lands, read the history.