“What if it were true? What if all of it were true?”
God, the devil… Heaven and Hell… Angels and demons? And not just the modern Judeo-Christian god, but all the gods worshiped in the past: the dozen Olympians of the Greek pantheon led by Zeus; the Roman pantheon ruled by Jupiter; the Norse gods of Asgard reigned over by Odin. Supernatural beings like the emeres of Africa, the changelings of Ireland, the kitsune of Japan. What about witches, vampires, and werewolves? What if all the legends passed down from generations in every culture on the planet were based in fact… and they all exist right now, living among us?
Shakespeare wrote “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” - Hamlet (Act 1, Scene 5). What if it were true? All of mankind’s religions are equally valid; mythological creatures really do walk the earth; and there are multiple planes of existence: call them other realms, or other dimensions, if you like. Heaven and Hell are two such dimensions. The Dreamscape, a realm made up of people’s dreams is another. So is the Otherworld, the magical home of the Fae. As is Limbo, the realm between Heaven and Hell. Most terrifying of all is the Dark Dimension, home of the ancient Dark Gods.
Look closely at those people walking down the street. Could that flaky girl Pandora really be a vampire? What about the 10-year-old boy with her, Artemus? The young man beside Pandora, Cody Fenris, doesn’t look like a werewolf, does he? Cody’s sister Lupe couldn’t possibly transform into a wolf because such things don’t happen. No, you tell yourself; the people all around us are humans just like us. You look up and smile at Kitty Bast across from you. The beautiful woman is a wealthy casino owner; she’s also the Egyptian cat goddess Bastet, but you don’t need to know that.
After all, if vampires really did exist you would notice, because they never age. Forty years from now, Artemus would still be 10 years old and no matter how improbable the idea of the supernatural might be, that would be hard to ignore. That’s why most vampires are shareholders in Nosferatu, Inc., a corporation that provides relocation services for them – new identities in new places where their lack of aging will go unnoticed until it’s time to move again. But you don’t have to know about that, either.
In your mundane existence, none of this exists. Beneath the prosaic veneer of urban life, mortal humans live in blissful ignorance alongside preternatural and supernatural creatures: warlocks and witches, vampires, werewolves, the Fae, kitsune, and creatures whispered of in African, Irish, and Japanese myths. Seers gaze at the Sands of Time as the golden grains tumble through the mystical hourglass, seeking to divine what the Fates have woven. You’re too busy going to work and paying bills to know about a bet God made with the devil that caused a naïve angel Gabriel and an amoral demon named Lucifer to wind up on earth in Las Vegas, hiding from their respective realms, working together in the guise of mortal private eyes “Gabriel Horn” and “Lou Cypher”. You may not wish to leave your comfort zone and explore the unseen world we share with astonishing creatures who come from incredible places. But if you do, this is your entry point, and these books are the keys with which to unlock your imagination. |