Wicker Man Studios

@wickermanstudios.bsky.social

402 Followers 586 Following

Wicker Man Studios is Barb Lien-Cooper and Park Cooper. (She's she/her, Park's he/him.) www.wickermanstudios.com We write things, like prose novels and graphic novels and ttrpg stuff. https://sleek.bio/wickerman

More than four centuries ago, Japan lies ravaged by famine and civil war. Takeshi is a young warrior who is under a curse. After an ambush by enemy soldiers, he is left temporarily blinded, but is rescued by a monk. Takeshi thinks that surely no one can help him with the curse—until he finds out that his new monk friend used to be the legendary samurai Taketsura, wielder of the sword Lightning-on-the-Water. Together with the orphan girl Kiyoko (a formidable young swordswoman in her own right), can these three keep each other alive during the supernatural threats of Japan’s era of civil war? HUNGRY GHOSTS revisits the work of Lafcadio Hearn, a Victorian-era European writer who, in his book KWAIDAN: STORIES AND STUDIES OF STRANGE THINGS (the most famous of his collections of Japanese legends and ghost stories), told a story of Isogai Heidazaemon Taketsura, a samurai who renounced his old life and became a wandering priest when Japan lay ravaged by famine and civil war. This novel brings to life a different imagining of Taketsura’s wanderings, giving him two teenagers to accompany him, a young orphan girl whose grandfather taught her the blade, and a young soldier under an oni’s curse that threatens to turn him into a monster. In the midst of post-war famine and dangers, the three must face death, (other) monsters, and of course ghosts – some of which are their own.
I was reading stuff about book marketing and they asked: "Imagine your ideal reader browsing Amazon. What are they typing in an Amazon search?" My answer: "Magic, supernatural, therapy, grief, trauma, coping, paranormal, romance, mythology"
A book series about creativity, loss, and the price of fame. https://wickermanstudios.com/song-to-the-siren-book-three-the-halfway-house/ #supernatural #books #BingeRead #teenagers #boys Burt’s Requiem by Alexander Nakarada (CreatorChords) | https://creatorchords.com Royalty Free Music by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Let's try that again
Stuff from my boxes: Muktuk Wolfsbreath: Hard-Boiled Shaman issue 1
I mean, this pic was from maybe a couple of decades ago or so, but still
Oh look, physical print copies of the first three TALKING CURE books side by side but shot from slightly above so you can see their 3-D-ness.
Yahoo, MSN, AIM, and ICQ. I SEEK YOU? GET IT?! GET IT?!?!?!?!?
Conan binge-scrolling
I was reading stuff about book marketing and they asked: "Imagine your ideal reader browsing Amazon. What are they typing in an Amazon search?" My answer: "Magic, supernatural, therapy, grief, trauma, coping, paranormal, romance, mythology" BOOK THREE COMING TO AMAZON, AND TO PRINT, TOMORROW! Yes, TOMORROW! The very-slow-burn first trilogy of this paranormal romance series ENDS... but the larger story's just getting started! https://wickermanstudios.com/the-talking-cure-book-three-a-light-in-the-darkness/ #supernatural #books #romance #paranormalromance #paranormal Music by https://www.free-stock-music.com
I was reading some book marketing stuff and they asked: "What’s the promise your book makes to the reader? What will they feel, learn, or experience after reading?" So I asked Barb about this in relation to SONG TO THE SIREN and she said: "...They’ll feel like they’re not going through things alone, and that someone else understands." And I said: "That's a really good answer." Song to the Siren: The Halfway House. COMING TO AMAZON AND TO PRINT TOMORROW! Yes, tomorrow! Yes, PRINT! A book series about creativity, loss, and the price of fame. https://wickermanstudios.com/song-to-the-siren-book-three-the-halfway-house/ #supernatural #books #BingeRead #teenagers #boys Burt’s Requiem by Alexander Nakarada (CreatorChords) | https://creatorchords.com Royalty Free Music by https://www.free-stock-music.com Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
It's me and Barb! What's to say? I guess one could note that we're both wearing dark leather jackets, dark pants, and kinda dark footwear...
The Langley children. Two of them anyway
Awesome poster for The Horla in French
Poison Ivy and Lux Interior of The Cramps
Someone at Futurism is a smarty every day. (A man looks with so much horror he's almost crosseyed at whatever he's seeing on a glowing laptop.)
4 explorers wearing environmental suits with dark globe helmets steer a raft in front of an ancient inhuman robed statue. But they don't seem to notice a bigger-than-their raft creature with teeth lurking right below them... I can't art, but I know one or two people who know artists
I'm not even a big Adventure Time fan. I just know that Princess Bubblegum is a thing, so let's use her for silly trolling.
The Great Race. They just gave the villain the other guy's hat (and goggles) and a dog instead of Peter Falk
Today’s Gem: "The Return of the Undead" by Arthur Leeds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yD8EZFGdeg A recovering patient in a hospital gets a little too fond of morphine and thinks that he starts seeing a vampire. But is he wrong? This is a fever dream of a story, which lures you in bit by bit. www.wickermanstudios.com/books https://www.instagram.com/wickermanstudios/ #ShortStory #spooky #audio #hospital #patient
On a spooky-doodle (take my word for it) arcane-seeming parchment background, it says _Manly Wade Wellman_ and under that _The Terrible Parchment_ Barb's Book of Days: June 22nd Today’s Gem: "The Terrible Parchment," by Manly Wade Wellman https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Weird_Tales/Volume_30/Issue_2/The_Terrible_Parchment IF you are a Lovecraft fan, please take the time to read this funny but slightly spooky little story. You can thank me later-- --OR, if you so choose, you can let this fellow read it to you on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUtb-xTziqE www.wickermanstudios.com/books https://www.instagram.com/wickermanstudios/ #ShortStory #supernatural #Necronomicon #Lovecraft #author
Ravendeviant is the screenname of the account on deviantart that made this image of the Penguin's sub
Barb's Book of Days: June 21st Today’s Gem: When the Clock Strikes by Tanith Lee https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOHiicwmw8U Tanith Lee reimagines Cinderella as a dark tale of vengeance. This is a perfect combination of fairy tale tropes, folk horror, and the gothic tradition. Cinderella is no victim here, just an instrument of her mother’s revenge on a system that destroyed an innocent family. www.wickermanstudios.com/books https://www.instagram.com/wickermanstudios/ #audible #supernatural #audio #FairyTale #book
A menhir, or standing stone.
Cary Grant in radio version of SHADOW OF A DOUBT!
You guys are putting it below 70?
Hal Jordan, Aquaman, and Captain America are blocked (by Smokey the Bear) from accessing THE HALFWAY HOUSE. "No, sorry, boys, this isn't a graphic novel, this here's a prose novel. You move along, now." Song to the Siren: The Halfway House. Coming to Amazon in mid-July. It's a prose novel, not a graphic novel. #spooky #fiction #supernatural #trilogy #book
A vampire, running through what Americans would call a subway station, drops his flip phone in pain because the hymn "Onward Christian Soldiers" starts playing over the stations' speakers.
Barb wishing the world Love And Peace because she used to work in manga/anime.
Guy in a sealed suit says "I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE GOING THROUGH, BUT TRUST ME... I'VE SEEN STRANGER THINGS" because he said it some years ago. It hits even worse now considering the font is all capital letters.
Our pal Nicholas Doan asks is working on Kickstarting RETURN TO MISFIT ISLAND right now, an all-ages hardcover graphic novel. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nicholasdoan/return-to-misfit-island-an-all-ages-graphic-novel-adventure Here's a mini-interview I just did with him about it: Me: In 25 words or less, what is Misfit Island? ND: Literally, It is an island called Dissidentia that is populated entirely with cryptids, creatures and monsters. Thematically, It's a place where everyone can be their true selves, a safe haven for all the misfits in the world. Me: This is RETURN to Misfit Island-- how much Misfit Island stories have been done before this (and where can people best get what's already been published)? ND: This is the second all-ages, hardcover graphic novel in the MISFIT ISLAND series. And anyone that doesn't already have a copy of the first book can get it as a reward in the current Kickstarter campaign. Me: Fill in the blank: "Obviously Misfit Island is all-ages, but the kind of person who it'd be PERFECT for is _______________________." ND: Misfits of all age groups. People looking for a place to belong. This is a home for them. Me: Fill in the blank: "Reading Misfit Island stories will make you feel ___________." ND: Like you belong. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nicholasdoan/return-to-misfit-island-an-all-ages-graphic-novel-adventure #AllAges #Kickstarter #GraphicNovel #Monster #Cryptids
Kolchak: The Night Stalker. but with no caps. Darren McGavin, in his light suit and straw hat, holds up a shining cross, because vampires.
Stuff from my boxes: The House of Mystery issue 291 (with "I... Vampire!") I know I see Dark Shadows 1966-1971 everywhere sometimes, but here it is April(ish) 1981, and here's I... Vampire from DC, with a cover that wouldn't be particularly out of place on the cover of a Dark Shadows comic. You'll note that the stamp of approval of the Comics Code Authority is right by Laughing Boy's word balloon, as if to make sure you notice this is an approved-as-not-too-unwholesome vampire. Speaking of people who sometimes seemed like they were everywhere, the main story is written by J.M. DeMatteis. www.wickermanstudios.com/books
A classic black car. A dark office. A psychiatrist's couch. Magic. The Talking Cure.
A Minnesota suburb. An old camera. An electric guitar. Something waiting in the trees at night. Song to the Siren.
Sorry, but you're wrong! I'm gonna be the KING OF THE PIRATES!
a very old cigar box
Stuff from my boxes: cover of Swamp Thing issue 53 One time Swamp Thing was mad that they locked up his girlfriend Abby (for some ginned-up reason) so he took over Gotham, made it a big green city park. All of it. And he walked around big, too. Barb and I like this episode for the "10 Minutes With Luthor" scene. The authorities don't know how to get rid of Swampy, so they spend a lot of money for 10 minutes' worth of consultation with Lex Luthor, who's like "Pff. Make this device I'm drawing schematics of for you. That'll get rid of him." 9 minutes and 15 seconds, just enough time left for them to write him a check. And of course it works... exiling Swampy to far outer space. He doesn't figure out a way to come back for quite a while.
Image from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGWf8tQO__4&list=PLA65831A5D4A56CC6&index=65
Swamp Thing issue 49 Swamp Thing is ready for his close-up, Mr. DeMille.
The cover of Swamp Thing #47. O. M. G. Becky, look at Swamp Thing's butt.
Album cover: Brenton Wood's 18 Best. Cover is very blue with a list of song titles on left and Brenton Wood and a mic on the right
The cover of NORA volume 1, published in North America by the company Viz, which Barb and I adapted, trying to keep it as funny here as it was meant to be in the original Japanese.
The cover of THE GREAT BRAIN, the first in a series of 8
Indiana Jones Adventure Pinball by Williams with like 8-ball multiball. Addams Family is very very fun but this has the king of multiball so far.
White, Blue, Black, Red, Green, Colorless/Artifact
Someone's fan art of CAMBOT! GYPSY! TOM SERVO! CROWWWWW!