^[1]This is not a rhetorical statement, dear readers. Vampires are *not* dead. Today, Stone Skin Press ^[2] shares with you a taste of “Fangs and Formaldehyde,” which was included in the upcoming New Hero anthology. This anthology is part of a Kickstarter for Stone Skin Press – Anthologies of New Fiction ^[1].

Why are my vampires different? To be blunt, I wanted a legitimate reason why vampires could not fall in love or get too emotional. In my setting? They die. Not only that, they die horribly. Their death is so terrifying to them, in fact, that the ones who have stuck around for a while strive for ennui just to survive.

Want to know more about Atlas? Gene Ha provided an illustration of my character for the cover which you can see on the publisher’s website today. The folks over at Stone Skin Press write:

You’ll get no sparkling from Atlas, the tortured bloodsucker prowling a modern day Vegas, this tough-guy vampire protects a diffuse and not-always-grateful undead community from those who would prey on them. Here a pair of surprise no-shows at a poker game lead him to the trail of an old love…and a threat that makes a wooden stake seem quaint. — SOURCE: Meet the New Heroes: Atlas ^[3]

The Kickstarter is still going strong. More than that, I can’t stress enough how much I enjoyed the opportunity to develop a new type of vampire mythos for this anthology. Yes, there will likely be more of Atlas, and your support will help him soldier on. If you like vampires who typically regard humans as food, then give this story a try. To me, there’s always something new to explore within the fang community and I’m very grateful I could introduce something a little different — maybe a vampire that’s even a little scary…