Coming soon from Dr. Kim Paffenroth

So how did zombies come to influence one of the seminal works in the history of literature? At long last, Kim Paffenroth removes the veil from one of the greatest mysteries of our ages and reveals to us the lost years of Dante Alighieri in his latest novel, Valley of the Dead, available for pre-order from  Cargo Cult Press on June 1st.

Here’s a synopsis:

For seventeen years of his life, the whereabouts of the medieval Italian poet Dante Alighieri is unknown to modern scholars. All we know is that during this time, he traveled as an exile across Europe, while working on his epic poem, The Divine Comedy. In his masterpiece he describes a journey through the three realms of the afterlife. The volume describing hell, Inferno, is the most famous of the the three.

Valley of the Dead is the real story behind Inferno. In his wanderings, Dante stumbles on a zombie infestation, and the things he sees there – people being devoured, burned alive, boiled in pitch, torn apart by dogs, eviscerated, impaled, crucified, etc. – become the basis of all the horrors he describes in Inferno. Afraid to be labeled a madman, Dante made the terrors he witnessed into a more “believable” account of an otherworldly adventure with demons and mythological monsters, but now the real story can finally be told.

More details to be posted here, and at Gospel of the Living Dead as we draw near to the release date. Also, be here the first week of June for a very special Artist Spotlight with the good Doctor as we take a peek into the twisted mind of one of horror’s bright and shiny new stars.