THE BOOK MAN Set to Meld Horror and Surf Culture

Castle Bridge Media and author Peyton Douglas (real name Jason Henderson) sat down with interested readers last week to discuss Douglas’ new novel, The Book Man. From the word go Douglas’ passion for the surf and tiki culture which informs the novel’s setting was clear– the author knows his stuff from both firsthand experience and apparent intensive research. In fact, Douglas has an entire book published on the subject as it relates to California pop culture which you can find here.

Why tiki and surf culture, you ask? Mostly for the love of it, according to the man himself, but it was enlightening to hear a micro lesson in why surf culture became such a staple in the 50’s and 60’s. To be brief, in the period following World War II and the Korean War a significant number of returning veterans embraced the tropical paradise aesthetic of tiki, surfing, and the beach as a sort of proto-immersion therapy. In a time before true therapy would have been considered socially acceptable turning trauma into escapism was one of the acceptable ways for returning veterans to cope with their experiences. Thus, a pop culture phenomenon was born which would include the likes of Kathy Kohner (perhaps better known as Gidget), Dick Dale, and even Elvis Presley.

All this to say that the setting and characters in The Book Man are steeped in late 50’s Americana. Here’s an official synopsis: In 1958 Laguna Beach, California, a girl escapes tragedy by learning to surf with a close-knit group of misfits while spending her nights working at the shady tiki bar Cafe Monstro. But when a powerful demon in disguise targets the cafe in search of the mysterious, future-revealing empty books called Blanks, she must learn her uncle’s Jewish mystical secrets to destroy the demon and free her friends. A 1950s thriller of surfing, water ghosts, dybbuk boxes, Yiddish curses, and supernatural romance.

There’s a lot to unpack there! What stood out the most to me in both the synopsis and the discussion event was Douglas’ description of the villain, a demon that consumes futures and regurgitates them as origami birds which destroy the man’s victims. That has to be one of the more creative premises I’ve heard for a villain in quite a long time, and I’m beyond excited to read the book because of it (speaking of, stay tuned for an imminent review).

The online event also served to introduce me to Castle Bridge Media and the other projects with which Jason Henderson is currently involved. Henderson hosts not one but two podcasts– Castle of Horror and Castle Talk with Jason Henderson. Castle of Horror is a review and panel discussion show for horror movies hosted by several comic creators which you can check out here, while Castle Talk is specifically Henderson sitting down with genre creatives to discuss their work and craft. Additionally, Henderson has partnered with In Churl Yo, author and designer, to create Castle Bridge Media, an independent publishing house that has released a few horror anthologies along with In Churl Yo’s novel Isonation and The Book Man. That’s right, The Book Man was produced and released entirely through the author’s indie publishing venture and has been untouched by large editors. Quite a feat! Check out In Churl Yo’s stunning cover for the book below.