The Dead Parade

The Dead Parade was my first completed novel, written shortly after I graduated from film school. It was published by Permuted Press as a trade paperback, then Bad Moon Books released it in a 'deluxe hardcover edition' with artwork by punk legend Eerie Von of the Misfits. The ebook rights had been originally signed by Permuted Press, but were later acquired by my newly formed publishing company: Books of the Dead Press.
Of all the books I have written, a majority of people seem to connect with this one the most. I can only presume that people are drawn to the main character - James McGee - a man the reader can identify with and sympathize with, but travels a very dark road. His character-arc is well defined, his problems are constantly mounting, and his actions are far from appropriate.
The book has been called, amazingly well written, a page-turner, and impossible to put down. It has been compared to Stephen King's early work many times, early Clive Barker a handful of times, and one of my publishers referred to it as 'the horror version of the movie Crank'. I've never seen that movie, but the comparison sounds okay to me.
When I was writing The Dead Parade I focused on two things. The first thing I focused on was clean writing. I didn't want run-on sentences, I eliminated every unnecessary word, and I avoided all the literary BS that pulls the average reader out of the story, forcing the thought, What do those words mean?
The other thing I focused on was storytelling--straight up, non-diluted, storytelling. And having just finished the writing courses in film school, I knew how to craft a story that could hook most readers.
So what's the story about, anyhow?
You ever see the Zuni fetish doll that terrorizes Karen Black in the film Trilogy of Terror? I had forgotten all about that movie, but once the book was released everyone kept saying my book was like that story, which was written by a hero of mine, Richard Matheson. In hindsight, I suppose that 'everyone' was right.
During The Dead Parade my character James McGee gets a little monster resembling the Zuni fetish doll chasing him across the city, and while the monster chases him around he makes a mess of things, turning everyone in town against him. Making matters worse, James pisses off the wrong people while he tries to deal with his real-life problems. All this, as he fights an extremely serious infection that's making him bug-shit crazy.
If you're thinking about buying this book, or reading the copy that's sitting in your 'to-be-read' pile, I can make the decision easy for you. If you want to lose yourself in a fast-paced thriller, this is the right book for you. If you want to read a book that focuses on literary wordplay, rather than story, this isn't the right book for you.
Either way, thanks for your time, and happy reading.
~James Roy Daley