By Jim Mcleod 
Craig Crawford’s Childhood Fears: Big Eyes & Ocean Depths
Growing up, I had my moments where I was creeped out by the dark and other usual kid scares. Having said that, there were two distinct things that freaked me out and I can really only come up with reasons on one of them.
First, I’ve got this thing about eyes. Big, creepy eyes. For me their unnerving and give me the willies. I’m pretty sure I know where it started. Back in 1973 a movie came out called Beyond Atlantis. I was six at the time but we went to see it and in the movie, Atlanteans had these weird bug eyes. After the fact I found out the “special effects” used were basically cut ping pong balls set in place over their eyes with some kind of flesh colored gauze wrapped around their heads. Yeah. I look at it now and it was terrible but back when I was six, that movie freaked me out.
I remember having nightmares about those “Atlanteans.”
Ever since, I’ve had a thing and I don’t like creatures with large eyes. Which brings us to aliens and the “grays” with those big almond eyes. Those freak me out too. Honestly I have no desire to come face to face with an alien probably just because of that particular phobia of mine.
The second fear I have is an actual phobia: thalassophobia to be exact. I’ve got an irrational fear of the ocean and deep water. Actually, it’s not the water itself, but what might be in the water. Going along with my fear of deep water, I’ve also got a fascination with creatures of the deep and know most of the names of those denizens that prowl the dark depths.
This also feeds my fears because there are weird creatures like viperfish that have creepy eyes or the sabretooth fish which have opaque eyes—creepy AF! Then there are also giant squids—they have two monstrous eyes.
I’ve also got a thing for cryptozoology and despite my thalassophobia, my favorites are the water cryptids. I think this also ends up playing into my fears because it’s added a whole new level of avoiding murky water in lakes and rivers. You never know what might be swimming up on you as you paddle out into some dark, Scottish loch.
Between my sea lore and my knowledge of cryptids I’ve pretty much assured myself I’ll rarely swim anywhere but in a pool in town. Even so, as a kid I remember being in a pool and looking into the dark blue water of the deep end and my imagination just wondering if we could see a shark if there was one in there. I read about drive-in theaters—I know there’s one in Texas, where everyone floats in a pond on inner tubes as they play Jaws at night.
I love that movie but I wouldn’t do that for a dump truck full of money. Screw that. I suppose I could attempt some kind of therapy to get over it, but that would also mean facing my fear at some point, and I think I’ll just keep my feet on dry land, thanks. I can research lake cryptids and the lurkers in the Mariannas Trench on the internet…
Craig Crawford
BIO:
Craig Crawford grew up reading all the time but it’s when he discovered fantasy and science fiction he got to wondering whether he could create his own stories. He spent the next decades writing and improving his skills. He published two non-fiction indexes with Palladium Books in 1994 and 1997. In 2008 he happened into an internship working with an editor on a fantasy novel and a novella.
In 2019 he got interested in writing horror and got his first fiction story published. Since then he’s published thirty short stories with twenty-two different presses in a variety of genres. In 2023 he published a novel length, dark sci-fi/horror serial in four parts thanks to RedCape Publishing. The next installment is releasing now.
He writes in fantasy, sci-fi, YA, horror, humor—whatever his imagination gives him. You can learn more about his writing and what makes him tick at https://craiglcrawfordbooks.com.
Currently he’s published two novel length serials titled under Project Threshold under Red Cape Publishing. For his novel length serial you can find our more at https://projectthreshold.com.
Craig’s twitter account is: @CraigLCrawford
Project Threshold: Team Berger: Division 1 by Craig Crawford
In a multiverse where the walls are thin between our world and others, Project Threshold stands between humanity and monsters crossing over to threaten us. Harris Berger and his team intervenes on our behalf. Death waits around every corner but dying isn’t the worst thing they have to endure. Berger wades in with his team: Sam, Billy, Jacks, Jessie, and their new recruit, Pendelhaven. Team Berger faces an unknown advanced civilization, mimics loose on the streets of Chicago killing homeless people, dealing with the aftermath of witnessing awful things, mermaids in the Midwest and an apartment where people start committing suicide for no apparent reason.
Project Threshold Season 2: Team Riker by Craig Crawford
Hannah and McCoy lost two of their closest friends during the confrontation with the genocidal Alaskan entity and they’re not sure how to move on. Kurt and Cass bolster their ranks but Kurt struggles against his Alaskan curse. Riker continues hunting the monster that killed her parents while trying to stop an entity killing those who trespass on its domain, and they enter the most dangerous house in Alaska . . .
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