Draw You In by Jasper Bark, A New Age in Horror Begins A New Age in Horror Begins
Crystal Lake Entertainment Releases

Crystal Lake Entertainment is proud to announce the release of Jasper Bark’s new trilogy, Draw You In.

Described as “Kavalier and Clay meets Clive Barker,” Draw You In by Jasper Bark, is a mind-bending trilogy of novels. Containing stories within stories, the trilogy explores the way fiction and real life often bleed into one another. It examines not only the history of horror comics, but the horror genre itself, running the gamut of subgenres from quiet to psychological horror, from hardcore to cosmic horror. This is a reading experience unlike anything you’ve encountered before.

The mystery begins with Draw You In Vol.1: Collector’s Item which introduces comics creator, Linda Corrigan. When Linda’s editor, disappears without a trace, she’s drawn into Agent McPherson’s FBI investigation. She and comics historian Richard Ford unearth a chilling link to the forgotten comic artist R. L. Carver, whose work might just hold the key to a series of mysterious disappearances.

In Draw You In Vol. 2: Secret Origins, Linda once again puts her comic career on hold to join Richard and Agent McPherson in the hunt for R. L. Carver’s lost graphic novel – Tales That Draw You In. Rumored to be cursed, this legendary work put every publisher who tried to print it out of business. But Tales That Draw You In might unlock more than just their case. It could be the key to the secret history of the United States.

And, finally, in Draw You In Vol. 3: Behind the Mask, Linda, Richard and Agent McPherson hunt for Tales That Draw You In, cartoonist R. L. Carver’s legendary lost work. The key to finding it could lie in a memory Linda’s repressed, one from when serial killer Henry McLaughlin held her captive. Bark is an award-winning author and has written hundreds of comics and graphic novels. With Draw You In, he has created an innovative and never before seen series. Let him Draw You In today.

That Draw You In Vol 1 Collectors Item by Jasper Bark

Can someone disappear so completely only you remember they were alive?

That’s what comics creator Linda Corrigan asks when her editor Paul goes missing without a trace. No one remembers he ever existed, not even his mom. Only Linda recalls him and she can’t let go of his memory. She has to find out what happened to him.

FBI Agent McPherson is working a similar cold case. Tracking a missing person only he can recollect. When he learns of the police report Linda files, McPherson recruits her to his own case.

The disappearances are linked to a forgotten cartoonist, a neglected genius called R. L. Carver. To solve them Linda and McPherson must find out what became of this lost comic creator. Joined by comics historian and conspiracy theorist, Richard Ford their investigation takes them on an odyssey across the entire United States.

As they uncover R. L. Carver’s secrets they also uncover the secret history of horror comics from the 1950s to the present day. They learn of the misfits, the madcaps and the macabre masters who forged an industry, frightened a generation and felt the heat of the Federal Government.

But the secret history of horror comics threatens to unlock the secret history of the United States. Soon all three of them are tumbling down a rabbit hole of conspiracy and consequence. Their quest for truth might just expose the very mystery of existence.

Described as ‘Kavalier and Clay meets Clive Barker’, Draw You In, Vol 1 – Collector’s Item is the first in a mind-bending trilogy of novels. It explores not only the history of horror comics but the culture and country that created them.

Draw You In Vols. 1-3 are available in paperback Vol. 1: Collector’s Item (978-1-964398-01-3), Vol. 2: Secret Origins (978-1-964398-02-0) Vol. 3: Behind the Mask (978-1-964398-03-7) published by Crystal Lake Entertainment

JASPER BARK – BIOGRAPHY

Jasper Bark finds writing biographies, and talking about himself in the third person, faintly embarrassing. Telling you he’s won a This Is Horror Award, A Splatterpunk Award and been nominated for a British Fantasy Award and a Bram Stoker Award just sounds like boasting.  

As does the fact that he’s written ten novels including the critically acclaimed Draw You In trilogy, eight novellas and two collections of short stories. Then he has to mention the huge number of comics and graphic novels he’s written for European and American markets, such as Beyond Lovecraft and Bloodfellas, and he just wants to curl up and die. Especially as he won an Educational Readers’ Award for his Battle Cries series and was nominated for an Eagle Award.

He’s awfully uncomfortable discussing his previous careers as a national film and music journalist, a cable TV presenter and a Fringe First Award winning stand up. Maybe he’s too British, or maybe he just needs a good enema, but he’s glad this bio is now over.  

Praise for Jasper Bark

“Jasper Bark is a trickster of a writer, a performer on the page. A clown that’s not slipping on a banana skin, but on a pool of freshly-spilled blood.”
Stephen Volk, BAFTA winning screenplay writer of Ken Russell’s Gothic, Ghostwatch and ITV’s Afterlife.

“Read every book you can find by Jasper Bark – a word magician of the highest order; prepare to have your mind blown…”
Cory Cline, Splatterzine

“A heady mix of folk horror and the psychological, of religious yearning and the uncannily atavistic, this compelling novella carries us through the darkest occult secrets to a cosmic revelation that may haunt your dreams.”
Ramsey Campbell

“Bark conjures a visionary blend of folklore and cosmic revelation that shines Gnostic themes through a twisted Lovecraftian prism.”  
Douglas Wynne, author of The SPECTRA Files Trilogy

“Be warned, after reading The Final Cut you’ll believe stories can kill.”
Aaron Sterns, co-writer Wolf Creek 2, Wolf Creek: Origin

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