I am thinking about the first time I ever attended Shore Leave in 1992, it being my first day on the job with Alternate Worlds comic shop and told to report to what was then a Star Trek exclusive event. I told this story last night in the company of some of the elite writers of Trek and sci-fi-fantasy in one of the more incredible weekends of my life. Both TJ and my lives.

In ’92, I was thrust into a world I knew only from my childhood perspective watching the original show and the 1970s Filmation series of Star Trek. I had the toys, I had a felt poster of the U.S.S. Enterprise on my wall. Star Wars changed everything and I lost touch with my inner Trekker until Shore Leave ’92. I had veritably no clue what most of the conventioneers were talking about that night and was embarrassed beyond words. Great first day of the job, cough cough, but they kept me anyway. The high point of that clumsy, out of my league evening was calling out to DeForrest Kelley when I spotted him by himself. He gave me a friendly grin and a wave on his way to the elevator. Faboo!

I vowed from that day to never be caught with my pants down in such fashion again, thus I ground out all the Next Gen, DS9 and Voyager episodes as I fell in love again with the widely spreading canon. I read as many Star Trek novels and comics as I could until I was stronger versed to be effective at my job. One of those authors I became an immediate fan of upon first contact (pun intended) and whom I talked at length to about baseball lesser than Trek and sci fi this weekend.

My wife celebrated another lap around the trail of life selling her books and speaking on panels at the 44th Shore Leave Star Trek and sci-fi-fantasy convention this past weekend, relocated from its long-standing host venue in Hunt Valley, Maryland to beautiful Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

For her birthday, all TJ wanted from me was her very own tribble, so I took care of that wish. It took no time to have a run-in with a con-prowling Klingon who growled and hissed and called it a parasite. All good fun at a Trek con! We joked, “Let’s hope it doesn’t multiply!”

TJ did what she always does and that’s command any room she’s in, be it in the dealer room as one of the best salespeople I know or on the panel. I am so frigging proud of her. It was a magical weekend on many levels and fun talking to our customers and fellow vendors. Speaking of Klingons, it was extra cool having the legendary J.G. Hertzler next to us signing autographs and singing Klingon battle chants. Epic.

Christopher Abbott, Dayton Ward, Aaron Rosenberg, Michael Jan Friedman, David Mack, Greg Cox, Derek Tyler Attico, Russ Colchamiro, Hildy Silverman, Joshua Palmatier, Mary Fan, Keith DeCandido, Wrenn Simms and anyone who’s name I missed. There were so many people I chatted with, and I suck if I forgot you. Rigel Ailur, I think I saw you in passing, lady, hey hey! Whether it was a little or a lot we spoke, I value the time we spent in conversation, comradeship and laughter.

Many of you shared craft and writing marketing tips with me as the NY Times bestselling pros you are. No matter your level, all of you are successes in my book and kind beyond words. You are a tight knit bunch, from the Crazy 8s to their famous colleagues-in-arms. The love shared amongst you radiates. Thank you for sharing that with TJ and I. It’s relationships that count the most in life.

Only downer, our prayers to the motorcycle couple who were caught in a terrible accident next to where we all gathered for dinner. TJ and I attended the husband, Hildy, Mary and others his wife. As I held the husband’s head still in his cracked helmet, I thanked the divine they were both wearing them. I looked this severely busted up man in the eyes and kept him still as I could with TJ helping until the ambulance arrived. I was so deeply moved when he had the cognizance to call out for his wife and she did the same. May the divine protect and heal them both.

My favorite score at Shore Leave 44 aside from a couple of rad Godzilla books and a dude peddling some delicious smelling gamer-themed coffee beans, Todd Alcott’s incredible Horror Tarot deck. I don’t know what’s cooler, the beat-up paperback look to the packaging or the cards themselves, representing the arcana spanning the 1920s through the Eighties homaging classic horror movie posters, book, magazine and comic covers. If you know me, it’s no surprise the divine drew me two Stephen King cards, but the draw three was the exact answer I hoped for.

A mass blanket thank you to all whom I’ve mentioned, for so many reasons. I come out of this surreal weekend far more enlightened and aspirant from the chats and attending panels.

The cosplay was just insane and I am still giggling getting mugged by Borg at 1:30 a.m. on Friday. Shore Leave has become far more than it began with, promoting a spirit of needed inclusivity and I’m not just talking about Trek vs. Star Wars. It’s a celebratory safe haven for all who love this wonderfully geeky stuff.

As Michael Jan Friedman said, Ad Astra…

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

With my new horror anthology, Behind the Shadows on the way, I’m not laying on my duff. I am already on the fifth chapter of my next horror novel which I am already proud of, since TJ and I began fleshing it out on our honeymoon.

Back to Behind the Shadows, however, I would have to say it came from a combination of Bram Stoker, Twilight Zone, our weekly Saturday night “Ghost Host” theater on Baltimore UHF Channel 45, EC horror comics from the 1950s and a near lifetime burrowed into Stephen King’s works.

Creepshow, especially, which you can see my passion for here, including the film, John Harrison’s jangly synth score, a first print edition of King’s graphic novel collaborated with comics master, Berni Wrightson and Japanese t-shirt. That film poster you see in many of my office photos is an authentic original, scored decades ago through an old Gore Zone ad.

I was 12 when the movie came out and those in my area who remember Golden Ring Mall will attest to the wild positioning of the movie theater, spread over two levels and on opposite ends of the mall. This poster hung not only in the multiple movie lobbies, but inside a pizza shop across from Kay-Bee Toys. I will never forget gnawing on pizza slices staring intently upon the Creepshow poster while my family jawed over their own concerns. Mine was getting to see this film at all costs. That entire moment and the eventual viewing of the movie two years later was invaluable fuel to telling my stories in Behind the Shadows.

The Creepshow sequels, revival t.v. show and comics series are all fun, but nothing matches that first encounter with a decapitated head cake, eating machine monsters in crates, an army of roaches, a truly frightening drowning revenge arc and of course, “meteor shit.” Creepshow was an unapologetic love letter to the EC classics and it becomes even more apparent as I’ve been pounding through those old horror and suspense reprints.

Strapping on the Creep once again hoping the same mojo spills into my current story.

–Ray Van Horn, Jr.

This rad advance review of my upcoming horror compilation, Behind the Shadows by Jack Mangan over at The Metal Hall of Fame and Metal Asylum not only has me smiling, it sums up my entire teen life and many of the elements that give my stories their sustenance. Thank you, Jack! Horns up.

“Ray Van Horn Jr.’s Beyond the Shadows is an eclectic mixtape of Gen-X terrors, drawing from 80s horror flicks, EC Comics, late-night TV, Jolt Cola, Columbia House, Fangoria, Stephen King, and Hit Parader magazine until the tape snaps and snarls up your boombox. He creates scenes with such clarity and vivid detail, you’ll be asking yourself, “Is it real, or is it RVH?”

Behind the Shadows, by Ray Van Horn, Jr. coming soon through Raw Earth Ink. Let’s do this.