The main idea for these novels first came to me back when the genre of heroic fantasy caught my attention in high school. Right then and there, I was seized with the desire to create similar fictional worlds of my own.
Alas, combining the awe-inspiring past from tens of thousands of years before together with alternate realities from other dimensions proved too much for my meager powers of imagination to then render realistically on paper.
But a world where magic and monsters held sway and a lone swordsman survived by his wits and talents alone—that did hold a special allure for me. And why not set it in what, for all intents and purposes, is the present day?
The end result was this book.
An area being brought to the verge of utter destruction by an earthquake is the premise of Go Nagai’s best work (in my humble opinion), Violence Jack, in which the Tokyo region is devastated. John Carpenter’s Escape from New York turns the city into a crime-ridden wasteland.
I generously seasoned those offerings with the spice of “horror” and have hopefully found among my readers fellow kindred spirits happy with what I’m putting on the menu.
Right now, I’ve got a mountain of material stacked up on my desk.
Dracula, Frankenstein, witches, werewolves, serial killers with split personalities, limbs with minds of their own, monsters born out of thought, man-eating portraits, starships (I’d sure like to hop aboard the United Planets cruiser C57-D from Forbidden Planet), dragons, underground empires, cowboys and outlaws, famous cops and detectives, quick-draw gunfighters (guys like Shane), ninjas, martial artists, zombies (but not really zombies).
For many writers, these characters wore out their welcome a long time ago. But they look at me and shake their heads. “You can’t destroy us. Whether we live or die is up to you.”
I think of myself at times as a kind of warlock, bringing them back to life by writing stories. And all the greater reward if my readers find enjoyment in my alchemy.
Last of all, sincere apologies and boundless thanks to the editorial staff for waiting so patiently while putting up with my negligent self and recalcitrant pen.
Hideyuki Kikuchi (while watching Bela Lugosi in Dracula)
July 24, 1982