Eyes of the screech owl glow deep in the night
Like skull-mounted candles ablaze
A phantom-clad rider spreads eerie ghost-light
His spectral sword raging in flames
From out of their lairs vampire slave-girls return
Eager mouths for their gift-bearing lord
Among poison lichens and black lotus ferns
They kneel as the lifeblood is poured

I wrote these lines a few years ago for the opening verse of an Eternal Winter song entitled “In the Nightside of the Forest Black.” The lyrics were written simply to create a Gothic atmosphere, and had no specific meaning at the time.

A year or two later, while organizing material for the Majestic Metal Records release Bloodmist At Dawn (a compilation album featuring heavy metal songs by bands of Sword and Sorcery authors), I began reading a book called Ghor, Kin-slayer. This novella, originally written in 1979, consisted of several fairly well-known fantasy writers taking an unfinished Robert E. Howard tale and running with it—each contributing a chapter where the previous author left off. While I liked the book, the most intriguing aspect of it to me was how each writer added their own unique touch to the story, and how they creatively dealt with the conflicts created by the author that preceded them.

An idea struck me to organize a similar collaboration but on a smaller (and perhaps neater) scale. I presented it to my two friends and heavy metal fantasist brothers-in-arms, Byron A. Roberts and Howie K. Bentley. They were both genuinely excited and agreed on the spot to be a part of it. We were all ready to begin writing but there were two obstacles to overcome—what was the story going to be about, and what order would we go in? Eventually, I volunteered to go first and started brainstorming on some things to write about. I wanted to come up with a good beginning plot, and above all, a strong main character. I thought of an idea to do something with a ‘sword and sorcery meets Hammer Films’ kind of vibe. I started going through material I had previously written to see if I had something unfinished that might suffice. In my archives of old, handwritten drafts, I happened to come across the song lyrics for “Nightside” which I mentioned above. The opening lines jumped right out at me, and I instantly had a vision of a phantom-clad rider who fought vampires. I soon developed an idea for a main character, and an opening plot started materializing in my mind. Once I had written the first draft of Episode I, I passed it on to Howie who then began his installment. Once that was complete, he forwarded both installments onto Byron who had the task of penning the epic conclusion.

When all was finalized, we were quite happy with the first story. We thought it was a great tale that flowed nicely, and very importantly—the ‘voice’ and style of each author shone through just as we were hoping. Since the three of us all agreed the story turned out well, we started throwing around ideas to have it published. We eventually decided that rather than submitting to various anthologies or magazines, it would be a good idea to write an additional episode in order to compile a full novel. We dove back into the world of Karnov head-first, and soon Karnov’s second adventure was underway.

The result of this great collaboration has exceeded my wildest expectations, and I couldn’t be happier with the final product! When I read this epic, round-robin novel in its entirety, I am captivated by the amount of blood-fueled action, tragic drama, vibrant imagery, humor, unique, memorable characters, and clever, screaming for vengeance storyline that’s sure to please any fan of dark fantasy. I feel honored to have worked with these two brilliant authors, and I hope that all the readers of this book enjoy our creation as much as I do.

Matthew Knight is the vocalist, guitarist and songwriter of the US epic heavy metal band ETERNAL WINTER. The band has recently finalized the recording sessions for the forthcoming album, Archaic Lore Enshrined: Songs of Savage Swords and Dark Mysticism and it is soon to be released. Matthew’s collaboration with Howie K. Bentley and Byron A. Roberts, a gothic-inspired sword and sorcery novel called Karnov: Phantom-Clad Rider of the Cosmic Ice, is available now from DMR Books.