The Angel B.La.C.K. Setting

How it started, what it was supposed to be, and how it's changing.

Angel B.La.C.K. began as a desire to craft a western horror with some elements of science fiction. I feel like westerns are an excellent setting for horror tales. A few have been done, and they have been done well. The Burrowers, and Bone Tomahawk were both very good examples. I caution you about Bone Tomahawk, however. It is very dark, brutal, and hard to watch.

I wanted Angel B.La.C.K. to be recognizable as a sort of western, but I also wanted it to be a different version of American history. Set about sixteen years after the American Civil War, the series was meant to take place in a town built on a meteor crater in Arizona (you know the one). The world was supposed to have been a bit different than the one we know, a world in which evil has manifested itself into Affliction; a transformation of humans and animals into monstrous creatures. Some of the Afflicted are dangerous to humans. Others are not. But they all suffer.

I also wanted science and technology to have advanced a bit differently, producing a "wild west" where agents of the B.La.C.K. Society had access to gas-canister propelled weapons, steam powered vehicles, and the world's best scientists.

Angel B.La.C.K. was also supposed to be a romance of sorts. That hasn't changed, really, though some of the characters and the relationships that I originally planned have been altered quite a bit. Trust that when I say "romance", I do not mean smut or heavy breathers. I just mean that there are elements of romance.

But, my situation changed, and the story began to change, and the setting began to change as well. Until I decided that I wanted the story to be set in the region I call home, where the mountains are beautiful and wild and dangerous. So, my "western" became an Appalachian horror, instead. Relationships were altered. Some characters were culled (sadly). And some plot changes were made. It's growing and changing every day. But the basic premise is the same.

What begins as a mystery will spiral into a tale of horror, one that can only be overcome by faith and friendship and nature itself.

I hope you enjoy reading Starfall, the first book in the Angel B.La.C.K. series. There will be many more chapters and several more books in the series. I will continue to share plot concepts, artwork, locations used for inspiration, and Q&A on this and all my settings.

Thank you, and I hope that you find something you enjoy in my work.