Iron Maiden and my writing

I just received word that my short story "The Devil's Dance" is going to be in an anthology with a bunch of other stories that take place in Salem. I wrote the story years ago, have edited it and tweaked it many, many times, but the original idea for it came from the album cover of one of my favorite bands, Iron Maiden.

Quite honestly, they are a band that I don't think gets enough credit to how great they are. I know they are thought of by some as satanic because of their controversial album "The Number of the Beast" (A song that was written about a nightmare one of the band members had after watching Damien - The Omen II. It's not about Satan worship) and because of their album covers, all of which include their mascot, Eddie, who is especially creepy looking. Basically, he looks like some kind of demon faced crypt keeper.

Eddie                                                               Crypty

In the pictures and album covers over time, he's been mummified, lobotomized, mutilated, electrocuted—basically anything you can imagine. I don't think the band does this to make their stuff look evil, but more because, like me, they probably love horror. Their album covers are awesome, and their music is excellent. Aside from my wife who is always giving me good story ideas, I don't think there has been any other single inspiration to my writing like Iron Maiden has been.

I saw this image, and had a vision of demons at a masquerade ball. Elaboration plus my own creativity developed into my most recent publication acceptance, "The Devil's Dance". That story was not my first literary work to have been inspired from this album. The title song is actually a long poem/story about a man experiencing the Danse Macabre. The first time I heard this song, I loved the way the lyrics told the story, and the feel of this poetry led to me writing my first draft of "The Land of the Shadows" that same day. "The Land of the Shadows" was the first thing I have ever written that was published, and it gave me the motivation I needed to keep writing and not give up. Since then, I have had things published many times, but it was that first poem that was the start of it all, and it was that song that led to that poem.

The above picture inspired me to write a story about a monster similar to the creature depicted in artwork. The story, entitled "Arbor Mortis", has never been published, and has gone through numerous rewrites. It is much better now that it was initially, and I think one day it might get the appreciation it deserves if the right person reads it. The story is basically about a tree monster that hides in plain sight and feeds off living creatures. Really don't need to go into much more detail than that. Just imagine if this thing was in the tree in your front yard, a yard where children like to play, then watch the very much underrated movie The Guardian, and you can get the idea of what the story is about since I took inspiration from both sources.

Another story inspired by a single image is my story "Dead Man's Prayer". I set the story in the Whitechapel district of London at the time of the Jack the Ripper murders. The story involves a mortician who has a predilection for homicide. He isn't Jack the Ripper, but he is responsible for two of the murders that took place during that time that were determined not to be victims of Jack. A good story, but like so many other stories of mine, it hasn't found its publication home yet.

Inspiration can come from anywhere - album covers, paintings, strange shadows - I've written half of a novel based on my two favorite stuffed animals when I was younger and my fear of monsters under my bed.

I'm sure if I looked I could find plenty of pictures and single images that would have the potential of becoming an amazing story. I love Iron Maiden, however, and I know that if I wanted, I could always find inspiration for my writing, in both their music and the artwork that accompanies it. My first publication was a direct result of listening to their music, and this gave me confidence I needed to continue as a writer.