Cover Reveal: Hochmuller’s Hound by Josh Reynolds

I’m delighted to be able to exclusively reveal the fantastic cover for Josh Reynolds’ new short story anthology Casefiles of the Royal Occultist Volume Two: Hochmuller’s Hound, due out from 18th Wall Productions on the 21st December! I’m a huge fan of Josh Reynolds’ writing (I’ve reviewed over 50 of his stories) and I love his Royal Occultist series, so it’s really exciting to be able to offer this first glimpse of the latest anthology. Read on to see the cover itself, hear some of Josh’s thoughts on the artwork, and find out a little bit more about the anthology itself.

First of all, I asked Josh to let us know a bit about what we can expect from this anthology.

Josh: “Hochmuller’s Hound is the second volume in the collected Casefiles of the Royal Occultist, following along from last year’s Monmouth’s Giants. Like the previous book, the stories are arranged in chronological order (as opposed to publication order), from St. Cyprian’s war-time experiences to his later adventures in the 1920’s.

I tend to write these stories as and when an idea occurs to me, and only worry about chronology later. That means some of the earliest stories, chronologically speaking, were written later. And, of course, the characters are more developed in these later stories as I’ve become more familiar with them. This led me to decide that there needed to be a good mix of old and new stories in every volume.

Like the first volume, Hochmuller’s Hound is themed around one of St. Cyprian’s reoccurring nemeses – the titular Hound. The Hound has appeared in a quartet of stories, each heavily influenced by the Universal Monster films, and may well continue to bedevil St. Cyprian in future tales. But the Hound isn’t the only returning villain in the book – there’s also the abominable Dr. Ptolemy, vivisectionist and worshipper of blasphemous gods, who appears in a total of three stories – two of which are absolutely brand new to this collection!”

***

Now that’s whetted your appetite, let’s take a look at the cover itself, from the talented Johannes Chazot. Click on the image below to expand it, and see the cover in its full glory!

How about that, then? Atmospheric, evocative – I think that’s a fantastic cover, beautifully complementing the first book in the series. I asked artist Johannes about the cover, and here’s what they said:

“The transparent teeth of the creature were partly based on deep-sea creatures like the dragonfish. Also, I like drawing monsters way more than drawing humans, but you already knew that!”

I think that’s fair enough, really – reading about monsters is a lot of fun, so I can imagine drawing them is great too!

I think Josh is pretty pleased with the cover, too. Here’s what he said when I asked him what he thought of the artwork, and how it compares to the image in his head for the story that it represents.

Josh: “I think it’s fantastic! I’ve always been incredibly blessed when it comes to my cover art, and this one is no different. Johannes has such a way with colour and motion – their art has a magnificent fluidity to it. I was blown away by their cover for the first volume – Monmouth’s Giants – and they’ve outdone themselves with this one. Their interpretation of my characters is incredibly vibrant, and wonderfully reminiscent of the art stylings of the 1920’s. I honestly can’t say enough good things about it.

It’s bang on the money, frankly. Johannes perfectly captured the gaunt, inhuman nastiness of the grindylow and the bulky, armoured knight-look of St. Cyprian’s diving suit. I tend to be a visual writer – I often use photographs and illustrations as reference points for my descriptions and action sequences – and this version of the confrontation comes quite close to the one in my head.

Johannes also captured the *feel* of the confrontation, if you get what I’m saying. The hero descending into the swirling abyss as the monster rises to meet him. And those wonderful colours – the way the cool greens and blues contrast against the warm reds and yellows of the previous volume’s cover is just beautiful.”

Check out my review of Monmouth’s Giants, the first Royal Occultist anthology

***

All that remains, then, is to give you the official synopsis of Hochmuller’s Hound, and another reminder of that fantastic cover:

Investigating, Organizing, and Occasionally Suppressing that Which Man Was Not Meant to Know!

Jazz Age Britain is rife with the unspeakable.

From the shattered cities of the western front to the high occult parties of London, a monstrously altered hound stalks. Possessed by the mind of a ruthless German scientist, the beast pursues revenge against the man he blames for sealing him in this body–the Royal Occultist himself. But this is not the only surgical horror at work. Dedicated to giving the gods physical form, Dr. Ptolemy builds his own vessels for ancient beings and eldritch terrors, either on his own or alongside the Hound.

Only the Royal Occultist can stand resolute against these implacable foes.

Charles St. Cyprian and his assistant, Ebe Gallowglass, defend the British Empire against sinister secret societies, eldritch occurrences, and foul creatures of myth and legend. If there are satyrs running amok in Somerset, or werewolves prowling Wolverhampton, the daring due will be there to see them off.

Casefiles of the Royal Occultist: Hochmuller’s Hound is the second installment of a series collecting all of Josh Reynolds’ Royal Occultist stories. This volume features two all-new, never before published stories revealing the first battles between St. Cyprian and the mad Dr. Ptolemy.

I hope you’re as excited to read Hochmuller’s Hound as I am! It’s due to be published on the 21st December, so you don’t have too long to wait. Check out 18thwall.com for details of the previous instalment in this series, and loads of other great titles.

***

Thanks so much to 18th Wall Productions and Josh Reynolds for asking me to host this cover reveal, and for Josh and Johannes for contributing their thoughts about the artwork!

To find out more about Josh Reynolds’ writing, check out all of the reviews and interviews I’ve published for his work on Track of Words, and visit his official website.

If you enjoyed this article and would like to support Track of Words, you can leave a tip on my Ko-Fi page.