A former Warsaw resident living in Alabama has published a book that incorporates his interest in vampire lore with historical fiction.
On Sept. 17, Castiel Skull self-published “The Vampire’s Drudge” through Kindle Direct Publishing.
Skull said “The Vampire’s Drudge” is a historical fiction vampire thriller.
It is about Sassandra, who grew up on a floral plantation in the mid-1800s. She is brainwashed by the plantation owner. Sassandra eventually turns into a vampire and is used to assassinate the American president before the start of the Civil War.
There is a dual timeline where Sassandra joins a coven and tries to get revenge on the one that turned her into a vampire.
Skull has always enjoyed writing and always wanted to write a book. He wanted his main character as a strong Black woman because there’s not many of them, he said.
He said he has a lot of anxiety and self-worth issues, so he thinks the purpose of the book is to tell people not to brainwash themselves into thinking they’re not worthy. He hopes people are entertained by the book and are able to find their own self-worth.
“The Vampire’s Drudge” is planned as the first book in a series. Skull said he plans on having four other books in the series, which will be through other characters’ points of view. The second book is planned as a prequel to “The Vampire’s Drudge.”
Skull said he read his first vampire book when he was 17 and fell in love with it, adding he used to watch horror movies growing up. He had to choose which vampire lore he did and didn’t like and picked and chose what he wanted to use.
He said he thinks he learned more about the Civil War researching for “The Vampire’s Drudge” than he did in school. He read a lot of books and things online. He read a lot of what was around the battlefield and how things happened in real life.
He had to change some things in order to make the vampire aspect of the book possible. One example is with the Battle of Antietam. The battle actually happened during the day, but Skull changed the timing in his book to being at night.
He planned the book out for four months before writing it. Writing the book took about a year as he wrote on the weekends.
On why he decided to self-publish the book, Skull said traditional publishing has a lot of ifs and if the book is accepted there’s a lot of deadlines. He has a full-time career and wanted to write the book on his own time and have more control of it.
The book is available through Amazon, the Kindle app, Barnes & Noble and the Warsaw Community Public Library.
Since being published, there have been 22 reviews left about his book, he said, and all of them are five stars. He said he’s ecstatic about strangers leaving reviews and loving books.