From Booklist:
“In this sharp blade of a novel, every word is weaponized as Bell stands at the portal to chthonic evil.”
This is a violent, disturbing, and engrossing novel, recalling the savagery of the Manson era. My self imposed direction was to display violence without being too graphic.
Early on in the story, the main character comes upon a dead fawn, and then makes the hide into a fawnskin to wear. For the first comp and the only one not showing a woman, I wanted to show the fawn and the juxtaposition of innocence and brutality.
Many of my other covers do show a 60s stylized version of women, appropriate to the era in which this novel takes place. Knives play a large role in the story, so I've incorporated them throughout.
A slash to evoke violence.
Probably the most literal depiction of the story, and one that was deemed too over the top.
Early on many of the comps use slashes I created on the computer.
Later, I was encouraged to try cutting the photos of women for a more unsettling effect. My studio looked very, very disturbing.
All credit to my art director, John Gall, for pushing this comp to what I think is it's best outcome. I scanned the final image (with slashes) and did quite a bit of Photoshop work to get the slash marks to be realistic, creating more depth and contrast. The final cover:
