Scranton's undying 'Spell'

Info: justingustainis.com, http://youtu.be/48WN33xlubM

Whether it’s because of the mystery and mythology or the taboo nature, there’s no denying that our culture has been utterly seduced by the supernatural. Our elicit affair with all things morbid and ghoulish tends to lean from the more docile (the sparkling, school-going vamps of the “Twilight” series) to the more thrillingly wicked (the exponentially terrifying and temptingly off-limits characters of “True Blood”).

And regardless of where your tastes lay when it comes to the blood of the undead, Scranton now has its own claim to fame in the world of urban fantasy: A book called “Hard Spell” by area native Justin Gustainis.

Urban fantasy is essentially a genre that places otherworldly creatures within a large-city setting, and with “Hard Spell,” Gustainis manages to bring a dark and ominous presence to the streets of Scranton with a voice that differs from the other leaders in the print genre — but is strong enough to stand with them (lest we forget, “Twilight” and “True Blood” are both mortal spawns of fictional novels).

Gustainis explained in a recent phone interview that “Hard Spell” started out as a short story completed during his attendance in the highly competitive Odyssey Fantasy Writing Workshop. He decided to use Scranton as the setting for a number of different reasons.

“I decided to turn it into a book after ‘The Office’ came out,” he explained. “I wanted something about Scranton that was scary. ‘The Office’ is funny, and that’s fine, but nobody’s milking the scary aspect of Scranton.”

Originally from Pittston and a graduate of the University of Scranton, Gustainis’ familiarity with the area and its cultural idiosyncrasies, along with his desire to set himself apart from the rest, all made Scranton an enticing choice.

MONSTERS, INC.

“Hard Spell,” which is part of a series that has two more installments slated for release in the near future, follows the exploits of Stan Markowski of the Scranton Police Department’s Occult Crimes Unit, also known as the “Supe Squad.” In addition to featuring crimes committed by and against ghouls, vampires, witches, demons and zombies, it also spotlights some of the landmarks and characteristics closest to our NEPA hearts, including Lake Scranton, Wilkes University and that lovely slang word, “haina.”

And the author’s quest for authenticity didn’t end there. Although there are plenty of common and uncommon allegories about the strengths and weaknesses of supernatural entities, Gustainis chose to go for the middle-of-the-road, generally accepted ideas. He also had no shortage of sardonic humor when it came to discussing the research that went into the rituals performed in “Hard Spell.”

“I wanted to be authentic, to the extent that stuff is authentic,” he said. “But I looked around. I mean, there are a lot of people who have written about various kinds of rituals. I just hope I didn’t make any of them mad, because they might turn me into a toad.”

While there is an unabashed amount of mythology concerning vampires, zombies and the like, Gustainis had to carouse the inner-workings of his own mind to come up with ideas for his, shall we say, less famous supernaturals.

“Well, there’s not a lot of mythology about (ghouls and some of the lesser-known supernaturals),” he matter-of-factly explained. “But, I mean, ghouls are generally regarded as creatures that eat human flesh. They haunt graveyards … so I just took that and decided, well, they’d probably be undertakers.”

It’s that kind of thinking that has garnered Gustainis recognition not only for “Hard Spell,” but one of his other books, “Sympathy for the Devil.”

“‘Sympathy for the Devil’ has been optioned by a Hollywood producer with a view toward a possible TV series,” the author explained. “The odds are really, really against this ever getting on TV. An awful lot of stuff gets optioned and never sees completion, and I’m well aware of that.”

His modesty may be a good trait to have when it comes to the uncertain world of television production, but Gustainis has also received praise from Charlaine Harris (author of the Sookie Stackhouse series, which was the precursor to HBO’s “True Blood”), meaning his work has a pretty high profile.

“Charlaine was kind enough to say something nice about one of (my) earlier books on her blog and said that we could use it, so she’s quoted on the cover of ‘Sympathy for the Devil,’” he explained. “So she’s a nice lady, I can’t say that we’re really close friends, unfortunately. I like to suck up to people who are doing as well as Charlaine.”

FACT TO FICTION

Gustainis, who is a fully tenured professor of communication at SUNY Plattsburgh in Plattsburgh, N.Y., dabbled in creative writing before officially entering the ranks of published authors.

“I made an abortive attempt (at writing) back in the ’70s. I wrote a few short stories, sent them out, and they got rejected, and I was so surprised, I just gave up,” he explained. “I didn’t know anything about the writing world, and that usually you have to collect rejection slips for quite a while before you start getting good enough to get accepted … But I started again in the late ’90s, writing stories and sending them off to contests, and I won a few prizes, and that gave me some encouragement.”

He also published an academic book, called “American Rhetoric and the Vietnam War,” but notes that fiction reaches a much broader audience and generally pays a little better.

“Once I realized that I seemed to have a talent for this fiction stuff, most of my writing has been focused on that,” Gustainis said. “And unlike most of my academic writing, people actually read this.”

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