Stories
about monsters, myths, and the hidden histories we keep.
Coming Soon
He has been expecting you. The Raven's Almanac of the Monstrous arrives October 2, 2026, the first edition of a year-long folklore almanac in print, video, and song.
Twelve creatures, one per month, each a story we told ourselves about the dark.
The almanac opens this autumn.
Alan O.W. Barnes
Alan O.W. Barnes is a storyteller who makes mythic stories about monsters — for middle-grade readers, teens, and adults, and for anyone who suspects folklore is how humans tell the truth about themselves.
His books include ManGrooves, a middle-grade mystery series about a folk band of monsters; Black Chaos Comes Again, a five-part YA supernatural horror series set in Mississippi; and Revolutionaries, an alt history Steampunk adventure coming Summer 2027. The Raven's Almanac of the Monstrous, his annual folk-horror project pairing twelve folklore essays with original videos and music, launches in October 2026.
Alongside his solo work, Alan performs as one half of BlackBerry Banshee, an Irish folk duo with his wife Kim, whose music threads through his books, podcasts, and videos. He co-hosts the Complex Creatures podcast, as well as Who Watches the Rewatches, a Buffy the Vampire Slayer rewatch podcast. Both with Jarrod Longbons.
Born in Damascus, Virginia and now based in Knoxville, Tennessee, Alan holds master's degrees in Music Composition (Belmont University) and Sequential Art (SCAD), and serves as Program Director of Visual Media Production & Design at Johnson University. He lives with Kim, their daughter Keira, and a seventeen-year-old cat named Savvy.
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