Why I write
Hi, I'm Alucard—a storyteller at heart, driven by a lifelong obsession with that electric feeling of true adventure, mystery, and discovery. You know the one: the moment you picked up that first book that made you say, “I am a fantasy lover.”
I write because I loved being carried away by authors like Jack Vance and J.K. Rowling.
I write because of the wild fun I had playing Dungeons & Dragons.
I write because I loved what I read—and I just wanted to keep the adventure going.
My Substack, Fantasy Stories, Comedy & Horror by Alucard, is my portal to the world—a place where I share my love of the strange, the magical, and the hilarious. I engage with readers and fellow writers through three ongoing threads (detailed below), regular posts, and now my fast-growing show: Alucard’s Fantasy Podcast.
My Inspirations
📚 Books
The Dying Earth & The Demon Princes – Jack Vance
The Adventures of Conan the Cimmerian – Robert E. Howard
The Witcher series – Andrzej Sapkowski
The Chronicles of Amber – Roger Zelazny
The Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas
The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood – Howard Pyle
Dungeons & Dragons novels (various)
🎌 Anime
Spirited Away & other Hayao Miyazaki works
Hunter x Hunter
Black Clover
Naruto
Hellsing
Rurouni Kenshin
Samurai Champloo
Attack on Titan
Mushishi
Death Note
Black Butler
🎮 Video Games
The Elder Scrolls series (esp. Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim)
Final Fantasy VII
Fable I & II
Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
World of Warcraft
Dota / Dota 2
Stronghold Crusader
Command & Conquer: Generals
Donkey Kong Country 1–3
Super Mario (especially 64)
Neverwinter Nights I & II
Tenchu (early titles)
Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Academy
Metro 2033 & Metro Exodus
Fallout series
Counter-Strike
Dragon Age: Origins
Half-Life 2 + expansions
What I Write
I share three major series here on Substack:
Darkmaw – A collection of grim fantasy shorts based on real nightmares. These stories stretch from hellscapes to ghost tales, often set against the haunting beauty of moonlit Japanese gardens.
The Living Light: From Gods to Ashes – My full-length fantasy adventure novel, released in serialized format leading up to its official publication. It blends the weirdness of The Dying Earth, the charm of The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, and a modern, comical edge—all wrapped in easy-to-read prose.
Retro Diary of a Gangster Hippy Kid – My comedic autobiographical series about growing up in the drug capital of Australia. Think Trainspotting meets Diary of a Wimpy Kid, with less whining and more weirdness.
Big News
🎙️ My unabridged audiobook for The Living Light: From Gods to Ashes is currently in production, in collaboration with Grammy-winning producer and narrator Stefan Rudnicki—renowned for his work on Jack Vance’s Demon Princes, Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game, and books by Philip K. Dick.
The audiobook is under contract for production and distribution through Skyboat Media and Blackstone Publishing, ensuring it reaches listeners across major platforms and public libraries in the U.S.
This is a huge career milestone for me—and just the beginning.
Why Subscribe?
A unique hybrid vibe – From tongue-in-cheek fantasy to deep psychological horror—if your tastes swing from goofy to spine-chilling, you’ll feel right at home here.
Support a rising author – You're backing an emerging writer in the formative stages of a growing career—and your early support truly matters.
Never miss a choice post – From dream-fueled short stories and strange creature spotlights to in-depth notes on the writing process and episodes of Alucard’s Fantasy Podcast, where I speak with rising and established Substackian authors. We dive into the big fantasy questions:
What really makes a good writer?
Does trauma help or hinder creativity?
And perhaps most important of all...
“Most Awkward Fantasy Crushes?”
Join a community – Engage directly with me and other readers. Get behind-the-scenes updates on my audiobook production journey, be part of the comment threads and shout-outs, and—if you dare—join me live on a future podcast episode.
Published Work at a Glance
Darkmaw: Yōsei-tachi no Kyōen (A Banquet of the Fairies)
A dreamlike, disturbing fairy tale horror. Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and nearly all major online bookstores. (Click the image below to purchase.)
Alucard’s Fantasy Podcast
Episodes feature author interviews, original fiction, deep dives into fantasy tropes, and unfiltered conversation. Listen now on Apple Podcasts – (Click the image below to jump into S1E1 and S1E2.)
The Living Light: From Gods to Ashes – Unabridged Audiobook (Coming soon)
I'm thrilled to announce that the full audiobook edition of The Living Light: From Gods to Ashes is scheduled for official release in July 2025!
It will be available across multiple platforms, but the easiest place to find it will be Amazon.
📣 I’ll post the official release announcement right here on my Substack—so stay tuned!
Let’s Connect
Subscribe now and join the ride through high adventure—eerie, thrilling, comical, and grand. Then delve with me into fever dreams, fairy feasts, and horror-haunted worlds. Leave comments, share your favorite books, monsters, or worlds, and grow with a community that lives for fantasy—and isn’t afraid to say it.
Thanks for stopping by—I can’t wait to scare, thrill, and amuse you.
P.S. Why Alucard’s Stack?
Does it have anything to do with the anime Hellsing?
Yes—indirectly.
I was born in 1991 in Australia, a gangster-hippy kid who never quite fit anywhere. I was outdoorsy but self-taught, surrounded by dealers and fighters, but never fully one of them. I loved kung fu, anime, street brawls, samurai swords, and video games. If I had to sum up my cultural flavor, it’s that gritty-funky fusion of Wu-Tang Clan meets bush survivalist meets old-school anime nerd.
Fighting led me to kung fu. Kung fu led me to Asian mysticism. That opened the door to anime and fantasy—a cocktail of influences that shaped everything I write.
And yes, Hellsing was definitely part of the mix.
That’s what led me to name a key character in my novel, The Living Light: From Gods to Ashes, Alucard—inspired by the Hellsing version, but reimagined in an entirely different world… with a completely random comedic twist.
You may have seen the cute little green frog-fish creature popping up around my Substack and podcast?
Yeah—that’s my Alucard.
How does he fit into my fantasy novel?
You’ll find out by Chapter 3...
So when it came time to choose a pen name for this Substack, Alucard just felt right.
Peace,
—Alucard 🦇
