‘Why do you doubt your senses?’ said Marley’s ghost.

‘Because,’ said Scrooge, ‘a little thing affects them. A slight disorder of the stomach makes them cheats. You may be an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. There’s more of gravy than of grave about you, whatever you are!’

—Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

A blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese…

Joshua Grant has lived an eclectic life. As a child, while most dreamed of being policemen, firefighters, or astronauts, he wanted to be a Parapsychologist. His fascination with things paranormal and preternatural drove his influences. He devoured fantasy novels which should have been above his age, every book on paranormal activity, demonology, and true accounts of hauntings, ghosts, possessions, and the like populated

his childhood library. And the one author which featured the highest honor was Ray Bradbury, with guest appearances by Edgar Allen Poe. It was only later that he found other authors to keep them company- authors like Shelley, Rice, and Stoker. In his teens, he found fantasy novelists far more appealing, serving as an escape from the darkness, and it was then he ventured to start writing. Poetry, too -the last refuge of tormented teenage minds- crowded his notebooks, and through that pursuit he was lead to more philosophical slants. Authors such as Herman Hess, Miyamoto Musashi, Sun Tzu, and a resurgence of Poe became prevalent.

And then tragedy struck. He became an adult.

Instead of writing poems and short stories, he wrote Standard Operating Procedures, contracts, agreements, class outlines, curriculum and the occasional poison pen email. He continued to write until, with the help of Lovecraft, he came full circle- wiser, with far greater experience, and darker, with just a splash of humor in various shades.

Today, he is most accurately described as a “Preternaturalist”. His stories range through a variety of horror sub-genres: Psychological, Supernatural/Paranormal, Monster, Folk, Lovecraftian, Splatter, Techno, and Dark comedy/Light hearted horror. All of his stories feature that which is beyond nature and modern science, but not all of them deal in fear.

His focus is solely on writing the best and most entertaining stories he can in the realm of the preternatural.

In his more mundane life (the one lived outside his head) he is happily married with two adult (ish) children. He runs a non profit called PhoenFX and serves on the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Haunters. He also runs a small dairy farm with plenty of goats and chickens to add to his already off kilter view of the world.

Fireside Nightmares started as a program of PhoenFX to entertain in the off season while they’re haunted attractions were being built.

It turns out, it was just the catalyst that was needed not only to create better haunted attractions with greater and more detailed story lines, but also to bring josh’s nightmarish tales in to reality.

Fireside nightmares can be found HERE, or here:

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