Josh Viola Explained

Joshua Viola
Pseudonym:J.V. Kyle, Jay Vee and Trevor Jones
Birth Date:23 July 1983
Occupation:Writer, Artist, Producer
Genre:Science fiction, horror and fantasy
Notableworks:Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - The Dead Shall Rise
True Believers
Denver Moon
Cyber World
Nightmares Unhinged
Deathstalker (film)
Deathgasm
The Bane of Yoto

Joshua "Josh" Viola (born July 23, 1983) is a science fiction/fantasy/horror writer, artist and film producer best known for - The Dead Shall Rise, True Believers, Denver Moon, The Bane of Yoto and his companies Hex Publishers and Bit Bot Media. He is a 2021 Splatterpunk Award nominee (Psi-Wars: Classified Cases of Psychic Phenomena) and a 2022 Colorado Book Awards winner (Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas).

Background

In 2012, Viola collaborated with Klayton and his music label/publisher, FiXT Music, where Viola is the author of the novels Blackstar[1] and The Bane of Yoto.[2] He directed the “Unshakeable”[3] animated music video for Celldweller.

Viola is owner of publishing house Hex Publishers.[4] [5] He edited their Denver Post number one best selling[6] horror anthology, Nightmares Unhinged,[7] featuring Bram Stoker, Hugo and Nebula Award winners such as Jason Heller, Steve Rasnic Tem, Edward Bryant and Stephen Graham Jones.[8] He co-edited Cyber World, a cyberpunk anthology, with Jason Heller for Hex Publishers in 2016, which was a 2017 Colorado Book Award finalist[9] [10] and named one of the best anthologies of 2016 by Barnes & Noble.[11] Blood Business, a paranormal crime anthology co-edited by Mario Acevedo, was a 2018 Colorado Book Award finalist.[12] In 2019, his comic book collection, Denver Moon: Metamorphosis, was included on the 2018 Bram Stoker Award Preliminary Ballot for Superior Achievement in a Graphic Novel.[13] He was nominated for his fourth Colorado Book Award in April 2020 for his Denver Moon sequel, The Saint of Mars,[14] a year after the first book, The Minds of Mars, was nominated for the 2019 award.[15] In 2021, he edited the StokerCon™ souvenir anthology for the Horror Writers Association's first online convention (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), which included the 2020 Bram Stoker Awards.[16] His 2020 anthology, Psi-Wars, was nominated for a 2021 Splatterpunk Award (award founded by Wrath James White and Brian Keene).[17] He won the 2022 Colorado Book Award in the Anthology category for Shadow Atlas, co-edited by Carina Bissett and Hillary Dodge.

In 2022, he became the Creative Director of Novelization and Comics for Random Games' Unioverse videogame franchise[18] launched by a team of gaming and entertainment industry veterans behind titles such as Grand Theft Auto, Donkey Kong Country, and Crackdown. He worked directly with writer Brent Friedman, whose previous credits include Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Halo 4, The Walking Dead, Call of Duty, and .

In 2023, he co-wrote the slasher comic book series True Believers with Stephen Graham Jones, which features official cameos from Jamie Lee Curtis, R.L. Stine, and more.[19] He executive produced a reboot of Roger Corman's Deathstalker (film) franchise, directed by Steven Kostanski (The Void (2016 film),), starring Daniel Bernhardt, and co-executive produced by Slash (musician) of Guns N' Roses,[20] as well as Jason Lei Howden's Deathgasm II: Goremaggedon. He is an executive producer on artist Skinner's Shrine of Abominations (featuring work by stop motion animator Phil Tippett[21]), and associate producer on films such as Chris Stuckmann's Shelby Oaks, and CreatorVC's Aliens Expanded and TerrorBytes.

In 2024, Viola and Klayton formed Bit Bot Media, a multimedia company focused on film, games, comics and licensed IP. Bit Bot announced a partnership with Canadian film studio Raven Banner Entertainment and London-based FreakZone Games to bring a number of projects to the public.[22] Not long after, Bit Bot announced a partnership with the game studio known for the series, Crystal Dynamics, to revive the popular video game series Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver, with Viola co-writing a prequel graphic novel alongside writer Angie Hodapp and artists Juan Samu, Dave Rapoza, and Aaron Lovett.[23]

Filmography

Films

Bibliography

Novels

Novellas

Collections

Anthologies edited

Comic books & Graphic Novels

Children's books

Short stories

Anecdotes

References

  1. Barkan, Jonathan. "Celldweller Plans New Music, Book Series, And More", Bloody Disgusting, 27 February 2013. Retrieved on 14 October 2015.
  2. Johnston, Rich. "Could The Bane Of Yoto Herald In A New Look For Digital Comics?", Bleeding Cool, 5 March 2012. Retrieved on 14 October 2015.
  3. Crane, Matt. "Celldweller Releases Music Video for Unshakeable", Alternative Press, 10 December 2013. Retrieved on 14 October 2015.
  4. Wenzel, John. "Erie-based Horror publisher uses unlikely way to bankroll, empower writers", The Denver Post, 4 September 2015. Retrieved on 14 October 2015.
  5. Siebrase, Jamie. "Hex Publishers, a New Local Press, Plans to Release a Dark, Twisted Anthology", Westword, 9 February 2015. Retrieved on 14 October 2015.
  6. The Denver Post. "Books: Denver best sellers, 9/20/2015", The Denver Post, 20 September 2015. Retrieved on 14 October 2015.
  7. Jules, Damnetha. "Nightmares Unhinged (Book Review)", Horror Palace, 5 September 2015. Retrieved on 14 October 2015.
  8. Barkan, Jonathan. "Witness The Unveiling Of Nightmares Unhinged (Exclusive)", Bloody Disgusting, 9 July 2015. Retrieved on 16 July 2015.
  9. Wenzel, John. "“Cyber World” anthology brings darkly alluring sci-fi back to the future", The Denver Post, 26 October 2016. Retrieved on 16 July 2015.
  10. Colorado Humanities. "“2017 Colorado Book Award Finalists", Colorado Humanities. Retrieved on 12 September 2017.
  11. Cunningham, Joel. "The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Collections and Anthologies of 2016", Barnes & Noble, 21 December 2016. Retrieved on 25 February 2019.
  12. Colorado Humanities. “2018 Colorado Book Award Finalists", Colorado Humanities. Retrieved on 25 February 2019.
  13. Locus Magazine. "2018 Stoker Awards Preliminary Ballot", Locus Magazine, 21 January 2019. Retrieved on 25 February 2019.
  14. Locus Magazine. "2020 Colorado Book Awards Finalists", Locus Magazine, 7 April 2020. Retrieved on 16 April 2020.
  15. Westword. "Colorado Book Awards Finalists Announced", Westword, 21 March 2019. Retrieved on 16 April 2020.
  16. StokerCon™. "Souvenir Book - StokerCon™ 2020"
  17. https://www.briankeene.com/home/hnz133gxxxv2nnkcfr6tcle13hvr20 2021 Splatterpunk Award Nominees
  18. https://random.games/team.php Random Games Team
  19. Schedeen, Jesse. "Jamie Lee Curtis to Guest Star in Horror Comic True Believers", IGN, 2 April 2024. Retrieved on 15 July 2024.
  20. Ramachandran, Naman. "Roger Corman Reboot ‘Deathstalker,’ Exec Produced by Guns N’ Roses’ Slash, Unveils First Look, Raven Banner Launches Sales at Cannes (EXCLUSIVE)", Variety (magazine), 18 May 2024. Retrieved on 2 June 2024.
  21. Hammond, Chris. "SHRINE OF ABOMINATIONS – A STOP-MOTION KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN THAT’S OUT OF THIS WORLD!", Rue Morgue (magazine), 7 March 2023. Retrieved on 2 June 2024.
  22. Jonathan, James. "Exclusive: Klayton (Celldweller) and Joshua Viola Form Bit Bot Media and Announce Strategic Partnerships with Raven Banner Entertainment and FreakZone Games", Daily Dead, 6 June 2024. Retrieved on 15 July 2024.
  23. Schedeen, Jesse. "Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver Returns In New Prequel Graphic Novel", IGN, 30 June 2024. Retrieved on 15 July 2024.
  24. Ramachandran, Naman. "Roger Corman Reboot ‘Deathstalker,’ Exec Produced by Guns N’ Roses’ Slash, Unveils First Look, Raven Banner Launches Sales at Cannes (EXCLUSIVE)", Variety (magazine), 18 May 2024. Retrieved on 2 June 2024.
  25. Blood Bound Books. "Stolen Pallor", Blood Bound Books, 2024. Retrieved on 2 June 2024.
  26. Crystal Lake Publishing. "First project signed for 2025!", Crystal Lake Publishing, 2024. Retrieved on 2 June 2024.
  27. Froyd, Susan. "Nightmares Unhinged Launch Party", Westword, 9 September 2015. Retrieved on 16 July 2015.
  28. Wheeler, Isaac. "Cyber World Demonstrates the Future of the Cyberpunk Genre", Neon Dystopia, 11 November 2016. Retrieved on 19 December 2016.
  29. Kirkus Reviews. "Georgetown Haunts and Mysteries", Kirkus Reviews, 9 August 2017. Retrieved on 12 September 2017.
  30. Kirkus Reviews. "Blood Business", Kirkus Reviews, 26 September 2017. Retrieved on 28 November 2017.
  31. Kirkus Reviews. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/joshua-viola/psi-wars-classified-cases-of-psychic-phenomena/", Kirkus Reviews, 13 April 2020. Retrieved on 16 April 2020.
  32. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fcofohorror%2Fposts%2F782007915614314", Facebook, 17 January 2020. Retrieved on 16 April 2020.
  33. StokerCon. http://stokercon2021.com/?p=151, StokerCon, 2021. Retrieved on 31 May 2021.
  34. Hex Publishers. https://hexpublishers.com/publications_shadow-atlas.html, Hex Publishers, 2021. Retrieved on 31 May 2021.
  35. Glyfe. https://gaminglyfe.com/unioverse-inks-deal-with-hex-publishers-to-tie-in-anthology-and-comic-book-series/, Glyfe,19 October 2022. Retrieved on 24 October 2022.
  36. Hex Publishers. "Tooth and Claw", Hex Publishers. Retrieved on 12 September 2017.
  37. Hex Publishers. https://www.hexpublishers.com/publications_unioverse-comics.html, Hex Publishers, 2022. Retrieved on 24 October 2022.
  38. Wenzel, John. "The Secret Ingredients to a Great Children's Book", Denver Post, 4 August 2017. Retrieved on 12 September 2017.
  39. HorrorNews.net. "Paul Campion's 'The Librarian' Optioned Short Horror Story To Screen", Horror News, 30 October 2015. Retrieved on 12 September 2017.
  40. Anderson, Derek. "Exclusive: Read a Short Story from NIGHTMARES UNHINGED: TWENTY TALES OF TERROR", Daily Dead, 28 August 2015. Retrieved on 14 October 2015.
  41. Siebrase, Jamie. "Get Lost at a Celebration of Found, a Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Anthology", Westword, 4 October 2016. Retrieved on 19 December 2016.
  42. GoodReads. "The Literary Hatchet #15", GoodReads. Retrieved on 12 September 2017.
  43. Blood Bound Books. "DOA III", Blood Bound Books. Retrieved on 12 September 2017.
  44. Hex Publishers. "Blood Business", Hex Publishers. Retrieved on 28 November 2017.
  45. Kirkus Reviews. "Blood and Gasoline". Retrieved on 25 February 2019.
  46. RMFW. "2018 Anthology", RMFW. Retrieved on 25 February 2019.
  47. Horror After Dark. "Doorbells At Dusk". Retrieved on 25 February 2019.
  48. Blood Guts and Story. "Crash Code". Retrieved on 25 February 2019.
  49. Westword. "Westword". Retrieved on 26 September 2020.
  50. Birdy. "Birdy Magazine". Retrieved on 16 April 2020.
  51. Birdy. "Birdy Magazine". Retrieved on 16 April 2020.
  52. Birdy. "Birdy Magazine". Retrieved on 26 September 2020.
  53. Hex Publishers. "Hex Publishers". Retrieved on 26 September 2020.
  54. Hex Publishers. "Hex Publishers". Retrieved on 26 September 2020.
  55. Facebook. "Facebook". Retrieved on 26 September 2020.
  56. Birdy Magazine. "Birdy Magazine". Retrieved on 31 May 2021.
  57. Birdy Magazine. "Birdy Magazine". Retrieved on 31 May 2021.
  58. Birdy Magazine. "Birdy Magazine". Retrieved on 17 June 2021.
  59. Monstrous Books. "Monstrous Books". Retrieved on 24 October 2022.
  60. Brigids Gate Press. "Brigid Gates Press". Retrieved on 24 October 2022.
  61. Hellbound Books Publishing. "Hellbound Books Publishing". Retrieved on 2 June 2024.
  62. Hex Publishers. "Nightmares Unhinged", Hex Publishers. Retrieved on 19 October 2020.
  63. Zinos-Amaro, Alvaro. "Josh Viola Guest Post–“Cyber Punks”", Locus Magazine, 15 June 2016. Retrieved on 19 October 2020.
  64. Hex Publishers. "Cyber World", Hex Publishers. Retrieved on 19 October 2020.
  65. Birdy Magazine. "The Holy Appendix", Birdy Magazine. Retrieved on 19 October 2020.

External links

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