Q&A re: Paranormal Dinner Club

What is this? What can I expect? Will recipes be involved?

What’s the story about?

A mad doctor invites thinkers and scientists from across Europe to visit a mysterious and unknown island. He promises they will learn the secret behind his magical serum. Instead they find a madman and an island determined to kill them. Along the way a group of adventurers must band together to stop the madman and escape.

Who are the characters?

• The Invisible Man’s assistant turned thief

• A famed African adventurer and animal hunter

• A mysterious Middle Eastern magi

• The daughter of Van Helsing and monster slayer in her own right

• A mad doctor determined to remake the world in his own design

• A collection of scientists

What’s it like?

It’s an homage to the works like Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne, The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells, The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Dracula by Bram Stoker and many more.

It’s a mix of adventure, fantasy, and mystery. Expect memorable characters, an unraveling mystery, and some big moments of epic action.

Why is it called The Paranormal Dinner Club?

It’s about a setting and world that are beyond normal — paranormal if you will. And the characters bond over a nice dinner and warm cups of tea. Then later have a very tense and frightening dinner. Then in the end have a joyful dinner to celebrate. It’s mostly just a series of dinners punctuated by danger, monster attacks, and natural disasters.

How much does this story cost?

It is entirely free here in newsletter format. Really. I was given so many good stories as a child that brought me joy and shaped me, I want to do the same for others.

But what’s it really about?

It’s about family. It’s about the complicated relationships brothers have.

It’s about trauma. It’s about how traumatic moments shape you and how you have the power to choose what to do with them.

It’s about monsters. It’s about learning to stand up to them when you want to run. It’s also about realizing that sometimes you have to stand up to the monsters inside you as well as the monsters outside you.

It’s about hope. It’s about learning to see a broken world honestly, but finding hope anyway.

How is it being published?

It’s written in a journal format (an epistolary work, as it were). Expect 1-2 letters each week here.

You can read over email or for a better reading experience, download the Substack app and subscribe there. You can enable notifications and never miss an update.

What if I want to listen to it instead of read it?

There will be a regular podcast where each chapter is read. Stay tuned.

What if I want this in book format instead of regular updates?

We’re hoping to offer that in the Christmas season. But you won’t have to buy the book to finish the story. Absolutely the entire thing will be available in letters as well.

What if I want to shape the story?

You’ll get to comment on each journal entry as its released! Share what you like and what you don’t and it will shape the future chapters of the story. We’ll even have some fun opportunities to do things like shape plot points and possibly even design monsters…

What’s the target age range?

One of the things I loved about Jules Verne and H.G. Wells is that they’re interesting for kids, memorable for adults, and appropriate for all ages. The main character is in his mid teens.

Depending on your kids, you can make this a family read from late elementary school onward. There are some mysterious and spooky moments and monsters, but no excessive gore, language, or sensual situations.

Who is really writing this?

I’m J.R. Alcantar — a writer living in El Paso, TX. I have a degree in creative writing from the University of Texas at El Paso. In my day job I’m a pastor and man of the cloth. Off-hours I love film and fiction and my favorite hobby was hosting movies at the Alamo Drafthouse.

Where did this story come from?

It’s my mother’s fault, really. She wouldn’t let me have video games growing up and didn’t like me watching television but she gave me an endless supply of old books. I spent hours in the afternoon journeying to the center of the earth, following the invisible man, or exploring the lost world. I was lost in far-off worlds for hours. It was glorious.

It’s my sons’ fault, too. They love to read at bedtime so I wrote one for them. But their specifications were demanding — a story of adventure, with fights and battles, and monsters (scary but not too scary), and magic, and a girl who is cool, and surprises. They gave the story its heartbeat as a story about two brothers.

It’s also my wife’s fault. She shaped so much of the sensibility here. She’s a lover of mysteries like Agatha Christie stories, Edward Gorey, and gothic design. And appropriate to someone born in Maryland she loves Edgar Allen Poe, ravens, and mysterious ocean voyages. She gave the story its vibes.

Will there be any recipes if this is a dinner club?

Possibly. At least a Raven cocktail.

How can I support the project?

I’m doing this entirely on my own, hoping to find readers that love the same things I love. If you want to support the project you’d have my deep gratitude. Here’s what you can do:

• Sign up for updates here if you haven’t already

• Forward this to a friend if you think they’d like it

• Post about it on social if you have it, or put a flyer on a telephone pole if you don’t

• Subscribe to the paid version? I’m going to do everything I can to make it worth your while if you’re so inclined.

• Buy a copy of the printed version later if you liked it

What does the paid version get me?

I’m still figuring that out but I know it will at least include the following:

• A special Christmas mystery short story that will come out in November

• Maps of the island and drawings of some of the flora and creatures

• The dossier on all the characters created by one of them (guess who)

• Opportunities to name a character, plant, monster, etc.