Jason J. McCuiston
Jason J. McCuiston was born in the wilds of Tennessee, where he was raised on a carnivorous diet of old monster movies, westerns, comic books, horror magazines, sci-fi and fantasy novels, and, of course, Dungeons & Dragons. He attended the finest state school that would have him with the intention of becoming a comic book artist. This did not pan out, so following his matriculation and a brief and unprofitable stint as an illustrator of tabletop RPGs, he embarked upon a whirlwind tour of spectacularly underpaid and uninspired careers. Half a lifetime later, he came to his senses, realizing he was meant to be a professional storyteller.
Publishing his first story about zombies, kung fu, and family ties in Parsec Ink's 2017 Triangulation: Appetites anthology, Jason has been a semi-finalist in the Writers of the Future contest, and he has studied under the tutelage of bestselling author Philip Athans. His stories of fantasy, horror, and science fiction have appeared in numerous anthologies, periodicals, websites, and podcasts, notably Dark Owl Publishing's Something Wicked This Way Rides anthology, StoryHack Action & Adventure magazine, and Black Infinity magazine.
Project Notebook, Jason's first novel, was published in summer of 2020 to critical acclaim. He has since released a series of pulp sci-fi adventure stories with Dark Owl Publishing featuring his signature hero, the Last Star Warden. You can find all of these and most of his other publications on his Amazon page.
Jason lives in South Carolina, USA with his college professor wife (which makes him a Doctor's Companion) and their two four-legged girls, Winky and Tonks.
Connect with him on X @JasonJMcCuiston.
"A rare and refreshing level of pulpy fun...
A fantastic experience!"
~ Gregory L. Norris, author of the
Gerry Anderson's Into Infinity novels by Anderson Entertainment
The Last Star Warden is lost in time, a man out of his element, fighting against injustice and tyranny in a strange world not his own. He and his faithful friend Quantum work together to help the oppressed and stop the oppressors, but can they eventually find their way back home?
Written and illustrated by Jason J. McCuiston, the Last Star Warden series is action-packed sci-fi for readers who love thrilling adventure and lovers of classic pulp magazines will truly enjoy!
The Last Star Warden Series
Tales of Adventure and Mystery from Frontier Space, Volume I
The Last Star Warden, Volume II: The Un Quan Saga
These books are appropriate for 12-year-olds on up.
"This is an author at the top of his game and one that I cannot wait to see more from.
5 stars out of 5."
~ John Watson, Horror Book R&R
In this collection of thirteen illustrated tales, two-fisted heroes -
and those of the everyman variety - confront some of the best-known conspiracy theories and urban legends of our time, stumble upon less familiar myths, and even discover a few new ones.
Satanic cults, witches, aliens, pagan gods, ancient monsters, serial killers, and global conspiracies fill the pages of this volume of dark fantasy, horror, and intrigue. The deepest, darkest recesses of the pop-culture zeitgeist are brought to lurid life in these thrilling tales of pulp-style adventure and esoteric mystery.
Read them and see your world with new eyes.
Read them and see behind the curtain.
Read them and form your own theories.
The Brotherhood of Secret Darkness and Other Cults,
Cabals, and Conspiracies reveals that it is all connected.
This book is appropriate for teenagers on up.
In a world where monsters still haunt the shadows,
Professor Phineas Wyrd is in the business of Miracles.
Not only is Professor Wyrd's World of Wonders a collection of some of the most amazing performers the nineteenth century has ever seen, it is also home to unique individuals empowered by the Almighty to battle the minions of
the Evil One.
From a legendary gunfighter that never misses to a Hungarian mystic linked to every living mind on Earth;
from a Russian knife-thrower who can bend the flow of time to a blind preacher who can see demons in their true forms,
the World of Wonders boasts a menagerie of Godly heroes.
Join the adventures as Professor Wyrd leads his team of Miracles across the American wilderness and into its burgeoning metropolises in search of the evil, the corrupt,
and the creature that still go bump in the night.
Signed and Numbered Limited Edition
Available online soon
This book is appropriate for teenagers on up.
"McCuiston has delivered a fast-paced and richly-textured debut novel; sci-fi fantasy mystery steeped in UFO lore and oozing post-WWII paranoia.
Highly recommended."
~ Tom English, editor of Black Infinity Magazine
In the summer of 1947 - weeks before something fell to Earth near Roswell, New Mexico - the skies above the pacific Northwest were filled with mysterious lights and strange phenomena. Members of a top-secret organization are dispatched to investigate the Maury Island Incident, where their first encounter with the unknown results in the team being scattered across Seattle and Tacoma, disarmed and suffering from amnesia.
As eyewitnesses to the strange events begin turning up as apparent suicides, the team of elite WWII veterans must regroup and uncover the truth behind these extraordinary circumstances...
even if it means facing their own self destruction.
"A tight, taut, tense thriller packed with action and ominous overtones sure to cast shadows on the world as we know it."
~ Christine Morgan, The Horror Fiction Review and author of White Death
This book is appropriate for pre-teens on up.
Praise for Jason's Work
The Last Star Warden
"The Last Star Warden is about an actual hero... the titular Star Warden. The stories have everything that one could want in science fiction action/adventure. There's dastardly villains, shootouts, space battles, mysterious space stations, and an indomitable sense of right and wrong...
The Star Warden is a straightforward hero - no deconstruction, no metanarrative, no satirization. He's an unapologetic Good Guy.
He's a rarity in his world, and in this one as well..."
~ Carl R. Jennings, reviewer for Phantasmagoria Magazine and author of Just About Anyone
"The Last Star Warden is exactly what it looks like: a rollicking collection of space western stories. McCuiston delivers big with plenty of imagination and thrills. He pays homage to a western classic formula while injecting enough delightful alien weirdness to justify the intergalactic setting.
The Warden and Quantum are unashamedly heroic heroes doing what's right in an unforgiving universe. Highly recommended."
~ Bryce Beattie, Editor of StoryHack Action & Adventure and author of Swordcrossed Frostbite
"The Last Star Warden... finds himself displaced a hundred years into his future facing off against numerous foes and dangers he never dreamed possible: a derelict space station haunted by vengeful ghosts, a behemoth corporate-built machine that feasts on entire stars, and a merciless prison ship among them. Armed only with his twin Comet pistols and his former-enemy-turned-sidekick Quantum for backup, the Last Star Warden meets all with steely grace and nobility - and a rare and refreshing level of pure, pulpy fun. Jason McCuiston's excellent book of adventures reads like a time warp back to boyhood Saturdays where classic Science Fiction played all afternoon on UHF. A fantastic experience!"
~ Gregory L. Norris, author of the Gerry Anderson's Into Infinity novels by Anderson Entertainment
"Jason J. McCuiston didn’t just take sword-and-planet space-fantasy, half a dozen other sub-genres of science fiction, the classic Western, superhero comics, the long tradition of pulp adventure stories, and real world concerns and throw them in a blender, he carefully deconstructed them and reassembled them into something as fresh as it is exciting. He did it. He made science fiction fun again!"~ Philip Athans, author of Writing Monsters and The Best of Fantasy Authors Handbook
"Intrigue and suspense are woven into the action and revolve around the classic hero… Fans of throwback sci-fi and Star Trek will love it."~ R.M. Schultz, author of The Forgotten Sky
"[Jason McCuiston’s work] is retro sci-fi at its best. A sense of wonder permeates McCuiston’s novel and makes readers long for the… next perilous mission."
~ Vonnie Winslow Crist, award-winning author of Dragon Rain, Murder on Marawa Prime, and the Shivers and Scares series
The Brotherhood of Secret Darkness
"When you read a short story collection, you expect there to be a couple of tales that are little more than filler, but that is not the case with The Brotherhood of Secret Darkness. Each of the 13 stories contained within are excellent in their own right, coming together to make an outstanding collection that is a must read.
"In fact, there are a few of these stories that are begging to be expanded upon and turned into novels or even series. I would particularly love to see more from Professor Wyrd and his team, who appear in the titular short story.
"This is an author at the top of his game and one that I cannot wait to see more from.
5 stars out of 5."
~ John Watson, Horror Book R&R
Project Notebook
"McCuiston's immersive debut imbues a first encounter tale with 1940s noir flavor as an elite team of WWII veterans looks into reports of strange lights in the skies over Washington State. McCuiston does not shy away from the trauma of WWII and uses the social complexities of America in the years leading up to the Cold War to inform the character dynamics. The high stakes and rich, atmospheric prose make for a thoroughly satisfying alternate history."
~ Publishers Weekly
Click here to read the full review
"In Project Notebook, author-to-watch Jason J. McCuiston has mined some long-standing UFO conspiracies, made them his own, then set a masterfully realized cast of complex characters on a wild ride through a flying saucer-haunted Seattle of the 1950s. Highly recommended!"
~ Philip Athans, New York Times Bestselling Author of Annihilation and the Fantasy Author's Handbook blog
"McCuiston has delivered a fast-paced and richly-textured debut novel; a noirish sci-fi fantasy mystery steeped in UFO lore and oozing post-WWII paranoia. Highly recommended."
~ Tom English, editor of Black Infinity Magazine
"Project Notebook transported me back to an overcast late summer day in 1977, when, looking up at the trees across our rural road, I saw something saucer-shaped and shadowy rotate through the mist for all of one second that has stayed with me since. Like the memory, McCuiston delivers an unforgettable page-turner. Moody, gorgeously written, Notebook reads like a dark dream and deserves a place on every bookshelf."
~ Gregory L. Norris, author of the Gerry Anderson's Into Infinity novels by Anderson Entertainment
"There's an emotional core to proceedings - McCuiston knows his characters and cares about them... Jason J. McCuiston is an author of exceptional talent..."
~ Trevor Kennedy, editor of Phantasmagoria Magazine
5-Star Amazon Reviews
"While the fast-paced story contains plenty of thrills and danger, it also has a lot of unexpected depth as the narrator… deals with past trauma and current family challenges. The threads of mystery, danger and personal choices are woven ever more tightly until they resolve in an unexpectedly sober and bittersweet conclusion. Recommended."
~ S. Williams
"I'm pretty sure the author, Jason J. McCuiston, spent no portion of his life in the late 1940s or even early 1950s, yet he’s written a novel set convincingly in that era. The language, songs, brand names, and other references seemed authentic to me, without any apparent anachronisms."
~ S. R. Southard
"I found this book to be just what I expect from the author—page-turning action, enjoyable characters, and a fun read. McCuiston's books never disappoint!"
~ Kimberly
"The author really draws you in to the characters' lives and you want to know what happens with them."
~ Nurse Carolyn
"Reminds me of why I love to read. [Plus] love the commentary about gray morality… A good level of escapism as always [plus] has faction disputes that are tailored to the setting. Bronze aged heroics on page. Lets me escape the 24/7/365 news cycle."
~ FiannaWolf