Veterans in Horror Spotlight 2023: Xavier Poe Kane

Xavier Poe Kane Biography

Xavier served 6 years in the Air Force after which he spent 14 in the Air National Guard, retiring in 2020. He currently lives in St. Louis with his wife, Morticia, in a state of mutual weirdness with their dogs Chuck Norris and the three-legged Jabba the Hutt. Thanks to the GI Bill, he has a MFA in Popular Fiction Writing and Publishing from Emerson College. Xavier has published three books: The Hidden Lives of Dick & Mary, Broken Hearts & Other Horrors, and A Mother’s Torment. He also writes short horror for the Fear From The Heartland podcast.

Book Recommendation:  Broken Hearts & Other Horrors

Broken Hearts & Other Horrors is the second book I’ve released. It’s an anthology of 12 short stories that cover a wide variety of the genre from monsters to the psychological. One story, ‘The Werewolf Truce’ reflects upon the brutality and folly of war. Set on WWI’s Eastern Front and inspired by the legendary ‘Wolf Truce of 1917,’ I trade werewolves for wolves to counterbalance the carnage of the human combatants. All told in the letters home and diary style of Dracula. Speaking of Dracula, my favorite of the collection is called The Last Bride and is a take on Dracula’s three brides. They’re seen, but we don’t know much about them which leaves a lot of room to explore.

Finally, the book is illustrated by another vet: Corey Galal who served in the Army and has done artwork for Topps and Lucasfilm on Marvel, Star Wars, and The Walking Dead. This presented an opportunity to tell a meta-narrative about two souls in love with one another who were ripped apart with the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. With the exception of one story, there are clues peppered either in the text or Corey’s illustrations to tell the reader which soul is having their heart crushed in the story. All of which culminates in a nod to Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion”.