Creating the Cover of “Monsters at Dusk”

A book without a cover is like a burrito without a tortilla. For quite some time, that’s what I had with Monsters at Dusk.

That’s the title of my upcoming book, by the way. It’s a collection of short stories (and one novella), all about—you guessed it—monsters. I had the stories, I had the title, and I even had the pretentious quotes at the beginning. But that was just the filling. I needed to wrap it all up before anyone could take a bite.

Enter Nathan Rumsey. Nathan is a designer, a former co-worker, and a good friend of mine. He designed the cover of my first book, Gerald Barkley Rocks, and he did a fantastic job. (If you haven’t seen it, please do check it out. And while you’re looking at the cover, you could, you know, buy the book. If you feel like it.)

The Cover of Gerald Barkley Rocks

I had a specific idea in mind for Gerald Barkley Rocks and Nathan executed it brilliantly. I can’t remember the exact description, but it went something like this…

Yo Nathan! I’m looking for a spinning vinyl record on a turntable. The color red is essential to the book, so I’d like that to be a key element of the cover as well. Perhaps the needle is scratching a line of blood into the disc? Also, since the book has a mostly amusing tone, I don’t want the cover to feel too creepy. Looking for more of a lighthearted feel.

He turned that description into this gorgeous cover…

Nathan absolutely nailed it, as you can see. The only part that didn’t quite work was the needle scratching blood on the record; Nathan tried it, but it didn’t translate well to the cover. Especially in thumbnail size, the record needle looked more like a water cooler.

Luckily for me, Mr. Rumsey translated the needle idea to the title font instead. Notice the droplet of blood that hangs from the letter C in “Rocks.” Love it!

What’s more, I appreciate how Nathan addressed the challenging bits of my description. For example, how does one make a bloody cover lighthearted and not creepy?

Nathan did. He used bright colors that contrasted with the black background. Furthermore, he used a faded font that suggested retrocelebrationism over anything more sinister (like how I coined a new term there?).

But enough about the past. Let’s focus on the future.

The Cover of Monsters at Dusk

Here’s an approximation of my description for Nathan:

Ahoy Nathan! This time around I’m writing a short story collection. As you can guess from the title, each story is about a monster. Dusk (or more generally, times of transition) is a key theme.

Since it’s several stories in one, I don’t want a specific character or monster from any one story featured too heavily. I want something slightly creepy, yet also somehow humorous, because these aren’t straight-up horror stories. Other than that, I have no strong opinions or ideas. Hope that helps!

Clearly not the most descriptive description. Yet I was lucky to be working with a creative guy who can make a lot from a little. I sent three stories from the book to Nathan, then waited.

A few weeks later, Nathan presented a handful of concepts. There were many more than these, but here are several of those rough sketches:

The concept was totally cool. In the top middle row, for example, I like how you can see the sun dipping below the horizon line. Furthermore, I was intrigued by the placement of the title, particularly the way the word “Dusk” creeps along the ground. My only concern here was that the word “Monsters” would be difficult to parse, especially in thumbnail size.

The bottom left image really caught my attention. I loved how the title was composed of early evening light passing through a window. The tree in the background gives that slightly creepy tone I mentioned in the description without branching into horror.

I told Nathan I was intrigued. He delved deeper and returned with more concepts.

Looking pretty good now, huh? Nathan worked his magic again, this time fleshing out the colors and adding a few more experimental elements. Here I loved how it was now much easier to read the book’s title. And again, I enjoyed the placement of the words along the floor and wall.

For the images along the top row, I wasn’t sure how I felt about the faces in the darkness. They achieved that subtly-creepy-yet-slightly-humorous tone I mentioned, yet they felt a bit too on-the-nose. However, I knew Nathan was onto something with these concepts.

The bottom row really got me thrilled. The tree in the reflection returned again, along with the cool font climbing up the wall. Also, the extra windows disappearing out of frame gave the image a broader sense of space.

In the middle image, you might also notice a creepy fellow wearing a bowler hat. Nathan threw that in there and confessed he wasn’t sure if I’d like it. I totally did. It wasn’t a specific character in any of my stories, yet I felt it embodied many of them: Uncanny creatures that aren’t always obvious monsters.

Next up…

Here you can see the design solidifying. We’ve got the contrast of dark negative space with bright colors in the reflection, which brings your eyes to the title. The words also move all the way up the wall, making them less cramped. The creepy guy did disappear in this iteration, though I promise he returns in the finished product. The other sweet innovation: the slippers. See them in the bottom right-hand corner?

This is one of the many moments when Nathan’s work amazed me. The slippers are perfect. They have little monster jaws on them and they’re a classic bit of bedtime attire—that connects the book’s two most important themes. Also, they’re kind of funny, which fulfills the humor request. A+ work.

So all that leads us to the finished product. If you’re subscribed to my newsletter you’ve already seen this. If not, here it is for the first time. Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you the finished cover of Monsters at Dusk!

Now that’s a perfect burrito.

It’s all here: Creepy guy, the monster slippers, the tree (now slightly out of focus), the cool title font, even a nightstand with a plump little spider. Notice too that the font on my name is the same from Gerald Barkley Rocks—Nathan shrewdly added that to give the covers a bit more continuity. I also dig the purple color palette because it gives the sense we’re lost somewhere between late afternoon and nightfall. Or, ya know, dusk. The gradient color of the light bolsters this effect.

I’m thrilled to finally share this cover with the world. Thank you so much, Nathan. I love this cover!

If you’re looking for an amazing designer, I could not recommend Nathan highly enough. Check out his website (a work of art in and of itself) for more information.

To buy this cover and everything underneath it, Monsters at Dusk releases Friday, September 6th. If you’d like to get even more hyped for its release, don’t forget to read the excerpt.  More to come!

Kyle A. Massa is the author of the novel Gerald Barkley Rocks and the forthcoming short story collection Monsters at Dusk. His stories have appeared in numerous online magazines, including Allegory, Chantwood, and Dark Fire Fiction. He lives somewhere in upstate New York with his wife and their two cats.