I was always fascinated by creatures like the Loch Ness Monster.

They struck me as much more realistic than things like The Exorcist or satanic demons- evils that require you to buy into the whole Christian myth to fully embrace as a real possibility

Those lochs (the Scottish word for lake) are incredibly deep, too deep to probe, and many were once open to the sea.

Some prehistoric creature that we assumed died out centuries ago may still be alive in the depths. We have explored more of space than our own oceans.

With that in mind, I visited Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands (unfortunately, I did not see Nessie), and wove the experience into a short story, Oh The Horror…The Horror in my collection “Down Highways in the Dark…by Demons Driven, where I imagined the creature as some deadly, head-severing monster from another dimension!

The ruins of an old fort do neighbor the loch-I saw them in person! I also took home a stone from the loch to memorialize the adventure.