SUPERNATURAL UPMARKET HORROR
A DEBUT NOVEL FROM MARTIN KENT
A diabolicAL plot
HIS GUITARS ARE MASTERPIECES
HIS PLAYERS ARE CORPSES
New York, 1971: rock stars are dying young and becoming legends, and business has never been better. Iggy Gravenides, a scarred, nine-fingered luthier with daddy issues the size of Madison Square Garden, sees his shot at validation and recognition when he gets his hands on mystical rainforest timber stolen from a Brazilian shaman's sacred grove. The guitar he builds is a masterpiece — it also happens to drain its player's life force like a cosmic jukebox that only takes souls. The first victim shreds himself into a withered husk while playing the greatest set of his life, dying with a smile on his face and gratitude in his heart. Word gets out. In an era when rock stars genuinely believe dying young is a career move, Iggy's order book fills fast. As the body count rises and the reanimated dead follow him around New York like fanboys from hell, he pushes aside his fear and guilt over the horror he's unleashed, and convinces himself he's providing a service. He's not entirely wrong. Basking in the limelight, he keeps building. But when his lifelong idol — a Chicago blues legend — demands a guitar, Iggy's moral accounting finally comes due. Deny his hero — or deliver him to the curse? The reckoning arrives at the Fillmore East, where a shaman's long-planned revenge against colonial greed strikes its final, apocalyptic chord — and the house literally comes down. At the crossroads of fame and infamy, the price is always the same:
SHRED TILL YOU'RE DEAD.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Martin Kent is an Emmy Award-winning documentary creator, journalist, and musician whose storytelling career spans over three decades.
His deep roots in the horror genre began with a direct collaboration with the master of horror himself, Wes Craven, for whom he wrote, produced, and performed the iconic end credits theme song for A Nightmare on Elm Street.
A Career in Storytelling
Beyond the screen, his work has shaped major media landscapes:
- Comics: Worked alongside Stan Lee at Marvel Comics, producing their monthly fanzine.
- Television: Served as a founding production executive for the launch of the E! Entertainment Channel.
- Journalism: Editor of The Hollywood Reporter and published features in The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times and other noteworthy publications.
- Documentaries: Created Emmy-winning films, many focusing on legendary musicians, capturing an audience of over 100 million viewers worldwide.
Background & Craft
He holds a Master’s degree in Broadcast Communications from Stanford University and has spent over twenty years as an award-winning speaker with Toastmasters International. His creative work online has amassed over 2.6 million views on YouTube.
With Shred Till You're Dead, he combines his lifelong passions for rock history, music production, and dark, psychological horror into a terrifying literary debut.
The Novel's Origin Story
The Obsession Begins
I was visiting Salem, Oregon a few years ago when I found myself in front of a used guitar shop and noticed a Martin D-18 acoustic guitar in the window. It seemed to be calling me, so I went inside to try it out. The instant I picked it up I felt a connection I'd never had with an instrument, and I own many guitars. I played it nonstop for about an hour when the owner finally came up to me and said: "Well, are you interested in buying it?" I replied: "How can I not?" I paid for it and took it with me. After I returned with the Martin (my namesake) to San Diego, the very next morning, I woke up, grabbed the guitar, and sat on the sofa in my underwear and began to play. My wife left for work. When she walked back through the door at the end of the day, I was still sitting on the exact same spot on the sofa, still in my underwear, still playing.
After a week of this admittedly bizarre, compulsive behavior, a chilling thought hit me:
"Do I own this guitar, or does this guitar own me?"
As a lifelong writer and horror aficionado, the creative gears instantly locked into place. If a beautiful, standard acoustic guitar could consume my life for a week, what would happen if a brilliant, desperate craftsman built an electric guitar out of cursed timber? What if the instrument didn't just demand your time—but your very soul?
With that single question, the story of Iggy Gravenides and his cosmic, soul-eating guitars was born. I chose to set it during the classic rock era, when rockstars were going all out and dying young.
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