Pierce Mostyn not only has Cthulhu to think about, he also has Valdis Damien van Dyne.

In case you don’t know, Pierce Mostyn is the hero in my Pierce Mostyn Paranormal Investigations series. He is the G-Man assigned to fight the Ultimate Evil. Ultimate evil from our point of view, that is.

But along the way, a diabolical mastermind, Valdis Damien van Dyne rears his head — and his monsters.

Sherlock Holmes had his Moriarty. Nero Wolfe had his Zeck. Nayland Smith had his Dr. Fu Manchu. Hence, I think it only natural for Mostyn to have his van Dyne.

The Diabolical Mastermind trope has been around for a long time, and has served readers, moviegoers, and TV watchers quite well. The Diabolical Mastermind is the ultimate test for the hero.

A few readers have asked, “Why van Dyne, when you already have the ultimate evil in Cthulhu?” And that is a good question.

In part, I created van Dyne for a very human face to put on the evil in our world. I relish good cosmic horror. It is the ultimate expression of the objective meaninglessness of humanity. As such, cosmic horror shows us that our meaning and purpose is all inside. Who we are cannot be found out there. It can only be found within. We must discover who we are through introspection.

Nietzsche advised us to look to art for discovering who we are. What he meant was, just as the gods are all creators so are we humans creators. It is through the act of creating that we find ourselves and express who and what we are as individuals. And this includes our only actual purpose and that is biological reproduction.

While cosmic horror pictures this for us, many of us find it is all too abstract. What do all of these cosmic monsters have to do with the day to day evil I encounter? And that is a good question. Don’t I have enough crap to deal with in my regular life? Why do I need to be concerned about ultimate evil?

What the Diabolical Mastermind does is put a human face to the ultimate evil that causes the ultimate horror. It’s rather difficult to come to grips with Cthulhu or Azathoth. It’s much easier for us to understand a Moriarty, or a Fu Manchu, or a Valdis Damien van Dyne.

In Pierce Mostyn’s world, van Dyne is the human counterpart to Cthulhu. Both are evil. Both exert incredible and extensive influence in the affairs of the world. And both want to take over the world, caring little about the fate of the human inhabitants in the process.

Well, van Dyne probably cares a bit more about humans than Cthulhu does. After all, van Dyne wants slaves to do his bidding. To Cthulhu we’re just a nuisance. If that.

Thus far, Valdis Damien van Dyne appears in two books:

Van Dyne’s Vampires, and

Van Dyne’s Zuvembies.

In each, we encounter van Dyne using various monsters to try to take over the world. A Diabolical Mastermind and a Mad Scientist. All rolled into one.

This makes for a titanic struggle between the forces of good (Mostyn, Bardon, and the rest of the OUP gang), and the forces of evil — personified in Valdis Damien van Dyne. The fate of the world hangs in the balance!

Van Dyne’s Vampires on Amazon. “…a mash of mythos, monsters, and tech all rolled into an enjoyable whole.”

Van Dyne’s Zuvembies on Amazon. “…calculating and horrifying…”

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!