The Night Crew Podcast

Mecha Horror, Vampire Evolution & Cemetery Secrets - Author EM Otero | Ep 13

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🔍 Episode Description:

On this episode of The Night Crew Podcast, host Brad Ricks sits down with author EM Otero—a writer who blends mecha sci-fi, cosmic horror, and blood-soaked folklore into unforgettable stories.

Eric takes us deep into:

  • Genre-Bending Fiction – From his breakout mecha-cosmic horror novel The Howling Between Worlds (soon to be a sound-enhanced audiobook) to the evolutionary vampire novella Night Hunters and his haunting story collection What the Witch Moth Brings.
  • Unique Monsters & Mythology – Why he reimagines vampires as a hidden branch of human evolution and how he fuses cultural legends with grounded science to create fresh horror.
  • Craft & Process – How a developmental editor shaped his first book, why he’s proudly a pantser, and the night-owl writing sessions that fuel his imagination.
  • Real-Life Gothic Inspirations – From tending century-old graves in a veteran cemetery to discovering forgotten epitaphs, Eric’s day job sounds straight out of a supernatural novel.
  • Literary Influences & Dreams – Laird Barron, Brian Lumley, Hideaki Anno, and a deep love for unexpected horror in fantasy worlds.

    • They also geek out about vampires—from Lost Boys and The Passage to Empire of the Vampire, The Strain, and the evolution of vampire cinema from 80s leather-and-motorcycles to grimdark epics.

    Eric’s key advice for aspiring authors: skip the MFA, skip the rigid outlines—just read widely and write bravely.

    Bio:

    EM Otero is a Puerto Rican author and lover of all things weird. When he isnt writing he is living the busy life of a husband and father. While working outside or hiking, he loves to take pictures of plants, insects, and anything else he finds interesting or strange. He loves showing his daughter and wife the curious things in nature.

     

    His writing is inspired by our weird world, robot anime, horror stories, and science.

     

    đź”— Connect with Eric M. Otero:

    • Website: Emoteroauthor.com
    • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheHowlingBetweenWorlds/
    • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/e.m._otero/
    • TikTok: @em.otero
    • Patreon (exclusive stories & sneak peeks): https://www.patreon.com/EmOtero

      • Whether you love cosmic mecha horror, evolutionary vampires, or the gothic quiet of old cemeteries, this conversation is packed with creative fuel and midnight chills.

       

      🧛‍♂️ Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and check out The Night Crew novel series wherever you get your monster-hunting fiction. Stay creepy, friends.

      keywords

      Eric Otero, writing, horror, vampires, developmental editing, cultural influences, inspiration, cemetery, writing process, literary influences

       

      Hashtags

      #HorrorPodcast #MechaHorror #CosmicHorror #VampireLore #IndieAuthors #WritingProcess #BradRicks #EricMOtero #TheNightCrewPodcast #AuthorInterview

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      The Night Crew PodcastBy Brad Ricks