Updates bi-monthly on Wednesdays
VAMPIRES, COWBOYS, HOMOEROTICISM, GORE, AND A WHOLE LOTTA BLOOD
Author's Note:
This is not a story about good people. I want this to be very clear from the beginning, this is a story about a man's descent into the terrible and dark, and how it changes him and what he becomes on the other side. But still, finding a terrible family anyway that he finds a home in, and the consequences that come of that.As a result, this story will cover topics of violence, murder, explicit gore, unhealthy coping mechanisms, and other darker story beats, as this story is covering vampire outlaws in the wild west. Any topics that are outside of these listed that require TWs will have specific chapter and page warnings.I will also note, this is not a story with a happy ending. Please do not expect that. But, at the very least, I hope this story is a crazy, twisted, wild ride, with a healthy dose of flawed, queer characters, sadness, and tragedy, because it didn't have to end the way it does, but it was always going to.For those that continue onwards, I thank you so much for giving my little dark, vampiric, homoerotic cowboy comic a chance! And for those who decide this isn't for them, I wish you well, and thank you for even clicking on my site in the first place!
-Sincerely, Mack "ELGURITCH" M.
About
"ABOVE SNAKES"
Above Ground, Meaning Still Alive.
Above Snakes is a queer supernatural horror western graphic novel, focused on Virgil Delgado Lawrence, a Mexican soldier finding himself embraced into a pack of vampire outlaws in the late 1800s American West, and how despite being a group of (literally!) bloodthirst outcasts, he finds himself with a new family he can love and trust. Something desperately needed as the blood on his hands grows thicker and thicker, and the weight of his newfound sins hang heavier around his neck, threatening to catch up with him with each passing decade...
About the artist
Mack || Transmasc || He/Eld || 25
Mack "Moose" is an openly proud and loud transgender, neurodivergent eldritch horror from the southeastern US with a love of all things dark, eldritch, gothic, and monstrous. His favorite subjects for art include monsters, blood and gore, eldritch and cosmic horror, cowboys, and anything with sharp teeth and glowing eyes. He has a love of crafting characters, and telling stories, especially those that focus on LGBTQ+ identities.When not creating art, he can be found enjoying time with his horse, making and playing tabletop characters in games such as Pathfinder and Vampire: The Masquerade, and studying art history.
Characters
Virgil Delgado Lawrence
He/him || ???
The middle child of his family, Virgil was raised as a vaquero for the Estrada Family Ranch near Albuquerque, Santa fe de Nuevo Mexico. Raised to be a quick pair of hands, an accomplished marksman and survivalist, and an honest man, he was proud of who he was.He adored his family, his mother, father, older brother Felipe, and his younger twin sisters Fidelia and Gracilia. With his new nature, he doesn't think he'll ever see them again.
OLD SCRATCH
He/him || Pack Leader
The Devil upon earth, at least, to Virgil's perception. While not the first of the pack to be encountered, Old Scratch has made the biggest impression on Virgil.And ever since waking up on that cold ground with new fangs in his mouth and blood on his hands, Virgil's inner state has been more then turbulent whenever he looks in his direction for reasons he can't understand.
Flannel mouth
He/him || Pack Liasion
A hulking behemoth of a man, Virgil's first feelings towards Flannel Mouth are less then happy, even going out of his way to avoid him in particular.Is it out of anger? Possibly. Is it out of fear? Definitely. Is it because he can see the way that Flannel Mouth looks at him with a sympathetic gaze, wanting to help, but he doesn't know how? Can't be that one. Virgil doesn't want it to be that one.
High Binder
She/Her || Pack Warrior
The first of the Monsters that Virgil saw that night on the battlefield, and one he loathes the most, being filled with an unnatural rage when crossing her path.It isn't helped by High Binder trying to start a fight very time she chances upon him, as if she wants to finish what was started when she first found him lying on the ground.
Crowbait
She/Her || Pack Warrior
Absolutely hideous and monsterous, Virgil was at first terrified of her, as she was the most apparent monster of the bunch. But at the same time, she is the only fluent Spanish speaker among them, and it seems, the most sympathetic to his situation of them all.He doesn't know how to feel about her yet, recoiling away, but seeking her out the same, as she's the only one who can truly understand and listen to him.
Yellowbelly
She/Her || Pack Procurer
Almost startlingly out of place among the pack of rough and rowdy roaming outlaws, Yellowbelly is... Too proper, too prim, too well put together, educated, and clearly not born into a life of a roaming outlaw, even to an outsider's eye like Virgil.One of the eldest of the Pack, Yellowbelly, while not one of the most direct combatives, is no less dangerous and capable, and Virgil feels like he has to keep an eye on her like he would a coiled-up rattler so he doesn't get himself bit.
