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The Dark Veil Opens: Shadowless Book 0
Stay in the Light... Stay alive.
The beginning of the end! Two researchers and their assistant discover a scientific link between the supernatural and the natural and unwittingly unleash something evil upon a college campus.
Dealing with a murderer accidentally implanted with a being of sheer evil is one thing--but what would the general public do if they knew the secrets uncovered which are better left in the dark?
Get this prequel to The Shadowless now and also get a sneak peek of the first book in the series.
The beginning of the end! Two researchers and their assistant discover a scientific link between the supernatural and the natural and unwittingly unleash something evil upon a college campus.
Dealing with a murderer accidentally implanted with a being of sheer evil is one thing--but what would the general public do if they knew the secrets uncovered which are better left in the dark?
Get this prequel to The Shadowless now and also get a sneak peek of the first book in the series.
- GenresHorror
104 pages, Paperback
Published August 2, 2021
5 people are currently reading
47 people want to read
About the author
Christopher D. Schmitz
127 books247 followersChristopher D Schmitz is the author of fiction and nonfiction as well as a regular blogger.
Following completion of his first fantasy novel in the early 2000s he began working on lots of short fiction in order to refine his craft and went on to publish many pieces from 1,000-15,000 words in a variety of genres and outlets as writing exercises. Putting fiction away for a while, he pursued post-graduate work where he received a new appreciation for nonfiction, wrote Why Your Pastor Left, and then returned to his love for fiction, writing several new books.
Schmitz attained a Biblical Studies degree and a Youth Ministry minor from Trinity Bible College in 2003 and went on to gain a Masters of Arts in Religion from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary in 2014.
Other: he is generally known as a decent guitarist and played/sang in a rock band for several years. Schmitz is also an ungraded bagpipe player and has been known to pop up in random places and play them--sometimes while dressed as a pirate... because normal is boring.
Following completion of his first fantasy novel in the early 2000s he began working on lots of short fiction in order to refine his craft and went on to publish many pieces from 1,000-15,000 words in a variety of genres and outlets as writing exercises. Putting fiction away for a while, he pursued post-graduate work where he received a new appreciation for nonfiction, wrote Why Your Pastor Left, and then returned to his love for fiction, writing several new books.
Schmitz attained a Biblical Studies degree and a Youth Ministry minor from Trinity Bible College in 2003 and went on to gain a Masters of Arts in Religion from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary in 2014.
Other: he is generally known as a decent guitarist and played/sang in a rock band for several years. Schmitz is also an ungraded bagpipe player and has been known to pop up in random places and play them--sometimes while dressed as a pirate... because normal is boring.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 6, 2022
This lost me a little at the start with it's quantum physics and scientific explanations but then it morphed into a rather ingenious, and at times funny, horror story with an ending that leaves you hooked!
I can't wait to read the next in this series.
I can't wait to read the next in this series.
October 17, 2021
Three scientists are conducting a university study into an unknown entity. They know the creature is real. To prove it, they have to capture one, study it and learn how to contain it. What could possibly go wrong?
Lots of things.....
Loved this intro story to Christopher Schmitz's latest horror series! This is a prequel story to set the tone -- and boy...what a tone! The story kept my attention from start to finish. Horror with a splash of humor thrown in. Very entertaining! I can't wait to read the rest of this series!
There are three novellas in this series so far! I'm definitely reading the rest. I like Schmitz's writing style and plots. Already got Book 1 - Bloodguilt queued up in my Kindle app! Have to find out what happens next! Thanks a lot Schmitz for making me break my self-imposed book buying ban....I have no will power when it comes to excellent horror!
Lots of things.....
Loved this intro story to Christopher Schmitz's latest horror series! This is a prequel story to set the tone -- and boy...what a tone! The story kept my attention from start to finish. Horror with a splash of humor thrown in. Very entertaining! I can't wait to read the rest of this series!
There are three novellas in this series so far! I'm definitely reading the rest. I like Schmitz's writing style and plots. Already got Book 1 - Bloodguilt queued up in my Kindle app! Have to find out what happens next! Thanks a lot Schmitz for making me break my self-imposed book buying ban....I have no will power when it comes to excellent horror!
June 1, 2023
This is going to be a negative review, and I regret that, but I feel as if this needs to be written. Mr. Schmitz is a big boy, and he can handle constructive criticism.
First, things I appreciate:
1. Mr. Schmitz is a competent writer. He has good grammar, good spelling, and good paragraph structure. This is high praise from a grammar Nazi like myself.
2. Mr. Schmitz has a unique idea of exploring "miracle" phenomena.
3. Mr. Schmitz's writing can be humorous at times.
4. This book was an easy read with a terrifying outcome.
But…
I knew that we were in trouble by the second page of text.
The main character, Swag, is buying batteries at a big box store.
He turned his head and spotted the woman in a lab coat that matched his own. –p.4
We have a problem, Houston.
1. Lab coats are sometimes owned by the lab and are lab property. They do not leave the premises.
2. Lab coats are worn to protect one's daily clothing from icky or dangerous things in the lab. If one wears the lab coat out of the lab, then one is carrying the icky and dangerous things (bacteria, body fluids, chemicals) out of the lab and may contaminate your car, your house, and other people. This is unsafe and unprofessional.
3. It is not acceptable to wear one's lab coat outside the lab areas, and only an incompetent fool does so. Considering how the book progressed, maybe she's an incompetent fool.
Swag wished he was the kind of guy who struck up random conversations with pretty girls… –p.5
4. Individuals who are incompetent fools and who are irresponsible with potential contaminants are not admired or sought after socially by other competent scientists. But again, considering how the book progressed, maybe he's an incompetent fool, too. No scientist or lab worker that I know would want anything to do with someone who disrespects these basic safety protocols. And how would one get to the level of PhD (or Doctoral Candidate) without understanding these basic safety rules? One can be kicked out of PhD programs for not following the rules.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Squinting across the distance, he noticed the ID badge was similar, though he could not make out a name. –p.4
No. Just no. Women don't wear their ID badges in public unless required for professional reasons.
By age 20, we've all had at least one story of a guy we don't recognize approaching us and greeting us by name. "Hi, Kelli! I see you're buying Mac & Cheese." It's extremely disconcerting and upsetting. It makes us feel deeply unsafe. Most women only need to experience this once before we change our behavior (and remove our nametags before entering a public space).
Only two groups of women wear their ID badges in public. The first is very young high schoolers who have not yet had the bad experience of strangers using your name and making personal comments to you. The character of Jessica Hiddleston is within 6 months of completing her doctorate, so, even if brilliant, she would be no younger than 25...closer to 30. Along with the prior lab coat incident, we can presume that Ms. Hiddleston is a part of the second group: stupid fools.
—-------------------------------------------------------------------------
"True science can't rule that out. It can only know what it knows."
…
"It can't prove that there are no aliens, no angels or ghosts…no God." –p.6
*Sigh.* This is setting up for a religious crisis later, isn't it? Science cannot prove a negative. It cannot prove there is NO God, in the same way that I cannot prove that there are NO cockroaches in my house.
Science is in the business of proving positives. If evidence existed, it would prove God's existence.
Bad Hypothesis: There are NO cockroaches in my house.
Bad Hypothesis: God is NOT real.
You cannot prove the above hypotheses.
Good Hypothesis: There ARE cockroaches in my house.
Good Hypothesis: God IS real.
WITH EVIDENCE, you CAN prove the above two hypotheses.
I COULD prove that there are cockroaches in my house. I might have to take apart my house, brick by brick and nail by nail, but if I even find frass (feces) or a cuticle (the discarded exoskeleton when an insect molts) from ONE cockroach, I will have proven that my house has/had cockroaches. But, if there is NO evidence…that doesn't mean that my house doesn't have cockroaches. It just means that we have not seen any evidence. The hypothesis is unproven.
And just because the affirmative hypothesis (There are cockroaches in my house.) is unproven, that doesn't mean that my house has no cockroaches. It just means that there is ZERO EVIDENCE of cockroaches in my house. I (and science) cannot prove a negative. I (and science) cannot prove there are no cockroaches. I (and science) cannot prove God doesn't exist.
The author's text presents a scientist asserting a negative hypothesis by saying, "[Science] can't prove there [is]...no God." This is a logical fallacy, unscientific, falsely pushed by a fictional scientist to assert authority, and unethical to assert that by association "it can't be proven false, therefore it is automatically true" in a manner that will convince the gullible.
Shenanigans like these turn more nonChristians away from God than to just stay away from the argument.
I am not opposed to God, but that is the point of faith: one doesn't need evidence for faith. Using science to justify God is like using the rules for adding fractions to edit a paragraph. It's non-applicable, and it makes you (and God) look weak when you use that argument in what is attempting to be a secular text.
—--------------------------------------------------------------------------
I've got 7 more pages that I could post, but what would be the point? And that's just for the first 23 pages of the book.
1. This book needs an editor to fix factual errors.
2. This book needs an editor to fix plot holes.
3. This book needs an editor to avoid racist and sexist tropes.
4. This book needs an editor to avoid logical fallacies.
Mr. Schmitz, I encourage you to find an editor that is different than you are.
As I tell my kids: If all of your friends are the same age, same race, same income, same religion, same sexual orientation, same education, same political values, same background as you….YOU'RE DOING SOMETHING WRONG.
Your current editor (if you have one) is too close to the same as you to see the weaknesses in your writing. You need someone different than you who will stand up to you to edit your books.
Can't afford an editor? Make friends with people who are different than you. And by "friends," this is not just someone you know. It is someone who has come to your house repeatedly for dinner, and you have earned their trust enough to be invited to dinner at their house. Have each of them preread your current project and give you feedback.
First, things I appreciate:
1. Mr. Schmitz is a competent writer. He has good grammar, good spelling, and good paragraph structure. This is high praise from a grammar Nazi like myself.
2. Mr. Schmitz has a unique idea of exploring "miracle" phenomena.
3. Mr. Schmitz's writing can be humorous at times.
4. This book was an easy read with a terrifying outcome.
But…
I knew that we were in trouble by the second page of text.
The main character, Swag, is buying batteries at a big box store.
He turned his head and spotted the woman in a lab coat that matched his own. –p.4
We have a problem, Houston.
1. Lab coats are sometimes owned by the lab and are lab property. They do not leave the premises.
2. Lab coats are worn to protect one's daily clothing from icky or dangerous things in the lab. If one wears the lab coat out of the lab, then one is carrying the icky and dangerous things (bacteria, body fluids, chemicals) out of the lab and may contaminate your car, your house, and other people. This is unsafe and unprofessional.
3. It is not acceptable to wear one's lab coat outside the lab areas, and only an incompetent fool does so. Considering how the book progressed, maybe she's an incompetent fool.
Swag wished he was the kind of guy who struck up random conversations with pretty girls… –p.5
4. Individuals who are incompetent fools and who are irresponsible with potential contaminants are not admired or sought after socially by other competent scientists. But again, considering how the book progressed, maybe he's an incompetent fool, too. No scientist or lab worker that I know would want anything to do with someone who disrespects these basic safety protocols. And how would one get to the level of PhD (or Doctoral Candidate) without understanding these basic safety rules? One can be kicked out of PhD programs for not following the rules.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Squinting across the distance, he noticed the ID badge was similar, though he could not make out a name. –p.4
No. Just no. Women don't wear their ID badges in public unless required for professional reasons.
By age 20, we've all had at least one story of a guy we don't recognize approaching us and greeting us by name. "Hi, Kelli! I see you're buying Mac & Cheese." It's extremely disconcerting and upsetting. It makes us feel deeply unsafe. Most women only need to experience this once before we change our behavior (and remove our nametags before entering a public space).
Only two groups of women wear their ID badges in public. The first is very young high schoolers who have not yet had the bad experience of strangers using your name and making personal comments to you. The character of Jessica Hiddleston is within 6 months of completing her doctorate, so, even if brilliant, she would be no younger than 25...closer to 30. Along with the prior lab coat incident, we can presume that Ms. Hiddleston is a part of the second group: stupid fools.
—-------------------------------------------------------------------------
"True science can't rule that out. It can only know what it knows."
…
"It can't prove that there are no aliens, no angels or ghosts…no God." –p.6
*Sigh.* This is setting up for a religious crisis later, isn't it? Science cannot prove a negative. It cannot prove there is NO God, in the same way that I cannot prove that there are NO cockroaches in my house.
Science is in the business of proving positives. If evidence existed, it would prove God's existence.
Bad Hypothesis: There are NO cockroaches in my house.
Bad Hypothesis: God is NOT real.
You cannot prove the above hypotheses.
Good Hypothesis: There ARE cockroaches in my house.
Good Hypothesis: God IS real.
WITH EVIDENCE, you CAN prove the above two hypotheses.
I COULD prove that there are cockroaches in my house. I might have to take apart my house, brick by brick and nail by nail, but if I even find frass (feces) or a cuticle (the discarded exoskeleton when an insect molts) from ONE cockroach, I will have proven that my house has/had cockroaches. But, if there is NO evidence…that doesn't mean that my house doesn't have cockroaches. It just means that we have not seen any evidence. The hypothesis is unproven.
And just because the affirmative hypothesis (There are cockroaches in my house.) is unproven, that doesn't mean that my house has no cockroaches. It just means that there is ZERO EVIDENCE of cockroaches in my house. I (and science) cannot prove a negative. I (and science) cannot prove there are no cockroaches. I (and science) cannot prove God doesn't exist.
The author's text presents a scientist asserting a negative hypothesis by saying, "[Science] can't prove there [is]...no God." This is a logical fallacy, unscientific, falsely pushed by a fictional scientist to assert authority, and unethical to assert that by association "it can't be proven false, therefore it is automatically true" in a manner that will convince the gullible.
Shenanigans like these turn more nonChristians away from God than to just stay away from the argument.
I am not opposed to God, but that is the point of faith: one doesn't need evidence for faith. Using science to justify God is like using the rules for adding fractions to edit a paragraph. It's non-applicable, and it makes you (and God) look weak when you use that argument in what is attempting to be a secular text.
—--------------------------------------------------------------------------
I've got 7 more pages that I could post, but what would be the point? And that's just for the first 23 pages of the book.
1. This book needs an editor to fix factual errors.
2. This book needs an editor to fix plot holes.
3. This book needs an editor to avoid racist and sexist tropes.
4. This book needs an editor to avoid logical fallacies.
Mr. Schmitz, I encourage you to find an editor that is different than you are.
As I tell my kids: If all of your friends are the same age, same race, same income, same religion, same sexual orientation, same education, same political values, same background as you….YOU'RE DOING SOMETHING WRONG.
Your current editor (if you have one) is too close to the same as you to see the weaknesses in your writing. You need someone different than you who will stand up to you to edit your books.
Can't afford an editor? Make friends with people who are different than you. And by "friends," this is not just someone you know. It is someone who has come to your house repeatedly for dinner, and you have earned their trust enough to be invited to dinner at their house. Have each of them preread your current project and give you feedback.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 1, 2022
WOW, book 0 scared me so badly, BUT I COULD NOT STOP READING!! I hate rats, but I almost felt sorry for "Little Satan" as he was injected with an entity from as experiment that was term "in the name of ". I AM SO NOT READY FOR SO CALLED SCIENNCE THANK YOU VERY MUCH! Doctor Jimmy Swaggert did not believe in ghost, aliens and God, but HE SHOULD HAVE BEELIEVED IN SATAN AS HE AMD TWO OTHER SCIENTIST UNLEASHED HOLY HELL ON A UNIVERSITY TOWN!
August 3, 2022
In the beginning of the book setting the tone was a bit tough. But once it got going, I didn't put the book down. Now to find the other books that come after to see what happens.
I've met the author many times. Funny and knowledgeable man. Even if he does dress up like Wolverine knowing that Deadpool is better. LOL
I've met the author many times. Funny and knowledgeable man. Even if he does dress up like Wolverine knowing that Deadpool is better. LOL
October 11, 2021
Good intro to the series
A really good intro to the series, with likeable main characters and a previously evil little antagonist. Can't wait to get stuck into Book 1 of the Shadowless series today.
A really good intro to the series, with likeable main characters and a previously evil little antagonist. Can't wait to get stuck into Book 1 of the Shadowless series today.
March 22, 2022
Story about scientists that experimenting on unknown entity with unexpected catastrophe result.
Most of it dwell on physics, with some humour and horror.
"Science is my mistress,” he told the confused greeter at the door.
Lol
Most of it dwell on physics, with some humour and horror.
"Science is my mistress,” he told the confused greeter at the door.
Lol
May 9, 2023
what If Demons Could Be Scientifically Studied?
Even put in a test tube or such? Two scientists are joined by a third, capture an entity and make some horrific discoveries. The story continues and I will purchase the rest to see where the author takes this story.
Even put in a test tube or such? Two scientists are joined by a third, capture an entity and make some horrific discoveries. The story continues and I will purchase the rest to see where the author takes this story.
November 21, 2022
I really liked how easy a read it was. It was short and sweet, and I can't wait to read Bloodguilt!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews