Photo by Rev. Tony Lewis

“I first became interested in the occult and magic when I was very VERY young and saw The Wizard of Oz on television for the first and second times. The first time, my mom says I was terrified of the Wicked Witch’s appearance in Munchkin Land amidst smoke and flames and ran straight to bed! (I must have been 5 years old or so.) The next year I began watching the movie again and made myself stick with it past the appearance of the Witch and after that — I was hooked!

“The Wicked Witch of the West became my favorite character because not only is she the most interesting but she is the only one who wields any real power in the movie. She became my idol for years and years! (When a major storm recently struck Manhattan, I made a comment on FB about the wind picking up our house and depositing it atop someone wearing peppermint stripped stockings and glittering red shoes and my cousin responded: ‘You’ve been chasing those shoes for YEARS!’ LoL!)

“As Chair of the CORE Executive of Inter-Disciplinary.net, I also organize annual conferences on aspects of the supernatural, evil and wickedness, and related subjects. It was an I-D.net project that took me to Prague for the first time in 2001. I immediately fell in love with the city — and have been back many, MANY times!”

With degrees in medieval history and theology from Yale and St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Academy, Stephen Morris brings his extensive knowledge and meticulous research in medieval magical practices to his terrifying historical-urban fantasy trilogy, Come Hell or High Water, set in Prague and Waterford, Ireland. In each of his novels, the magical and fantastic elements are all drawn from authentic occult beliefs and practices from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance or from local legends and folklore.

As an Orthodox priest, he served as the Eastern Orthodox chaplain at Columbia University. His previous academic writing has dealt primarily with Late Antiquity and Byzantine church life.

Now a priest of the Episcopal Church, Stephen serves as assistant to the rector at a parish near Lincoln Center.

Stephen, a Seattle native, is a long-time New York resident and currently lives in Manhattan with his partner, Elliot.