Steve Alten, that’s a name most people are familiar with. He’s the best-selling author that brought us the Meg series which was adapted for the big-budget 2018 movie The Meg starring Jason Statham as well as the upcoming sequel.
He also has an amazing new interactive website Sea Monster Cove that puts you in the water with ancient sea monsters, features a new exclusive web series, a video game, and a library of Alten’s novels, all for $9.95 a month. It’s continually evolving and adding new aquariums, new monsters, new books, and new series episodes.
Before I sat down with Alten for an interview I explored the site, called Sea Monster Cove. I dove into the cove to cage dive with giant Makos and other sea monsters you wouldn’t want to run into. It was quite fantastic.
Horror Fuel: “I’m a big fan of Meg. I love anything to do with sharks. Where does your fascination with sharks and ancient ocean creatures come from?”
Steve Alten: “Thank you. It started when I was fifteen and read the book Jaws. After I read that I wanted to know all I could about great white sharks and real-life attacks. I probably read everything that the library had on them. There was a little blurb with a black and white photo of these scientists standing in a set of shark jaws at the Smithsonian. It always talked about great whites and megalodons. But there was nothing really out there about it. Flash forward twenty years, I was thirty-five years old with a family of five to take care of. I had a job that I hated. In 1995 I got a Time magazine in the mail and on the front cover was a Meg and the article talked about thermal vents and how we had never thought there was life at the bottom of the ocean until 1977 when the submersible was designed and they went down and found all this life at the bottom. They also talked about the deepest part of the ocean, the Mariana Trench which is seven miles deep, fifteen hundred and eighty mile-long gorge that is forty miles wide. I thought, well, that would be a pretty cool story. I went to the library to research and it could be plausible. So, I decided to write Meg.
Horror Fuel: “That’s fascinating. I’ve always found sharks and Megaldons interesting. It’s funny, Jaws sparked my love for them too. Swimming with sharks is on my bucket list. Have you ever had a one on one experience with them?”
Steve Alten: “Only on my website [laughter]. That’s enough for me. I’ve also looked at a lot of sea monsters. They scare me a lot more than any land monster.”
Horror Fuel: “I get that. We know so little about our oceans and you just don’t really know what’s there.”
Steve Alten: “Exactly.”
Horror Fuel: “What was it about Jaws that made you so interested in sharks?”
Steve Alten: “I enjoyed the shark attack scenes but there weren’t that many of them. When I decided to write the Meg series I decided my books would have a lot of shark attacks in them.”
Horror Fuel: “If you will, tell our readers about your new site Sea Monster Cove.”
Steve Alten: “Back in December of 2019 I woke up one morning and this idea sort of got stuck in my head. I went up to my office and started doing some research and five hours later I had the story down that dealt with sea monsters and prehistoric sharks. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that it wasn’t just one part of a story for a TV series, but also a theme park that I wanted people to be able to visit. That’s when I came up with the idea of hiring actors, animators, directors, and doing everything ourselves. I was able to find a lot of fans who have these incredible talents that they wanted to lend to this project. We put it together in nine months. Everyone loves the site and we’re adding more to it every week.”
Horror Fuel: “That’s fantastic. It’s really cool to be able to see these ancient creatures come to life. When will the first episode of the series premiere?”
Steve Alten: “It’s in post-production right now. I can’t give you an exact date, but it will be in a month and a half or two months.”
Horror Fuel: “How many episodes will the series have?”
Steve Alten: “Each season will probably have thirteen.”
Horror Fuel: “I look forward to seeing it.”
Steve Alten: “We are also working on putting out a video game inspired by it. Not only will you be able to watch it, but you’ll also be able to visit the actual aquariums where they are kept captive, and you can go out and hunt them in the video game.”
Horror Fuel: “As the website continues to evolve, will more sharks and monsters be added?”
Steve Alten: “Absolutely. Every one of the square aquariums at Sea Monster Cove will all be filled with different monsters from different eras. Right now we’ve got the Devonian era and we’ve two or three Jurassic era aquariums.”
Horror Fuel: “I love that there is the origin story of how the aquarium obtained the two Makos. That is a nice touch.”
Steve Alten: “That was the first story I came out with in December.”
Horror Fuel: “I love it! You also have a new book come out, The Loch?”
Steve Alten: “Yes. I’m working on it now. You will be able to order it only off the website.”
Horror Fuel: “Can we expect any more from the Meg book series?”
Steve Alten: “There will be one more book and then I’m done.”
Horror Fuel: “If you had to pick, what would you say is your favorite shark?”
Steve Alten: “Well, the new Makos are pretty cool.”
Horror Fuel: “What else have you been working on?”
Steve Alten: “Meg 2 is going into production soon.”
Horror Fuel: “I really like Meg. There’s something scary about a movie with a shark that big and the fact that they did really exist. It could eat a boat as a snack.”
Steve Alten: “The second movie will be much darker than the first.”
Horror Fuel: “Do you think that The Loch has a movie in its future?”
Steve Alten: “I am working on The LOCH-3: Heaven’s Lake which must be pre-ordered at www.SteveAlten.com – all pre-ordered hardbacks will be signed, but will not be sold in stores. The LOCH was published 14 years ago. The movie will go into production in 2021.”
Horror Fuel: “You have to wonder with so many sightings reported in the Lochness if there is really something there.”
Steve Alten: “There’s definitely something there but it’s not a Plesiosauria.”
Horror Fuel: “What do you think it is?”
Steve Alten: “You’ve got to read the book.”
Steve Alten: “If you subscribe to the site there is a library with all my books, you can read it there with all color images enhanced just for the site.”
Horror Fuel: “Well, I guess it’s a good thing that I already have subscribed then.”
Be sure to signup for Alten’s Sea Monster Cove for incredible experiences with history’s largest ocean predators. While you’re there explore the Steve Alten library where you can read his novels for free.
