Josh Viola

Joshua Viola
Born (1983-07-23) July 23, 1983 (age 43)
OccupationsWriter, Artist, Producer
Writing career
Pen nameJ.V. Kyle, Jay Vee and Trevor Jones
GenresScience fiction, horror and fantasy
Notable workLegacy of Kain: Soul Reaver – The Dead Shall Rise
Websitewww.joshuaviola.com

Joshua "Josh" Viola (born July 23, 1983) is a science fiction/fantasy/horror writer and producer best known for Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver – The Dead Shall Rise and his companies Hex Publishers and Bit Bot Media.

Background

Viola is co-founder and co-owner of Frontière Natural Meats, a meat processing business co-founded and co-owned by his father and brother.

Viola co-wrote novels The Bane of Yoto with Nicholas Karpuk and Blackstar with Keith Ferrell, both published by Klayton of Celldweller's media imprint, FiXT. He directed the animated music video for Klayton's "Unshakeable".

Viola co-founded the Hex Publishers imprint with Dean Wyant in 2014. He published anthologies Nightmares Unhinged and Cyber World (co-edited with Jason Heller), and the slasher comic book series True Believers, co-written with Stephen Graham Jones. He and co-editors Carina Bisset and Hillary Dodge shared a 2022 Colorado Book Award for the Shadow Atlas: Dark Landscapes of the Americas anthology. In 2021, Hex partnered with StokerCon to produce the souvenir anthology for the Horror Writers Association's first online convention, with Viola acting as editor. In 2022, Hex partnered with startup Random Games to launch the blockchain-based Unioverse videogame franchise, with Viola in the role of Creative Director of Novelization and Comics. Random Games closed in 2026, citing funding struggles before Bit Bot acquired the rights to the IP. Viola was also credited as an executive producer on a 2025 reboot of sword and sorcery film Deathstalker, and horror film Shelby Oaks.

In 2024, Viola and Klayton co-founded multimedia company Bit Bot Media, and released an official video game adaptation of The Rocky Horror Show. The same year, they partnered with video game developer Crystal Dynamics to produce Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver – The Dead Shall Rise, a graphic novel based on the Legacy of Kain series, which received $1.5 million via a Kickstarter campaign. Viola co-wrote The Dead Shall Rise with Angie Hodapp, and acted as creative director, producer and lead game designer on its video game adaptation, Legacy of Kain: Ascendance, which received mixed critic reviews. In 2026, IGN announced Thief: Pulse of Promise, a new graphic novel spinoff in the popular stealth video game series.

Published works

As writer

Novels

  • The Bane of Yoto with Nicholas Karpuk (FiXT, 2012)
  • Blackstar with Keith Ferrell (FiXT, 2015)
  • Denver Moon: The Minds of Mars (novella) with Warren Hammond (Hex Publishers, 2018)
  • Denver Moon: The Saint of Mars (novella) with Warren Hammond (Hex Publishers, 2019)
  • Denver Moon: The Thirteen of Mars (novella) with Warren Hammond (Hex Publishers, 2022)
  • Stolen Pallor (novella) with Sean Eads (Blood Bound Books, 2024)

Comic books

  • Tooth and Claw with Angie Hodapp and Aaron Lovett (Hex Publishers, 2017)
  • Denver Moon with Warren Hammond and Aaron Lovett (Hex Publishers, 2018)
  • Unioverse with Angie Hodapp and Ben Matsuya (Hex Publishers/Random Games, 2023)
  • True Believers with Stephen Graham Jones and Ben Matsuya (Hex Publishers/Metal X Entertainment, 2023)
  • Shrapnel Volume One ("Game Over") with James Aquilone and Juan Samu (Metal X Entertainment, 2024)
  • Terror in the Corn: The Wells Twins with Sean Eads and Juan Samu (Metal X Entertainment/Anderson Farms, 2024)
  • Terror in the Corn: Dumitra with Sean Eads (Metal X Entertainment/Anderson Farms, 2025)
  • Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver – The Dead Shall Rise with Angie Hodapp and Juan Samu (Bit Bot Media/Crystal Dynamics, 2024)
  • Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver – Fallen Brothers with Preston Asevedo (Limited Run Games/Bit Bot Media/Crystal Dynamics, 2024)
  • Thief: Pulse of Promise with Sean Eads and Emanuele Ercolani (Bit Bot Media/Eidos-Montréal, 2026)

Children's books

  • Boomer and Friends! with Lindsey Bell and Aaron Lovett (JAM Publishers, 2017)

Collections

  • Midnight Vintage with Sean Eads (Crystal Lake Entertainment, 2025)

Video games

  • Legacy of Kain: Ascendance (Creative Director, Producer, Lead Game Design, Assistant Voice Director, Art Director, Story, Writing & Dialogue, Special Creative Contributor)

As editor

As producer

Films

  • Deathstalker (film) 2024 (Executive Producer)
  • Deathgasm II: Goremageddon (Executive Producer)
  • Shrine of Abominations (Executive Producer)
  • Aliens Expanded (Associate Producer)
  • The Thing Expanded (Associate Producer)
  • Shelby Oaks (Associate Producer)
  • TerrorBytes (Associate Producer)

Video games

  • The Rocky Horror Show Video Game 2024 (Executive Producer)
  • Terror in the Corn (Executive Producer)

References

  1. ↑ "Book Review: 'The Bane of Yoto' by Joshua Viola", Burkart, Gregory, for FEARnet, 15 August 2012, retrieved 14 March 2013
  2. ↑ Rusch, Emilie (2015-12-15). "Denver's Frontière making its name in natural meats". The Denver Post. Retrieved 2026-05-01.
  3. ↑ Johnston, Rich. "Could The Bane Of Yoto Herald In A New Look For Digital Comics?", Bleeding Cool, 5 March 2012. Retrieved on 14 October 2015.
  4. ↑ Crane, Matt. "Celldweller Releases Music Video for Unshakeable", Alternative Press, 10 December 2013. Retrieved on 14 October 2015.
  5. ↑ Wenzel, John. "Erie-based Horror publisher uses unlikely way to bankroll, empower writers", The Denver Post, 4 September 2015. Retrieved on 14 October 2015.
  6. ↑ Siebrase, Jamie. "Hex Publishers, a New Local Press, Plans to Release a Dark, Twisted Anthology", Westword, 9 February 2015. Retrieved on 14 October 2015.
  7. ↑ Jules, Damnetha. "Nightmares Unhinged (Book Review)", Horror Palace, 5 September 2015. Retrieved on 14 October 2015.
  8. ↑ Barkan, Jonathan. "Witness The Unveiling Of Nightmares Unhinged (Exclusive)", Bloody Disgusting, 9 July 2015. Retrieved on 16 July 2015.
  9. ↑ Wenzel, John. "“Cyber World” anthology brings darkly alluring sci-fi back to the future", The Denver Post, 26 October 2016. Retrieved on 16 July 2015.
  10. ↑ Colorado Humanities. "“2017 Colorado Book Award Finalists", Colorado Humanities. Retrieved on 12 September 2017.
  11. ↑ Schedeen, Jesse. "Jamie Lee Curtis to Guest Star in Horror Comic True Believers", IGN, 2 April 2024. Retrieved on 15 July 2024.
  12. ↑ "2022 Colorado Book Award Winners", Locus Magazine, 27 June 2022, retrieved 10 October 2022
  13. ↑ StokerCon™. "Souvenir Book - StokerCon™ 2020"
  14. ↑ https://random.games/team.php Random Games Team
  15. ↑ Crichton-Stuart, Eliza (2026-03-03). "Unioverse Is Officially Shutting Down". GAMES.GG. Retrieved 2026-05-01.
  16. ↑ "Unioverse - Bit Bot Media". bitbotmedia.com. 2026-05-07. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  17. 1 2 Ramachandran, Naman. "Roger Corman Reboot ‘Deathstalker,’ Exec Produced by Guns N’ Roses’ Slash, Unveils First Look, Raven Banner Launches Sales at Cannes (EXCLUSIVE)", Variety (magazine), 18 May 2024. Retrieved on 2 June 2024.
  18. ↑ Jonathan, James. "Exclusive: Klayton (Celldweller) and Joshua Viola Form Bit Bot Media and Announce Strategic Partnerships with Raven Banner Entertainment and FreakZone Games", Daily Dead, 6 June 2024. Retrieved on 15 July 2024.
  19. ↑ Schedeen, Jesse. "Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver Returns In New Prequel Graphic Novel", IGN, 30 June 2024. Retrieved on 15 July 2024.
  20. ↑ Brown, Fraser (2026-03-31). "We deserve better than Legacy of Kain: Ascendance". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2026-05-01.
  21. ↑ "Legacy of Kain: Ascendance Reviews". OpenCritic. 2026-04-02. Retrieved 2026-05-01.
  22. ↑ Metz, Lucas (2026-03-31). "Legacy of Kain: Ascendance – Review". PSX Brasil. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  23. ↑ C, Steve (2026-03-31). "Legacy of Kain: Ascendance Review – Rising from the ashes". The Sixth Axis. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  24. ↑ Adamus, Stephan (2026-03-31). "Legacy of Kain: Ascendance Review – 23 Years in the Making". Cog Connected. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  25. 1 2 Schedeen, Jesse (2026-06-24). "Thief: Pulse of Promise Brings the Hit Stealth Gaming Franchise to Comics". bitbotmedia.com. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  26. ↑ Blood Bound Books. "Stolen Pallor", Blood Bound Books, 2024. Retrieved on 2 June 2024.
  27. ↑ Hex Publishers. "Tooth and Claw", Hex Publishers. Retrieved on 12 September 2017.
  28. ↑ Hex Publishers. , Hex Publishers, 2022. Retrieved on 24 October 2022.
  29. ↑ Limited Run Games. , Limited Run Games, 2025. Retrieved on 25 January 2025.
  30. ↑ Wenzel, John. "The Secret Ingredients to a Great Children's Book", Denver Post, 4 August 2017. Retrieved on 12 September 2017.
  31. ↑ Crystal Lake Publishing. "First project signed for 2025!", Crystal Lake Publishing, 2024. Retrieved on 2 June 2024.
  32. ↑ "Legacy of Kain: Ascendance credits (PlayStation 5, 2026)". MobyGames. 2026-03-31. Retrieved 2026-05-01.
  33. ↑ Froyd, Susan. "Nightmares Unhinged Launch Party", Westword, 9 September 2015. Retrieved on 16 July 2015.
  34. ↑ Wheeler, Isaac. "Cyber World Demonstrates the Future of the Cyberpunk Genre", Neon Dystopia, 11 November 2016. Retrieved on 19 December 2016.
  35. ↑ Kirkus Reviews. "Georgetown Haunts and Mysteries", Kirkus Reviews, 9 August 2017. Retrieved on 12 September 2017.
  36. ↑ Kirkus Reviews. "Blood Business", Kirkus Reviews, 26 September 2017. Retrieved on 28 November 2017.
  37. ↑ Kirkus Reviews. ", Kirkus Reviews, 13 April 2020. Retrieved on 16 April 2020.
  38. ↑ Facebook. ", Facebook, 17 January 2020. Retrieved on 16 April 2020.
  39. ↑ StokerCon. , StokerCon, 2021. Retrieved on 31 May 2021.
  40. ↑ Hex Publishers. , Hex Publishers, 2021. Retrieved on 31 May 2021.
  41. ↑ Glyfe. , Glyfe,19 October 2022. Retrieved on 24 October 2022.
  42. ↑ Roe, Mike. "‘Rocky Horror’ Returns in New Video Game | Exclusive Trailer", The Wrap, 26 September 2024. Retrieved on 22 October 2024.
  43. ↑ James, Jonathan. "Exclusive: “Can You Survive the Night?” — Watch the Trailer for the TERROR IN THE CORN Video Game, Daily Dead, 7 October 2024. Retrieved on 22 October 2024.