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   What if the demons aren't always the villains?

  On this episode of ParaReality, Sandman welcomes independent comic creator, illustrator, and publisher Austin Light, the creative force behind American Demon Comics and the supernatural comic series Envy.

  At the center of Envy is Belial, a fallen angel and demon king whose journey challenges many of the traditional ideas surrounding Heaven and Hell, angels and demons, and even the nature of good and evil itself. Rather than simply using demons as monsters, Austin draws upon demonology, religious philosophy, mythology, and folklore to create a world where morality isn't always as black and white as it first appears.

  During the conversation, Austin takes us behind the scenes of Envy, discussing where the idea originated, why he chose Belial as a central character, and how his research into religious and demonic traditions influences the mythology he's building. He also talks about the challenges and rewards of creating and publishing independent comics and the growth of American Demon Comics.

  But Austin's interest in the supernatural extends well beyond the pages of a comic book.

He's also a paranormal investigator with HSVPara, the Huntsville-based investigation team led by Scott Pelzer. Austin discusses how he became involved in paranormal investigation, what he considers credible evidence, and some of the unexplained experiences he's encountered along the way.

  His Huntsville roots also provide an intriguing connection to another subject familiar to ParaReality listeners: UFOs and UAPs.

  Austin earned his degree in Graphic Design from the University of Alabama in Huntsville, surrounded by Redstone Arsenal, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center, the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, defense contractors, and one of the most historically significant aerospace communities in America. Now he's bringing that fascination with the UFO phenomenon into his creative work with a new UAP-focused comic project currently in development.

Eventually, the conversation leads into a much larger question.

  Throughout history, human beings have reported encounters with strange beings and unexplained intelligences. Depending upon the culture and time period, we've called them angels, demons, spirits, gods, fairies, extraterrestrials, interdimensional entities, and, more recently, nonhuman intelligence.

  Are these completely unrelated phenomena?

  Or could humanity have been encountering something throughout history that we've continually interpreted through the religion, mythology, culture, and technology of our own time?

  It's a conversation where comic books, demonology, paranormal investigation, religion, folklore, and UAPs collide—and where the boundary between the worlds we imagine and the mysteries we actually experience becomes surprisingly thin.

  And the conversation doesn't have to end with this episode.

  Austin Light and Sandman will both be appearing at GoblinCon in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, August 22–23. Stop by American Demon Comics to meet Austin and discover the world of Envy, then visit ParaReality and tell Sandman your own strange or unexplained story. You never know—it could end up being featured on a future episode of the podcast.

  Enter the world of Envy and join us as we ask a question that may be much harder to answer than it first appears:

  What if the demons aren't the villains?

  To learn more, you’ll have to Turn On, Tune In, & Find Out!