Ed Jones

Writer. Performer. LARPer.

“Alone. Yes, that’s the key word, the most awful word in the English tongue. Murder doesn’t hold a candle to it and hell is only a poor synonym.” – Stephen King

A graduate of Pennsville Memorial High School, class of 1982, Ed has always been drawn to gaming. Forgoing a college background, Ed sought purpose and exposure to other cultures through a military career, which he accomplished through the U.S. Army, stationed in Germany, Korea and Georgia from 1984 to 1990. Since then he spent a few years in the National Reserves, upon which he went into work in the private sector. This included his foray into publishing, where he helped found the company Valdron Inc. which has published numerous works by Mark Welling, of the Christian Gamer Coalition of New Jersey. Ed himself is a pastor for “All Are Welcome” ministry, which provides services, officiating weddings and serves other religious needs for various untended or underserved congregations (specifically the LGBTQ+).

A prolific lover of all things dark and spooky, Ed Jones enjoys going well beyond skin deep in popular fiction genres. Ed revels in unpacking the sociopolitical motivations behind not just modern movies and television but also delving deep into their historical context, leaving no stone unturned when it comes to understanding the motivations at play. Asked why he does what he does, Ed will tell you, “I want to make legends.”

A longtime member of the “geek” tribe, Ed has been an avid gamer since the early 1980s, where he would spend hours playing Dungeons & Dragons backstage at rehearsals for the class play. When he enlisted in the Armed Forces, Ed took his game on the road with him, bringing his unique brand of storytelling far and wide. He’s even done some game writing himself, if only to have better rules on hand. Known for wearing many hats and being known by multiple names, his most prominent may be “God-Emperor of Newark”… Delaware, that is. This, and other life experiences, taught him an important truth: stories are the universal glue that bind us all together. Ed has been fascinated by the behind-the-scenes workings of storytelling, performance, and oratory craft, ever since. 

Ed’s seen the worst that modern humanity offers to itself, and that by no means limited to his experiences in the military. As such, he knows human limitations acutely; Ed realizes that character flaws make for some of the most compelling storytelling. As a master storyteller, he also knows that the truth can be the most horrifying thing of all. He utilizes his grasp of narrative pacing, how to play crowd tension and grant profound insights in his presentations to great effect. Whether it’s leading a congregation of the faithful or an in-character soliloquy at one of Damocles Thread Development’s LARPs, to hear Ed tell a story, or teach for that matter, is to hear a master at work.

Ed’s an eclectic contributor for The Unconventional, penning a true masterful analysis on the different subcultures of horror, how they arose, and how they interact with popular culture and with one another, and how they evolve through modern audiences. In addition to his work as an author in our publication, Ed is a long-term consultant for Emerald Shield Studios, the white-collar arm of long-time Steam-Funk’s affiliates, Damocles Thread Development.

“I want to write legends. I want to make stories that will outlive me. I want to be a part of the mass-unconsciousness; I want to be something that people remember for all time.” – Ed Jones