Actor A.J. LoCascio is currently promoting his first book — a children’s book called Spoops: The Little Spirits of Halloween, which was inspired by fans of Voltron. LoCascio was the voice of Prince Lotor on Netflix’s Voltron: Legendary Defender from 2016 to 2018, and the part helped launch him into mainstream success. He was at San Diego Comic-Con this year to promote his book launch, among other work, and in an interview with ComicBook, he shared the surprising story of how Voltron fans led him into the children’s publishing world. Spoops is available for pre-order now, and hits shelves on Tuesday, August 12th.
“I love Halloween, and I wanted to make decorations, essentially, for my apartment, but I live in L.A. and you can’t just build giant things,” LoCascio explained. “So, I started making little sculptures for myself, just to be on my desk, and I was like, ‘I love pumpkins, I love everything about Halloween.’ That’s how it started, and then the show Voltron blew up, and I had photos of these little guys on my desk, and the fans were like, ‘How do I buy these? Where do I get these?’ And I was like, ‘I just made these for me.’”
Of course, LoCascio couldn’t deny fans for long, nor miss this opportunity to share his love for the Halloween spirit. And so, I started to make more,” he went on. “I taught myself how to cast and do resin — stuff like that. And it just kind of took off in its own way.” At the time of this writing, LoCascio’s Etsy shop is empty, but it’s clear that his Spoops have sold well over the last seven years.
“They have their own weird little side-world that they live in, and then of course, people are like, ‘What’s the lore? What’s the story?’” LoCascio explained. “And it just became so much that I was like, ‘Alright, I’ll write this down.’ So then I came up with this book, Spoops, and it’s about one night — one Halloween — where they help a little girl named Holly Hollowell who is not allowed to celebrate Halloween because her parents are anti-Halloween dentists.”
“That’s like, one of my biggest fears as a kid, is the idea of missing out on trick-or-treating,” LoCascio confessed. “I was always afraid I’d get sick, or something would happen. I still have nightmares that I’ve missed Halloween. That is the worst situation for a kid, to some degree, so I was like, what if that’s her issue, and then the Spoops come and help her have a happy Halloween according to her parents’ rules, to some degree.”
A children’s book may not be the most obvious career move after a break-out role in the Voltron franchise, but that just makes it all the more special for LoCascio and the fans that are taking this ride with him. Voltron: Legendary Defender is available to digitally rent or purchase on PVOD stores. Spoops: The Little Spirits of Halloween goes on sale on Tuesday, August 12th wherever children’s books are sold.
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