Custodian is a literary project set in an alternative world with elements of urban fantasy and horror. In this archive of short stories from the Custodian world, you will be able to follow various recurring characters and beings, but also read completely individual and independent stories, almost like scenes or moments from another reality, a world that has always existed but with a story that has never been told. Take part in the world and the concept as you like; in full and over time, or just as short stories and vivid illustrations.
Custodianarchive.com will gradually be filled with new stories that develop, deepen and persecute, so stay tuned for updates on our social channels.
Disclaimer: We take the opportunity to warn sensitive readers. These stories can contain pretty decent, hefty traces of violence, horror and unpleasant scenes. If you do not like such amazing, wonderful shit, do not read Custodian. Do something else.
Also. English is a second language. Therefore, our English translations from our own original Swedish texts might not be the definition of perfection. But they are not bad at all, and we always do our very best, just like mommy taught us.
Guide
Want to get a brief introduction to the world? Start by reading the prologue. Want to read reality-close fantasy that takes place in the most northern part of Sweden? Read Out of the Taiga or 400 Years; two stories that introduce two of the concept’s recurring characters and beings. Want to read about the concept’s protagonist and get a better grasp of Custodian as a fictional world? Read Alice. Want to read something that draws towards a more placid form of fantasy prose? Read I am the sea. Want to read something bloody and violent about necromancers and armies with zombie kids in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas? Read Welcome to the jungle. Want to read a macabre and imaginative scene about when an elderly lady deconstructing a shapeshifter and likewise a cartel boss in Miami in the cocaine era of the 1980s? Read Bubbe and little fox. Do you want to be transported several thousand years back in time and read about when an army descends into the outskirts of the known empire to fight a monsterous creature swarming in from the desert? Read Army of the Pharoes.
The creators
Viktor writes, Niklas illustrates and together they create their own worlds and (un)realities.
Viktor Johansson
Motivation: I feel most at home in the unreal
Favorite story: Balumkú *
Favorite character in Custodian: right now, Seth *
Favorite illustration in Custodian: Army Of The Pharoes
Movies I love: Apocalypse Now, The Godfather, Royal Tenenbaums
TV series I love: Mindhunters, Stranger Things
Songs I love: Planet Caravan – Black Sabbath, Two Headed Dog – Roky Erickson, Psycho Killer – Talking Heads, Jazzgossen – Karl Gerhard
Books I Love: American Psycho, The Road, Catcher in the Rye, The Outsider, Good Omen
Career goals: To only have meetings with agenda points like the characteristics of vampires or the names of demons
Other career goals: I can only be reached by fax or letters.
Niklas Brandt
Favorite story: Freebird
Favorite character in Custodian: Bubbe
Favorite illustration in Custodian: Freebird
Movies I love: The Green Mile, Pulp Fiction, Terminator, The Shape of Water
TV series I love: Chernobyl, Stranger Things, The Walking Dead (S1-6)
Comic books I love: V for Vendetta
Songs I love: April – Deep Purple, Assault Attack – MSG, Heavy Lies the Crown – Machine Head, Exit Music (For a Movie) – Radio Head
* Upcoming storys.
Sound and music
The sound track that you can hear in many of our social media posts are created by the genius and our friend Adam Strandberg, as well as the fantastic band Ur tajgan.