PORTLAND — Maine-based writer Joseph Souza has made a name for himself in the horror and crime genres. The winner of multiple literary awards, Souza writes novels that are often Amazon bestsellers. “Unpaved Surfaces,” a novel released earlier this year, is a haunting story of a father searching for his kidnapped son. Published by Kindle Press, the book is garnering almost universal acclaim.

But Souza has another side, a lighter side. That side is on display in “Fujita’s Itch & other stories,” a new book of humorous and satirical tales to be released Nov. 20.

“I’m actually a funny guy,” Souza insists. “You can ask my wife. There’s more on my mind than plagues, missing children and dead things coming back to life.”

Even so, the stories in this collection still revolve around murder and dread and heroes confronted by gigantic and mysterious forces.

“Fujita’s Itch” is a short novel about a troubled writer who hooks up with a trio of bizarre tornado chasers, and ends up getting much more than he bargained for. His assignment: to track down a tornado or get fired from the magazine where he works. But as he rides through Tornado Alley, he learns that there is more to contend with than simply chasing the legendary and terrifying Fujita Six level storm.

In “The Stone Walls of Lebanon,” New York City mobsters Keith Benedicto and Vincent Capuzzi drive to New Hampshire to steal a priceless stone wall dating back to the American Revolution. Keith has been skimming profits, and he’s worried that his boss Sal Figlio wants him dead. One murder leads to another murder, which leads to yet another murder, as the bodies pile up in quiet rural New England. “The Stone Walls of Lebanon” won Honorable Mention for the Al Blanchard Crime Writing Award.

In “Queensland,” struggling young writer Julian and his new wife April spend their honeymoon in England. While the young couple are in London, Islamic terrorists set off a very unusual bomb, leaving April frustrated and Julian questioning his sexual identity.