 the Tyranids not only reflect Lovecraft's more profound, cosmic horror, but also those that are intimate and human: they evoke phobic response to creatures that might cause us harm. Snakes, spiders, reptiles; all and many more examples from within nature have been used as fodder for the various strains of alien horror represented by the Tyranid race. Back in its earliest days, the now-iconic grim-dark, science-fiction dystopia of Games Workshop's Warhammer 40 000 universe was a veritable grab-bag of idea and influences. Whatever the then-fledgling setting could assimilate, subtly reimagine and make its own, it did, its inspirations ranging from comic books (most notably the likes of 2000 AD) to cinema, from horror and science fiction literature (Lovecraft, Moorcock, Azimov, Le Guin, Dick are but a few of the notables whose influence can be felt throughout the universe, its various species, cultures and wider metaphysics) to cinema. Aesthetically, one of the most pervasive and influential artists of the era was the creator of eponymous xenomorph from the Alien franchise, the zeitgeist-defining H.R. Giger. Already massively influential in cinema and video games (one of the most revolutionary franchises of the era, Nintendo's Metroid, was a direct result of efforts to bring Giger's peculiar aesthetic to a video game format), it was only a matter of time before his work became cannibalised and reinvented as a source of alien horror within the 41st millennium. The first and most notable manifestation of this phenomena came in the universe's own incarnation of the “xenomorph” itself: The “Ymgarl Genestealers.” Originally an attempt to craft a similarly gribbly, parasitic alien horror for the game setting, they were notably removed from both the race that would eventually become The Tyranids and also from their later incarnations. A number of tertiary boardgame systems (the mass-produced Space Crusade and tense, horror-action game Space Hulk) massively reinvented the Genestealers, making them aesthetically much closer to their Giger-conceived inspiration but also tying them closer to the Tyranid race that, up until that point, were little more than a scattershot entry in a number of rule and background books, with little to note or distinguish them. In the sub-system Tyranid Attack, a full background was detailed for the Tyranid species for the first time, as well as their more defined aesthetics and recognisable iconography established: A pan-galactic biological horror, the Tyranids drew inspiration from not only Giger's “xenormorph,” but a number of science-fiction horror sources, including John Carpenter's The Thing, Predator, the body-horror works of David Cronenberg and more Lovecraftian horror than can be comfortably catalogued. A mysterious, animalistic species from beyond the fringes of the known galaxy, the Tyranids were described as the ultimate end of all things: a swarming, locust-like mass of monsters that spread from planet to planet, galaxy to galaxy, stripping worlds bare of their biological matter (even down to stripping minerals from rocks and microbial matter from the atmosphere) before moving on to the next apocalypse. The biological matter they consumed was used in the wombs and bellies of their titanic, living vessels (whale-like leviathans capable of traversing the void of space in the manner that titanic ocean life swims the seas of Earth) to produce more and more varied organisms, which gestate until the “Hive Fleets” enter orbit around a likely world. The process repeats and repeats and repeats endlessly, without any apparent wider goal other than mindless, animal consumption and the extinction of all non-Tyranid life. With every world consumed, every species devoured, the Tyranids exhibit new strains of hyper-evolution, developing new sub-species and strains of creature based on requirement or evolutionary experiment. And thus, the Tyranids evolved to become what they are today: An established species within the many and varied menageries of the 40K universe, and one that manifests a particular kind of cosmic horror:  Not only are the various beasts and monsters manifested by the Hive Fleets horrific in form and behaviour, but collectively, the Tyranids manifest a species of horror that fans of Lovecraft and his particular strain of cosmic, unknowable dread might well recognise: Of all the species in the Warhammer 40 000 universe, the Tyranids are arguably the most alien in terms of their natures and motivations. Whereas others -such as the humanoid Aeldari and football hooligan-inspired Orks- are archetypes derived from the fantasy settings Games Workshop originally operated in -and are therefore recognisably emblematic of certain human concerns and preoccupations-, the Tyranids are as far removed from such concepts as can be rendered in fiction and the associated model range: In terms of nature and motivation, they are an insolulable mystery. Deriving from areas of space beyond human exploration or understanding, their origins are unknown, as is their ultimate agenda (if, indeed, they even boast such). Certain figures both within the universe itself (most notably those xeno-biologists given to study such matters) and who are fans thereof have provided any number of speculations on the matter (one theory states that they are literally biological weapons run amok; efforts by some race far more ancient than humanity to wipe out the factors that feed the metaphysical evils of the universe, but that have expanded far beyond any such restraint or control). Whatever the truth, the mystery of the Tyranids is one of their most abiding and attractive characteristics: no one knows where they come from or why they operate as they do. Even were such matters to become known, they are so utterly alien both in form and nature, it likely wouldn't make sense to any but the Tyranids themselves. That lack of knowing, that inability to understand or comprehend, is part and parcel of the horror that makes the Tyranids so fascinating. All other species in the 40K universe, no matter how alien or abstruse, boast fairly identifiable interests and agendas (from the Aeldari's desperate struggle to avoid the extinction they brought upon themselves to the Tau's dubious idealism and Utopian ideals). The Tyranids do not; their only conceivable interest is animal; that is, to mindlessly hunt, murder and consume. In and of itself, this is terrifying in its simplicity; a single-minded, animal myopia whose purity is beyond the ken or reason of humanity. But it does nothing to explain their wider purpose or what drives them: A notable phenomena that marks a Tyranid invasion has become known as “The Shadow in the Warp.” In the 40K universe, almost all sentient species are psychically bound to an alternative dimension; a chaotic, miasmic reality of utter abstraction and potential, where ideas and emotions are as significant and material as meterological phenomena in the waking world, where every experience of sentient beings has a corresponding echo. Most entities are dully unaware of this connection, or only experience it in the most unconscious manner. Those dubbed “psykers” by humanity are generally those who boast some genetic mutation that makes them more keenly attuned to the Warp and able to channel or shape its energies to some degree. The Tyranids have the peculiar effect of smothering The Warp itself, rendering it disturbingly inert, which renders those otherwise connected to it paranoid, anxious, unreasonably afraid. In extreme cases, they begin to hallucinate and experience physical symptoms (that can range from mild to nigh lethal). Psykers are affected most powerfully, the Shadow not only separating them from the source of their power and extended senses but also manifesting truly hideous phenomena such as the chattering of unseen insects, which can drive those unprepared to madness and worse.  The Shadow itself is evidence of a wider power that drives the Tyranids in their insatiable swarms across the cosmos: a gestalt intelligence that makes them so much more than mere animals: Whilst the nature of this intelligence is a matter of much debate, it is generally accepted that it manifests amongst the Tyranids themselves via certain more complex “synapse” entities; larger, more evolutionarily costly creatures that serve as lynchpins within the swarms, psychically directing lesser entities that might otherwise revert to their animal instincts. This phenomena, generally referred to as “The Hive Mind” isn't some distant puppet-master or unseen god, but the collective intelligence of the Tyranids themselves: each individual entity within the Tyranid swarms is but a cell or organ of the wider beast, manifested within the Hive Fleets, and of which The Hive Mind is the guiding intelligence. Quite what this mysterious force's intentions are remains unknown -and likely unknowable-, but it is certainly inimical to the existence of humanity and every other species within the 40K universe. Echoing cosmic and extra-dimensional phenomena in Lovecraft's canon of short stories and novellas, The Hive Mind is an unknowable and ineffable alien force that neither cares for humanity nor even acknowledges its significance, save as something to be consumed, rendered down and, ultimately, digested into extinction. Within the Tyranid purview, humanity is just another reservoir of biological matter and information. It exists to be drained dry, discarded and forgotten, along with every other species that fancies itself the prime mover on the galactic stage. This echoing, cosmic insignificance is part and parcel of the truly soul-shuddering horror Lovecraft attempted to express through his writings, and is a perfect subject to be explored and expressed within the Warhammer 40 000 universe, where every force, system and phenomena is designed to emphasise the utter insignificance not only of individual humanity, but of entire cultures and species. The Tyranids are evolutionary purity in a manner that is terrible to conceive of; Darwinian principle manifested and set loose to endlessly demonstrate the lack of poetry or wider meaning to life itself. Whereas other species within the universe are coloured by tensions and contradictions, the Tyranids are not: there is no doubt or uncertainty, no conflicting ideologies or philosophies within the Tyranid race. They are supreme concentration of interest and agenda, in a way that's almost inconceivable to human beings, who are born to confusion and largely die in the same condition. They are simultaneously the answer to all of the galaxy's ills -a Tyranid victory in the known galaxy means an end to wars and atrocities and genocides that have spanned millennia, and fed the abstract horrors of The Warp such that they have begun to spill into waking reality en masse- but also an answer that no one can countenance; living engines of extinction whose victory will not only mean the sterilisation of material reality, but also of the Warp itself. They are the death of gods, daemons and angels; the end of myth and poetry, fear and wonder. In that, they are more terrible and epically horrifying than almost anything yet encountered or conceived within the setting, rendering more mundane horrors almost impotent by comparison. Even the Chaos Powers -dark gods coalesced from all the worst and most extreme drives of sentient species- fear The Shadow in the Warp more than anything, as it is antithetical to the broiling turbulence and extremes of emotion on which they rely to sustain themselves. Gods fear the Tyranids, as well they should.  Beyond their vast and expansive cosmic horror, the Tyranids also manifest various microcosmic atrocities: hyper-evolved to be perfect killing machines, they sport exaggerations of characteristics demonstrated by various forms of terrestrial animal, from bugs and insects to birds and reptiles. In that, they trigger primal, arguably genetically-encoded responses in human beings, most notably those parts of us that have learned to fear scurrying, slithering, arachnid, insectile or reptilian creatures. Combining aspects of all of these, the Tyranids are all and none: spiders, snakes, jellyfish, squids, bats and even dinosaurs lend something to their many and varied anatomies. In truth, there's little in biology or anatomy that hasn't been mined to provide the present-day Tyranids with their peculiar aesthetic. Even their weapons aren't crafted artefacts but cultivated symbiotes, entities in and of themselves that bond with their bearer, each exhibiting not only hideous body-horror effects (the “Flesh Borer” rifles carried by many Tyranid organisms, for example, shoot streams of fast-growing carniverous beetles that either spatter and acidically dissolve flesh and armour or chew through and parasitically infest their targets) but also their own natures, imperatives and impulses (in extreme cases, such as with regards to the living artillery of the “Exocrine,” it's the weapon-symbiote whose intelligence guides the partnership, as the immense beast itself is little but a living weapons platform and transport system). In this, the Tyranids not only reflect Lovecraft's more profound, cosmic horror, but also those that are intimate and human: they evoke phobic response to creatures that might cause us harm. Snakes, spiders, reptiles; all and many more examples from within nature have been used as fodder for the various strains of alien horror represented by the Tyranid race. From insects whose parasitic life-cycles are manifest body-horror mythologies to predators whose myriad stings, bites, venoms and other weaponry are horrific in terms of their effects, the Tyranids are reflections and exaggerations of them all. Perhaps most pertinently, the Tyranids represent the animal horror of being outdone in evolutionary terms: the horror of nature itself. Unlike the status quo in waking life, where humanity's various expansions and industries pose a marked and evident threat to other lifeforms (and, indeed, the very eco-systems of this planet), the Tyranids are a fictional representation of cosmic repercussion: the Tyranids disregard all notions of ecology save their own. They do not exhibit technology or industry in any understandable form. They cannot be reasoned or bargained with: they have all of the unstoppable purity of predatory beasts but also the uncanny intelligence and acumen of a sapient creature. Beyond that, they are evolved to a point that any industrialised or technological form of military response is all but meaningless against them: even in the science fiction setting of the 41st Millennium, where technology has advanced to the point that it may as well be magical or miraculous (and, in some instances, is treated as such), very little can equal or effectively defend against the biological onslaught of the Tyranids in all of their horror. They are manifest evidence of evolutionary redundancy: in purely Darwinian terms, the true inheritors of this universe, so far beyond other species in terms of evolutionary advancement as to make them seem stagnant and redundant by comparison. The ultimate, horrific irony is: in that advancement, they are also spiritually empty and corrosive. The Tyranid victory is a difficult thing to imagine or comprehend, as it seems as though the species would continue to advance and consume until there is literally nothing left in creation but its own seething bio-mass, every world in reality stripped bare of matter, leaving the composite, pan-galactic entity that is the species no choice but to either burn itself out, starving for want of more biomass, or to evolve further; becoming a species that seeds its own eco-systems and cannibalises its own creations for want of survival. Part of what makes the Tyranids so terrifying is the lack of an end-game. Almost all other species in the 40K universe boast some identifiable ideology or agenda, some ideal -however warped or twisted- they are fighting to maintain or realise. The Tyranids boast nothing of the sort, other than the animal imperative to consume, consume, consume. That vaccuum, more than their forms or aesthetics, renders them alien and unknowable in the most Lovecraftian way, the abstract abyss at their core perhaps the most profoundly terrifying aspect of their existence. CHECK OUT TODAY'S OTHER ARTICLES BELOW
THE HEART AND SOUL OF HORROR REVIEW WEBSITES  But the bit which frightens me and still keeps me up at night, is the realization that what really helped wasn’t love or perseverance or even understanding. What really helped me was luck, pure and simple. For as long as I can remember, I have tried to control the world around me. Not in a Lex Luthor, conquer the world sort of way, but in a way where maybe things wouldn’t hurt so much and that the world would start making sense. I have tried pacing and I have tried humming. I have scraped my heels against the ground. Cracked my knuckles. Clicked my teeth. Blinked. Overeaten. Knocked wood. And chirped. Always in even numbers, never odd. None of it helped, unfortunately, try as I might. It didn’t stop me from getting bullied as a child or as a teenager, or even as an adult at work. In fact, it only made things worse. My rituals, all of my little obsessions, have never prevented me from sinking into depression, quelled my nightmares or stopped me from breaking down crying at my desk. And to me, this is where all of horror truly begins. With the mundane little unpleasantries we’ve all been trained to regard as normal. I think all of us, at one time or another, have found ourselves trapped in a ‘team meeting’ with people we don’t trust, and been forced to listen to coworkers argue because one can never let anything go and the other can never be wrong. During one such meeting, my supervisor, in an attempt to stave off an argument that could have gone on forever, turned to me and asked what I thought would solve the problem. Now, I cannot for the life of me remember what they’d been arguing about. but I do remember the effort it took to not only speak, but to keep from saying what I was really thinking. Which was that anything, even killing myself, would have been preferable to their company. In the years since that meeting, which was not all that long ago, I have learned a lot. I’ve learned to talk about my deep, black thoughts and to write everything down no matter how ugly it got. I have learned to manage and to not push myself when I can feel those black thoughts starting to return. But the bit which frightens me and still keeps me up at night, is the realization that what really helped wasn’t love or perseverance or even understanding. What really helped me was luck, pure and simple. Being lucky enough to find a therapist who took my insurance. Having the sort of good fortune where medication actually did something, the way it doesn’t for some. Possessing family and friends who were willing to support me and give me the space I needed to crawl out of the black. Now, I don’t want to say that I am better now, because better implies that I’m cured and there is no cure for who I am. I am still obsessive and depressed. I still check my locks ten times and blow the exact same number of kisses to my daughter while she sleeps, and while objectively I know that none of this really helps, a part of me has grown to find comfort in a world that makes little sense. I might not see any concrete results from my efforts, but that has never stopped me breathing a little easier, all the same. My rituals are a part of me and though my depression is prone to strike at a moment’s notice, I am at least better armed against it. I know what to do to keep myself going. But the part of me that accepts this, is also the exact same part which never fails to remind me of how close I once came...and how close I could still come, if I’m not careful. For absolutely no reason at all. A Man in Pieces: An American Nightmare |
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THE HEART AND SOUL OF HORROR PROMOTION
“Mike’s arse gushes blood” - the filming of Matt Shaw’s new horror, GPK:
I write horror for a living. Over 300 publications, in fact. My imagination is a dark place. Just when I think I can’t have any thoughts blacker than the last, something else comes into my life and I realise - things can always be worse. The weekend just gone also showed me that, sometimes, other people and their actions can trouble my mind.
Justin Park and I (Matt Shaw) make up Purgatory Pictures LTD. Whilst killing time ahead of our feature film next year, Justin said we should do a found footage film because it will be “quick” and “easy”. On paper he is right but in reality, he was very wrong. Unfortunately this was only realised once we started shooting but - that’s another, far less interesting story.
Last Saturday we had a number of people descend to my house. I had covered a room in plastic sheets (much like a kill-room from Dexter) and we were ready to film a few gore scenes for the found footage film Justin and I set our minds to: GPK.
To give quick insight, GPK is a feature film found footage film which follows a successful applicant to the GPK show. (GPK = Go Pro Killers). The company itself offers applicants the opportunity to come to one of the company’s Kill-Rooms so as to kill a person of their choosing. All the show “asks” is that applicants wear a Go-Pro camera whilst they perform their kill and, a camera is also put on the victim. A third camera hangs from the ceiling and a free-moving cameraman comes in the room too - so all angles of the kill are covered. The company then streams the films to the paying viewers, watching from the Dark Web. There is a lot more to the story than that but - that is it in a nutshell. Think Hostel, crossed with Maniac, mixed with Starship Troopers and you’re close… Kind of.
Anyway - Saturday.
During the film, various adverts come up asking who YOU would kill. These adverts are made up of my readers, and people who’ve pledged to appear in the film via the Kickstarter campaign. In one such advert, a lady describes how she would like to kill her ex with a “big, fuck off strap-on. Covered in razors.” It is this scene that we’re here to film. Kitty Kay is our model and Mike Butler is the poor ex. Both are fine with nudity and both are fine with the content so - we’re all soon in position having done a quick “dry run” with them both fully clothed. All good and the clothes are stripped off and Mike is bent over the horse, spread for the world to see. My eyes are already burning through. Kitty is behind him - poor girl - and has the strap-on in position. The toy itself wrapped in barb-wire. She moves into position and nudges the tip against a surprisingly clenched Mike. We pause the action so as to cover his arse in blood, along with the toy. But it’s still missing something. I call out to Louis and tell him we need the mince meat from my fridge. The idea being that the mince itself looks like tatters of flesh. Some are put on the toy and…. And this is where my life changed forever… Some more is put…. Well, Mike grabbed a handful and he’s feeding it up his arse so that it looks like his arsehole is hanging in tatters. I can’t say it looked good but it did look effective at least…
Kitty put the Go-Pro on her head and filmed looking down to the toy so, in the shot we have her breasts, the toy and Mike’s arse. A Killer POV shot, which is the idea behind the film; we’re putting the audience in the position of being both killer and victim. With the shot done, we geared up for the second one… I wanted to see blood gushing out of Mike’s arse. So… We got the syringe with the long tube… Mike fed the tube through and… Action. Kitty pulls away and “wanks” her toy off to get rid of the meat and blood while, at the top of the shot, Mike’s arse gushes blood.
For the rest of the weekend, whenever I shut my eye’s, all I saw was Mike’s arse. The scary thing was, this was the first shot of the day. We still had to “snap” his erect penis off and have the stump ejaculate 500ml of blood straight into Kitty’s face. It was going to be a long day… But… For the sake of the film, it was entirely worth it! The scary thing is; this is the opening of the film. We have naked people, butt’s exploding claret, cocks being snapped off, tongues ripped off, labia ripped away, teeth pulled and a whole host of other disgusting scenes and - worryingly - we keep adding to them!!!
You can learn more about GPK here, along with various ways to appear in the film too:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thegpk/gpk-a-feature-length-horror-film
I write horror for a living. Over 300 publications, in fact. My imagination is a dark place. Just when I think I can’t have any thoughts blacker than the last, something else comes into my life and I realise - things can always be worse. The weekend just gone also showed me that, sometimes, other people and their actions can trouble my mind.
Justin Park and I (Matt Shaw) make up Purgatory Pictures LTD. Whilst killing time ahead of our feature film next year, Justin said we should do a found footage film because it will be “quick” and “easy”. On paper he is right but in reality, he was very wrong. Unfortunately this was only realised once we started shooting but - that’s another, far less interesting story.
Last Saturday we had a number of people descend to my house. I had covered a room in plastic sheets (much like a kill-room from Dexter) and we were ready to film a few gore scenes for the found footage film Justin and I set our minds to: GPK.
To give quick insight, GPK is a feature film found footage film which follows a successful applicant to the GPK show. (GPK = Go Pro Killers). The company itself offers applicants the opportunity to come to one of the company’s Kill-Rooms so as to kill a person of their choosing. All the show “asks” is that applicants wear a Go-Pro camera whilst they perform their kill and, a camera is also put on the victim. A third camera hangs from the ceiling and a free-moving cameraman comes in the room too - so all angles of the kill are covered. The company then streams the films to the paying viewers, watching from the Dark Web. There is a lot more to the story than that but - that is it in a nutshell. Think Hostel, crossed with Maniac, mixed with Starship Troopers and you’re close… Kind of.
Anyway - Saturday.
During the film, various adverts come up asking who YOU would kill. These adverts are made up of my readers, and people who’ve pledged to appear in the film via the Kickstarter campaign. In one such advert, a lady describes how she would like to kill her ex with a “big, fuck off strap-on. Covered in razors.” It is this scene that we’re here to film. Kitty Kay is our model and Mike Butler is the poor ex. Both are fine with nudity and both are fine with the content so - we’re all soon in position having done a quick “dry run” with them both fully clothed. All good and the clothes are stripped off and Mike is bent over the horse, spread for the world to see. My eyes are already burning through. Kitty is behind him - poor girl - and has the strap-on in position. The toy itself wrapped in barb-wire. She moves into position and nudges the tip against a surprisingly clenched Mike. We pause the action so as to cover his arse in blood, along with the toy. But it’s still missing something. I call out to Louis and tell him we need the mince meat from my fridge. The idea being that the mince itself looks like tatters of flesh. Some are put on the toy and…. And this is where my life changed forever… Some more is put…. Well, Mike grabbed a handful and he’s feeding it up his arse so that it looks like his arsehole is hanging in tatters. I can’t say it looked good but it did look effective at least…
Kitty put the Go-Pro on her head and filmed looking down to the toy so, in the shot we have her breasts, the toy and Mike’s arse. A Killer POV shot, which is the idea behind the film; we’re putting the audience in the position of being both killer and victim. With the shot done, we geared up for the second one… I wanted to see blood gushing out of Mike’s arse. So… We got the syringe with the long tube… Mike fed the tube through and… Action. Kitty pulls away and “wanks” her toy off to get rid of the meat and blood while, at the top of the shot, Mike’s arse gushes blood.
For the rest of the weekend, whenever I shut my eye’s, all I saw was Mike’s arse. The scary thing was, this was the first shot of the day. We still had to “snap” his erect penis off and have the stump ejaculate 500ml of blood straight into Kitty’s face. It was going to be a long day… But… For the sake of the film, it was entirely worth it! The scary thing is; this is the opening of the film. We have naked people, butt’s exploding claret, cocks being snapped off, tongues ripped off, labia ripped away, teeth pulled and a whole host of other disgusting scenes and - worryingly - we keep adding to them!!!
You can learn more about GPK here, along with various ways to appear in the film too:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thegpk/gpk-a-feature-length-horror-film
CHECK OUT TODAY'S OTHER HORROR ARTICLES
 | |
the heart and soul of horror promotion websites
After the successful inaugural VIPCO VAULTS OF TERRORFEST world renowned video label VIPCO are once again open for festival submissions for the next online film festival VIPCO VAULTS OF TERRORFEST 2023.
For VIPCO VAULTS OF TERRORFEST 2023 they are looking for short and feature length horror submissions to be showcased in the event.
New up and coming directors are welcome to show them what they’re made of and bring their terrifying visuals to the screens.
The festival will have a panel of judges featuring Horror Screams Video Vault Founder Peter ‘Witchfinder’ Hopkins, with others to be announced, reviewing your submissions, and not only will the winning short film have the option of being showcased on the official VIPCO Youtube channel, but the winning feature film will also have the option for a DVD & VOD release from VIPCO!
Awards will be given out for the following:
Best Feature Film
Best Short Film
Best Director (Feature)
Best Director (Short)
Best Lead in a feature
Best Lead in a short
Best Sound Design
Best SFX
The festival has begun accepting submissions with entries being FREE up to the Regular Deadline of 30th September 2022 after this date there will be a small fee to pay to submit your film.
The event is scheduled to take place online on 25th February 2023.
For more details on the festival and how to submit your films go to:
https://filmfreeway.com/VipcoVaultsofTerrorFest
For VIPCO VAULTS OF TERRORFEST 2023 they are looking for short and feature length horror submissions to be showcased in the event.
New up and coming directors are welcome to show them what they’re made of and bring their terrifying visuals to the screens.
The festival will have a panel of judges featuring Horror Screams Video Vault Founder Peter ‘Witchfinder’ Hopkins, with others to be announced, reviewing your submissions, and not only will the winning short film have the option of being showcased on the official VIPCO Youtube channel, but the winning feature film will also have the option for a DVD & VOD release from VIPCO!
Awards will be given out for the following:
Best Feature Film
Best Short Film
Best Director (Feature)
Best Director (Short)
Best Lead in a feature
Best Lead in a short
Best Sound Design
Best SFX
The festival has begun accepting submissions with entries being FREE up to the Regular Deadline of 30th September 2022 after this date there will be a small fee to pay to submit your film.
The event is scheduled to take place online on 25th February 2023.
For more details on the festival and how to submit your films go to:
https://filmfreeway.com/VipcoVaultsofTerrorFest
Keep up to date with all things VIPCO by following them on social media and via their website. Links below:
WEBSITE
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
INSTAGRAM
YOUTUBE
WEBSITE
YOUTUBE
CHECK OUT TODAY'S OTHER HORROR ARTICLES
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THE HEART AND SOUL OF HORROR PROMOTION
If Chad’s lucky, the scene will cut with a menacing snap, and we’ll be back with his two friends at the party, wondering where Chad went. If he’s less lucky, we might actually see him get swallowed, or eviscerated, or whatever the heck else happens down in that idiotic abyss.
Stupidity in Horror
Kyle Muntz
Kyle Muntz
Three young people walk down a path through a field somewhere. Their figures are tanned and slim against the blazing horizon; their faces are full of energy yet, somehow, oddly vacuous. At least two are girls. The camera seems to linger more on their bodies than anything they say. While it can, it strives to capture everything about them: the unmarked smoothness of their skin, that sense everything is just as it should be.
But then it drifts off the path to an old well. The exterior is cracked and broken; even from the road, there’s something ominous about it. As viewers, we don’t just suspect, we know. A loud rushing fills our ears as the camera swoops over the rim. Perhaps it even shows us the darkness inside, the sick presence of whatever might be in there as one member of the group—let’s call him Chad—happens to notice the well.
“Guys,” he says. “Shit, you see that?”
“What is it?” says another—Ashley. In the 2000s, if the movie had the budget, she might been have played by Paris Hilton or Jessica Alba.
“Ugh, it’s so old!” Sarah, the third member of the group, has dark makeup and a wilder look. “Don’t they know nobody uses these things anymore?”
“Wait.” Chad lifts one toned arm; sunlight dances on his neatly frosted tips. “I gotta go check it out.”
“Come on, Chad. Don’t be dumb. We’ve gotta get to the party!”
“No problem, I’ll catch up in a second. You go on ahead, alright?”
The two girls shrug and walk away, but Chad lingers, looking down. Already, the sound effects have changed: a harsh grating rises beneath the gentle noontime ambience. But then the perspective shifts, and we’re looking up. The creature inside the well sees Chad’s lips purse, bides its time as he nods and steps forward. Every viewer knows that yes, obviously, only a deranged person would come any closer when this is so obviously not a good place to be.
A moment later, Chad climbs inside the well.
What has happened here, exactly? If Chad’s lucky, the scene will cut with a menacing snap, and we’ll be back with his two friends at the party, wondering where Chad went. If he’s less lucky, we might actually see him get swallowed, or eviscerated, or whatever the heck else happens down in that idiotic abyss.
Either way, Chad is gone. Anyone who has ever seen a horror movie knows Chad needed to die. As the audience, you could even say we’re on the monster’s side—watching it kill these people is our whole reason for being here, even if (counterintuitively) we also want the characters to survive. All of this is for us: the build-up. The final rush of blood. And since it was all pretty much destiny, this way is as good as any other, right?
But many things happen in that baffling eternity as Chad slings his leg over the rim of the well. We feel, acutely, the unbearable weight of PLOT hanging over all this. “This person is not like us,” the film seems to proclaim as the vindictive darkness swallows Chad’s screams. And even while his bones crunch, or the creature rips out his spleen, or whatever, the audience is asking, I mean, isn’t he so stupid he sort of deserves it?
Chad’s stupidity signals that he can be easily forgotten. He’ll be less than a memory that night, when Sarah gets murdered after wandering into the middle of a cornfield—even though, probably, she’s heard at the party that people have been disappearing. And it’ll only be later, when Ashley finally battles the monster in a labyrinthine, half-collapsed building she had no specific reason for entering, that we’ll get a sense of somebody who maybe still has a few wires connected in her head.
The Chad who climbs down the well does something no real person would ever do. In the process, he marks himself as a kind of jacked, Zach Effron looking skin with nothing inside it: an entity so different from us he barely merits our attention. And sure, we all know the writers needed to get Chad down the well somehow—but did they really need to pick the easiest way?
What if he had a reason to climb down the well? What if, actually, we couldn’t bear to see him not do it? Wouldn’t the scene be more effective if at least some of us, in his position, might ?
But that presents a different problem. People don’t just hurl themselves into perilous, enclosed places for no reason—and, yeah, when we think for a second. Why the hell would anybody want to go down there? The ultimate answer is probably that Chad and his friends should be somewhere else, doing something that more clearly reflects who they are as people.
But I like this original scenario because it shows the dilemma of writing horror—or, really, of any genre. The challenge can be especially interesting when characters are put in these bizarre, improbable situations; to move them from within, rather than dragging them along with the plot. We must believe this character would do a thing no real person would do.
What exactly would this look like? That question has a million answers, but here’s one possibility.
Maybe, rather than a group of friends, this story is just about one couple—Chad and Ashley. They’re back from out of town to visit Chad’s family, but they’re arguing. Chad has done the kind of stupid thing men do; as they wander across the family property, they come upon the well. Ashley is angry. Chad is carrying a present for his sister, but Ashley grabs it out of Chad’s hand and tosses it into the well.
“Babe, what the hell?” he might say. “Do you realize—that was supposed to mean something, since we forgot her birthday last year? We’re here to—”
“So this is my fault now?” Ashley says. “You drag me all this way, and all you can think about is her—after what she said about me? Really?”
“Goddamn it, you realize now I have to climb down there?”
“I don’t care. Do it, for all I care.”
Chad opens his mouth to respond, but Ashley is already stomping off towards the house. And of course, Chad could just follow her. But he used to be close to his sister. It’s been months since they spoke: since that last conversation when she specifically accused him of always forgetting about her. And what would she think, after all that, if he showed up to his sister’s birthday without a present? Wouldn’t that make this whole trip a waste? Wouldn’t that prove she’d been right all along?
No. At first Chad hesitates as he looks into the yawning, hungry mouth of the well; but then he shrugs. It’s old, sure—but it’s not that bad, is it? Just a quick climb, and he’ll be up at the party. In the worst case, if the ladder breaks or something, Ashley will come back to find him. And then—this is the best part—she might even feel guilty about all this. Wouldn’t that be sort of great, if afterwards he could (not overtly, but subtly, without saying it) hold it over her? Wasn’t there a chance she might even admit she was wrong?
Yeah, he’ll think, as he lowers himself into the darkness.
It might seem weird, but really, he doesn’t have a choice.
THE PAIN EATER BY KYLE MUNTZ
Some wounds are too deep to ever heal.Two brothers from Michigan are reunited after the death of their father. They’ve never been close, but now they have to live together—and it gets more difficult when one discovers a strange creature, vomited from the body of a dead cat. A creature that eats human pain. It feels good: too good. Soon he wants to hurt himself more, just so the pain can be taken away. But the more the creature becomes a part of his life, the more he damages everything around him.
PRAISE FOR KYLE MUNTZ
“Playful and painful and surreally real, and great fun to read.”
—Brian Evenson, author of Song for the Unraveling of the World
“There’s a melodic beat to Muntz’s writing, terse descriptions of events interspersed with sudden bursts of graphic visuals, often macabre in its evocations. It’s a delicate balance, but one he masterfully navigates.”
—Peter Tieryas, author of Mecha Samurai Empire
“Here is prose of a high poetic intensity working in the service of a dark and cool vision… disturbing and enthralling in equal parts.”
—Rhys Hughes, author of A Universal History of Infamy
“One of the strangest, most original things I’ve read this summer… a work of radical, subversive innocence.”
—James Pate, author of The Fassbender Diaries
OFFICIAL RELEASE JULY 2022
PRAISE FOR KYLE MUNTZ
“Playful and painful and surreally real, and great fun to read.”
—Brian Evenson, author of Song for the Unraveling of the World
“There’s a melodic beat to Muntz’s writing, terse descriptions of events interspersed with sudden bursts of graphic visuals, often macabre in its evocations. It’s a delicate balance, but one he masterfully navigates.”
—Peter Tieryas, author of Mecha Samurai Empire
“Here is prose of a high poetic intensity working in the service of a dark and cool vision… disturbing and enthralling in equal parts.”
—Rhys Hughes, author of A Universal History of Infamy
“One of the strangest, most original things I’ve read this summer… a work of radical, subversive innocence.”
—James Pate, author of The Fassbender Diaries
OFFICIAL RELEASE JULY 2022
KYLE MUNTZ
KYLE MUNTZ IS THE AUTHOR OF SCARY PEOPLE (ERASERHEAD PRESS), AND WINNER OF THE SPARKS PRIZE FOR SHORT FICTION. IN 2016 HE RECEIVED AN MFA IN FICTION FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME. CURRENTLY HE TEACHES LITERATURE AND WRITING AT THE GUANGDONG UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN STUDIES IN GUANGZHOU, CHINA.
CHECK OUT TODAY'S OTHER HORROR ARTICLES
 | |
the heart and soul of horror promotion
Tony Jones and Steve Stred rake over old bones and discuss
the stunning ‘Six Stories’ series with author Matt Wesolowski
the stunning ‘Six Stories’ series with author Matt Wesolowski
It takes a very special series of books to unite two top review sites for a ‘rare as hen’s teeth’ joint feature…. Ginger Nuts of Horror (Tony Jones) and Kendall Reviews (Steve Stred) join forces to rake over the bones of Matt Wesolowski’s superb Six Stories series, which began back in 2016, with book six Demon hitting the shelves earlier in 2022. Both Tony and Steve review a lot of books and often share recommendations with each other, by sheer coincidence they started reading Six Stories at roughly the same time and in their regularly chats decided to join literary forces, as it became apparent they had jointly stumbled upon a series which was rather special.
Even more exciting, the project got even more intriguing when the author of the Six Stories series Matt Wesolowski got involved and we feature a brand-new interview in which he answers some of our most pressing questions.
Background to the Six Stories series:
All six novels are written in the same style, are pure genius in their simplicity being the perfect blend of thriller and horror. True crime podcaster Scott King interviews six individuals who are in some way connected to an often-notorious cold case or murder whose discussions attempt to shed new light on the investigation. As the series has continued Scott’s podcast has grown in popularity and although the creator stays out of the spotlight media interest in him increases.
There is also often an undiagnosed supernatural feel to the cases, but because he is not necessary trying to ‘solve’ a murder or mystery there are often enticing threads left hanging and not all questions are necessary answered. For those of you enjoy your crime to be of the type of investigation Miss Marple might lead you may hate these books! But if you enjoy darker explorations which take the side roads, dark ripples into broken psyches, the opinions of bit-players or avenues not covered by the police then these books will blow you away. Some very big names (especially crime writers) have endorsed the series, including Ian Rankin, Joseph Knox, Andrew Michael Hurley, Alex North, James Oswald, CJ Tudor and Michael Marshall Smith. To call them awesome is a serious understatement.
Before we introduce Matt Wesolowski, Tony and Steve rake over old bones…..
TONY to STEVE: What makes this series such a success for you? Personally, I was blown away from start to finish, it started with a great first entry and it just got better and better.
STEVE: For me, I think it was the realism and the feeling that this was 100% factual. Everything was so cinematic and told with such vividness. It really was like watching a True Crime documentary. I would love to see Wesolowski’s research and plotting for these books. The number of times I’ve Googled something while reading the Six Stories to only find links to that specific book popup is insane!
STEVE to TONY: Having read all six books now, I’ve a bit sad I didn’t discover them sooner. Can you recall a series like this where you were kicking yourself you didn’t get to them sooner in your reading life?
TONY: On the other hand, discovering them late allows for a great binge! Although I read a couple of John Connolly at random points over the last twenty years, I freshly ‘discovered’ the Charlie Parker novels over the first lockdown in 2020 and read all eighteen very close together. To be honest, when it comes to series I think more of fantasy and detective novels rather than horror, stuff like George RR Martin, Ian Rankin or Michael Connelly are authors I’ve followed for many years. There are always new writers to be discovered and Matt Wesolowski was my absolute major find of 2021.
TONY to STEVE: How well did you think the undiagnosed supernatural element worked? Although this is explained away in some of the threads, it did feature in all six books. I think Demon is the one with most unanswered questions and I also loved the way the series often took in local folklore and traditions peculiar to small areas.
STEVE: Personally, I did love the local folklore within, but it did frustrate me a bit. You’re right, Demon seemed to embrace the supernatural elements the most AND actually dive into them more than the other five did. The series reminded me a bit of the Animal Planet show ‘Finding Bigfoot.’ The researchers would spend a night in an area, have some sort of ‘event’ or ‘incident’ and instead of investigating it more, they’d move onto to another place. That’s actually why I stopped watching that show early on – too much unfilled elements. Wesolowski would tease it A LOT and but the story itself was always so powerful that I wanted to see how things played out.
TONY to STEVE: If Matt Wesolowski wanted to fiddle around with the format, perhaps in a bid to freshen things up what would your suggestions be? This is tricky as the familiarity of the recurring format is one of the great strengths of the series. I guess one suggestion would be finding out more about the podcaster Scott King himself, but we can ask Matt later!
STEVE: Yes, bingo! I think if anything, especially after the revelations in book 3 The Changeling, we could get an entire novel where Scott looks deeper into his own life but without the format. A pure novel of a man trying to find his place in the world when everything he thought he knew was incorrect. I also worry that this might alienate fans of the series though.
STEVE to TONY: On a side note – has Matt pigeonholed himself into this series? I’d be keen to see what he’d create outside of the Six Stories Series, but would people be up to embrace it you think? He does have a 2013 release called The Black Land out.
TONY: Yes, I’ve read it, The Black Land was written before Six Stories entry and is a much simplex piece of writing, which lacks the complexities which makes the series such a unique reading experience. It was published in 2013 and the first Six Stories appeared three years later, I would be very interested in hearing what Matt was up to, literary wise, over that period. I will be equally fascinated to hear what Matt does next, as he has been working with the same tried and tested format since 2016 and that has allowed him to release a book a year. Will he break away from that trusted format and write a straight thriller or horror novel?
TONY to STEVE: This is absolutely impossible to answer because the whole series is so strong, but how would you rank the series? My list is in the left-hand column.
Even more exciting, the project got even more intriguing when the author of the Six Stories series Matt Wesolowski got involved and we feature a brand-new interview in which he answers some of our most pressing questions.
Background to the Six Stories series:
All six novels are written in the same style, are pure genius in their simplicity being the perfect blend of thriller and horror. True crime podcaster Scott King interviews six individuals who are in some way connected to an often-notorious cold case or murder whose discussions attempt to shed new light on the investigation. As the series has continued Scott’s podcast has grown in popularity and although the creator stays out of the spotlight media interest in him increases.
There is also often an undiagnosed supernatural feel to the cases, but because he is not necessary trying to ‘solve’ a murder or mystery there are often enticing threads left hanging and not all questions are necessary answered. For those of you enjoy your crime to be of the type of investigation Miss Marple might lead you may hate these books! But if you enjoy darker explorations which take the side roads, dark ripples into broken psyches, the opinions of bit-players or avenues not covered by the police then these books will blow you away. Some very big names (especially crime writers) have endorsed the series, including Ian Rankin, Joseph Knox, Andrew Michael Hurley, Alex North, James Oswald, CJ Tudor and Michael Marshall Smith. To call them awesome is a serious understatement.
Before we introduce Matt Wesolowski, Tony and Steve rake over old bones…..
TONY to STEVE: What makes this series such a success for you? Personally, I was blown away from start to finish, it started with a great first entry and it just got better and better.
STEVE: For me, I think it was the realism and the feeling that this was 100% factual. Everything was so cinematic and told with such vividness. It really was like watching a True Crime documentary. I would love to see Wesolowski’s research and plotting for these books. The number of times I’ve Googled something while reading the Six Stories to only find links to that specific book popup is insane!
STEVE to TONY: Having read all six books now, I’ve a bit sad I didn’t discover them sooner. Can you recall a series like this where you were kicking yourself you didn’t get to them sooner in your reading life?
TONY: On the other hand, discovering them late allows for a great binge! Although I read a couple of John Connolly at random points over the last twenty years, I freshly ‘discovered’ the Charlie Parker novels over the first lockdown in 2020 and read all eighteen very close together. To be honest, when it comes to series I think more of fantasy and detective novels rather than horror, stuff like George RR Martin, Ian Rankin or Michael Connelly are authors I’ve followed for many years. There are always new writers to be discovered and Matt Wesolowski was my absolute major find of 2021.
TONY to STEVE: How well did you think the undiagnosed supernatural element worked? Although this is explained away in some of the threads, it did feature in all six books. I think Demon is the one with most unanswered questions and I also loved the way the series often took in local folklore and traditions peculiar to small areas.
STEVE: Personally, I did love the local folklore within, but it did frustrate me a bit. You’re right, Demon seemed to embrace the supernatural elements the most AND actually dive into them more than the other five did. The series reminded me a bit of the Animal Planet show ‘Finding Bigfoot.’ The researchers would spend a night in an area, have some sort of ‘event’ or ‘incident’ and instead of investigating it more, they’d move onto to another place. That’s actually why I stopped watching that show early on – too much unfilled elements. Wesolowski would tease it A LOT and but the story itself was always so powerful that I wanted to see how things played out.
TONY to STEVE: If Matt Wesolowski wanted to fiddle around with the format, perhaps in a bid to freshen things up what would your suggestions be? This is tricky as the familiarity of the recurring format is one of the great strengths of the series. I guess one suggestion would be finding out more about the podcaster Scott King himself, but we can ask Matt later!
STEVE: Yes, bingo! I think if anything, especially after the revelations in book 3 The Changeling, we could get an entire novel where Scott looks deeper into his own life but without the format. A pure novel of a man trying to find his place in the world when everything he thought he knew was incorrect. I also worry that this might alienate fans of the series though.
STEVE to TONY: On a side note – has Matt pigeonholed himself into this series? I’d be keen to see what he’d create outside of the Six Stories Series, but would people be up to embrace it you think? He does have a 2013 release called The Black Land out.
TONY: Yes, I’ve read it, The Black Land was written before Six Stories entry and is a much simplex piece of writing, which lacks the complexities which makes the series such a unique reading experience. It was published in 2013 and the first Six Stories appeared three years later, I would be very interested in hearing what Matt was up to, literary wise, over that period. I will be equally fascinated to hear what Matt does next, as he has been working with the same tried and tested format since 2016 and that has allowed him to release a book a year. Will he break away from that trusted format and write a straight thriller or horror novel?
TONY to STEVE: This is absolutely impossible to answer because the whole series is so strong, but how would you rank the series? My list is in the left-hand column.
| 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th | TONY Deity (book 5) Demon (book 6) Hydra (book 2) Changeling (book 3) Beast (book 4) Six Stories (book 1) | STEVE Six Stories (Book 1) Demon (Book 6) Changeling (Book 3) Hydra (Book 2) Deity (Book 5) Beast (Book 4) |
STEVE to TONY: It is interesting to see that the only one for us that we ranked the same was Demon out of the group. If you had to recommend just one of these books to a potential reader would it be Demon?
TONY: I would always insist reading them in order and there are no real weak points, more a matter of taste and I found them incredibly difficult to rank. None deserve to be last. But I might break rank and choose Changeling, that was a very clever plot and comes together so nicely and is a rock-solid example of how clever, sneaky and unpredictable the stories can be. On one level it was fiendishly simple: a kid disappears from a car, but where could he possibly have gone?
TONY to STEVE: Considering the number of books we read and review I think the Six Stories series is still flying under the radar in the horror community and I do not hear it name checked anywhere near as much as it deserves to. What do you think?
STEVE: Absolutely – and I think I’d chalk it up to a few things. The first – there is a very prominent “extreme” movement happening right now, especially on larger Facebook pages such as Books of Horror. Not saying that’s wrong or shouldn’t be happening, but these stories might be considered ‘tame’ for those fans of the Godless crowd. Secondly – I think people might not be giving it as much of a chance as it should get because of the ‘crime’ element mixed with the ‘podcast’ element. As I mentioned to you prior to reading these and even to Gavin at Kendall Reviews – I believed these were a collection of unconnected stories initially. I didn’t get that it was a podcast where the entirety was connected through each release. So, when I discovered that it was a singular release with a singular storyline, I dove in and haven’t looked back since.
STEVE to TONY: do you have any thoughts on why that might be?
TONY: Completely agree with your comments. I think the thriller/crime market is much bigger than the horror slice and publisher might be directing the books more there. I don’t see Matt much on social media much either, these books could easily appeal to authors with big followings such as Adam Nevill, but he’s very busy online interacting with fans. Is there is such a thing as a Matt Wesolowski ‘brand’ I doubt it would be seen as horror. I also noticed all the big names who have championed the series are predominately crime writers, but there are others who use similar supernatural overtones as himself, Alex North, James Oswald and CJ Tudor being three good examples. Finally, compared to crime and thrillers the number of series lasting six books in horror is miniscule and those other genres naturally lend themselves better to sequences.
TONY to STEVE: How excited do you get as each of the books as each case unfolded, particularly as we approached the final interviewee? I found myself almost wetting myself with excitement! I also found myself wishing so-and-so was interviewed only to find out they weren’t!
STEVE: Yes! Matt does a great job of doing a very sly bait and switch a number of times. In each release you ABSOLUTELY know what is going to happen and who will be interviewed in every single interview, only to have no idea when the next chapter starts and then once again you’re confident you know ABOSLUTELY everything and then you don’t and repeat! I will also add – I don’t think I was ever disappointed in how any of them ended.
STEVE to TONY: Did you find the conclusion to each satisfactory?
TONY: Yes, in their own way, but some I preferred more than others, but the logic was sound in all of them, which perhaps edged them towards the crime genre and away from horror. On a few occasions I was disappointed ‘so and so’ wasn’t interviewed, but for the final interview I was so on the hook for who it was! I deliberately skipped the contents pages in case I picked up unnecessary clues. I also loved the way that he refused to go bombastic and refused to drop huge plot twists and by keeping things low key ramped up the level of realism.
TONY to STEVE: Hit me with some reasons why readers should spend their hard-earned cash on Six Stories? I can give you one VERY big reason Steve, the absolute gold standard of combining crime and the supernatural is John Connolly’s Charlie Parker series, the Six Stories match these and I simply cannot give these books higher praise. The Parker books are definitely fuller on supernatural, but the threat always lurks in the back of Six Stories, whether it is explained away or not….
STEVE: I think for me – they were just so engrossing from start to finish. I shamefully haven’t read any of the Charlie Parker series, but for me, the gold standard of reading is purely – when I’m not reading that book am I constantly thinking about it? There have been very few series like this that simply don’t stutter or trip up or diminish in quality at some stage, but the Six Stories series doesn’t do that once. And I think this is one of those series where you absolutely CAN NOT only reading one of them. I’ve seen a few people mention, as well, that they didn’t realize there was an “order” to the releases and started on Book two or Book four and then went back and read the other ones and that really speaks to the format and power of the storytelling that Wesolowski has delivered.
TONY: I have not got the patience for podcasts or audiobooks, but if true crime podcasts are anything like as riveting as Six Stories then I’m obviously missing a trick. These books are unique in that there is no weak link and if anything, the sum is greater than the parts. I kept on thinking the format would get boring or something, but it never did and I found the familiarity of the format comforting. That perhaps also has similarities with crime fiction, when the reader quickly tunes into what their favourite detective is up to in the latest book. The word ‘masterpiece’ is bounded around all too easily, but the Six Stories ranks amongst the best things I have read in years. And I read A LOT!
TONY: I would always insist reading them in order and there are no real weak points, more a matter of taste and I found them incredibly difficult to rank. None deserve to be last. But I might break rank and choose Changeling, that was a very clever plot and comes together so nicely and is a rock-solid example of how clever, sneaky and unpredictable the stories can be. On one level it was fiendishly simple: a kid disappears from a car, but where could he possibly have gone?
TONY to STEVE: Considering the number of books we read and review I think the Six Stories series is still flying under the radar in the horror community and I do not hear it name checked anywhere near as much as it deserves to. What do you think?
STEVE: Absolutely – and I think I’d chalk it up to a few things. The first – there is a very prominent “extreme” movement happening right now, especially on larger Facebook pages such as Books of Horror. Not saying that’s wrong or shouldn’t be happening, but these stories might be considered ‘tame’ for those fans of the Godless crowd. Secondly – I think people might not be giving it as much of a chance as it should get because of the ‘crime’ element mixed with the ‘podcast’ element. As I mentioned to you prior to reading these and even to Gavin at Kendall Reviews – I believed these were a collection of unconnected stories initially. I didn’t get that it was a podcast where the entirety was connected through each release. So, when I discovered that it was a singular release with a singular storyline, I dove in and haven’t looked back since.
STEVE to TONY: do you have any thoughts on why that might be?
TONY: Completely agree with your comments. I think the thriller/crime market is much bigger than the horror slice and publisher might be directing the books more there. I don’t see Matt much on social media much either, these books could easily appeal to authors with big followings such as Adam Nevill, but he’s very busy online interacting with fans. Is there is such a thing as a Matt Wesolowski ‘brand’ I doubt it would be seen as horror. I also noticed all the big names who have championed the series are predominately crime writers, but there are others who use similar supernatural overtones as himself, Alex North, James Oswald and CJ Tudor being three good examples. Finally, compared to crime and thrillers the number of series lasting six books in horror is miniscule and those other genres naturally lend themselves better to sequences.
TONY to STEVE: How excited do you get as each of the books as each case unfolded, particularly as we approached the final interviewee? I found myself almost wetting myself with excitement! I also found myself wishing so-and-so was interviewed only to find out they weren’t!
STEVE: Yes! Matt does a great job of doing a very sly bait and switch a number of times. In each release you ABSOLUTELY know what is going to happen and who will be interviewed in every single interview, only to have no idea when the next chapter starts and then once again you’re confident you know ABOSLUTELY everything and then you don’t and repeat! I will also add – I don’t think I was ever disappointed in how any of them ended.
STEVE to TONY: Did you find the conclusion to each satisfactory?
TONY: Yes, in their own way, but some I preferred more than others, but the logic was sound in all of them, which perhaps edged them towards the crime genre and away from horror. On a few occasions I was disappointed ‘so and so’ wasn’t interviewed, but for the final interview I was so on the hook for who it was! I deliberately skipped the contents pages in case I picked up unnecessary clues. I also loved the way that he refused to go bombastic and refused to drop huge plot twists and by keeping things low key ramped up the level of realism.
TONY to STEVE: Hit me with some reasons why readers should spend their hard-earned cash on Six Stories? I can give you one VERY big reason Steve, the absolute gold standard of combining crime and the supernatural is John Connolly’s Charlie Parker series, the Six Stories match these and I simply cannot give these books higher praise. The Parker books are definitely fuller on supernatural, but the threat always lurks in the back of Six Stories, whether it is explained away or not….
STEVE: I think for me – they were just so engrossing from start to finish. I shamefully haven’t read any of the Charlie Parker series, but for me, the gold standard of reading is purely – when I’m not reading that book am I constantly thinking about it? There have been very few series like this that simply don’t stutter or trip up or diminish in quality at some stage, but the Six Stories series doesn’t do that once. And I think this is one of those series where you absolutely CAN NOT only reading one of them. I’ve seen a few people mention, as well, that they didn’t realize there was an “order” to the releases and started on Book two or Book four and then went back and read the other ones and that really speaks to the format and power of the storytelling that Wesolowski has delivered.
TONY: I have not got the patience for podcasts or audiobooks, but if true crime podcasts are anything like as riveting as Six Stories then I’m obviously missing a trick. These books are unique in that there is no weak link and if anything, the sum is greater than the parts. I kept on thinking the format would get boring or something, but it never did and I found the familiarity of the format comforting. That perhaps also has similarities with crime fiction, when the reader quickly tunes into what their favourite detective is up to in the latest book. The word ‘masterpiece’ is bounded around all too easily, but the Six Stories ranks amongst the best things I have read in years. And I read A LOT!
ABOUT MATT WESOLOWSKI
Matt Wesolowski is an author from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in the UK. He is an English tutor for young people in care.
'Six Stories' was published by Orenda Books in the spring of 2016 with follow-up ‘Hydra’ published in the winter of 2017, 'Changeling' in 2018, 'Beast' in 2019 and 'Deity' in 2020.
‘Six Stories’ has been optioned by a major Hollywood studio and the third book in the series, ‘Changeling’ was longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, 2019 Amazon Publishing Readers’ Award for Best Thriller and Best Independent Voice.
'Beast' won the Amazon publishing award for Best Independent voice in 2020.
Now let us catch up with Matt Wesolowski with a few questions which have come out of our discussion.
TONY & STEVE: Book six ‘Demon’ hints that ‘Six Stories’ might have reached the end of the road, please say it is not so?
MATT: I can't really say at the moment! It's certainly possible, but it's also possible that Scott King may return. I don't want to push to write another one for the sake of it (I've had one a year out for the past 6 years) - Demon is perhaps the one I'm most proud of and writing it has taught me I need to wait until I really feel passionate about an idea before I start writing it.
TONY & STEVE: Do you think ‘Demon’ is the most overtly supernatural of the series?
Actually, I feel it's the least supernatural of all of them! Demon is the one that I did the least supernatural research for anyway! I think a trope like Demon possession has been done so many ways and so much better that I can do. As much as I wanted to write a possession book, it turned out the 'demonic' aspect of the story is only really the surface. Our society is very quick to label people (and, inexplicably CHILDREN) as 'evil' or 'demonic' before taking a moment to look at ourselves first and wonder what environment we've created where a child can commit a terrible act such as the pair in Demon. In many ways, our thinking around evil is still medieval.
TONY & STEVE: Do you have an interest in local folklore? It plays a significant part of a number of the books?
MATT: Very much so. I've always been fascinated by folk tales; as a child I read British Folk Tales by Kevin Crossley-Holland (1987) so many times, I could tell most of them off by heart - they're adapted folk tales from various different parts of the British Isles and it taught me so much about folklore and the art of storytelling. Folk tales and local lore has a huge part in forming societies - cautionary and moral stories, usually told orally hold huge power and it's no wonder everywhere has their own tales of boggarts, selkies and strange creatures. Where I live in the North East of England, we have an abundance of local lore, from the vicious 'Duegar' or 'little people' of the Simonside Hills to the monstrous Lambton Worm in County Durham. Whenever I go anywhere, I always try to find out about the local tales and legends.
TONY & STEVE: How strongly are the cases inspired by real life, I got a Michael Jackson vibe in ‘Deity’ and the Jamie Bulger murder in ‘Demon’?
MATT: Both. An amalgam of very real problems - Zach Crystal draws on elements of Jackson but also other predators such as Jimmy Saville and (allegedly) Marilyn Manson. It's about looking up to someone who is almost god-like and feeling like we can excuse their predatory behaviour because of who they are but where we, as fans or consumers of their media or music are left in the aftermath of their downfall.
Demon probably lends itself more to general child-on-child violence and murder rather than a specific case. My work background is in working with permanently excluded and often violent young people and I wanted to draw out the idea that it's possible to feel compassion for a child as well as condemn an horrific act. These are unpleasant, complicated feelings that are never black and white and it's there where I feel the story lies. What's most important to me is to create that conflict in the reader.
TONY & STEVE: Do you think the books would truly work if recorded as podcasts in that you could con listeners into thinking they were listening to a true crime podcast?
MATT: Oh, that would be so much fun! I've had people (my publisher and editor included) googling various characters and incidents to see if they're real or not and I love the idea of blending reality and horror. I'm a huge fan of found footage horror but only when it's done well like the first Blair Witch Project and BBC's 1992 Ghostwatch which terrified my generation when it was broadcast and maybe that sowed the seed?
TONY & STEVE: If the series is to continue do you intend to reveal more about the mysterious podcaster Scott King?
MATT: I actually did in an earlier draft of Demon - in which a few disgruntled Zach Crystal fans were digging some dirt on him but sadly, those parts never saw the light of day. Now I'm thinking about it, I do like to keep him out of the limelight but the more series he records, I feel like the less places he has to hide!
TONY & STEVE: Has there been any interest in the series for film or television?
MATT: I actually sold the film rights very soon after the first Six Stories was published but I can't say a lot about it other than these things take a great deal of time and usually end in disappointment! However, I should hopefully have something exciting to share soon...
TONY & STEVE: Do you listen to true crime podcasts? If so what do you recommend?
MATT: Not as much as I used to these days, I'm much more interested in listening to horror stories; Radio Rental being a particular current favourite. Who knows if the stories on there are true or not - I think that's what I like about it! I still listen to Casefile - an Australian true crime podcast whose host as anonymous and has certainly influenced the Six Stories series. I feel like the first series of Serial is pretty untouchable and still holds up today. Truth and Justice with Bob Ruff is astounding in terms of research and depth; the episodes about the West Memphis Three are amazing.
TONY & STEVE: There has been a lot of discussion of whether the books are horror, crime or both. How do you see it and your audience?
MATT: I think it's a pretty even split. Horror has been such a significant part of my life ever since I was very young; The Usbourne World of the Unknown: Monsters, UFOs and Ghosts books were basically my bibles growing up and I do read a lot of true crime so it's only natural the two should meet! I know that sometimes publishers and booksellers have a hard time knowing exactly which shelves my books should be stacked on, but I just concentrate on writing the sort of stories I like to read.
This year the difference is that I've been booked to appear on panels at some sci-fi/speculative festivals as well as crime (Crimefest, Theakstons, Cymera, Capital Crime, McM Comic Con London to name a few) which I really appreciate.
TONY & STEVE: Has the series grown in popularity as the books have been published?
MATT: It's hard to tell. I've got a group of 'core' fans who have been there from the very first book but it's always so nice when people reach out and tell me they've just got into the series. It's one of the reasons I made all books in the Six Stories series stand-alone, so anyone could pick them up wherever they want; for example, you like vampires? Grab Beast or are you into fairy lore? Changeling is for you.
Honestly, I felt like crime novels often lacked weird monster/folklore content and so decided to write the sort of (albeit quite niche) found footage/true crime/supernatural/podcast crossovers that I would like but had no idea anyone else would!
TONY & STEVE: Matt, it’s been an absolute pleasure. We might be late to the Six Stories party, but these books made a huge impression on us both we just had to write something celebrating its absolute brilliance.
Tony Jones (Ginger Nuts of Horror) & Steve Stred (Kendall Reviews)
TONY & STEVE: Book six ‘Demon’ hints that ‘Six Stories’ might have reached the end of the road, please say it is not so?
MATT: I can't really say at the moment! It's certainly possible, but it's also possible that Scott King may return. I don't want to push to write another one for the sake of it (I've had one a year out for the past 6 years) - Demon is perhaps the one I'm most proud of and writing it has taught me I need to wait until I really feel passionate about an idea before I start writing it.
TONY & STEVE: Do you think ‘Demon’ is the most overtly supernatural of the series?
Actually, I feel it's the least supernatural of all of them! Demon is the one that I did the least supernatural research for anyway! I think a trope like Demon possession has been done so many ways and so much better that I can do. As much as I wanted to write a possession book, it turned out the 'demonic' aspect of the story is only really the surface. Our society is very quick to label people (and, inexplicably CHILDREN) as 'evil' or 'demonic' before taking a moment to look at ourselves first and wonder what environment we've created where a child can commit a terrible act such as the pair in Demon. In many ways, our thinking around evil is still medieval.
TONY & STEVE: Do you have an interest in local folklore? It plays a significant part of a number of the books?
MATT: Very much so. I've always been fascinated by folk tales; as a child I read British Folk Tales by Kevin Crossley-Holland (1987) so many times, I could tell most of them off by heart - they're adapted folk tales from various different parts of the British Isles and it taught me so much about folklore and the art of storytelling. Folk tales and local lore has a huge part in forming societies - cautionary and moral stories, usually told orally hold huge power and it's no wonder everywhere has their own tales of boggarts, selkies and strange creatures. Where I live in the North East of England, we have an abundance of local lore, from the vicious 'Duegar' or 'little people' of the Simonside Hills to the monstrous Lambton Worm in County Durham. Whenever I go anywhere, I always try to find out about the local tales and legends.
TONY & STEVE: How strongly are the cases inspired by real life, I got a Michael Jackson vibe in ‘Deity’ and the Jamie Bulger murder in ‘Demon’?
MATT: Both. An amalgam of very real problems - Zach Crystal draws on elements of Jackson but also other predators such as Jimmy Saville and (allegedly) Marilyn Manson. It's about looking up to someone who is almost god-like and feeling like we can excuse their predatory behaviour because of who they are but where we, as fans or consumers of their media or music are left in the aftermath of their downfall.
Demon probably lends itself more to general child-on-child violence and murder rather than a specific case. My work background is in working with permanently excluded and often violent young people and I wanted to draw out the idea that it's possible to feel compassion for a child as well as condemn an horrific act. These are unpleasant, complicated feelings that are never black and white and it's there where I feel the story lies. What's most important to me is to create that conflict in the reader.
TONY & STEVE: Do you think the books would truly work if recorded as podcasts in that you could con listeners into thinking they were listening to a true crime podcast?
MATT: Oh, that would be so much fun! I've had people (my publisher and editor included) googling various characters and incidents to see if they're real or not and I love the idea of blending reality and horror. I'm a huge fan of found footage horror but only when it's done well like the first Blair Witch Project and BBC's 1992 Ghostwatch which terrified my generation when it was broadcast and maybe that sowed the seed?
TONY & STEVE: If the series is to continue do you intend to reveal more about the mysterious podcaster Scott King?
MATT: I actually did in an earlier draft of Demon - in which a few disgruntled Zach Crystal fans were digging some dirt on him but sadly, those parts never saw the light of day. Now I'm thinking about it, I do like to keep him out of the limelight but the more series he records, I feel like the less places he has to hide!
TONY & STEVE: Has there been any interest in the series for film or television?
MATT: I actually sold the film rights very soon after the first Six Stories was published but I can't say a lot about it other than these things take a great deal of time and usually end in disappointment! However, I should hopefully have something exciting to share soon...
TONY & STEVE: Do you listen to true crime podcasts? If so what do you recommend?
MATT: Not as much as I used to these days, I'm much more interested in listening to horror stories; Radio Rental being a particular current favourite. Who knows if the stories on there are true or not - I think that's what I like about it! I still listen to Casefile - an Australian true crime podcast whose host as anonymous and has certainly influenced the Six Stories series. I feel like the first series of Serial is pretty untouchable and still holds up today. Truth and Justice with Bob Ruff is astounding in terms of research and depth; the episodes about the West Memphis Three are amazing.
TONY & STEVE: There has been a lot of discussion of whether the books are horror, crime or both. How do you see it and your audience?
MATT: I think it's a pretty even split. Horror has been such a significant part of my life ever since I was very young; The Usbourne World of the Unknown: Monsters, UFOs and Ghosts books were basically my bibles growing up and I do read a lot of true crime so it's only natural the two should meet! I know that sometimes publishers and booksellers have a hard time knowing exactly which shelves my books should be stacked on, but I just concentrate on writing the sort of stories I like to read.
This year the difference is that I've been booked to appear on panels at some sci-fi/speculative festivals as well as crime (Crimefest, Theakstons, Cymera, Capital Crime, McM Comic Con London to name a few) which I really appreciate.
TONY & STEVE: Has the series grown in popularity as the books have been published?
MATT: It's hard to tell. I've got a group of 'core' fans who have been there from the very first book but it's always so nice when people reach out and tell me they've just got into the series. It's one of the reasons I made all books in the Six Stories series stand-alone, so anyone could pick them up wherever they want; for example, you like vampires? Grab Beast or are you into fairy lore? Changeling is for you.
Honestly, I felt like crime novels often lacked weird monster/folklore content and so decided to write the sort of (albeit quite niche) found footage/true crime/supernatural/podcast crossovers that I would like but had no idea anyone else would!
TONY & STEVE: Matt, it’s been an absolute pleasure. We might be late to the Six Stories party, but these books made a huge impression on us both we just had to write something celebrating its absolute brilliance.
Tony Jones (Ginger Nuts of Horror) & Steve Stred (Kendall Reviews)
Further reading
THE BOOKS THAT MATTER : MJ WESOLOWSKI ON THE BUTCHER BOY BY PATRICK MCCABE
THE STORY THAT TERRIFIED ME AS A CHILD AND ULTIMATELY HELPED MAKE ME THE WRITER I AM TODAY BY MATT WESOLOWSKI
HORROR AUTHOR INTERVIEW : MJ WESOLOWSKI
THE BOOKS THAT MATTER : MJ WESOLOWSKI ON THE BUTCHER BOY BY PATRICK MCCABE
THE STORY THAT TERRIFIED ME AS A CHILD AND ULTIMATELY HELPED MAKE ME THE WRITER I AM TODAY BY MATT WESOLOWSKI
HORROR AUTHOR INTERVIEW : MJ WESOLOWSKI
CHECK OUT TODAY'S OTHER HORROR ARTICLES
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