CREATING INFERNO AND OUR JOURNEY INTO THE FIRES OF HELL BY ALYSON FAYE AND STEPHANIE ELLIS

This was very much Stephanie Ellis’s project (conceived originally with her Infernal Clock Press publishing partner David Shakes) as in she is the one who came up with the idea of curating a horror anthology inspired by Dante’s Inferno and the Nine Circles of Hell.

I came on board as co-editor and contributing author when David Shakes’ commitments meant he had to bow out of the venture as editor, but he has contributed a fantastic story. I work as an editor/proofreader for a British indie press, so it was a happy skillset match. Plus Steph and I have known each other for a few years, beginning with me submitting to Steph at the Horror Tree.

Steph had already drawn up a list of international writers from her own writing network (which encompassed her peers some of whom have been published by indie horror press Silver Shamrock). I added a few more names from my own writing contacts, but we also ran an open call-out on the Horror Tree site (where Steph is co-editor at their online flash zine, Trembling With Fear) specifically aimed at POC, and writers from the LGBQT communities, in order to have a more diverse and inclusive TOC. This call-out did bring in a handful of stories, one of which made it into the anthology and is a pacy, pulpy fun read.

There were one or two of the invitees, who for personal or work reasons, were unable to finalise a story or had to withdraw. When you’re working with twenty or so writers this is inevitable. Life happens and writing goes on pause.

Steph and myself wanted to ensure each circle was represented by at least one story, some circles have two and in the cases of the rather popular Eighth (Fraud) and Ninth Circles, (Treachery) three.

We also gave the writers a choice as to which circle they’d like to visit and linger in for a while – fictionally speaking. Some of the circles flew off the shelves (eight and nine) compared to others, which was a little bizarre, but fun to see who would choose which sin to write about. I chose the Third Circle - gluttony- which called to my foodie-loving soul – and the story rolled out like pastry for a pie.

In the end there are eighteen devilishly dark stories for the readers’ delectation. A smorgasboard of delights.

Hailey Piper, indie horror writer extraordinaire, author of The Possession of Natalie Glasgow, amongst others, kindly agreed to don Virgil’s cloak and wrote the erudite foreword.

Steph and myself are both proud of the diverse TOC represented in Inferno, and that the writers come from a rich variety of backgrounds, and are marking their mark in the environs of indie horror and in mainstream publishing too. Some are at the beginning of their writing journeys and some are further along, with years of experience under their belts but they all share a love and passion for horror which comes through so strongly in their stories.

We have :- First Circle – Lynn Love and Shannon Felton (The Prisoners of Stewartsville) Second Circle:- Cassie Daley; Third Circle :- Alyson Faye (The Lost Girl/Spindleshanks) and T C Parker (Saltblood); Fourth Circle:- Kev Harrison (The Balance), Robert Allen Lupton (Feral); Fifth Circle:- Irene Lofthouse (Stories from Stone), Charlotte Platt (A Stranger’s Guide); Sixth Circle :- V Castro (Sed de Sangre); Seventh Circle:- David Shakes (Deadcades), Steve Stred (The Window in the Ground); Eighth Circle:- Stephanie Ellis (The Five Turns of the Wheel), R J Meldrum (The Plague), Daniel R Robichaud (Smudges and Circles); Ninth Circle:- C.C. Adams (Downwind Alice), G.A. Miller (The Shopkeeper) and Lionel Ray Green (Scarecrow Road).

Some of those names might be new to you, I suspect others will be more familiar, but by the end of reading Inferno you will have, I am sure, some new additions to your ‘must read list’.

There is, I discovered, a lot of work in putting together an anthology of this size and scope with so many different authors’ voices. Once the stories started trickling in, then the serious reading began, and the editorial marking up of the texts to suggest changes or redos, sometimes to tighten up the world of the story and bring it closer to Dante’s vision, or to enrich the layers of dread and menace. This is a horror anthology – so we need to frighten our readers. We can’t be too gentle.

Some stories, like my own, MaXXed Out, went through a few rewrites and polishes, before the final, final proofread, by which time I could almost mouth the dialogue in my sleep. And I was dreaming about this anthology a lot by then.

Needless to say there were a blizzard of online chats/emails between Steph and myself as we edited on Google Docs, but fortuituously there was very little disagreement. We were both on the same page. (I know terrible pun there).

Steph is 100% responsible for designing the lushly dark cover and formatting the text and of course for getting the whole project off the ground.
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This has been my first collaborative editing project but it won’t be my last. There is more to come next year from myself and Steph, so Inferno is the trailblazer, (more puns).

"Follow me, and I shall guide you ..."Join us if you dare and step into Dante’s Inferno. Dive through his Nine Circles of sin and see what happens when you succumb to temptation and let your inner demons escape.Here are stories of the condemned and the damned, with leading indie author, Hailey Piper taking on Virgil’s cloak in her foreword.With contributions from: C.C. Adams, V. Castro, Cassie Daley, Stephanie Ellis, Alyson Faye, Shannon Felton, Lionel Ray Green, Kev Harrison, Irene Lofthouse, Lynn Love, Robert Allen Lupton, RJ Meldrum, G.A. Miller, TC Parker, Charlotte Platt, Daniel R. Robichaud, David Shakes, and Steve Stred

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