BY ALYSON FAYE
I didn’t spring fully formed into the horror genre; it’s been a gradual slither in that direction. However I was always bookish and consumed huge amounts across all genres, from R.L. Stine, (of course), Robert Westall, (‘Scarecrows’- which sparked a lifelong aversion to these straw men), Robert Swindells via Susan Cooper’s book quintet ‘The Dark is Rising’, on to reading all of the early Stephen King’s in my teens (particular faves ‘Cujo’ and ‘Carrie’) and watching a lot of Hammer horror late night on BBC2. The 1979 TV movie of ‘Salem’s Lot’ starring a post- ‘Starsky and Hutch’ David Soul terrified me, especially the vampire boy tapping at the window to be let in. I slept with my window closed for months. Let me not forget a nod in the direction of that staple, ‘Dr Who’. For me it was all about the Tom Baker years, which got surprisingly dark considering the show’s early screening time. Monsters abounded in some cracking yarns:- ‘Image of the Fendhal’ and ‘The Pyramids of Mars,’ especially influential though was the classic ‘The Talons of Weng Chiang’. I’ve watched it several times as an adult and it still provokes a shiver up the backbone. That frisson of nostalgia and anticipation- just love it. I relished the Gothic London Victorian setting and the demonic dummy with the pig’s brain, which was in 1977, to an 11 year old me, a real shocker. Books and films have been my dual touchstones for all of my life; the two often being intertwined. The one leading to and feeding back to the other. Two black and white ‘60’s horror films made an impact- one more famous than the other. ‘The Haunting’ (1963) with a screenplay, co-written from her own novel, by Shirley Jackson, based on her book, ‘The Haunting of Hill House,’ which opened the door to reading more of Jackson’s tilted off-kilter worlds. (‘The Lottery’, 1948, is quietly horrific). The other film is the less famous British B, ‘Taste of Fear’ (aka ‘Scream of Fear’, 1961), where a wheelchair bound Susan Strasberg discovers a body in the swimming pool amidst the weeds- it is an eery, creepy film, shot in shadows with low voiced tones and claustrophobic settings. Well worth checking out on DVD. Val Lewton, in the 1940’s at RKO in Hollywood, wrote and produced a string of B low budget, horror films; the most famous probably is 1942’s ‘Cat People’. I remember as a teen being struck by the ‘imply not flaunt’ technique these films employed. Lewton’s films were cryptic and haunting. You never see the big cat attack the girl in the swimming pool, it’s all shot with shadows and clever soundtrack effects, but it is scary as heck and put me off swimming alone for years. I wrote an article on Lewton’s career which is up at https://womeninhorrorblog.wordpress.com/?s=alyson+faye. (Thank you to Claire Fitzpatrick for encouraging me to write this piece and posting it). In the second phase of my writing life, post-40ish, I have turned my hand to writing flash fiction for the first time as well as writing the longer stories. My natural tendency, it became clear to me, is to write dark, weird and haunted. So I people my tales with feral children, demons, ghosts, assassins, abused women, mermaids, killer teens and the occasional vampire (often for some reason called Vinnie). My début flash fiction collection came out in January this year from indie publisher Chapel Town Books and is called appropriately, ‘Badlands’. A title, inspired, yes you guessed it, by the Terrence Malick 1973 film, (another memorable late night TV viewing where Martin Sheen made quite an impact and I never looked at relationships the same way again.) I kept reading horror/supernatural writers, following their stories through the small horror mags – folk like Alison Littlewood (her first novel ‘A Cold Season’ takes some beating), Simon Avery and Mark Valentine, whilst avidly consuming Susan Hill’s ghost stories and everything by Sarah Rayne. I read all of Rayne’s back catalogue in less than a year; her novels are a mix of psychological terror/horror/history. I even wrote her a (rare for me fan email) and she kindly replied. Much of my longer horror fiction, like ‘Mother Love’ which is Victorian Gothic(Women in Horror Annual 2), and my latest story, ‘Mr Dandy’ which I’ve written for an upcoming anthology ‘DeadCades’ (to be published in October this year, by The Infernal Clock press, which is co-run by Steph Ellis and David Shakes), has been influenced by many of the writers I’ve mentioned. ‘Mr Dandy,’ the ventriloquist’s dummy, is inspired both by Dr Who’s Weng Chiang and Ealing’s 1945 portmanteau horror/supernatural film ‘Dead of Night’ and the segment starring Michael Redgrave as the ventriloquist. Tim Lebbon (especially his ‘The Silence’) and F. G. Cottam’s books require a mention too as significant influences. Cottam’s ‘The Colony’ trilogy are so well written you think it’s a real story happening to real people. Cottam is described, rightly as ‘one of the finest contemporary writers of supernatural horror.’ (Jan Olandese) I’d agree with that. He also writes real page turners. One of the sites which published my horror drabbles and longer pieces regularly and thereby gave me encouragement, was The Horror Tree - . It is co-run by Stuart Conover (its founder) and the aforementioned horror writer Steph Ellis. It is a useful one- stop resource site for both reading horror fiction and for listing the many mags where you can submit. Lately I have become one of their interviewers and book reviewers, as they widen their horror scope. I recommend dropping by. Their advice and support, especially Steph’s, has done much over the last couple of years in keeping me on the dark side with my writing. Indeed, come July this year, I am off to attend my first horror writers convention (OK it’s for fantasy/sci-fi writers too) , namely EdgeLit at Derby Quad. Amongst many others, the talented Frances Hardinge, (loved ‘The Lie Tree’) is one of the guest speakers. Since January this year I have been on a creative writing course held at Undercliffe Cemetery in Bradford, which is rich in Victorian crypts and tombs of staggering proportions. Every other Monday, I’ve been wandering around the graves, reading inscriptions, with names like Fountain Read and Jamar, about women who were known only as ‘relicts’ and then popping back to the warm and comfy environs of The Lodge to write. The result of all this tomb- surfing is the anthology, ‘Stories from Stones’, edited by Irene Lofthouse (the course tutor). Rather a busman’s holiday really for me. Three of the best horror films I’ve seen in the last couple of years:- 2017’s ‘Get Out’/ 2018’s ‘A Quiet Place’/ 2017’s ‘Annabelle: Creation’. I often write about dolls in my stories so this was a must for me, but the upcoming Toni Collette starrer, directed by Ari Aster, ‘Hereditary’ might make the list. I am off to see it post-haste. I am a huge Guillermo del Toro fan, but it is a TV series he co-created, more than his movies which gripped me for 4 seasons – if you haven’t seen ‘The Strain’ ? Well you’ve not seen the best ever vampires/zombies post apocalyptic thrill ride of a show. So rush out and buy those DVDs now! Like I did. I was hooked. There were human characters to root for and others to hate- each episode is in itself a mini movie (the supermarket zombie siege while just doing some grocery shopping is the best ever)- you’ll never late night shop at Asda alone again. Each episode had a horrifying jump scare every 10 minutes. When I’m asked what I do – I say I write, and folk go ‘oh that’ s nice’ etc etc but when they ask what I write? That’s a different scenario- say horror, and their eyebrows go up and that look of surprise tinged with distaste creeps in. Know that look? For every horror fan out there and there are millions, there are just as many folk who really don’t like it. Yes my fiction might disturb or raise shivers, great! I want it to, but it is fiction, a story and a way I think of putting our fears out there and then putting them to bed in a story box. I think it is a genre which calls to you, why write it otherwise? You’ve got to love it to want to put in the hours, sweat and blood. Creatively speaking, not literally. Badlands by Alyson Faye is up on amazon :- My blog:- www.alysonfayewordpress.wordpress.com
READ OUR REVIEW OF BADLANDS HERE
BOOK REVIEW: BADLANDS BY ALYSON FAYEComments are closed.
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