 Alexander Zelenyj is the author of the books Blacker Against the Deep Dark, Songs for the Lost, Experiments at 3 Billion A.M., and Black Sunshine, among others. He lives in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, with his wife and their menagerie of animals. For more information on my newest book, the story collection Blacker Against the Deep Dark, visit the official book page on the Eibonvale Press website. Author Website Goodreads page THE FIRST HORROR BOOK I REMEMBER READING As a young boy I was obsessed with Robert E. Howard’s sword and sorcery stories, especially the Conan stories. For me, Howard’s dark fantasy stories are unmatched for their element of horror. Partly it’s due to the protagonists’ reactions to the supernatural elements – being more often than not barbarians, fierce and unafraid of any man or beast, they inevitably feel terror when confronted with something beyond their understanding, something that they know is unnatural in some way; and experiencing these encounters with otherworldly forces through the perspective of this type of protagonist amplifies the fear level exponentially. That, and the fact that Howard’s descriptions are so great. In terms of what’s widely considered to be more traditional horror, I think one of the first horror books I was exposed to was a collection of Edgar Allen Poe stories. I’d read it when I was pretty young and going back to those stories as an adult continues to be rewarding beyond measure. There’s so much there to revisit. THE FIRST HORROR FILM I REMEMBER WATCHING The Exorcist. I was a little boy, and was allowed to watch it with my older brothers. Little did I know what I was in for. I think I didn’t sleep for weeks. It might have contributed to the insomnia that’s plagued me on and off for as long as I can remember. To this day the movie makes me uneasy. The William Peter Blatty book, too, which I read in later years. THE GREATEST HORROR BOOK OF ALL TIME How can you pick just one? Dracula by Bram Stoker leaps to mind. There’s a kind of inevitability to that book: it will find you at some point no matter your reading preferences. If you haven’t read it, no worries, go check your bookshelves – it’s there waiting for you right now. Arthur Machen’s Tales of Horror and the Supernatural is near the very top of the list. This volume collects the author’s best stories, and they’re truly great. Machen convinces me that my fear of wide-open, picturesque rural places isn’t unfounded. The idea that evil is ancient, and has always been with us: that’s frightening. I love Richard Matheson, and his novel Hell House is amazing. My favourite haunted house novel. And then there’s Stephen King’s IT: where to begin? Nobody writes kids as authentically as King which, in this book especially, lays the foundation for the epic and layered story that unfolds. You grow to genuinely love and fear for the members of the Losers Club. If I had to pick one book from King’s canon that stands as his unequivocal masterpiece it would be this one. The films don’t do it justice (and they’re pretty good), but then how could they? THE GREATEST HORROR FILM OF ALL TIME John Carpenter’s THE THING. It’s a perfect film from beginning to end. It deserves an essay here but that’s beyond the scope of the interview so I’ll leave it at that. A true masterpiece. “Why don't we just wait here for a while... see what happens.” Runner-up: Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. For obvious reasons. Another masterpiece. “Look what yer brother did to the door!” Runner-up #2: Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator. So demented and hilarious. “Cat dead; details later?” THE GREATEST WRITER OF ALL TIME Robert E. Howard vs. Harlan Ellison vs. Ray Bradbury – I can never decide, though REH wields a really mean sword. THE BEST BOOK COVER OF ALL TIME Impossible to say, but how about these beauties (both Arkham House first editions I received as gifts from my wife – I married the right girl):
THE BEST FILM POSTER OF ALL TIME I grew up in the ‘80s, so I have a huge nostalgic connection to the horror movies of that time. And the film posters, they just kill me. I could stare at them all day long. That said, it’s pretty much impossible to pick just one or two from the countless number of them. But if you put a kotton kandy gun to my head and I just say the first one that comes into my mind:  Plus Killer Klowns is the perfect late-night summer movie, especially if you’ve got kotton kandy on hand. THE BEST BOOK / FILM I HAVE WRITTEN I think that writers should grow with each subsequent book. For that reason, I always feel that my newest work is the strongest. So by that logic I’d have to say my best book is my recent short fiction collection, Blacker Against the Deep Dark (Eibonvale Press, 2018). I’ve never written a film (but would love to). THE WORST BOOK / FILM I HAVE WRITTEN Following the same logic as in my previous answer, I usually feel my earlier stuff is weaker than my recent work. That’s why I’m currently working on a third edition of my first collection. You see things differently after you’ve stepped away and come back to a book. You see all the things you would have done differently had you been writing/editing it at that time. Sometimes it’s easy to live with, and a “warts and all” mentality can be endured, but sometimes – for me, at least – you go back to something and realize you didn’t say – or say strongly enough – what you’d meant to say. And that’s when I think it’s okay to go back and tinker a little or a lot, until you get the experiment right. So for anyone interested in checking out my first collection, Experiments at 3 Billion A.M., I suggest waiting for the 3rd edition, due out early next year – I’ll have gotten it right by then. THE MOST UNDERRATED FILM OF ALL TIME Again: so many… The Isle by Kim Ki-duk. One of my all-time favorite movies. Trollhunter. Best. Movie. Ever. Also: every Tremors movie. Are there more fun movies than the Tremors movies? The Gremlins movies are amazing. But then they don’t have Graboids… THE MOST UNDERRATED BOOK OF ALL TIME The independent press world is filled with underrated authors/books so it’s tough to narrow it down to just a few. But more people should read Joel Lane. His collection, The Lost District and Other Stories, is great. Dark and sad and surreal and full of urban decay. In terms of widely-known books, I’m amazed that there aren’t legions of fanatics worshipping at the altar of Stephen King’s novel, Revival. Or maybe there are and I just don’t know it. Obviously, it’s a hugely popular book, but to me it deserves to be in the company of his earlier classics. It’s that great. The ending – which evokes Lovecraft/Ligotti/Lane at their best – is just beyond great. THE MOST UNDERRATED AUTHOR OF ALL TIME James Tiptree Jr./Alice B. Sheldon. Her collection Her Smoke Rose Up Forever is one of the best collections I’ve ever read. I know she’s recognized as being an important author, but more speculative fiction readers should be shouting her name from the rooftops. THE BOOK / FILM THAT SCARED ME THE MOST Film: It’s a tie between The Exorcist (because of the element of the unknown that lies at the heart of its supernatural horror) and Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer (because of the known/every-day aspect of it, the fact that this kind of horror exists today, and might be right around the corner). The latter is a tough watch, but an important one, I think. I feel sort of the same about David Lynch’s Blue Velvet and, to a lesser extent, Wild at Heart, though I love those movies and have watched them many times. Book: Jesus Saves by Darcy Steinke. Absolutely horrifying. A difficult read for the subject matter, but worthwhile; a bold and beautiful urban Gothic novel. Also, Night of the Hunter by Davis Grubb is one of the most beautifully written novels of sheer terror I’ve ever read. The scariest short story I’ve ever read is “Tell the Women We’re Going” by Raymond Carver. THE BOOK / FILM I AM WORKING ON NEXT I’m currently finishing the final draft of a novel. It’s an expanded version of the novelette, “Journey to the End of a Burning Girl” combined with the story “We Are All Lightless Inside”, both of which appeared in my previous short fiction collection, Blacker Against the Deep Dark (which was reviewed here on Ginger Nuts of Horror by Tony Jones – thanks again, Tony!) I’m also working on finalizing the table of contents of a volume of my short stories being published by Fourth Horseman Press. It’s an anthology featuring the best stories from each of my collections, chapbooks, stories published exclusively in magazines and anthologies, as well as some unpublished stuff. It covers the 20-year period from 1999 – 2019. I’m also serving as editor for a J.G. Ballard tribute anthology that will be published by Eibonvale Press, tentatively scheduled for release sometime in 2020. And I’m just putting the finishing touches on a chapbook mini-collection due from Eibonvale Press at the end of July. It’s called Animals of the Exodus and will feature 4 new stories. Beyond that…well, there are always more projects in the works. Onwards! Blacker Against the Deep Dark by Alexander Zelenyj From a man having a conversation with the shadow of a human being blasted into a wall by the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, to a pastor giving shelter to the most bizarre individual to ever walk the Earth; from a secret group at war with the physical manifestations of disease that have run rampant for ages, to a pair of detectives trying to solve the mystery of a deadly otherworldly drug that legend says holds the power to open the gates to Paradise. These, and other dark and weird tales...    Comments are closed.
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