Ginger Nuts of Horror was honoured to asked to conduct a pair of video interviews with  two legends of the horror genre at last years Fantasy Con by the good folks at PS Publishing. 

​When you think of horror, and especially horror fiction in the UK, if the names Ramsey Campbell and Stephen Volk don't spring to mind, then there may be something wrong with your  horror reading habits. 

With a pair of  long and distinguished careers spanning decades worth of spine chilling tales Campbell and Volk have been an inspiration and influence for so many horror writers who have followed in their footsteps. 

Stephen Volk is a highly accomplished screenwriter and author, whose film, television and prose work have all garnered awards and critical acclaim. The Dark Masters trilogy of tales is a masterclass in character, setting, and storytelling; a staggering achievement in both ambition and execution.
 
Stephen is also a dream interview subject. I’ve been fortunate enough to interview him for this site on several different occasions, covering both his TV and prose work. He is an unfailing  delight each time; thoughtful, engaged, generous with both his time and insight, and eager, as within his work, to dig deep and get into the guts of things.
 
It was a thrill and honour to get to talk with Stephen face to face at FCon last year, on the occasion of the publication of the gorgeous PS Publishing hardback of The Dark Masters Trilogy. Enjoy.

Stephen Volk is probably best known as the BAFTA-winning writer of the notorious (some say legendary) BBCTV "Halloween hoax" Ghostwatch, which spooked the nation, hit the headlines, caused questions to be raised in Parliament, and was recently voted one of the top British horror films of all time. He was also creator and lead writer of ITV's award-winning paranormal drama series Afterlife starring Lesley Sharp and Andrew Lincoln. 

Most recently he adapted Phil Rickman's supernatural crime novel Midwinter of the Spirit as a 3-part miniseries for ITV starring Anna Maxwell Martin and David Thelfall, and co-scripted the 2011 feature film The Awakening, a period ghost story starring Rebecca Hall, Dominic West and Imelda Staunton.

​His first collection of short stories, Dark Corners, was published in 2006, from which his story 31/10 (a sequel to Ghostwatch) was short-listed for both a British Fantasy Award and a Bram Stoker Award. Since then his fiction has been selected for Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, Best British Mysteries, and Best New Horror - with two stories appearing in the inaugural edition of Salt's Best British Horror 2014. His second collection, Monsters in the Heart (Gray Friar Press) was published in 2013, and his third, The Parts We Play, in 2016 - with an accompanying exclusive volume called Supporting Roles. 

His novella Vardoger was short-listed for both a Shirley Jackson Award and a British Fantasy Award. However, arguably his most acclaimed fiction so far is the novella Whitstable - featuring the late horror star Peter Cushing, published by Spectral Press in 2013 (the actor's centenary year). This saw a "follow-up" in 2015 in the form of Leytonstone, a novella based on the boyhood of Alfred Hitchcock. The third tale in The Dark Masters Trilogy (published as a complete volume in 2018 by PS Publishing) is Netherwood - featuring both the novelist Dennis Wheatley and the occultist Aleister Crowley as central characters.

Ginger Nuts of Horror's Kit Power, jumped at the chance to interview one of his heroes... 

Grab yourself a coffee, sit back and relax and enjoy this fascinating interview with the Dark Master himself Stephen Volk.  

Whitstable 1971 

Peter Cushing, grief-stricken over the loss of his wife and soul-mate, is walking along a beach near his home. A little boy approaches him, taking him to be the famous vampire-hunter Van Helsing from the Hammer films, begs for his expert help . . .

Leytonstone 1906 

Young Alfred Hitchcock is taken by his father to visit the local police station. There he suddenly finds himself, inexplicably, locked up for a crime he knows nothing about the catalyst for a series of events that will scar, and create, the world's leading Master of Terror . . .

Netherwood 1947 

Best-selling black magic novelist Dennis Wheatley finds himself summoned mysteriously to the aid of Aleister Crowley mystic, reprobate, The Great Beast 666, and dubbed by the press The Wickedest Man in the World to help combat a force of genuine evil . . .

Ginger Nuts of Horror was honoured to asked to conduct a pair of video interviews with  two legends of the horror genre at last years Fantasy Con by the good folks at PS Publishing. 

​When you think of horror, and especially horror fiction in the UK, if the names Ramsey Campbell and Stephen Volk don't spring to mind, then there is something wrong with your  horror reading habits. 

With a pair of  long and distinguished careers spanning decades worth of spine chilling tales Campbell and Volk have been an inspiration and influence for so many horror writers who have followed in their footsteps.  

Ramsey Campbell is described by the Oxford Companion to English Literature as ‘Britain’s most respected living horror writer’. His many award-winning novels include The Face That Must Die, Incarnate, and more recently The Way of The Worm  (PS Publishing). 

​Ginger Nuts of Horror's Jonathan Thornton, jumped at the chance to interview one of his literary heroes...

"Given my love of Ramsey Campbell's work, perhaps it's not surprising I wound up living in Liverpool. Reading his novel Obsession and his short story collection Cold Print - both published in the year I was born - changed what horror meant to me. Here were the Lovecraftian terrors that fascinated me, but in the recognisable context of northern England, the shifting layers of reality and treacherous holes in the world hiding in the streets of Liverpool and its environs. His writing resonates on a very personal level, not just because of his excellent use of setting, but for the way his well-drawn characters are forced to confront their failings. Ramsey's work brought horror home for me, brought the Weird to my doorstep. For that I will always be grateful."

Grab yourself a coffee, sit back and relax and please enjoy this fascinating interview with one of the true legends of the horror genre. 

​

More than thirty years have passed since the events of Born to the Dark. Christian Noble is almost a century old, but his and his family s influence over the world is stronger than ever. The latest version of their occult church counts Dominic Sheldrake s son and the young man s wife among its members, and their little daughter too. Dominic will do anything he can to break its influence over them, and his old friends Jim and Bobby come to his aid. None of them realise what they will be up against the Nobles transformed into the monstrousness they have invoked, and the inhuman future they may have made inevitable . . .
The Way of the Worm is the final volume of Ramsey Campbell s Brichester Mythos trilogy, in which he returns to his original themes and develops them in his mature style. The first volume, The Searching Dead, received the Children of the Night Award from the Dracula Society for the best original Gothic fiction of the year.

Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?

I’m a family man - don’t do anything very wild these days (other than write). Quietly proud of my Irish heritage. Love reading, writing, art. Needless to say, my taste tends towards the darker end of the spectrum.

Also interested in politics, but the interest is waning - the level of bare-faced lying seems to have risen to an all-time high and it’s putting me off.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

Love to read, although that suffers when I’m writing a lot - I need some space between the two activities. Vegetate in front of the television. Twitter - that’s deadly. Some sort of Twilight Zone that eats hours.

Other than the horror genre, what else has been a major influence on your writing?

In terms of reading matter, science fiction and some fantasy - mostly when I was younger. Comedy is something else that’s very important to me - the world is full of horror, we all need to laugh sometimes. I tend to go for English comedy.

The term horror, especially when applied to fiction always carries such heavy connotations.  What’s your feeling on the term “horror” and what do you think we can do to break past these assumptions?

I know what you mean, but I’m not sure how we get past it. Think I’d like to see more emphasis placed on how broad ‘horror’ can be. Just how much the genre encompasses. To my mind, there’s an element of horror in a lot of fiction, but it doesn’t always get tagged as such.

A lot of good horror movements have arisen as a direct result of the socio/political climate, considering the current state of the world where do you see horror going in the next few years?

We’re on the brink of a technological revolution which will radically change how we live. I don’t believe we can fully comprehend the consequences, but they’re bound to spawn new angles on horror. I’m hoping they also include a redefinition of Capitalism because the current version has gone astray.

My cynicism aside, a good story is a good story - there’s still a lot to be said for old school horror. I don’t think the basic concepts really change. Death, darkness. The unknown and unknowable.

What are the books and films that helped to define you as an author?

Films, are easier than books. As a kid, it was Hammer Horror, The Birds, Quatermass and the Pit, Invasion of the Body Snatchers. That kind of stuff.
More recently - Alien, The Godfather, The Thing, Rising Damp (I know, a weird one).

Books get tough. There are a lot and my answer will be different on any given day. The Fog - James Herbert. The Stand - Stephen King.  Weaveworld - Clive Barker. Radix - A. A. Attanasio.
I’ll stop. The list will get silly.

What new and upcoming authors do you think we should take notice off?

Honestly? I’m ashamed to say I haven’t read enough of late to give an informed answer. Sounds like a cop out, but it’s the truth and I’m far from proud of the fact.

How would you describe your writing style?

Quirky. Conversational. Throw in some poetic flourishes. Willing to play a little fast and loose with grammar when I think breaking the rules works for what I want.

Voice is important - finding your style. Mind you, retaining it a different kettle of fish. Refining yourself, being receptive to criticism, and using it to get better. Your own sound can get diluted, if you aren’t careful.

Are there any reviews of your work, positive or negative that have stayed with you?

Quite a few! It’s difficult to properly explain the impact of reviews, both types. I’m lucky in that most have been positive. The review for Bad Pennies on GNOH springs to mind. I was a bit down at the time and it really lifted me:
Also one for Call Drops from Leonard Tillerman. Again, just great that someone seemed to get it:

I can live with negative, whether I agree or not, if it’s constructive and gives me something to consider. Bugs the hell out of me when it’s just a flat statement - ‘didn’t like it’. Fair enough, but throw me a bone. Give me something to go on.
 
What aspects of writing to do you find the most difficult?

Probably time management. I’m not prolific in terms of daily word count and it hits me hard when I lose control of my schedule. Need to be more disciplined I suppose, but even then there are only so many hours in the day.

Is there one subject you would never write about as an author?

Interesting question - never thought about it in depth. I tend to have an idea for a story and let it grow. It’s quite organic, so I don’t rule anything out.

How important are names to you in your books? Do you choose the names based on liking the way it sounds or the meaning?

For me, hugely important. They have to feel ‘right’ so I guess sound is a big factor. I’ll sometimes try to hide a meaning in them as well. I usually research so they fit the age/background of the character. It’s a tricky balance - memorable, without standing out so much as to feel false. I have my own (secret) theory about assonance and syllables with names and it hasn’t let me down yet.

I sometimes tweet requests for suggestions. Not necessarily because I’m expecting to be gifted the name - just that the suggestions will shift my thinking. Plus, it’s fun. There are some brilliant replies.

Writing, is not a static process, how have you developed as a writer over the years? 

I wanted to write from my late teens and didn’t do much about it. Scribbled bits and pieces and binned most of them. Then, a few years ago, I was seriously ill. It made me realise none of us have very long. Certainly not as long as we might think. So I got cracking and published something! Now I’m simply trying to do justice to each project/idea.

What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?     
    
A thick skin and a broadband connection.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received with regards to your writing?

I had some contact with a well-known author when I started (won’t say who, it’s not fair). Anyway, he alluded to how difficult it was getting an agent, let alone a publisher. Basically, get your finger out and just do it.

Getting your work noticed is one of the hardest things for a writer to achieve, how have you tried to approach this subject?

Friends. Social media. The two merge in some happy instances. Not trying to be a lick-hole here, but sites like GingerNuts of Horror are a godsend. Finding folk who are approachable and willing to help - it’s priceless. That said, the effort involved in marketing your own work can be daunting.

To many writers, the characters they write become like children, who is your favourite child, and who is your least  favourite to write for and why?

Right now, two favourites - Ronald Hodge from Bad Pennies. He is one nasty piece of work. So dark that he needs to live again in a new book. It might not happen, simply because I don’t want to ruin him.

The other is Doggem. Can you believe it, a toy dog? There is so much potential with Doggem. I’m not ready yet, but I think I might do more with him.

None I genuinely dislike writing. Don’t tend to enjoy characters who are too ‘nice’. I want some nastiness to play with.

What piece of your own work are you most proud of?

Writing quality? I’d say Doggem. I indulged myself there and it worked.
In terms of concept, I’d have to go for Bad Pennies. It’s the book where different strands of thought began to coalesce into an over-arching idea. A meaningful way forward.

And are there any that you would like to forget about?

Collapse - not forget, but revise. My first book, 160k words of flawed, bitey goodness. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a decent read and it did okay. Got a fair few five star reviews. But I think I could make it outstanding.

There’s a part of me that resists doing the revision - better to leave it as a marker. Something to remind me of where I came from and let people see the progression.

For those who haven’t read any of your books, which of your books do you think best represents your work and why?

That’s difficult - what I’ve produced so far is quite varied. Let’s go with Call Drops 
It’s old school horror. I’m not a gore merchant - nothing wrong with that, just it’s not me. Call Drops has some gruesome elements, but it’s also a well-constructed story.

Do you have a favorite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us?

How about something from A Plague of Pages (my new one and I like this):

“The woman was hanging from the highest point in the middle of the room. A length of cord stretched from her neck and looped round a metal beam. The cord might have been washing line. The steel stuff encased in green plastic. It periodically shot viridian glints into the shadows as she slowly rotated.

There must have been wind, although Adi couldn’t feel it.

It was there nevertheless.

Slight, unseen and unfelt. Invisible disturbance, touching and twirling her. Eddies playing tag with the grey-faced lady.

Not just the one line around her throat. She was a regular maypole. Ribbon chokers trailing upward. Attached to the end of each was a red helium balloon. They bobbed and swayed above her. Forever drifting beyond reach. Or maybe just yearning for freedom.

Her arms were drooping wings. Pages instead of feathers. Stapled or glued together and fastened to her limbs. Impossible to tell precisely how at this distance.

Graceful curves of script arcing downward in contrast to the rising balloons.

“My guess is a Stephen King fangirl. That film with the clown in the library. Beep Beep Sadie, we all float in Oakhill.”

Adi didn’t speak, he was still trying to take it in.

Many of the shelves had been stripped of books. They sat now in a jumbled pyramid below her dangling feet.

He absently registered one of her shoes had fallen off. Presumably lost in a sea of hardbacks.

A piece of cardboard was pinned to her chest.

 the world is better without me - there is no kindness in my soul “


Can you tell us about your last book, and can you tell us about what you are working on next?

I’ve been a busy boy. Doggem was quite recent, but A Plague of Pages is the latest. It’s a decent sized novella. Set in the same world as Bad Pennies and Call Drops. About a guy who has hit some tough times in life and needs to redefine himself. He wants to be a horror writer (by the way, it’s not auto-biographical).

My work in progress is a cosmic horror story. Hope to publish that in the near future.
 
If you could erase one horror cliché what would be your choice?

I’m a bit fed up with spooky children. You watch, now I’ve said that, I’ll come up with a red hot idea that needs a spooky kid.

What was the last great book you read, and what was the last book that disappointed you?

I really enjoyed Gwendy's Button Box by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar. Horror, with an understated quality. There was a subtly to the darkness - lovely piece of work.

Sleeping Beauties by Owen and Stephen King was a disappointment. I love apocalyptic stories and am a huge Stephen King fan.

 So what could go wrong? This ticked all the boxes, surely?

Sadly not - great concept, great writing style, and then it runs into trouble. The story is riddled with virtue signaling. Plus, the some of the reasoning in plot struck me as thin in places. Something that could have been a new ‘The Stand’ ends up being clumsy and hard to finish. Shame, could have been a brilliant book.

What's the one question you wish you would get asked but never do?  And what would be the answer?

Has there ever been a better detective series than The Sweeney? The answer is obviously no!

Seriously though, I loved your question about names.

To find out more and to follow John on social media please follow the links below 
​
Twitter: https://twitter.com/john_f_leonard
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.co.uk/l/B01BHUE6Z6
Amazon Author Page US: https://www.amazon.com/John-F-Leonard/e/B01BHUE6Z6

 
In honour of February being Women In Horror Month, horror and speculative fiction author, Penny Jones (U.K.) and writer of the weird and the strange, Tabatha Wood (New Zealand) get together by the power of the Internet to talk candidly about the genre, their influences, and what they think the future holds for female horror writers.
 
TW  - So I’ll start with the most obvious question: why did you start writing scary stories?
 
PJ - I've always written dark stories, but I don't really see them as horror, more that they are a slightly skewed version of life. I've never really enjoyed rollercoasters, but I think the adrenaline rush that people get from them, is the same as the one I get from reading or writing dark fiction. It's like; "I'm powerful, I can destroy the monster." How about you?
 
TW - Honestly, I think I was just a bit of a weird, loner kid and I was really drawn to other odd and unusual things. I used to read a lot of male-penned slasher stuff when I was younger, all guts and gore, and it wasn’t until I was older that I found Susan Hill and Daphne du Maurier were writing stories which were far more scary. I liked that. I wanted to do that myself. I totally understand that feeling of power and I love that I can get under people’s skin.
 
PJ - For me it is more a wanting to hold the mirror up to people, so they can look more closely at themselves.
           
Do you think that because you identified as "the weird kid/ loner" you were looking for people like yourself which you maybe couldn't find in what people might consider more mainstream fiction?
 
TW - Oh, absolutely. It was like, I didn’t understand the “normal” stuff in the same way. It just didn’t make me tick. My mother was always weirded out by it. I think she was probably worried I was going to start acting out the torture stuff. Become a serial killer… or a dentist.
 
PJ - I was really lucky, my family were always really supportive. And although people would probably say that yes, I was the weird kid, I wasn't a loner, and my friends were always really supportive and interested. Even my teachers liked my dark stories. My parents looked out for age-appropriate books and movies for me.
 
TW - I think I’m just a cliché, I definitely fit into the “strange kid” box. I often feel that way even now, although I don’t mind so much. I remember reading (Stephen King’s) “Carrie” for the first time, and while I had never experienced that level of extreme bullying or ostracism, I still identified with her. I think that was the first time for me where I found a dark character who fought back. She was weird and she was the “monster” but I wanted her to win. It was oddly refreshing.
 
You said your parents found books and movies for you, who do you cite as your influences? I think the very first horror book I read was a Christopher Pike “Point Horror”, although I also have a memory of a short story involving flies which scared the absolute pants off me. I’ve never really liked insect-based horror since.
 
PJ - As a kid, I remember wanting to buy an anthology called "The Green Ghost and other stories”. It was for sale at one of those book fairs that came to the schools. The woman at the fair wouldn't sell it to me, and my mum had to come in and tell them to let me have it. So that one has a special place in my heart. Other than that, as a child I would sneak out and read my parent's Pan book of Horror, although I wasn't allowed to. I was especially traumatised by Alex White's stories in those books.
 
My parents only had two vetoes on what horror I was allowed, and they were the Pan book of Horror and (Mary Shelley’s) “Frankenstein”; the first because they thought they were too gruesome and would give me nightmares - they were right - the second because they thought science was so close to making the story a reality, that I would have difficulty separating fact from fiction.
 
I know your parents were not as understanding as mine over horror, so no point in asking what they thought was unsuitable for you, but do you think there are any books or topics you wouldn't want your own children reading or watching?
 
TW - To be fair, they never stopped me from reading it, but I know my mother and grandmother would have much preferred me to read “nicer” things. As a parent now, I do find myself cringing a little bit as I’m certain I read about things that weren’t appropriate for my age, sex as well as horror, but it also doesn’t seem to have done me too much harm. I knew it was fiction, so I was able to compartmentalise it. It was my own imagination which was worse, I think.
 
My youngest kid hates horror and scary stuff, but my eldest adores it. We’ve watched “Aliens” and “Stranger Things” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” together, and he’s very into special effects stuff. He’s like me in that he is able to separate the reality from the story, so I know he’s okay with it. I wouldn’t let him watch any of the “Saw” movies or “Hellraiser” type stuff just yet, and I don’t think I will ever be happy about them watching “Seven”. That movie messed me up.
 
PJ - I think that often as a child if something is too mature you just don't pick up on it. I watched “Beetlejuice” when I was 8 and I rewatched it with a friend and her daughter when I was older and her daughter was 8. My friend and I were shocked at the whorehouse scene in the model town, and the pussy grabbing scene. We just hadn't registered those as being about sex when we saw it as kids.
 
TW - I think there is a bit of that, yes. I also think a lot of it is also about safety. Watching a scary movie with your mum, and knowing you can talk about anything that upsets you, is much different to watching it on your own and being disturbed by something which you then can’t fully process.
Reading horror really takes you out of that safe space.
 
PJ – At least with horror you kind of know what to expect, you’re ready for the storyline to turn nasty. I don't do torture at all, but I tend to find that a lot of mainstream television, films and books, have more overt torture than horror does. Often in horror the torture is implied rather than overt. One of my least favourite scenes is in “Spectre” when James Bond is  having his skull drilled into. It isn't the drilling that is the torture to me though, it is the fact that he will no longer remember who Madeleine is. It is such a violation, having that taken away from you.
 
TW - I feel much the same way about “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” It’s not a horror or scary movie at all, but the whole premise is so disturbing and problematic, and yet also strangely tragic. I get so conflicted not knowing how to feel, or who to root for.
 
PJ - I’ve not seen that, but just read the outline of it, and it sounds amazing, so I will have to now.
 
Is there anything that you want to read or watch, but you're too much of a wimp to? For me it is “Saw”. I think the concept sounds amazing, but although I know it isn't "Torture Porn" I'm still struggling to get over the gruesomeness of it. I'm just too scared to watch it.
 
TW - I have to say, “Saw” isn’t really that bad, I actually like it for being so clever. It works so well because it puts the characters in situations where they have to make terrible choices - choices that you can identify with.
 
I don’t really enjoy watching gory or ultra-violent movies, I have a real aversion to blood. I came over all funny while watching “I Don’t Feel At Home in this World Anymore” because of a finger-breaking scene.
 
I’ve noticed the rise of very ultra-violent television in recent years, programs like “The Walking Dead” for example, and “Punisher”, and I have to say I don’t like it. I feel really uncomfortable about that being normalised or glamourised. That episode with Glenn in TWD, I think you know which one I’m referring to, I just couldn’t watch it. I’d already read the comics and I knew what was coming and I actually threw the damn comic across the room when I read it, I was so angry. Then they made it a “thing” in the TV show, like it was cool and edgy to show something so graphic. They took away the humanity completely.
 
Anything that taps into the human element fascinates me. Explorations of our fragility and morality, the choices we make to keep ourselves and our loved ones alive. I’m not so interested in the good versus evil, man versus monsters stuff, unless the monster is the man. It took me six seasons before I realised the humans were the walking dead! I think the comics were much better at exploring the human side of things, the characters certainly felt more real to me than those on screen.
 
PJ - I never got into TWD, mainly because there was very little human element. For me horror is to root for humanity to overcome the adversities they face. If you don't care for the character, how can you care if they succeed or not? It was strange, I didn't really care for the recent (Netflix) adaptation of “The Haunting of Hill House” for the same reason. The characters although very human, were not very likeable, and after about episode 4, I just wanted them all to die. However I love Shirley Jackson's work, and it was very true to her style, her characters are usually very unlikeable. All I can put it down to is that Jackson's novels are quite short, and I can put up with a disagreeable protagonist for two-hundred pages, but not for ten hours
 
So, you’ve said what sort of things interest you. What scares you?
 
TW - What scares me? So many things. I think the biggest one for me is the thought of going blind. Probably because it could be a very real possibility if I don’t look after my health and keep my Diabetes under good control. The next one would be dementia or losing my marbles. I can’t face the thought of not being me any more. Drowning is another one. Insects under the skin - eugh! Losing my kids and my husband. Burning to death. Yeah, I think I’m pretty much terrified of everything!
 
PJ - I'm scared of everything. I’m a naturally anxious person. But I always laugh and say I'm the most optimistic pessimist you could ever meet. If something scares me, I'll jump in with both feet, but I’ll be pretty sure it'll be as bad as I think it will be. I did a charity bungee jump as a teenager, thinking the person would push me off, and they told me they weren't allowed to. I did jump, and afterwards people said, “I bet you were glad you did it, I bet it felt like flying?” No, no it didn’t. It felt like falling, falling to my death, and then just as I was about to die, being ripped back up and having to go through that sensation over and over again.
 
The losing my marbles one is a strong one for me too, again it’s that loss of self that is so scary. I mean, I'm a mental health nurse and I've worked in hospitals so I know the horror movie image of it isn't usually that accurate, but the thought of not being in control is terrifying. Saying that, “American Horror Story: Asylum” is a really truthful portrayal of mental health hospitals at the time. Minus the aliens, of course.
 
TW - I have a lot of anxiety, about pretty much everything, but like you I won’t let it stop me. It’s got nothing to do with a rush or a thrill, I don’t get any endorphins afterwards, in fact I usually just feel exhausted, but not doing something seems far scarier. Becoming old and boring and “safe” just isn’t an option for me. No disrespect meant to any of my family, but I feel like they’ve been safe all of their lives. I’m the kind of kid who climbs the mountain because I can, because it’s there. The idea that you could live your whole life and not climb it just perplexes me.
 
Do you ever use events or experiences from your own life in your stories?
 
PJ - All the time. There is a little bit of me in all of my characters, even the baddies. My stories usually contain at least an ounce of truth to them. For example, when I wrote "Non-Standard Construction" I had been resealing my sink, and had got a sliver of sealant wedged down in my nail bed. Every time I typed I got a sharp stabbing pain!
 
I think you need to be truthful with your characters to make them real to your readers, and for me that is saying what would I do in this situation? Or, what have I done in that situation? What about You?
 
TW - I definitely at least try to “write what you know”. Most of my monsters end up being people anyway, so if they’re not based on me, they might be based on people I’ve known. At the moment I feel like I’m living in the “Truman Show”. I write a story and a few days afterwards I’ll see a news article or a Facebook post which seems to echo what I’ve written. I’m beginning to think I’m either going mad or I’ve turned precognitive! I wrote a short horror story based on a New Zealand grasshopper called a wētā. In my story it loses a leg. My husband went for a walk the other day and came across a wētā just sitting on the grass, missing a leg. It was freaky. I suppose that just emphasises the elements of truth within my writing. Putting in enough details so it seems real and believable, while also making it weird and unsettling.
 
I read an interview with Natalie Wilson, professor of Women’s Studies and Literature at CSUSM. She suggests that: “Horror texts and the monsters that populate them register our natural traumas. They say a lot about our current events and ways of thinking.”
It seemed like zombies and vampires were everywhere until recently. Now it’s all about space exploration and off-world travel. Where do you think modern horror as a genre fits into society today, and what can it teach us?
 
PJ - I think that for me it is looking at dehumanisation. Sadly though, that is a horror genre that has already had popularity because of similar societal factors in the past. I think it is why (Margaret Atwood’s) “The Handmaid's Tale” was so popular. The increase of the popularity in far right politics scares me more than anything else at the moment. Though apparently this reoccurrence is a natural human response. If you look through history, you have a surge of what we term “liberal political wins”, such as: gay marriage, women's rights, equal rights. This is countered with a retaliation from the more extreme right wing, but afterwards the balance is always in the favour of the liberal. As a species, humanity cannot manage too much change at once, so there has to be some return to our past mistakes, to make our future more sustainable. If we had a utopia thrust upon us, humanity would make it into a dystopia. As a race we really do think that there is no such thing as a free lunch.
 
TW - I agree. Humans as a species seem to love making things irrationally difficult for themselves. It’s like we find it hard to accept real happiness can be possible. There is this overwhelming anxiety that we shouldn’t get too comfortable because something will always come along and snatch all our comfort away from us. In contrast, there is also a huge amount of denial amongst politicians and world leaders about real problems that can actually destroy us. It’s interesting that you mention “The Handmaid’s Tale”, especially in the midst of #metoo. I think a lot of people - men particularly - fail to understand just how real that could be.
 
That’s also quite an interesting thing for me as a female writer, my idea of horror might be quite different to that of a male one. I don’t just mean the usual tropes of “monsters in the womb” and the fear of being assaulted. (Ira Levin’s) “Rosemary’s Baby” for example, is not frightening to me because she is incubating a demon, but because she is forced to do so. Her body is overcome by man as much as monster. I wonder if it would be even more terrifying if Levin had changed  Rosemary into “Richard”. To amplify that lack of choice and body autonomy even more.
 
PJ - Yes, I think our concept of horror is very individual. From a completely abstract point of view, what is horror for women is not going to be the most horrific for men. But I also think it goes deeper than that. Our background such as our class or standing in society affects our fears. Laura Mauro really gets this in her novella "Naming the Bones,” the concept that you can be working class, and not just be typecast as the scumbag. I think that diversity is needed within the genre, if horror is really going to appeal to everyone.
 
TW - That goes for race too. (The movie) “Get Out” being a great example.
 
Diversity and representation are always going to be important in any genre, but it’s really interesting to see how those concepts are being used in modern examples to create stories which are not typically horror, but still incredibly frightening. The rise of “disability horror” is one I’m regarding with a cautious interest at the moment, as I think it has the propensity to backfire, but movies such as “Hush”, ‘The Quiet Place” and “Bird Box” have increased in popularity, and I suspect that is tied very strongly into the element of control and the deep-rooted fear that we are all such fragile creatures, susceptible to many mortal dangers. What we take for granted can so easily be taken away from us, and that makes us vulnerable, and scared.
 
So, as you know, February is Women in Horror Month. Genres such as sci-fi and horror have always been very typically dominated by men. What sort of issues do you think modern female horror writers face which men don’t? Are there any, or is it a more level playing field now?
 
PJ - I think it is a more level playing field now. I'm really new to the scene, and I've heard the stories of how hard it was to be part of the scene in the ‘80s and ‘90s. It seems strange that the genre that focuses on the “Outsider”, was seen as being less accepting of those who weren't "male, pale and middle class”, as I've often heard it termed. I wasn't there, I can't comment on then; but now seems to be a golden time for women writers in horror.
 
The last three British Fantasy Society short story winners were all female: Laura Mauro, Georgina Bruce and Priya Sharma. They all have collections either out or coming out with Undertow Publications, and I would seriously suggest if you want to see what the UK horror scene is producing at the moment then you couldn't do better than read their work.
 
I hope that Women in Horror month will actually soon become obsolete, not because I don't like it, but because there will be parity between the sexes in the horror genre. I think now is the time to start looking at where else there may be a requirement for more diversity in our reading materials and authors. If we want to scare people with our horror, we need to know everybody's fears, and the best way to do that is to read as widely as possible.
 
TW - I totally agree. Women In Horror Month is a brilliant initiative, but I look forwards to the day when the gender distinction is irrelevant. Here in New Zealand I still seem to find more male horror authors than female, but there are some amazing paranormal and speculative fiction writers out there too: Eleanor Gill; Cat Conner - especially her Byte series; Lee Murray; J. C. Hart; and the dark tales of Elizabeth Knox, most notably “Wake.” Their writing is fresh and powerful and really exciting.
 
There is also an interesting sub-genre of the Kiwi Gothic. (NZ horror writer) William Cook has said: “it points to a strong emphasis on settler anxiety derived from the confrontation with a hostile and alien environment”. I am curious to see if, or how, this will change and grow in the wake of destructive climate change and depletion of the world’s natural resources.
I think a lot of the real horrors in our world are what’s out there waiting for us. The impending crises many humans don’t want to acknowledge. Maybe through reading and writing about them, we can scare people into preparing for the inevitable.
 

 
On the eve of his debut novel release, author, editor, and living legend Johnny Mains sat down with Gingernuts of Horror to talk conventions, Best British Horror, and of course his long awaited debut novel, A Very Distasteful Horror Story.
 
Gingernuts of Horror: Thanks for taking the time to talk to us, Johnny! How are you doing?
 
Johnny Mains: Hello! All is good...at the moment!
 
GoH: Let’s talk A Very Distasteful Horror Story. You’ve been in the writing and editing game a long time now, but this is your first novel. What finally prompted you to take the plunge with a long form book?
 
JM: 2018 is my tenth anniversary of being a writer; my short story, ‘The Spoon’ sold to Charlie Black for his Third Black Book of Horror. In a way I thought the best way to mark the ten years was to try and get a novel published rather than another collection of short stories (although I am also working on a fourth collection as we speak). My longest work before this was a novella, called ‘The Gamekeeper’ which only came in at 33,000 words - Distasteful comes in at twice that length - so a short novel, but a novel nonetheless.

What made me take the plunge was I left my job at Citizens Advice in 2016 due to a mental breakdown, and in the weeks that followed I locked myself up in the office all day tried to write short stories. I started and junked about ten, was drinking extremely heavily and felt utterly hopeless about it all until I started writing a pretty good short story about  an author’s wife who has an affair with another author at a horror convention and the affair comes to light at same time a murder of a third horror author happens before their eyes. After I had written the murder, which only took three or four lines to describe, I couldn’t get it out of my head - who was that author, who murdered him and why? I took the decision to scrap the story I was writing; at that time I had hit 4,000 words on it, stupidly didn’t keep a copy, and began work on Distasteful within thirty seconds of deleting the tale. I had the voice straight away and wrote three thousand words in a single sitting, and read over what I had done and I got prickles on the back of my neck. I knew I had something - I didn’t know how it was going to end up at that point, it’s wasn’t till I got to 10,000 words that I knew I was going to go for the novel.
 
GoH: So there was no advanced plotting for Distasteful? It’s a pretty twisty plot...
 
JM: No, none. I went in absolutely cold, only knowing that there was a murder of a famous horror author. I started taking notes as I was writing it - and had hundreds of postik notes all lined up, but that was just to remind me of names, book and story titles etc - but I never plot anything, it takes the joy out of writing for me. There’s nothing more exciting than not having a clue as to what’s going to come next. I don’t know if automatic writing exists as pure state, but I’m astounded at what the mind can produce when you’re ‘in the zone’. I had to re-read the book a lot when I was writing it just to make sure I hadn’t repeated myself - I had, twice, but plotting means you know what you’re on about. I don’t, I just wing it and hope for the best. If I’m lucky, like with a few of my short stories, ‘The Girl on the Suicide Bridge’, ‘Aldeburgh’, and ‘The Joanne’, lightning strikes - if not, you get absolute gash, which probably amounts to 90% of my output.
 
GoH: A Very Distasteful Horror Story struck me, in part, as a love story to the horror convention scene of the 90’s. Do you think that was a particularly special time, or do you think the horror scene is still vibrant?
 
JM: I was never a part of the scene in the 90s - I arrived, rather unexpectedly in 2007, the eager fan wanting to contribute - and was a bit of a surprise to everyone that I hadn’t been a part until then because I was the full package, so to speak. The reason for that is I was a serious drug addict until 2004/5, was homeless on and off from the age of 17 - 29, so I didn’t have the ways or means to be part of the genre. The one thing that kept me going was books and I read thousands during that time and built up an enormous education with reading. It wasn’t just horror, but autobiographies, historical books, nature works, scientific journals - anything and everything I could get my hands on I would devour. It kept my mind fresh, even though I was constantly abusing it with mind-bending drugs.

The horror scene - well there really isn’t one is there? You can’t call a scene a scene when it’s simply people chatting on facebook - or going back in time, you can’t have a scene when it’s a yearly convention and three or four meetings, there is a connective distance that can’t be closed. I would define a true scene as a constant organic happening, in person, contact that happens regularly, if not constantly - and throughout it people are creating, pushing, searching collaborating. That’s a scene. And scenes die out when people don’t contribute, or it evolves into something else, breaks off, splinters - but stuff is always being produced.

But the book does express love for conventions, and I would have to say out of the few I’ve been to, the 2010 World Horror Convention, in Brighton and where I launched my first anthology, Back From The Dead, was the best convention or gathering I’ve ever been to in my life.
 
GoH:  What are your memories of that 2010 Con?
 
JM: I met a lot of people who I had only been in touch with on the phone or email, Michel Parry and Richard Dalby, both now sadly gone into the ether - but to meet them in the flesh and have amazing chats, yeah, that was special. I also managed to get the largest gathering of Pan Book of Horror  authors together which had never been done before and I ran an amazing panel where all of these authors and artists, who had all been so important to me during my formative years, were all together and that was just absolutely mindblowing.
 
GoH:The novel also blends real people with fictional ones. How worried were you about including real people in this tale? Did you set any rules for yourself about you would and wouldn’t do with the real people you were writing about?
 
JH: If people are annoyed that they’ve been included, tough. If I’ve met them at a public gathering where they are promoting themselves and promoting their work I think it would be disingenuous of them to be annoyed at being part of my book. If the roles were reversed, I would take everything with a good dose of humour, I’m confident enough to know who I am, so another person’s vision of me would just be that - however, I’ve been very kind to everyone whose names I’ve used- I’ve created single characters who I’ve squished together from an amalgamation of people I’ve met - and if they try to sue me, it means they’re owning up to being absolute arseholes, which is fine. I have no money, no assets. Sue away. I will say though that Carson Fisher, the murdered horror author, isn’t based on anyone alive - may fleetingly refer to a dead horror author, but that’s about it.

I did ask Ramsey Campbell for his permission to include him in his book, but that was only because I wanted to do some very nasty things to him. Ramsey more than happily agreed and he doesn’t want to read what I’ve written till he gets the book for himself.
 
GoH: The prison thread of the novel I found really atmospheric and claustrophobic. What research did you do for those parts? And what writing decisions did you make to evoke that sense of claustrophobia?
 
JM: It’s no secret that I’ve spent time in jail. Or if it is, it’s an open one. However, I was always scared to admit it before because I thought it would harm any ‘career’ in real life. Now I’m self-employed I simply don’t give a fuck.


Jail was a fucking horrendous place, someone tried to attack me in a shower with the sole aim of sticking their willy up me - luckily they ‘slipped’ and their jaw had to be wired. I was also threatened for my phone credit and that was a very, very close thing - I could have ended up with a serious injury, the bloke asking for my phone credit was much bigger than I was, he already had a murder to his name and I only got out of it by offering to write his family a letter as he couldn’t read or write.  We became ‘friends’ - and I wrote letters for him or designed him Christmas cards for his children and he made sure that the rest of my time inside was quiet.

As to writing decisions, I just close my eyes and I can transport myself back to the cell rather easily. I can never forget it, the experience is part of who I am - and I’ve never talked about it in depth to anyone other than the missus. We refer it as my ‘trip to Butlins’.
 
GoH: Can you tell us a little bit about Effingham-on-the-Stour - a town that often crops up in your writing and seems to be on par with Castle Rock and Midsomer for supernatural awfulness and murder?

JM: The market town is loosely based on Downham Market in Norfolk, it has a beautiful clock tower, market square, not too overwhelmingly touristy, and has one of the loveliest railway stations in the country. As to Effingham’s location, I’ve never wanted to exactly pin that down to a real county as I want the town to remain timeless and culturally vague. However, Effingham seems to be wherever I have lived in my life, so it’s in Suffolk, Norfolk, Scottish Borders, Devon and if my last short story is anything to go by, Serpent Bay, Effingham is only 4 miles from the bottom of Cornwall. I like the fact that it’s almost like Doctor Who and her Tardis, pops up whenever, wherever.

I’ve yet to create a map for it, but there is a large central park with a bandstand, a wood that envelops one side of the town with a river and a mill on that side, some extremely steep hills (based on several in Redditch, Worcester), a posh end of town that’s one single road, and an old creepy house that’s on a hill that looks over the town. And a McDonalds.

I’m fond of the town, it’s appeared in about 15 of my short stories and features heavily in the novel. And while Castle Rock is more than guilty of influencing the initial idea of Effingham - it’s amazing how it has now become as real to me as the city I live in at the moment and every time I write a story without knowing where it’s set and Effingham appears, I am genuinely happy.
 
GoH: The cover art for the novel is superb! Who created that for you?
 
JM: The artwork for the cover was done by the genius that is David Whitlam; I’ve known David for quite a few years now and his work is simply stunning. There is no other word for it. He did the cover for my British Fantasy Society anthology, The Burning Circus, and also the cover to my third collection, A Little Light Screaming. It was only right that he did the cover to my novel, he got what I was after and the finished work is pitch perfect. It has a very grungy feel, of the time, even though it’s digitally drawn.
 
GoH: Moving on to your editing, talk to us about Best British Horror 2018! How did this come about?
 
JM: Best British Horror was dropped by Salt without them telling me. I was preparing for 2016’s book, indeed I spent seven months reading material for it; don’t forget publishers and authors were sending me hard copies - and I happened to mention in a phone call to one of the owners about how good the BBH 2016 was going to be and that I wanted to use a Robert Aickman story to open up the book. It was then I was told that there wouldn’t be another book, horror wasn’t selling, but could they have a third Dead Funny book?
I was absolutely heartbroken, and not to mention just a little bit fucked off - and it also happened around the time I got ill - so when I was looking for stability all I had was akin to a plank on a marble and I was standing on the plank trying to keep my balance.

So, two years went by, and I was really missing reading what was being written by my peers and wanted to promote that work again. I wanted to re-launch Best British Horror; so I got in touch with Ian Whates who thought it was a great idea, and here we are - this year’s book is out and have already got the stories for this year’s book and there are some incredible stories in both 2018 and 19’s. I hope it’s a series we can keep on running and running - we owe that to all of the authors and publishers who do this for little or no reward. So please, readers, fans of horror - buy this book. Get behind it, support it.
 
GoH: Talk to us about the process of reading all those anthologies and collections - it seems like a huge amount of work and also your thoughts behind what makes a best of, the trends, the authors…
 
JM:  Luckily I’m only reading stories written by people who are British or who live in Britain, so that normally gets rid of about 40/50% of the anthology contents straight away. I don’t read reprints and collections may have only two or three original stories - so the amount I read, whilst great, isn’t overwhelming. I would like to think I’m an intuitive reader/chooser of stories and with the three books in the series and 2019’s volume - so far, at least 80% of the tales have been chosen on that first gut reading. I don’t care who the author is, whether they or their stories are the talk of the town or as stylistically unfashionable as I am, I work solely on the impact of the story - what it does to me when reading, after reading and whether I’m still thinking about the story the next day.

That selection process doesn’t always translate to how well the subsequent stories go together when I have them all chosen - and that’s when the hardest part of the process, for me, truly kicks in, to give the contents and the order the stories are read an appearance of effortless synchronicity. I read, re-read, re-read again in dozens of combinations, seeing what stories may have the same vibe, feel - moving them around so you’re not reading too many similarly-shaped stories too close to one another, that the middle of the book doesn’t feel to flabby - but to start the book off with the stand-out tale, then build up the rest of the book until the end story, which I personally feel is the most important tale of the whole the book. That, for me, is the true mark of whether an anthology will stick with you or not - that last burst of popping candy on the tongue.
 
GoH: I understand you’ve also been branching out into commentary work. What movies have you featured on? And how heavily do you script your commentary tracks?
 
JM: Yes! It’s all rather exciting. I’ve been writing liner notes for quite a while now, Michael Brooke has been the man who has nurtured the non-fiction part of my brain, and I had been badgering him to do one, never had the confidence to do one on my own; I didn’t have the first clue on how the process goes - and we recorded the commentary for Sidney Lumet’s The Deadly Affair and my all-time favourite Hammer film, The Snorkel. I then recorded my first solo commentary for Firestarter, based on the Stephen King novel and Michael and I recorded a commentary for Tyrone Power’s greatest film, Nightmare Alley. The research is gruelling, however when we’re together we just have notes and the film running silently and we bounce off each-other; he’s the straight man, I’m normally laughing at something I’ve found amusing, but it really works, and the people who write reviews about film commentaries have always been more than nice about them and us.

Regarding the solo commentary for Firestarter, I wrote a script for that and followed it to the letter; when I tried to go off-piste and ad-lib, I screwed it up every time, because I didn’t have anyone riffing with me.
 
GoH: You cover a huge amount of material on the Firestarter  commentary, from detailed production information to historical context and stories of real-life spontaneous human combustion - how do you settle on what to include, and how to transition from subject to subject?
 
JM: Alchemy.
 
GoH: Lastly, tell us what 2019 has in store! What should we look out for from Johnny Mains, and what are you looking forward to?

JM: Well, this year is a busy one - I’m working on putting together a Charles Birkin collection of ‘lost’ stories for Valancourt books and writing a biographical essay for it, finishing essays on Scarred For Life Volume 2, a massive essay on Nigel Kneale’s 1984, Best British Horror 2019, finishing off a Barry Pain collection, putting together a collection of ‘lost’ works by Theo Douglas (H.D. Everett), Finality of Ghosts - the last book of my trilogy of ‘lost’ ghost stories by women. Ongoing work on my Freaks book, finishing my Jason King novel and diving into research for a planned Cynthia Asquith biography. Also hoping to get some more commentary work, maybe write one or two short stories. So yes, busy!

Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?
 
I’m a writer and filmmaker from Merseyside, now living in London. I have a PhD in Music from Goldsmiths University and I spend most of my time these days writing film journalism and novels. When time and funding permits, I sometimes make short films on super-8 and I run the website Celluloid Wicker Man.

What do you like to do when you're not writing?

My life currently is a bit like that train sequence from the Wallace & Gromit film The Wrong Trousers where Gromit has to lay the line of the toy train at breakneck speed whilst actually on the train so he can catch the penguin. My writing life is currently a bit like that so almost everything I do has to be geared towards the writing in some way so I can pay my rent and continue getting work. That said, I’m lucky that my work so often involves having to read a lot, watch a lot (films and older television) and even visiting a lot places connected to literature or film: so reading, watching and visiting unusual places breaks up the writing.

Other than the horror genre, what else has been a major influence on your writing?
 
I think the most influential thing on what I do has been a childhood immersed in Doctor Who. When you’re watching what is essentially surreal archive television at a very young age, and I mean almost every day where it was possible thanks to VHS, its openness to the sheer absurdity of all sorts of fiction, ideas and genres, totally leaves you open later in life for things that others would probably find absurd to seek inspiration from. There’s no better opening for genre basically.
 
The other big influence was discovering aesthetic philosophy at university and how the writing opened up and challenged everything, creatively, morally and politically. Theodor Adorno got to me for a while, not just in his style of writing but how his theories sat in contrary with my obvious leaning towards pop culture. Also Jacques Derrida and Gilles Deleuze were and still are surprisingly big influences on what I do. So yes, Doctor Who and post-war twentieth-century philosophy…
 
The term horror, especially when applied to fiction always carries such heavy connotations.  What’s your feeling on the term “horror” and what do you think we can do to break past these assumptions?
 
I’m not quite sure to be honest, especially because I don’t consider my fiction work to be purely of the horror genre. It deliberately blurs the lines stylistically, in the same way that Magic Realism has done with fantasy, drawing on techniques from European Literary fiction in particular, but sometimes sneaking in imagery or ideas more associated with what people would consider “horror.” Quite a lot of the writers I admire do this. However, I think it’s worth noting that negative reactions to genre connotations are often derived from very little experience of what the genre can do and when people have problems with such connotations it’s usually from a bias, perhaps even a snobbishness, born solely and purely from ignorance.

A lot of good horror movements have arisen as a direct result of the socio/political climate, considering the current state of the world. Where do you see horror going in the next few years?
 
Horror in film has always done this, more so I think than traditional drama, so it’s no surprise to find the genre in cinema in such a healthy place when the world is so dizzyingly chaotic. I wish I could share an opinion on the literature equivalent but when I do dip into horror literature, it’s usually from older works. The last horror book I read was Jeremias Gotthelf’s The Black Spider, and even then, that’s more of a theological parable from 1842 that just happens to feature a black spider growing out of someone’s face.

What are the books and films that helped to define you as an author?

The Rings of Saturn and The Emigrants by W.G. Sebald
The Television plays of Nigel Kneale
Extinction and Correction by Thomas Bernhard
The Collected Ghost Stories of M.R. James
The Waves and Orlando by Virginia Woolf
The films of Andrei Tarkovsky
The Caretaker and The Homecoming by Harold Pinter

What new and upcoming authors do you think we should take notice off?
 
Édouard Louis for biting but beautiful political writing and Benjamin Myers who, though not new, is finally getting the recognition he deserves.

How would you describe your writing style?
 
Plagued by memories and photographs.

Are there any reviews of your work, positive or negative that have stayed with you?

Most of the negative ones grate for a few days before I realise that even my favourite authors have it far worse off online. With my last book, (Folk Horror) that was to be expected as it was a semi-academic book that became unusually popular because of the subject matter and academic writing is not readily accessible. The writing process for it was also chaotic so some negative reviews were bound to crop up. I wish I could re-write the last book in a more accessible writing style but its subject is of less interest to me these days and there are more pressing books that need attention.

What aspects of writing to do you find the most difficult?


The public speaking that inevitably is now be part and parcel of writing and publishing a book is the most difficult part for me. I’m not too bad at public speaking admittedly but the anxiety I suffer in the run up to it is far worse than anything in the writing process itself. You’d think I was being sent to the gallows or something.

Is there one subject you would never write about as an author?
 
I don’t think I’d ever write anything purely historical. I’m much more interested in the present. The past plays a huge part in everything I write but is only interesting to me in my fiction when it’s connected with hindsight to the present and the vast cacophony of changes in between.

How important are names to you in your books? Do you choose the names based on liking the way it sounds or the meaning?
 
Thomas of Mothlight is actually a nod to the character from Antonioni’s adaptation of Blowup; another protagonist whose life is haunted by photographs. The narrator of my next book is named Isabelle after Isabelle Huppert…

For those who haven’t read any of your books, which of your books do you think best represents your work and why?
 
Mothlight is most representative of what I want to be doing at least as it is fiction. I won’t be writing another nonfiction book for quite some time yet though when I do it’ll be about Polaroid photographs.
 
Can you tell us about what you are working on next?
 
The initial draft was finished a while ago for my next fiction How Pale The Winter Has Made Us which is going to also published by Influx Press in 2020. It’s about a woman away in the French city of Strasbourg who hears of the suicide of her father in London and opts to stay there over winter. She goes rather mad in the process, deciding to research and obsess over the history of the town and its various occupants such as Goethe, Gutenberg and Jean-Hans Arp, to the point where reality and history begins to dissolve.
 
I’m currently working on the pitching draft for the fiction after that which is currently under the title of Nettles and reframes some unhappy memories from my own past on Merseyside as something weirder. Dealing with such memories is only possible for the narrator by building a strange, eerie world around the spirits of the Wirral marshland and a local stone called Grannies Rock.


If you could erase one horror cliché what would be your choice?
 
Perhaps reliance on jump scares which have become a handy shorthand for “We’ve ran out of ideas.” We’re far from The Exorcist III shall we say…

What was the last great book you read, and what was the last book that disappointed you?
 
Great: History of Violence by Édouard Louis
 
Disappointed: Candide by Voltaire

Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?

Hi! I’m Lily, USA Today bestselling author of horror and paranormal fiction. I am mildly obsessed with vampires and ghosts, and find studying the supernatural to be a fun pastime. I also love music, going to concerts, getting tattooed, and cooking. I’m also bisexual demiromantic, which gives me a deeper, more personal reason for writing LGBT+ characters.

Why horror? What is appeal of the genre to you as both a fan and as a writer?

Ithink that fear is such a primal emotion. Fear, lust, and anger are automatic things for most humans (some don’t experience lust). Writing about them in any capacity is thrilling. It’s a study in humanity at its most vulnerable.

As LBGTQ+ fan and writer of horror, how did you when you first became immersed in the genre and found that representation that you could identify was few and far between?

Oh that’s a good question. I think it was a few years back, before I even started writing, when I noticed queerbaiting in a favorite horror program of mine. It always seemed like the sexy hetero couple were the stars, the POC characters wound up dead first, and LGBT+ people didn’t exist. I remember even as a little girl wondering why no girls kissed girls, since I was a girl who wanted to kiss girls. I knew that I would include LGBT+ people in my work right away. Not as a statement, not to be political or politically correct, but because we exist and we’re valid.

How did you discover authors that wrote about characters that you could relate to? Other than the horror genre, what else has been a major influence on your writing?

You might laugh, but comic books. Batwoman was my first bit of exposure to a LGBT+ strong female character. Currently, DC Comics has Sara Lance, Ava Sharpe, Nyssa Al Ghul, John Constantine, Lena Luthor, Curtis Holt, and Nora Allen as LGBT+ representation on their various TV shows. Soon they will have Kate Kane.

It took me a long time to find novels with LGBT+ characters. Now we have people like TL Travis, Piper Kay, Felicia Fox, Anna Stone, and Vicki Kinnaird (to name a few) writing LGBT+ fiction. It’s amazing to see so much representation.

The term horror, especially when applied to fiction always carries such heavy connotations. What’s your feeling on the term “horror” and what do you think we can do to break past these assumptions?

I think that many people believe “horror” means “evil”. No. Even while there are movies rooted in the occult (and my own books are as well), we don’t watch horror because we’re evil. Some people do, and honestly, those people are in the minority in the horror fandom.

For example, my tagline is “horror with heart”. I have gore, violence, creepy scenarios, and more, but there is also a strong sense of humanity in my books. In the Paranormal Detectives Series, for example, book four has a tearful, romantic goodbye between an ill fated couple after a violent vampire attack. You can’t properly scare people if they are not emotionally invested.

Horror isn’t about jump scares and Satan. It’s about the people to whom these things happen.

A lot of good horror movements have arisen as a direct result of the socio/political climate, considering the current state of the world where do you see horror going in the next few years?

This is another really great question. In the political climate, sadly my existence as a LGBT+ woman with mental health issues and income issues has become a target. I think that you will see many more LGBT+ people, people of color, and sick people writing more realistic horror. I think it will veer away from the fantastical and become more reality based, like The Purge.

I recently co-wrote a horror/Apocalypse novel called Soul Syndicate, where the world ends and only 9 people are left alive. Out of those nine, we have people from all races, religions, genders, and sexual orientations. Faith, my co-writer, and I weren’t trying to make a political statement, but yet it became one.

I personally hope that we see a lot of “oppressed rising up” as a trend in horror, as we showed in Soul Syndicate. But I don’t want to see horror lose its monsters and paranormal edge. In my books, I try to discuss important current issues, but present them as paranormal because that’s the fun with being a creator: horror gives us an unlimited arsenal of ideas and possibilities.

What are the books and films that helped to define you as an author?

Books: anything Stephen King; the first four Vampire Chronicles novels by Anne Rice; Dracula; Vampire Kisses series by Ellen Schreiber; Harry Potter series by JK Rowling; The Saga of Darren Shan by Darren Shan; The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod by Zac Brewer (nee Heather); anything by Poe; the Bronte sisters; Shakespeare.

Movies: Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Queen of the Damned, Van Helsing, Die Hard, Underworld.

In recent years there has been a slow but gradual diversification within the genre, which new LBGTQ+ writers do you think we should be paying attention to?

I listed a few above, actually. So to them I will add JS Coatsworth, Layla Dorine, and Carmilla Voiez.

How would you describe your writing style?

You know, I’ve been writing professionally for four and a half years and I still can’t explain my style. Is ‘strong female characters with monsters’ a genre? While I do write gay characters (Brighton and Mark in PDS 3 and 4; Bloodspell; Soul Syndicate, Nick and Roger in The Coven Series), I mostly write strong women. Be they straight or LGBT+, my books don’t seem complete without one bad ass lady and a few monsters thrown in. I write fiction for all ages, races, orientations, and genders, but deep down I really, truly write for all the little girls like me. The creepy girls who wanted to kick butt while looking pretty and kissing cute boys (and other girls!). My MCs are usually Goth, like me, plus size, and strong willed. Because I never had representation growing up. Now I want to create that representation.

Are there any reviews of your work, positive or negative that have stayed with you?

Many, but there’s one from Knightingale Reviews for my first novel Stake-Out, and they had this to say about my heroine, Angelica: “Angelica added a depth to the story and proudly represented females everywhere. C and I have an extremely hard time finding female characters that we actually enjoy reading about. Too many of them are whiny, unpleasant, indecisive, passive, or are just blind followers. Others have low self-esteem or retain this complex where they think they need a man to rescue them instead of saving themselves. Now, we're not saying that these are terrible qualities or characteristics that lesson someone's worth; it's just that they are often qualities that are exploited or implemented so frequently that a girl seems weak. Angelica was just the opposite, though. She a true breath of fresh air. Angelica Cross can easily be described as headstrong and independent. However, she also doesn't fit in among humans or supernatural creatures extremely well, a fact that she doesn't let bring her down.”

What aspects of writing to do you find the most difficult?

That dreaded middle. I can write blurbs, beginnings, plot twists, and endings. That little middle part drives me mental, I swear. I find myself writing out of order, just so I can write the middle last!

Are there any subjects that you would never write about?

Nothing is off limits for me. I even touch on sexual assault in PDS4 and will again in PDS8. I would never, EVER describe it, but anything and everything in the world can become plot fodder for me.

Writing, is not a static process, how have you developed as a writer over the years?

I learned more about “show, don’t tell” as well as using a less omnipresent narrating voice. I think you can see my growth as you read my work from start to finish, and I am proud of all I learned.

What is the best piece of advice you ever received with regards to your writing?

It came from Stephen King: write with the door close and edit with it open.
I tend to worry about what people will think when I write, especially as I was creating A Bloody Legacy and The Hunger Within (my BDSM lesfic stories). I had to remind myself that A), I am accurately depicting a lesbian bondage style relationship and B), I know what I’m talking about. Other people’s opinions shouldn’t matter.

Getting your worked noticed is one of the hardest things for a writer to achieve, how have you attempted to break through the barriers that are so often in place against LBGTQ+ writers?

I admit, it hurts going to bloggers and seeing “no LGBT+ work accepted”. Because not all LGBT+ books are sexual. Why can’t people read a book just because a boy loves a boy or a girl loves boys and girls?

When shopping Soul Syndicate to bloggers, it was hard to find reviewers because we have gay, trans, bi, and asexual characters in the story. And the roadblocks were immense.

But with the Paranormal Detectives Series and The Coven Series, I have gay, lesbian, and straight relationships, and have only received one poor criticism from a homophobe. I hate it when they say “there are too many gay characters” and “it’s unrealistic”. As a bi woman, I can tell you that us LGBT+ people often befriend each other because, originally, it was safer. It’s definitely not unrealisitc.

But that’s how I avoid some roadblocks: my LGBT+ characters are in books with straight characters, so it’s hard for someone to say “we can’t read this” when the main pairing is straight, and others are LGBT+. Sneaky? Maybe. But I am a Slytherin, after all.

Many CIS white male authors use LGBTQ+ characters in their works, what’s the mistake that they make when trying to portray these characters?

Making gay men overly effeminate. Not all gay men are like Jack from Will and Grace, but many straight men think so. And when it comes to women: bi women are NOT there just to have threesomes. I cannot stress this enough. And lesbian sex is … well … it’s sexy. It is. But lesbians do more than have sex. And straight men need to remember that. (Don’t get me started on the men who make lesbians “turn” straight. That makes me feel ill.)

Moving on to getting your work read by unwashed masses, what do you think ins the biggest misconception about LGBTQ+ fiction?

It’s all about sex. Yes, I write LGBT+ erotica. But the stories are about so much more than sex. Or that it’s only aimed at LGBT+ people. A majority of LGBT+ fiction writers and readers are heterosexual. If you’re reading this and unsure, don’t worry. Just come dip your toes in, you’ll probably find that you like it.

There are a number of presses dedicated to LGBTQ+ fiction, do you view these as a good thing, or do you think they help to perpetuate the ongoing exclusion from mainstream presses?

That’s like asking do I think BET is exclusion for POC. No. LGBT+ presses were created because we had nowhere else to go. Like the LOGO network. Now that mainstream presses are recognizing out work, that’s wonderful! But I will always stand by and support LGBT+ only presses. Because they were there for us when no one else was.

And here is the million dollar question do you agree with movements like this and things such as Women in Horror Month? If so how would you like to see sites such as Ginger Nuts of Horror tackle diversity?

I LOVE WiHM! I participate somehow every year. This year Vamptasy Publishing is releasing a horror anthology written solely by female authors called Another Beautiful Nightmare. My erotic horror is LGBT+ based, and I love being a diverse woman of horror. I want to see other lesbian, bi, trans, pan, and ace/aro women showcased both within fiction and as creators in the future.

The most common phrase you hear when people object to active movements to encourage all forms of diversity is “I don’t care about the sexuality, gender, color etc etc of the writer I only care about good stories” what would you like to say to these people?

It’s fine not to care. It’s great that you don’t think of it. But here’s the thing: you have to at least acknowledge it. The fact that I am a bi woman plays heavily in my work, so I would like it to be noted. Same for gay men or trans authors. Same with POC authors.

Like, I don’t care that TH Morris is a black man, but I do, however, care that he is a black man writing horror with a diverse cast in his books (The 11th Percent Series; it’s amazing!). Because it shows that diversity matters, inclusion matters. So straight, white, cis people: go on not caring. I love that you don’t care. But don’t mistake not caring for not recognizing. There’s a big difference.

To many writers, the characters they write become like children, who is your favorite child, and who is your least favorite to write for and why?

My favorite child is Angelica Cross, by far. She’s the lead in my Paranormal Detectives Series. She’s a vampire, businesswoman, government leader, hero, pansexual, woman. She infuriates me sometimes, but I love her to death.

Least favorite is probably Alicia Gordon, who is in books 1 and 2 of The Coven Series. She is the bully I hated my whole life given an immense amount of power.

What piece of your own work are you most proud of?

Never Again. It’s about a Jewish male siren who fights against Nazis and demons in WWII, proving that while hate never dies, heroes never die, either.

For those who haven’t read any of your books, which of your books do you think best represents your work and why?

Right To Silence (Paranormal Detectives Book 4). It’s written in two parts, the first part focusing on Brighton and Mark and their illicit romance in the Victorian era, and then moves into the present. It showcases what I’m best at: violence and love.

Do you have a favorite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us?

Probably this one, from The Coven Heir (The Coven Series Book 2):

Sometimes the people who want to make you feel that way get past ‘consent’ and barrel right through your barriers like charging bulls. They rush into your head and start breaking everything they can find, marking their territory where they don’t belong. And before long, your head begins to get muddled, and then your heart takes on most of the burden of the emotional stress a bully puts on you.
Bullying leaves lasting damage that never really goes away. Its scar is garish and visible, barely healed. It can be ripped open at any moment, as fresh and bloody as it was while the abuse was still going on. Others can’t see the scar, but it’s there, hidden under the layers of concrete that you create to protect yourself, so that the pain can only be felt by you and you alone.
And when the pain finally does die down, it’s like you’re left in a desolate, dark room with no idea where to go from there. It damages every part of you, dampens your trust, makes you scared to feel happy in case the bully comes back again to rip your joy away from you.
 
Can you tell us about your last book, and can you tell us about what you are working on next?

My last book released is Day of Execution (Paranormal Detectives Book Seven), which is the penultimate book in that series and a real tearjerker. I can’t say much, but beta readers HATE me for that.

I am prepping for The Coven Rescue (The Coven Series Book Three), which is coming March 23rd.

What was the last great book you read, and what was the last book that disappointed you?

I have not been reading as much as I’d like. The last really great book I read was Greyson Fox by TL Travis, which is a dark MM romance.

The last book that really disappointed me I read back in 2015. It was recommended as a “strong female lead” and it was anything but. Sure the lead kicked ass, but she wasn’t strong. She was a bully and did things no strong woman would ever do.

What's the one question you wish you would get asked but never do? And what would be the answer?

This one surprised me. I am not sure. I have been asked so many questions, many of them interesting as this interview has been. One question I have only been asked once and I love is “if you could be in a story, which would it be?” I was asked that once and it really made me think. I’d want to be in a position of power in a medieval setting. To be able to make a good difference for my “kingdom”. I suppose that’s why my characters are Empresses and Princesses.

Lily Luchesi is the USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of the Paranormal Detectives Series, published by Vamptasy Publishing. She also has short stories included in multiple bestselling anthologies, and a successful dark erotica retelling of Dracula.

Her Coven Series has successfully topped Amazon's Hot New Releases list consecutively.

She is also the editor, curator and contributing author of Vamptasy Publishing's Damsels of Distress anthology, which celebrates strong female characters in horror and paranormal fiction.
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She was born in Chicago, Illinois, and now resides in Los Angeles, California. Ever since she was a toddler her mother noticed her tendency for being interested in all things "dark". At two she became infatuated with vampires and ghosts, and that infatuation turned into a lifestyle. She is also an out member of the LGBT+ community. When she's not writing, she's going to rock concerts, getting tattooed, watching the CW, or reading manga. And drinking copious amounts of coffee.