Matt Betts Ohio native Matt Betts is a pop culture junkie—sometimes to levels that are considered unhealthy by the Surgeon General. He grew up on a steady diet of giant monsters, comic books, and horror novels, all of which creep into his own work. Matt’s speculative poetry and short fiction have appeared in a number of anthologies and journals. Matt’s first novel, the steampunk/zombie/alternate history adventure Odd Men Out was a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Award for excellence in independent publishing. He is also the author of the urban fantasy novel Indelible Ink the sci-fi novel The Shadow Beneath the Waves and Red Gear 9. His poetry collections include See No Evil, Say No Evil and Underwater Fistfight. Check out Matt’s books on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Matt-Betts/e/B00ELIL0MO/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1 Website: http://www.mattbetts.com/ Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself? I’m a scifi and horror writer from Lima, Ohio. I’ve been a fan of books and reading since I was pretty young. I got hooked on comic books early on, reading Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica adaptations and eventually moving on to superheroes. My dad knew I enjoyed these so much that he picked out some novels he thought I’d be interested in and brought them home one day. Pretty good stuff - Arthur C. Clarke, Faulkner and other challenging authors for a sixth grader, but I enjoyed them. They certainly got me interested in novels. I’ve been writing since high school, but I didn’t really get serious about it until I moved to Columbus in the 2000s. When I settled in here, I joined a writing group and met a number of other new and aspiring authors. That group helped me figure out how publishing and creating worked and really kept me writing for years. I just recently started a podcast, which I really enjoy doing. It’s called Something from Nothing: Talks with Creatives About Creativity. I get to interview authors, poets, actors, dancers, artists and other creators and talk about what makes them tick, what got them into the thing they do. Really fun, and actually puts my college degree to good use! Woo hoo! Which one of your characters would you least like to meet in real life? Tough one. I’d have to say Deena from Indelible Ink. She has powers she doesn’t truly understand and can’t contain, which makes her a little unpredictable. She’s a good person, really! You just don’t know which version of her you’re going to meet from day to day and what kind of mood she’ll be in, you know? Other than the horror genre, what else has been a major influence on your writing? As I mentioned, I love science fiction for sure. But I think my main influences have come from when scifi and horror meet. I like old movies where there’s some giant irradiated creature that attacks a small town, or stories where technology goes awry and threatens humanity. I think it’s the unpredictability of science that could be a friend or an enemy to the protagonists that I enjoy so much. Godzilla certainly springs to mind – part horror, part scifi. I’ve loved Star Wars since I was a kid. That’s been a huge influence on what I do. The thrill that I got from watching that first movie is something I try to put in my work. I hope the reader has fun and wants to go on a journey with my characters in the way that I did with Luke, Leia and Han. I’m also a fan of crime novels, specifically authors like Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen. They both seem to write stories with real characters and real motivations. The dialogue both authors use is just fascinating to me, so conversational and natural. 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? It’s strange that the term horror can turn people off from some truly excellent literature. There are some terrific novels out there that get categorized as fiction and no one bats an eye. I’ll admit that I shy away from entertainment that’s presented or reviewed with certain terms. I consider myself a bit of a scaredy-cat when it comes to horror, and I tend to watch some movies with my eyes covered. I love suspense and I love to be shocked, but I’m not fond of gore unless it’s way over the top. Today, with the way books and movies are marketed and sold, it’s hard to avoid labels, and even harder to do anything about them. If you search for a book or film online, your results will come with labels already on them, plus a synopsis and sometimes you get a full review before you’ve even found the little info you were looking for. It some ways I miss the good old days when you walked into a video store and knew nothing about a movie other than what was on the back of the case. Same with books – it was fun to take a chance on a novel you’ve never heard of just from picking it up in a store. I’m afraid as we continue, labeling of art and literature will only get more specific and I’m not sure it’s a good thing for everyone. It might help readers who have specific niches they want to read, making it easier to use keywords to find exactly what they want, but less helpful for writers and publishers who would have to include every possible combination of genres, situations, characters and plots in order to not be excluded and missed by fans. 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’ve been through so much in the last few years. Politics have had a huge impact on people worldwide, and the pandemic has caused a domino effect of terrible conditions for everyone. I think these particular topics are going to crop up in all of our media for decades to come. The themes of isolation and alienation are prevalent in real life, how could they not dominate things to come? I see a lot of stories regarding the fear of the ‘other’ coming out as well. The uproar over who is vaccinated and who is not, what should be done to stop the spread of the pandemic, and how to enforce laws and mandates. It’s made people suspicious of their friends, neighbors and institutions, and everyone’s motivations for wanting one solution over another. One thing both the pandemic and politics has brought to the surface is selfishness and tribalism. We’ve seen the debate over masks and vaccinations, which center around what’s best for the individual vs. the group as a whole. These are all fantastic and fertile grounds for stories of underrepresented and ignored voices in this debate. Given the dark, violent and at times grotesque nature of the horror genre why do you think so many people enjoy reading it? As a confessed horror wimp, I sometimes wonder what people see in certain subgenres, but I think horror is cathartic. It’s a way of surviving the worst of the worst situations, without actually being there. Horror is a roundabout way of saying “Well, at least things aren’t that bad for me right now.” It’s also a way of seeing the bad guy eventually getting taken down by the ending (usually) which can also really feel good. I suppose I can’t speak for everyone, but that’s what I tend to get out of it anyway! What, if anything, is currently missing from the horror genre? Well, as I do more and more research on things I want to use in my own work, I’m fascinated by myths and legends from various cultures. There are some strange beasts and monsters from Chinese mythology that I’d love to see creep into more stories. Same with the stories of the indigenous people of North America. Some of their tales get pretty intense and should be told. What new and upcoming authors do you think we should take notice of? I loved Cynthia Pelayo’s Children of Chicago, and I’m excited to see what she does next. I love her voice in that book. He’s not really new, but I really like Stephen Graham Jones’ The Only Good Indians. My friend Mercedes Yardley writes terrific, offbeat tales, and I always look forward to reading what she does next. I tend to go for long periods of time where I don’t read much new stuff, and I end up reading classics or old favorites over again and I’m kind of in that place now, so my list of new authors is a little short! Are there any reviews of your work, positive or negative that have stayed with you? I really followed my reviews early on, until I realized it probably wasn’t healthy. As an indie author, sometime the reviews come in slowly and it can be crushing to hang on waiting to see what people say. Given that, I’ve learned to look in on reviews far less frequently, but I do check them. I think one of the ones that stuck with me said I got horror right in that the characters react to horror and terrible events like real people would, rather than characters. For someone to say I can write actual people, rather than cut-outs that wait around for their turn to talk, is a big compliment for me. What aspects of writing to do you find the most difficult? Revision is tough. It’s hard for me to look at my own work and decide what to get rid of. In my head, it’s all valuable and contributes to the story, but to an editor or a reader some of the material may detract from their enjoyment or their clarity of the tale. I get that, but I have trouble distancing myself enough to become my editor more often than not. Is there one subject you would never write about as an author? I haven’t really found one yet. I suppose if there’s a subject that might hurt my family’s feelings or something. Certainly, I wouldn’t make fun of something friends and family believe in, unless they were in on it and okay with whatever I was doing. There are probably any number of controversial subjects I’d leave alone, mostly because they don’t fit into anything I’m writing, so I don’t think about them much. What is the best piece of advice you ever received with regards to your writing? Outline. Ugh. I hate outlining. I like to be a free spirit, a loner, a rebel. I want the story to go wherever it wants. Fly away, little idea, fly! Unfortunately, my ideas tend to fly in circles and land in a duck pond, and then fly south for the winter. My ideas are jerks, sometimes. So, I was introduced to the magical art of outlining. I’m not quite to the super-detailed outline for every book stage yet, but I’ve found if I write a fairly simple ‘beginning-middle-end’ outline that things go much more smoothly for me. I actually make my deadlines without too much panic writing, I have fewer moments of writer’s block, and I’m more confident in my writing in general. My birds still get to fly around, they just have to do it in a big, defined cage rather than all over the Northern Hemisphere. Which of your characters is your favourite? It’s not easy picking a favorite for a number of reasons, but mostly I think my favorite is whatever character I’m working on at any given moment. I love some of my early characters like Lucinda from my first book, but usually I’m so enthralled with getting the details right in my current work in progress, that I fall in love again and again with the newest creation. I’m fickle, I know! Right now I’m working on a retelling of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and I’m really enjoying building my version of the Dorothy character, and my stand-in for the Tin Man is kind of a jackass, but he’s very fun to write! Which of your books best represents you? They’re all about me! All of them! No. I think my weirdest book to date is The Boogeyman’s Intern. I don’t really think it represents my best novel, necessarily, but the book is so quirky and fun and weird, that I think it represents how my mind and my creative processes work. There are some very nonsensical characters in it, there are characters who deliberately wander off the main storyline, and there are situations that just exist for bad puns. It’s very much what an hour or so in my mind is like, you know? Entertaining as hell for me, but for onlookers, not so much. It was one of the first books I wrote, and it didn’t find an agent or home until Odd Men Out was published. After that book made it, I took The Boogeyman’s Intern out and rewrote it and reworked it quite a bit so that I was much happier with it all around, but it’s still a strange romp. Do you have a favorite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us? This is kind of like a favorite character. Generally, my favorite is whatever I’m working on. And I’m kind of a tough critic of my own work. I tend to move on once it’s done and edited, because I just don’t like going over my writing again. I was in radio for years and now I’m podcasting, but I even hate listening to my recordings. I guess I feel like everything can be improved somehow, and if I review it, I’ll find things I could have done differently. Can you tell us about your last book, and can you tell us about what you are working on next? My last book was Red Gear 9. It was a sequel to my first book, Odd Men Out. In this follow up, I include a lot of the same elements the first had: steampunk, zombies, civil war rebels, and airships, but this time out there’s the added plot of an escaped Confederate spy. I pictured this guy as an 1880s James Bond, only with weirder gadgets and a few more years on him. It gave me a chance to have fun figuring out what 007 would have done against zombies in the war. Since I love mashing things up, I’m working on a book that smooshes The Wonderful Wizard of Oz up with a whole bunch of familiar genres and books. It’s been a blast to see how the pieces come together, and some of the plot points actually fit kind of naturally, but I guess I’ll see what happens when I’m done. It might just work out, but it might not! It’s the thrill of writing. If you could erase one horror cliché what would be your choice? But they’re all so fun! That’s a tough one. Maybe “The monster isn’t dead.” You know, in books and movies where the protagonist kills the monster, and everyone relaxes until the creature gets right back up and keeps fighting for another ten minutes? It certainly has its uses, but it’s been done so much that you just have to shout “Shoot it again!” because you know the thing isn’t going to stay down for long. What was the last great book you read, and what was the last book that disappointed you? This is pretty tough. I read a lot of terrific stuff. Lee Murray’s Into the Ashes is pretty great. Tim Waggoner’s Dream Stalkers was as well. I occasianlly get on long periods of reading non-fiction and Sarah Vowel’s Assassination Vacation was definitely top-notch. Maybe the book that’s stayed with me the most over the last decade is Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. It’s non-fiction that reads like fiction, it’s a crime story, a serial killer story, a Chicago story, and much more. His writing is just magnificent here, and even though I love his other work, this is Larson’s best as far as I’m concerned. As for the last book that disappointed me, I hate to speak badly of other’s work. There are always different tastes, just look at the internet. I’ll watch a movie or read a book and absolutely hate it, and then see people on Facebook praising it as a favorite. So, I try to recommend things I like and keep quiet about the things that don’t work for me. I will be very vague and say a few years ago I was eagerly awaiting a biography from one of my favorite musicians, and I nearly threw it out the window when I read it. It was pretty self-aggrandizing and didn’t always seem to match up to historical fact. What's the one question you wish you would get asked but never do? And what would be the answer? The question would be “When are you going to grow up?” And my answer would be pretty vague, I think. Red Gear 9 (Odd Men Out Book 2) |
 | People, myself included, have a morbid curiosity and fascination with the dark nature of our world and its inhabitants, and what else crawls from the darkness but fear and horror? |
Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?
Hello everyone, my name is zasx and I am an author who to be honest is just starting out on the journey of writing. I am learning something new every day and hopefully tuning my craft that much more with each thing I learn both good and bad about my work and writing in general. My main motivations for writing since I started and to this day are to create historical and cryptid horror. A few years back I noticed a severe lack of serious and well developed cryptid storytelling in the world, especially in the world of horror where there is limitless potential and opportunity for tension, atmopshere, chills, and thrills using mythology and folklore dating thousands of years of generational storytelling that have led to modern day mythologies and legends. I hope to keep these legends going, and keep the spark of cryptid storytelling alive and also inspire others to do so as well.
Which one of your characters would you least like to meet in real life?
I would not like to meet sheriff Perkins, yikes.
Other than the horror genre, what else has been a major influence on your writing?
History is easily the most pervasive influence on my writing, it simply has so much creativity, motivation, and story telling opportunities for those who look.
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 feel that horror is a broad, malleable, and varied genre that can be broadly bent and sculpted in a variety of ways creating a variety of stories with varied themes, atmospheres, tones and types of methods for scaring or provoking uncomfortable emotions in the reader and I think horror should be seen as a diverse genre rather then a cheap “lazy” popcorn type of genre that horror is quite often unfairly viewed as.
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?
I am honestly not sure where horror is headed but I hope its somewhere good, I think its based a lot on individuals visions for what they want to create in regard to horror and what scares and inspires them. I think we are going to see a lot of good things come from the world of horror as more people come out of the woodwork and throw their own horrific visions into the world. I believe the world of creating horror related projects is a lot more welcoming and inviting then it once was with the abundance of resources and information we have readily available in the day and age we live in. I will say this I'm no psychic but I i'm absoulutly certain we will be seeing an abundance of Covid-19 related horror projects in the future both inspired and uninspired. I believe a rather terrible film has already spawned from the subject.
Given the dark, violent and at times grotesque nature of the horror genre why do you think so many people enjoy reading it?
People, myself included, have a morbid curiosity and fascination with the dark nature of our world and its inhabitants, and what else crawls from the darkness but fear and horror?
What, if anything, is currently missing from the horror genre?
I belive there is a severe lack of cryptozoology related horror projects out there and I would love to see more people add their own flair to timeless mythologies and legends.
What new and upcoming authors do you think we should take notice off?
Well me of course :)
Are there any reviews of your work, positive or negative that have stayed with you?
No not really, I am not quite at the level of popularity where I have an abundance of reviews.
What aspects of writing to do you find the most difficult?
Like with literally anything us humans do, starting it is always the most difficult part, getting that lazy and hesitant part of our brain to shut up and go away is always the most difficult aspect of writing, and well anything at all.
Is there one subject you would never write about as an author?
I am not sure, I would like to think I could write about anything but in truth I am more then happing staying in my lane and focusing on my passions, cryptozoology and historical fiction.
Writing, is not a static process, how have you developed as a writer over the years?
Well like many others I imagine I have developed knowledge and understanding of the creative process through trial and error. Looking back at my first projects and aimless writings I quite literally cringe in embarassment at the absoloute haberdash I put to paper. I would like to think that I have significantly improved in both my knowledge of the writing process and good storytelling in more general terms.
What is the best piece of advice you ever received with regards to your writing?
The best piece of advice I ever received was one, to write honestly and plainly from your own writing spirit, and two, no writer can be both a writer and a critic at the same time.
Which of your characters is your favourite?
I have a soft spot for dinosaurs :)
Which of your books best represents you?
I believe “Hunted: A Short Story” Best represents my intent and what I hope to achieve when I write.
Do you have a favorite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us?
I am not so good with picking favorites.
Can you tell us about your last book, and can you tell us about what you are working on next?
My last book is quite ridiculous if I am being honest, if you are into raunchy, goofy, chaotic madness then I would check it out, also if you like dinosaurs, I WUV DINOSAWS
If you could erase one horror cliché what would be your choice?
The concept of the final girl.
What was the last great book you read, and what was the last book that disappointed you?
The last great book I read was “The Terror” by Dan Simmons lovely horror. I have not recently read any books that dissapointed me.
What's the one question you wish you would get asked but never do? And what would be the answer?
The one question I wish I got asked is: “Why are you such a good writer and so damn attractive?”
My answer is I don't know, I was just born that way.
Hello everyone, my name is zasx and I am an author who to be honest is just starting out on the journey of writing. I am learning something new every day and hopefully tuning my craft that much more with each thing I learn both good and bad about my work and writing in general. My main motivations for writing since I started and to this day are to create historical and cryptid horror. A few years back I noticed a severe lack of serious and well developed cryptid storytelling in the world, especially in the world of horror where there is limitless potential and opportunity for tension, atmopshere, chills, and thrills using mythology and folklore dating thousands of years of generational storytelling that have led to modern day mythologies and legends. I hope to keep these legends going, and keep the spark of cryptid storytelling alive and also inspire others to do so as well.
Which one of your characters would you least like to meet in real life?
I would not like to meet sheriff Perkins, yikes.
Other than the horror genre, what else has been a major influence on your writing?
History is easily the most pervasive influence on my writing, it simply has so much creativity, motivation, and story telling opportunities for those who look.
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 feel that horror is a broad, malleable, and varied genre that can be broadly bent and sculpted in a variety of ways creating a variety of stories with varied themes, atmospheres, tones and types of methods for scaring or provoking uncomfortable emotions in the reader and I think horror should be seen as a diverse genre rather then a cheap “lazy” popcorn type of genre that horror is quite often unfairly viewed as.
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?
I am honestly not sure where horror is headed but I hope its somewhere good, I think its based a lot on individuals visions for what they want to create in regard to horror and what scares and inspires them. I think we are going to see a lot of good things come from the world of horror as more people come out of the woodwork and throw their own horrific visions into the world. I believe the world of creating horror related projects is a lot more welcoming and inviting then it once was with the abundance of resources and information we have readily available in the day and age we live in. I will say this I'm no psychic but I i'm absoulutly certain we will be seeing an abundance of Covid-19 related horror projects in the future both inspired and uninspired. I believe a rather terrible film has already spawned from the subject.
Given the dark, violent and at times grotesque nature of the horror genre why do you think so many people enjoy reading it?
People, myself included, have a morbid curiosity and fascination with the dark nature of our world and its inhabitants, and what else crawls from the darkness but fear and horror?
What, if anything, is currently missing from the horror genre?
I belive there is a severe lack of cryptozoology related horror projects out there and I would love to see more people add their own flair to timeless mythologies and legends.
What new and upcoming authors do you think we should take notice off?
Well me of course :)
Are there any reviews of your work, positive or negative that have stayed with you?
No not really, I am not quite at the level of popularity where I have an abundance of reviews.
What aspects of writing to do you find the most difficult?
Like with literally anything us humans do, starting it is always the most difficult part, getting that lazy and hesitant part of our brain to shut up and go away is always the most difficult aspect of writing, and well anything at all.
Is there one subject you would never write about as an author?
I am not sure, I would like to think I could write about anything but in truth I am more then happing staying in my lane and focusing on my passions, cryptozoology and historical fiction.
Writing, is not a static process, how have you developed as a writer over the years?
Well like many others I imagine I have developed knowledge and understanding of the creative process through trial and error. Looking back at my first projects and aimless writings I quite literally cringe in embarassment at the absoloute haberdash I put to paper. I would like to think that I have significantly improved in both my knowledge of the writing process and good storytelling in more general terms.
What is the best piece of advice you ever received with regards to your writing?
The best piece of advice I ever received was one, to write honestly and plainly from your own writing spirit, and two, no writer can be both a writer and a critic at the same time.
Which of your characters is your favourite?
I have a soft spot for dinosaurs :)
Which of your books best represents you?
I believe “Hunted: A Short Story” Best represents my intent and what I hope to achieve when I write.
Do you have a favorite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us?
I am not so good with picking favorites.
Can you tell us about your last book, and can you tell us about what you are working on next?
My last book is quite ridiculous if I am being honest, if you are into raunchy, goofy, chaotic madness then I would check it out, also if you like dinosaurs, I WUV DINOSAWS
If you could erase one horror cliché what would be your choice?
The concept of the final girl.
What was the last great book you read, and what was the last book that disappointed you?
The last great book I read was “The Terror” by Dan Simmons lovely horror. I have not recently read any books that dissapointed me.
What's the one question you wish you would get asked but never do? And what would be the answer?
The one question I wish I got asked is: “Why are you such a good writer and so damn attractive?”
My answer is I don't know, I was just born that way.
BIO
Howdy, everyone! I am an independent and self-published aspiring novice author living in Denver Colorado, born and raised. I am very much interested in horror, Gothic literature, westerns, pirates, thrillers, and cryptids, so I thought I would combine them to create captivating stories in my own style that readers and myself can be entertained by.
Howdy, everyone! I am an independent and self-published aspiring novice author living in Denver Colorado, born and raised. I am very much interested in horror, Gothic literature, westerns, pirates, thrillers, and cryptids, so I thought I would combine them to create captivating stories in my own style that readers and myself can be entertained by.
WEBSITE LINKS
https://www.amazon.com/Brandon-Tolin/e/B08L27C9SP/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1
https://www.amazon.com/Brandon-Tolin/e/B08L27C9SP/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1
Rattletooth: A Short Story by Brandon Tolin
What happens when cold war Russians experiment with hybridization and combine DNA from different species? Embark on a whacky horror yarn in the redwood national forest, where two forest rangers and a group of police officers uncover a ridiculous plot of DNA fusion, terrorism, and military experimentation.
TODAY ON THE GINGER NUTS OF HORROR WEBSITE
[COVER REVEAL]
RAW DOG SCREAMING PRESS TO PUBLISH HARDCOVER ATTACK FROM THE ‘80S ANTHOLOGY
the heart and soul of horror author interviews
 | I recently watched the Fear Street Trilogy on Netflix and loved it because that took me back to watching Scream in 6th grade and what a huge impact that had on me. I remember at that time, Scream ushered in a whole new wave of slasher pictures. |
Conor Metz
BIO
Conor Metz grew up in Kent, Washington. From a young age, he was drawn to genre stories. His parents exposed him to a variety of outlandish films and as he grew older those interests led him to many novels and comics books of a similar nature. These stories have shaped him into a writer who loves composing compelling narratives that contain interesting characters and catchy dialogue.
WEBSITE LINKS
https://www.amazon.com/Conor-Metz/e/B08KJ18XDN?ref_=dbs_p_pbk_r00_abau_000000
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17998183.Conor_Metz
Conor Metz grew up in Kent, Washington. From a young age, he was drawn to genre stories. His parents exposed him to a variety of outlandish films and as he grew older those interests led him to many novels and comics books of a similar nature. These stories have shaped him into a writer who loves composing compelling narratives that contain interesting characters and catchy dialogue.
WEBSITE LINKS
https://www.amazon.com/Conor-Metz/e/B08KJ18XDN?ref_=dbs_p_pbk_r00_abau_000000
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17998183.Conor_Metz
Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?
I’m currently 36 and have been writing for most of my adult life. Since I was a kid I’ve always loved movies, but more specifically genre stories, which extends into my love of books and comic books. I’ve always had the biggest soft-spot for horror and science fiction, which probably explains why two of my favorite films are Alien and Aliens.
Which one of your characters would you least like to meet in real life?
Well, if we’re talking about my latest book, The Edgewood Nightmare, it would certainly be the character of the witch. I won’t spoil who this is, but since I was a young boy, I’ve always had a deep-seeded fear of witches. This was likely due to the film version of Roald Dahl’s brilliant novel The Witches. Angelica Huston was one of the first actresses to scare the crap out of me with not only that, but her villainous turn in the Michael Jackson Disney short Captain EO. That was the first and only time I can remember hiding behind a chair in the theater to try and avoid being stabbed by her 3D claws.
Other than the horror genre, what else has been a major influence on your writing?
As I said earlier science fiction played a big role, but fantasy too. I was an 80s/90s kid, meaning most of what I grew up watching were things created by Spielberg or Lucas like Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, or Willow. Even more adult stuff I loved like Predator, Aliens, and films of John Carpenter like The Thing and Big Trouble in Little China were on perpetual repeat in my house growing up (those last two in part due to my mother’s obsession with Kurt Russell).
When I actually got into reading in junior high, I was big into crime novels like the works of Elmore Leonard and in college took a deep dive into 50s pulp detective novels. I was definitely late on the Stephen King train despite my brother’s obsession with him since high school. I eventually started reading his works in college and have been a huge fan since. So I guess my big two writing inspirations are Leonard and King.
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 horror carries a negative connotation for most people, but I personally have no issue with the term. I think my problem is that most people seem to view horror as the lowest form of entertainment, picturing slasher films with lots of gore and no redeeming qualities. I feel like often times horror films are rebranded as thrillers to have a more widespread appeal. You see that with stuff like Silence of the Lambs, clearly a horror novel and movie, but people will often refer to anything with a more real world topic like serial killers as thrillers. Frankly I feel like all forms of labels are dangerous in that they bring with it a person’s own baggage associated with that label and often mean they might not give something a chance they could love because of something else they hated that might have also been dubbed horror.
The horror genre is so diverse just like any genre and that’s what I love about it. You can have very serious psychological horror to the other end of the spectrum where you have very silly and self-aware horror. I honestly just love having a good time, which is why I typically prefer more fun horror, or as I like to say something akin to going into a haunted house, getting scared, but not being traumatized by it. For me that pay-off of any great horror story is getting invested in characters, watching them go through hell, and emerging out the other side better for it in some way.
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?
I honestly don’t know. I try not to bring politics into my own writing, and I’m not sure I usually see it extending into horror as much as science fiction (I was noticing a lot more dystopian future stories in the past decade, which had to be the biggest boom of that since the 60s). However, I believe all movements are cyclical. Almost every trend extending through every facet of our lives seems to come back around every 20-30 years. It’s most likely due to people bringing back the stuff they grew up with and spreading that love to a new generation.
I recently watched the Fear Street Trilogy on Netflix and loved it because that took me back to watching Scream in 6th grade and what a huge impact that had on me. I remember at that time, Scream ushered in a whole new wave of slasher pictures. I think when any great horror property can tap into what made something popular in the first place, you’re bound to see a resurgence in that.
Given the dark, violent and at times grotesque nature of the horror genre why do you think so many people enjoy reading it?
I think people like an escape, simple as that. Like action or thrillers, people want that rollercoaster ride of emotions. Latching onto characters you love and being frightened for them is a thrill, but a safe one. Like I mentioned earlier with my haunted house analogy, people like to be scared when they know they’re not really in danger. It’s triggering that rush of adrenaline and it’s a little addicting, provided it doesn’t scar you psychologically. There are definitely times where things go too far for me. I never liked all that torture porn stuff you saw prevalent in the wake of Saw and even prior to that, there’s always been that potential for exploitation in horror.
What, if anything, is currently missing from the horror genre?
I don’t think anything has ever been missing from the genre. I think sometimes certain things take a bit of break, either due to audience fatigue or a string of bad stories concerning certain elements. But everything always comes back around.
What new and upcoming authors do you think we should take notice off?
I can admit I’ve never really had my finger on the pulse of anything, I will discover stuff from time to time before others, but I can’t say right now I know of anyone to watch out for.
Are there any reviews of your work, positive or negative that have stayed with you?
Sadly, I’m still starting out so hunting for reviews is part of the game right now, but the ones I’ve read have been great in pointing out things I may not have been aware of at the time of writing. It’s all subjective, but it’s a learning experience as well and I appreciate any feedback I can get on my work.
What aspects of writing to do you find the most difficult?
Well the answer to this question has definitely changed over the years for me. I used to work from outlines, so I never experienced any form or writer’s block, but as of the novel I wrote before my latest, I have started to not use outlines. Making up the story as you go can definitely be more challenging, but I’ve found it far more rewarding. So yeah, I think the biggest challenge in that regard can be knowing where to take the story next, but an opportunity will eventually present itself that just feels so perfect you can’t believe it didn’t come to you right away.
Is there one subject you would never write about as an author?
Well at this point, I’m trying not to write out of the lines of what I know. When I was younger I’d write about anything and a lot of that came off as phony. Over time, I’ve learned to stick to things I’m comfortable talking about. If I use past experiences or people I’ve met as inspirations for stories or characters, the things I create become that much richer.
Writing, is not a static process, how have you developed as a writer over the years?
I kind of touched upon this in an earlier question, but I recently started to avoid outlines. When I started writing in high school, I would really struggle to figure out where to take a story, so I’d write up a detailed list of plot points and it would be like laying the track for a train so as I’m writing, I never go off course. It’s a great way to learn, but it leaves little room for surprises along the way. Yet, I still was too scared to break from this for another decade.
Which brings me to where I am now. Not using outlines makes the writing process much more enticing for me. I find that my writing is slower, but that’s good because it allows me to stop and think about why a character is doing what they are doing and whether the place I think they might go is really where they would go. Feeling more like I’m along for the ride with these characters not only makes it more exciting for me as a writer, but hopefully for the reader as well.
What is the best piece of advice you ever received with regards to your writing?
Hmm, this is hard, because I can’t put my finger on any one piece of advice that stood out. I’ve taken plenty of advice over the years, but it’s been absorbed into my process and I’m not sure I can remember any specific ones now.
Which of your characters is your favourite?
I think my favorite character so far is the young police officer from The Edgewood Nightmare, Ramona Wesley. I liked her so much, I ended up making her the lead in my next book. Part of that was I wanted a kind of classic lead in an older world-weary police chief in a small town, and thought Ramona is a great character in this book, why not bring her into the next one? Edgewood being set in 1993 helped out because she was young enough that I could set the next one over a decade later and she wouldn’t be too old to be caught in the insanity I had brewing for the story. I just thought it would be fun to see how the character was doing rather than creating a whole new one.
Which of your books best represents you?
Well, I haven’t written too many at this point, but I put a bit of myself in all of my main characters. I have to admit somewhat shamefully though that my last book, The Thing in the Lake, definitely had the most of me in its lead character Billy McGregor. I think with The Edgewood Nightmare, Maddie Durant is more the kid I wished I was. In that she has struggles she overcomes over the course of the book, and I think this was more me rewriting history in how I wish I overcame more of the struggles I faced as a child. I was unfortunately one of those kids who gave up on things too easily when they got hard.
Do you have a favorite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us?
I think anything that Jamie says in The Edgewood Nightmare is classic. She was my one character who just didn’t care what anyone thought of her. I love characters like that.
Can you tell us about your last book, and can you tell us about what you are working on next?
So I’ve mentioned my latest book, The Edgewood Nightmare, a few times, but to dive into more details specific to this question, this book was my attempt to dive into all the things I was dealing with as a child. All the fears I had, or horrible people I had to deal with in the neighborhood I lived in, they’re all represented in some form through this novel. To get into more specifics, The Edgewood Nightmare is about a girl who just wants to be an artist, but her whole world is thrown upside down with four other girls when they’re kidnapped and forced into a nightmare world they have seemingly no way to escape from.
As for what I am working on next. I mentioned briefly in another question it’s about a small town, but more specifically it’s my attempt at a classic ghost story. I am a huge fan of horror stories where small towns are under siege by some monstrous threat, so I thought, what if that threat were ghosts? Sure, you have stuff like The Fog that did this, but I was always disappointed that turned into more of a ghost slasher film. I thought with my next book, Castillo Cove, I could take a kind of kitchen sink approach, throwing in all my favorite elements of ghost related horror. I should be releasing that next year, but I think readers will have a lot of fun with it. I wanted to fashion something akin to a rollercoaster with a slow build in the first half and then just madness for the second half. It’s definitely my most ambitious project to date, with a lot of great characters that will keep readers guessing who will live or die throughout.
If you could erase one horror cliché what would be your choice?
Well, I’m happy to say a lot of the worst clichés have been erased over time. I think when any horror staple becomes tired, somebody inevitably comes along to toss it out the window. The biggest offender to me was stuff like the final girl being a virgin, that whole slasher concept that sex=death was always kind of stupid. But I think there’s always ways to mix up a formula. I especially love misdirects about who the audience thinks the main character is.
What was the last great book you read, and what was the last book that disappointed you?
This question is funny for me because both were Stephen King books. I’ve slowed down my reading in past couple years for a variety of reasons, but always try to pick up new King books. I found The Institute to be one of his best ever, feeling like he was back in his prime with that. Then I read his recent novel Later and couldn’t even finish it. It just felt like a recycling of elements from his earlier books and not done nearly as well. I got bored halfway through and the book isn’t even that long.
What's the one question you wish you would get asked but never do? And what would be the answer?
I wish I got asked more about why I love horror or better yet what got me into horror. Surprisingly not many people ask that.
I’m currently 36 and have been writing for most of my adult life. Since I was a kid I’ve always loved movies, but more specifically genre stories, which extends into my love of books and comic books. I’ve always had the biggest soft-spot for horror and science fiction, which probably explains why two of my favorite films are Alien and Aliens.
Which one of your characters would you least like to meet in real life?
Well, if we’re talking about my latest book, The Edgewood Nightmare, it would certainly be the character of the witch. I won’t spoil who this is, but since I was a young boy, I’ve always had a deep-seeded fear of witches. This was likely due to the film version of Roald Dahl’s brilliant novel The Witches. Angelica Huston was one of the first actresses to scare the crap out of me with not only that, but her villainous turn in the Michael Jackson Disney short Captain EO. That was the first and only time I can remember hiding behind a chair in the theater to try and avoid being stabbed by her 3D claws.
Other than the horror genre, what else has been a major influence on your writing?
As I said earlier science fiction played a big role, but fantasy too. I was an 80s/90s kid, meaning most of what I grew up watching were things created by Spielberg or Lucas like Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Indiana Jones, or Willow. Even more adult stuff I loved like Predator, Aliens, and films of John Carpenter like The Thing and Big Trouble in Little China were on perpetual repeat in my house growing up (those last two in part due to my mother’s obsession with Kurt Russell).
When I actually got into reading in junior high, I was big into crime novels like the works of Elmore Leonard and in college took a deep dive into 50s pulp detective novels. I was definitely late on the Stephen King train despite my brother’s obsession with him since high school. I eventually started reading his works in college and have been a huge fan since. So I guess my big two writing inspirations are Leonard and King.
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 horror carries a negative connotation for most people, but I personally have no issue with the term. I think my problem is that most people seem to view horror as the lowest form of entertainment, picturing slasher films with lots of gore and no redeeming qualities. I feel like often times horror films are rebranded as thrillers to have a more widespread appeal. You see that with stuff like Silence of the Lambs, clearly a horror novel and movie, but people will often refer to anything with a more real world topic like serial killers as thrillers. Frankly I feel like all forms of labels are dangerous in that they bring with it a person’s own baggage associated with that label and often mean they might not give something a chance they could love because of something else they hated that might have also been dubbed horror.
The horror genre is so diverse just like any genre and that’s what I love about it. You can have very serious psychological horror to the other end of the spectrum where you have very silly and self-aware horror. I honestly just love having a good time, which is why I typically prefer more fun horror, or as I like to say something akin to going into a haunted house, getting scared, but not being traumatized by it. For me that pay-off of any great horror story is getting invested in characters, watching them go through hell, and emerging out the other side better for it in some way.
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?
I honestly don’t know. I try not to bring politics into my own writing, and I’m not sure I usually see it extending into horror as much as science fiction (I was noticing a lot more dystopian future stories in the past decade, which had to be the biggest boom of that since the 60s). However, I believe all movements are cyclical. Almost every trend extending through every facet of our lives seems to come back around every 20-30 years. It’s most likely due to people bringing back the stuff they grew up with and spreading that love to a new generation.
I recently watched the Fear Street Trilogy on Netflix and loved it because that took me back to watching Scream in 6th grade and what a huge impact that had on me. I remember at that time, Scream ushered in a whole new wave of slasher pictures. I think when any great horror property can tap into what made something popular in the first place, you’re bound to see a resurgence in that.
Given the dark, violent and at times grotesque nature of the horror genre why do you think so many people enjoy reading it?
I think people like an escape, simple as that. Like action or thrillers, people want that rollercoaster ride of emotions. Latching onto characters you love and being frightened for them is a thrill, but a safe one. Like I mentioned earlier with my haunted house analogy, people like to be scared when they know they’re not really in danger. It’s triggering that rush of adrenaline and it’s a little addicting, provided it doesn’t scar you psychologically. There are definitely times where things go too far for me. I never liked all that torture porn stuff you saw prevalent in the wake of Saw and even prior to that, there’s always been that potential for exploitation in horror.
What, if anything, is currently missing from the horror genre?
I don’t think anything has ever been missing from the genre. I think sometimes certain things take a bit of break, either due to audience fatigue or a string of bad stories concerning certain elements. But everything always comes back around.
What new and upcoming authors do you think we should take notice off?
I can admit I’ve never really had my finger on the pulse of anything, I will discover stuff from time to time before others, but I can’t say right now I know of anyone to watch out for.
Are there any reviews of your work, positive or negative that have stayed with you?
Sadly, I’m still starting out so hunting for reviews is part of the game right now, but the ones I’ve read have been great in pointing out things I may not have been aware of at the time of writing. It’s all subjective, but it’s a learning experience as well and I appreciate any feedback I can get on my work.
What aspects of writing to do you find the most difficult?
Well the answer to this question has definitely changed over the years for me. I used to work from outlines, so I never experienced any form or writer’s block, but as of the novel I wrote before my latest, I have started to not use outlines. Making up the story as you go can definitely be more challenging, but I’ve found it far more rewarding. So yeah, I think the biggest challenge in that regard can be knowing where to take the story next, but an opportunity will eventually present itself that just feels so perfect you can’t believe it didn’t come to you right away.
Is there one subject you would never write about as an author?
Well at this point, I’m trying not to write out of the lines of what I know. When I was younger I’d write about anything and a lot of that came off as phony. Over time, I’ve learned to stick to things I’m comfortable talking about. If I use past experiences or people I’ve met as inspirations for stories or characters, the things I create become that much richer.
Writing, is not a static process, how have you developed as a writer over the years?
I kind of touched upon this in an earlier question, but I recently started to avoid outlines. When I started writing in high school, I would really struggle to figure out where to take a story, so I’d write up a detailed list of plot points and it would be like laying the track for a train so as I’m writing, I never go off course. It’s a great way to learn, but it leaves little room for surprises along the way. Yet, I still was too scared to break from this for another decade.
Which brings me to where I am now. Not using outlines makes the writing process much more enticing for me. I find that my writing is slower, but that’s good because it allows me to stop and think about why a character is doing what they are doing and whether the place I think they might go is really where they would go. Feeling more like I’m along for the ride with these characters not only makes it more exciting for me as a writer, but hopefully for the reader as well.
What is the best piece of advice you ever received with regards to your writing?
Hmm, this is hard, because I can’t put my finger on any one piece of advice that stood out. I’ve taken plenty of advice over the years, but it’s been absorbed into my process and I’m not sure I can remember any specific ones now.
Which of your characters is your favourite?
I think my favorite character so far is the young police officer from The Edgewood Nightmare, Ramona Wesley. I liked her so much, I ended up making her the lead in my next book. Part of that was I wanted a kind of classic lead in an older world-weary police chief in a small town, and thought Ramona is a great character in this book, why not bring her into the next one? Edgewood being set in 1993 helped out because she was young enough that I could set the next one over a decade later and she wouldn’t be too old to be caught in the insanity I had brewing for the story. I just thought it would be fun to see how the character was doing rather than creating a whole new one.
Which of your books best represents you?
Well, I haven’t written too many at this point, but I put a bit of myself in all of my main characters. I have to admit somewhat shamefully though that my last book, The Thing in the Lake, definitely had the most of me in its lead character Billy McGregor. I think with The Edgewood Nightmare, Maddie Durant is more the kid I wished I was. In that she has struggles she overcomes over the course of the book, and I think this was more me rewriting history in how I wish I overcame more of the struggles I faced as a child. I was unfortunately one of those kids who gave up on things too easily when they got hard.
Do you have a favorite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us?
I think anything that Jamie says in The Edgewood Nightmare is classic. She was my one character who just didn’t care what anyone thought of her. I love characters like that.
Can you tell us about your last book, and can you tell us about what you are working on next?
So I’ve mentioned my latest book, The Edgewood Nightmare, a few times, but to dive into more details specific to this question, this book was my attempt to dive into all the things I was dealing with as a child. All the fears I had, or horrible people I had to deal with in the neighborhood I lived in, they’re all represented in some form through this novel. To get into more specifics, The Edgewood Nightmare is about a girl who just wants to be an artist, but her whole world is thrown upside down with four other girls when they’re kidnapped and forced into a nightmare world they have seemingly no way to escape from.
As for what I am working on next. I mentioned briefly in another question it’s about a small town, but more specifically it’s my attempt at a classic ghost story. I am a huge fan of horror stories where small towns are under siege by some monstrous threat, so I thought, what if that threat were ghosts? Sure, you have stuff like The Fog that did this, but I was always disappointed that turned into more of a ghost slasher film. I thought with my next book, Castillo Cove, I could take a kind of kitchen sink approach, throwing in all my favorite elements of ghost related horror. I should be releasing that next year, but I think readers will have a lot of fun with it. I wanted to fashion something akin to a rollercoaster with a slow build in the first half and then just madness for the second half. It’s definitely my most ambitious project to date, with a lot of great characters that will keep readers guessing who will live or die throughout.
If you could erase one horror cliché what would be your choice?
Well, I’m happy to say a lot of the worst clichés have been erased over time. I think when any horror staple becomes tired, somebody inevitably comes along to toss it out the window. The biggest offender to me was stuff like the final girl being a virgin, that whole slasher concept that sex=death was always kind of stupid. But I think there’s always ways to mix up a formula. I especially love misdirects about who the audience thinks the main character is.
What was the last great book you read, and what was the last book that disappointed you?
This question is funny for me because both were Stephen King books. I’ve slowed down my reading in past couple years for a variety of reasons, but always try to pick up new King books. I found The Institute to be one of his best ever, feeling like he was back in his prime with that. Then I read his recent novel Later and couldn’t even finish it. It just felt like a recycling of elements from his earlier books and not done nearly as well. I got bored halfway through and the book isn’t even that long.
What's the one question you wish you would get asked but never do? And what would be the answer?
I wish I got asked more about why I love horror or better yet what got me into horror. Surprisingly not many people ask that.
The Edgewood Nightmare
by Conor Metz
Maddie Durant is trying to enjoy a snow day in December when she finds herself suddenly trapped in a world of endless, inescapable nightmares. Unfortunately for the small community of Edgewood, she's not the only one. As four other young girls go missing in the span of a few hours, the Wakefield Police have their hands full trying to find out who took them.
And things aren't looking good.
The lone detective on the police force has few clues and little hope of locating the girls, but Maddie’s brother thinks he may know where she's hidden. With the help of her best friend, the pair aren't going to let their parents or the police stop them from finding the missing girls.
Meanwhile, the girls will have to work together and summon their courage if they hope to escape a horrible fate. But without any answers to who took them and why, it's anyone's guess who will make their way out of the Edgewood nightmare.
And things aren't looking good.
The lone detective on the police force has few clues and little hope of locating the girls, but Maddie’s brother thinks he may know where she's hidden. With the help of her best friend, the pair aren't going to let their parents or the police stop them from finding the missing girls.
Meanwhile, the girls will have to work together and summon their courage if they hope to escape a horrible fate. But without any answers to who took them and why, it's anyone's guess who will make their way out of the Edgewood nightmare.
TODAY ON THE GINGER NUTS OF HORROR WEBSITE
DEFINING THE UNCANNY: A ROUND TABLE WITH THE AUTHORS OF WRITING THE UNCANNY BY DAN COXON
LOOK WHERE YOU ARE GOING NOT WHERE YOU HAVE BEEN BY STEVEN J DINES
the heart and soul of horror author interviews
 | A lot of people believe – erroneously – that uncanny stories have no rules, which leads to the presumption that it is easy to do, or that it lends itself to lazy thinking or writing. There is freedom in the genre, yes, but it is that of imagination. Ideas, concepts, fears, desires can take any shape or form in an uncanny story. It’s not a lawless wasteland. |
The Uncanny has become one of the most popular forms of modern horror in recent years, but for many readers – and writers – it remains insubstantial and hard to pin down. We know what it is when we see it – in the stories of Shirley Jackson or Robert Aickman, for example – but if we’re asked to define it we often struggle to explain what it is that makes a particular story Uncanny, beyond that ‘uncanny’ feeling.
In Writing the Uncanny, edited by Richard V. Hirst and myself (published 23rd September 2021, Dead Ink Books), we asked thirteen writers of the Uncanny to unpick their craft for us. They explore not only what makes fiction uncanny, but also how writers can approach writing uncanny stories. Here, I ask four of the contributors to the book – co-editor Richard V. Hirst, and authors Alison Moore, Lucie McKnight Hardy and Chikodili Emelumadu – to illuminate the shadowy corners of the Uncanny for us.
Dan Coxon: Briefly, how would you define the Uncanny?
Richard V. Hirst: I suppose the Uncanny is very broadly a not-quite-rightness about the world, a phenomenon where it seems as though there is a logic and dynamic at play which are inscrutable. And unlike horror, where the object of fear is apparent, the harder that not-quite-rightness is to pin down, the more Uncanny it is. For that reason, landing on a decent definition for the Uncanny is difficult.
Alison Moore: I associate it with a sense of strangeness in something familiar, or a weird familiarity in something Other.
Lucie McKnight Hardy: For me, it’s that sense that something is not quite right with a situation, but it might be difficult to define exactly what has made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. A creeping sense of unease that increases in intensity. There doesn’t necessarily have to be any sort of climax for something to be uncanny – rather, the opposite.
Chikodili Emelumadu: I think the Uncanny, to me, is anything that unsettles you and makes you question the veracity of your reality. We often walk around like we are the most apex of predators. The Uncanny is the thing that says “Surprise, fucker!” and grabs your ankles, haha. (Do not excuse my French.)
Coxon: What in particular appeals to you about writing uncanny stories? What does it offer you as a writer that other forms don’t?
Moore: The way the Uncanny captures strangeness can feel perversely truthful and deeply satisfying. I love that it belongs in both realism and horror (as well as other genres) and what it brings to that lovely liminal place in between.
Hirst: I think the Uncanny suits authors for whom writing is a kind of collaboration between themselves and their readers. There are many writers for whom the object of their creativity is to deliver their complete vision with the reader there to bear witness. But there are also writers for whom relying on their readers’ imaginations to shoulder some of the work is an integral part of their creative process. Writing which is spare and pregnant with ellipses and apparent non-sequiturs means there are corners and corridors of the story which are dimly lit, necessitating the reader to light their own flame and define for themselves what it is they see. As a reader, these are the kinds of stories which resonate with me the strongest and stay with me for longer.
Emelumadu: A lot of people believe – erroneously – that uncanny stories have no rules, which leads to the presumption that it is easy to do, or that it lends itself to lazy thinking or writing. There is freedom in the genre, yes, but it is that of imagination. Ideas, concepts, fears, desires can take any shape or form in an uncanny story. It’s not a lawless wasteland.
Hardy: Very simply, it gives you the opportunity to explore your own fears. Writing the Uncanny lets you venture into the dark spaces you might otherwise avoid – some people might say it’s cathartic.
Coxon: Being a mode rather than a genre, the Uncanny often pops up in unexpected places. What have you seen/read/experienced that has surprised you with its uncanny effect?
Hardy: My phone is full of photos of things I have spotted while out walking that have made me pause because of their incongruity and the uncanny effect this has. A child’s glove upended on a railing; a boot discarded in a hedgerow; a single leafless tree when all its fellows are fully clothed. All things which beg the question: what has happened here to cause this?
Moore: I’m impressed when I think back to the children’s TV of the 1970s and ’80s – those eerie dramas that were like a masterclass in the Uncanny long before I knew what the word meant.
Hirst: I think one of the uncanniest experiences for me was when I first started to read Robert Aickman. I encountered him when a friend of mine who worked in a library gave me a Faber Finds edition of Cold Hand in Mine which had been removed from circulation. As I read the stories over the course of a week or so, odd things began to happen to me – not outright odd, just not-quite-right: on a number of separate train journeys, all in different locations and times of the day. I encountered the same man, a restaurant owner with whom I ended up lapsing into conversation and hearing about how he was concerned about leaving his business to his younger son – his elder son was more trustworthy but, for reasons I never quite gleaned, was out of the picture. Another train journey brought me into contact with a man who supplied animal brains to medical students and was experiencing problems with his supply chains. Another time I encountered a man with what appeared to be two prosthetic hands who owned a second-hand bookshop I’d entered – he insisted on giving me a pineapple with my purchases yet was unable to pick it up from a bag behind the counter, eventually losing patience with the situation and with me. Each of these encounters had a heightened, unreal quality, as though experienced in a dream. Would they have seemed this way without my having read Robert Aickman? Would they have happened at all? I’ve mentioned this occurrence to others and have heard reports – by no means with any uniformity – of readers of Aickman experiencing what felt to them similarly strange encounters.
Coxon: For those who are looking to read more uncannily, what stories, novels or writers would you recommend?
Emelumadu: Octavia Cade, Catriona Ward, Lesley Nneka Arimah, Paul Tremblay, Helen Oyeyemi, Priya Sharma.
Moore: Definitely Shirley Jackson’s fiction, some of which I’ve written about in my essay in Writing the Uncanny. One of the most outrageously uncanny novels I've read is Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Unconsoled. I love the uncanny quality of Tove Jansson’s Moomin books. And a couple of very recent pleasures include ‘Dead Relatives’, the novella-length title story of Lucie McKnight Hardy’s debut collection, and ‘The Angle of Horror’ by Cristina Fernández Cubas, translated by James D. Jenkins and published in The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories.
Hardy: I would suggest reading anything and everything by Alison Moore, Nicholas Royle, Andrew Michael Hurley, Claire Dean, Sue Rainsford, and Joyce Carol Oates. And any chapbooks published by Nightjar Press.
Hirst: Writing the Uncanny features a very handy ‘further reading’ section which lists 100 Uncanny short stories. Of those, I personally think that Oliver Onions’s long 1911 ghost story ‘The Beckoning Fair One’ is the finest and one of the most unsettling ghost stories there is, and a perfect example of the power that revealing very little can exert on the reader.
Coxon: So does the Uncanny have to scare us, or do you look for something else in uncanny stories?
Emelumadu: Fear, unease, discomfort and stupefaction are great reactions to horror. A lot of great horror sticks with you long after you’ve finished reading it.
Moore: I think the real power of the Uncanny is often a slow-burn, under-the-skin kind of horror or unease. I have a couple of stories that my husband really enjoyed reading but then he had a hard time trying to get to sleep afterwards, thinking about them, and I’m half very sorry and half delighted that the story works.
Hirst: Uncanny experiences – and stories which attempt to harness the Uncanny – frighten us because they suggest that things are not as they appear. That figure standing at the end of the room turns out to be a robe hung on a peg; the pile of clothing spotted in a busy city centre turns out to be an elderly woman. Inanimate objects are briefly invested with life and the living are briefly inanimate. More than simply wrongfooting us, these experiences also lead us to question the nature of what surrounds us – a simple mistake of cognitive perspective feels like the trailing glimpse of some cosmic glitch, a glancing contact with the mystery which we all, at one time or another, feel underpins our reality.
Hardy: Rather than trying to instil horror in a reader, I find writing that is unsettling or unnerving to be much more effective in triggering a reaction. An insidious sense of unease, for me, is, perversely, much more enjoyable than jump scares and gore. Uncanny stories don’t have to terrify us – they can confound, disturb and alarm us, and the effect of that will remain long after the reading has ended.
In Writing the Uncanny, edited by Richard V. Hirst and myself (published 23rd September 2021, Dead Ink Books), we asked thirteen writers of the Uncanny to unpick their craft for us. They explore not only what makes fiction uncanny, but also how writers can approach writing uncanny stories. Here, I ask four of the contributors to the book – co-editor Richard V. Hirst, and authors Alison Moore, Lucie McKnight Hardy and Chikodili Emelumadu – to illuminate the shadowy corners of the Uncanny for us.
Dan Coxon: Briefly, how would you define the Uncanny?
Richard V. Hirst: I suppose the Uncanny is very broadly a not-quite-rightness about the world, a phenomenon where it seems as though there is a logic and dynamic at play which are inscrutable. And unlike horror, where the object of fear is apparent, the harder that not-quite-rightness is to pin down, the more Uncanny it is. For that reason, landing on a decent definition for the Uncanny is difficult.
Alison Moore: I associate it with a sense of strangeness in something familiar, or a weird familiarity in something Other.
Lucie McKnight Hardy: For me, it’s that sense that something is not quite right with a situation, but it might be difficult to define exactly what has made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. A creeping sense of unease that increases in intensity. There doesn’t necessarily have to be any sort of climax for something to be uncanny – rather, the opposite.
Chikodili Emelumadu: I think the Uncanny, to me, is anything that unsettles you and makes you question the veracity of your reality. We often walk around like we are the most apex of predators. The Uncanny is the thing that says “Surprise, fucker!” and grabs your ankles, haha. (Do not excuse my French.)
Coxon: What in particular appeals to you about writing uncanny stories? What does it offer you as a writer that other forms don’t?
Moore: The way the Uncanny captures strangeness can feel perversely truthful and deeply satisfying. I love that it belongs in both realism and horror (as well as other genres) and what it brings to that lovely liminal place in between.
Hirst: I think the Uncanny suits authors for whom writing is a kind of collaboration between themselves and their readers. There are many writers for whom the object of their creativity is to deliver their complete vision with the reader there to bear witness. But there are also writers for whom relying on their readers’ imaginations to shoulder some of the work is an integral part of their creative process. Writing which is spare and pregnant with ellipses and apparent non-sequiturs means there are corners and corridors of the story which are dimly lit, necessitating the reader to light their own flame and define for themselves what it is they see. As a reader, these are the kinds of stories which resonate with me the strongest and stay with me for longer.
Emelumadu: A lot of people believe – erroneously – that uncanny stories have no rules, which leads to the presumption that it is easy to do, or that it lends itself to lazy thinking or writing. There is freedom in the genre, yes, but it is that of imagination. Ideas, concepts, fears, desires can take any shape or form in an uncanny story. It’s not a lawless wasteland.
Hardy: Very simply, it gives you the opportunity to explore your own fears. Writing the Uncanny lets you venture into the dark spaces you might otherwise avoid – some people might say it’s cathartic.
Coxon: Being a mode rather than a genre, the Uncanny often pops up in unexpected places. What have you seen/read/experienced that has surprised you with its uncanny effect?
Hardy: My phone is full of photos of things I have spotted while out walking that have made me pause because of their incongruity and the uncanny effect this has. A child’s glove upended on a railing; a boot discarded in a hedgerow; a single leafless tree when all its fellows are fully clothed. All things which beg the question: what has happened here to cause this?
Moore: I’m impressed when I think back to the children’s TV of the 1970s and ’80s – those eerie dramas that were like a masterclass in the Uncanny long before I knew what the word meant.
Hirst: I think one of the uncanniest experiences for me was when I first started to read Robert Aickman. I encountered him when a friend of mine who worked in a library gave me a Faber Finds edition of Cold Hand in Mine which had been removed from circulation. As I read the stories over the course of a week or so, odd things began to happen to me – not outright odd, just not-quite-right: on a number of separate train journeys, all in different locations and times of the day. I encountered the same man, a restaurant owner with whom I ended up lapsing into conversation and hearing about how he was concerned about leaving his business to his younger son – his elder son was more trustworthy but, for reasons I never quite gleaned, was out of the picture. Another train journey brought me into contact with a man who supplied animal brains to medical students and was experiencing problems with his supply chains. Another time I encountered a man with what appeared to be two prosthetic hands who owned a second-hand bookshop I’d entered – he insisted on giving me a pineapple with my purchases yet was unable to pick it up from a bag behind the counter, eventually losing patience with the situation and with me. Each of these encounters had a heightened, unreal quality, as though experienced in a dream. Would they have seemed this way without my having read Robert Aickman? Would they have happened at all? I’ve mentioned this occurrence to others and have heard reports – by no means with any uniformity – of readers of Aickman experiencing what felt to them similarly strange encounters.
Coxon: For those who are looking to read more uncannily, what stories, novels or writers would you recommend?
Emelumadu: Octavia Cade, Catriona Ward, Lesley Nneka Arimah, Paul Tremblay, Helen Oyeyemi, Priya Sharma.
Moore: Definitely Shirley Jackson’s fiction, some of which I’ve written about in my essay in Writing the Uncanny. One of the most outrageously uncanny novels I've read is Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Unconsoled. I love the uncanny quality of Tove Jansson’s Moomin books. And a couple of very recent pleasures include ‘Dead Relatives’, the novella-length title story of Lucie McKnight Hardy’s debut collection, and ‘The Angle of Horror’ by Cristina Fernández Cubas, translated by James D. Jenkins and published in The Valancourt Book of World Horror Stories.
Hardy: I would suggest reading anything and everything by Alison Moore, Nicholas Royle, Andrew Michael Hurley, Claire Dean, Sue Rainsford, and Joyce Carol Oates. And any chapbooks published by Nightjar Press.
Hirst: Writing the Uncanny features a very handy ‘further reading’ section which lists 100 Uncanny short stories. Of those, I personally think that Oliver Onions’s long 1911 ghost story ‘The Beckoning Fair One’ is the finest and one of the most unsettling ghost stories there is, and a perfect example of the power that revealing very little can exert on the reader.
Coxon: So does the Uncanny have to scare us, or do you look for something else in uncanny stories?
Emelumadu: Fear, unease, discomfort and stupefaction are great reactions to horror. A lot of great horror sticks with you long after you’ve finished reading it.
Moore: I think the real power of the Uncanny is often a slow-burn, under-the-skin kind of horror or unease. I have a couple of stories that my husband really enjoyed reading but then he had a hard time trying to get to sleep afterwards, thinking about them, and I’m half very sorry and half delighted that the story works.
Hirst: Uncanny experiences – and stories which attempt to harness the Uncanny – frighten us because they suggest that things are not as they appear. That figure standing at the end of the room turns out to be a robe hung on a peg; the pile of clothing spotted in a busy city centre turns out to be an elderly woman. Inanimate objects are briefly invested with life and the living are briefly inanimate. More than simply wrongfooting us, these experiences also lead us to question the nature of what surrounds us – a simple mistake of cognitive perspective feels like the trailing glimpse of some cosmic glitch, a glancing contact with the mystery which we all, at one time or another, feel underpins our reality.
Hardy: Rather than trying to instil horror in a reader, I find writing that is unsettling or unnerving to be much more effective in triggering a reaction. An insidious sense of unease, for me, is, perversely, much more enjoyable than jump scares and gore. Uncanny stories don’t have to terrify us – they can confound, disturb and alarm us, and the effect of that will remain long after the reading has ended.
Writing the Uncanny is published on 23rd September 2021, by Dead Ink Books. Edited by Dan Coxon and Richard V. Hirst, it features brand new essays on the Uncanny by Jeremy Dyson, Catriona Ward, Alison Moore, Nicholas Royle, Robert Shearman, Lucie McKnight Hardy, Chikodili Emelumadu, Jenn Ashworth, Gary Budden, Claire Dean, Michèle Roberts, Timothy J. Jarvis and Rowan Hisayo Buchanan.
Or purchase a copy direct from Dead Ink Books here
https://deadinkbooks.com/product/writing-the-uncanny/
https://deadinkbooks.com/product/writing-the-uncanny/
Dan Coxon
Dan Coxon is an award-winning editor and writer based in London. His anthology This Dreaming Isle was shortlisted for both a Shirley Jackson Award and a British Fantasy Award, and his debut collection Only The Broken Remain (Black Shuck, 2020) is currently shortlisted for two British Fantasy Awards. His fiction has appeared in Black Static, Nightscript, The Lonely Crowd, Unthology, Not One of Us, Humanagerie, Nox Pareidolia, and is forthcoming in Mark Morris’s Beyond the Veil. He is lead editor at Unsung Stories, and works freelance at momuseditorial.co.uk.
Richard V. Hirst
Richard V. Hirst is based in Manchester. He is the editor of We Were Strangers: Stories Inspired by Unknown Pleasures and That’s the Colour: Stories Inspired by Low, both published by Confingo Publishing. His writing has been published in The Guardian, the Big Issue, Time Out and others.
Alison Moore
Alison Moore’s short fiction has been included in Best British Short Stories, Best British Horror and Best New Horror, broadcast on BBC Radio and collected in The Pre-War House and Other Stories. Her first novel, The Lighthouse, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Awards, winning the McKitterick Prize. Recent publications include a series for children, beginning with Sunny and the Ghosts. Her fifth novel, The Retreat, will be published in 2021, and a second collection will be published in 2022. www.alison-moore.com
Chikọdili Emelumadu
Chikọdili Emelumadu was born in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, and raised in Nigeria. Her work has been shortlisted for the Shirley Jackson Awards (2015), the Caine Prize for African Literature (2017 & 2020) and won a Nommo award (2020) . In 2019, she emerged winner of the inaugural Curtis Brown First Novel prize for her manuscript Dazzling. She tweets as @chemelumadu.
Lucie McKnight Hardy
Lucie McKnight Hardy’s stories have featured in various publications, including Best British Short Stories 2019, Black Static, The Lonely Crowd, and as a limited edition chapbook from Nightjar Press. Her debut novel, Water Shall Refuse Them, was published in 2019 by Dead Ink Books, who will also publish her short story collection, Dead Relatives, in late 2021.
TODAY ON THE GINGER NUTS OF HORROR WEBSITE
[AUTHOR INTERVIEW] CONOR METZ RELIVES THE EDGEWOOD NIGHTMARE
LOOK WHERE YOU ARE GOING NOT WHERE YOU HAVE BEEN BY STEVEN J DINES
THE HEART AND SOUL OF AUTHOR INTERVIEWS
PANDEMIC HORROR: POET SILVIA CANTÓN RONDONI IN CONVERSATION WITH LEE MURRAY AND GENEVE FLYNN
13/9/2021
 | There is something reassuring about being invited into an author’s living room and spying their washing basket in the background, or a small child running about evading bath time, and it reminds us that we’re all human and that we’re in this together. |
We are honoured to welcome Silvia Cantón Rondoni to Ginger Nuts of Horror for a special interview with Lee Murray and Geneve Flynn, to celebrate the success of the amazing anthology Black Cranes
Silvia: Congratulations on your many recent awards, Lee. I would like to begin by talking about the award-winning work you created and released during the 2020 pandemic and how it came together. Tell me about the thought processes behind Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women (Omnium Gatherum Media), winner of the Bram Stoker and Shirley Jackson Awards for Anthology; and Grotesque Monster Stories (Things in the Well), the Bram Stoker Award winner for Fiction Collection.
Lee: Thank you, Silvia.
I met long-time social media acquaintance, Geneve Flynn, in person at Brisbane’s GenreCon in November 2019, in those halcyon days just before the global pandemic had taken hold, before words like COVID-19 and hydroxychloroquine became part of our general lexicon. The two of us turned up early to a panel session, and being the only people in the lobby, we started chatting, beginning with the deep-seated social expectation that Asian women will be conscientious and punctual. We explored other points of connection: horror, tea, chicken feet, tiger mothers. I might have asked her if she could back a trailer. In those twenty minutes before we took our seats for the panel, we were already asking who the other Asian women writers of horror were. In what ways had those writers assumed, or rejected, the traditional notions Asian femininity? Where was the horror anthology of Asian women’s voices? We lingered after the conference event, chatting some more. Fast forward two weeks: I was back in New Zealand, we had a concept, a publisher, and the beginnings of a contributor list, and by the time New Zealand went into Level 4 lockdown (we’re back in Level 4 lockdown now), contracts had been signed and the cover art designed. In the publishing-speak, this is what we’d call breakneck speed.
With Grotesque: Monster Stories, it was more of a slow-burn approach. I’d worked with Shirley Jackson Award-nominee Steve Dillon, the publisher-editor at Things in the Well, on a number of projects, including a shared world community building project The Refuge Collection, where my award-winning short story “The Thief’s Tale” was first published. The hardback version of The Refuge Collection Vol 1-3 is one of the prettiest productions I’ve ever seen, with gorgeous colour plates on every page. I said as much to Steve, who insisted that if I ever considered putting out a short story collection, I should approach him first. Well, of course, I put that down to him being polite. I was still a baby writer. It was far too early to put out a ‘greatest hits’ album. Some years went by, during which time I worked with Things in the Well on a number of other publications. Steve asked me again for a collection in 2019, and this time he was more persuasive. After getting some reassurance from Australia’s horror queen, Kaaron Warren, I spent some time considering my backlist, discovered a monster theme running through the stories, and, made a plan to write a few more, including a Taine Mckenna novelette. I delivered the finished collection, Grotesque: Monster Stories at the end of January 2020, just as Black Cranes, and the pandemic, were swinging into gear.
I was still working on final revisions to Grotesque: Monster Stories when New Zealand went into lockdown in March 2020. At that time, my publisher (Steve/Things in the Well) and I had a discussion about whether to push on or delay the book’s release (originally planned to coincide with ConZealand in August 2020) until later in the year or even the following year, when we had more clarity, since already there were rumours of global print shipments being delayed or possibly even suspended. It was a very uncertain time. But we also noticed increased chatter in our social media about books and reading, perhaps because people were looking for a distraction from the horror unfolding around us, or perhaps because there is comfort in seeing adventures in which ordinary folks win through. Given we had no visibility on what might happen at that point, we decided to push on.
Silvia: I love hearing these behind-the-scenes stories, they provide an insight into our supportive writers’ community. Let’s talk about Black Cranes, your pandemic work with co-editor Geneve Flynn began as COVID entered our lives. For many of us writers, work created during such uncertain times has been both a struggle and a source of resilience. I would like to know how curating Black Cranes impacted you, your co-editor and contributors, and if there’s anything that would have been done differently if COVID had not happened. (It would be great if Geneve could add her five cents, too.)
Geneve: Black Cranes has allowed me to connect with so many wonderful horror folks. I’ve also been able to write about my experience of being part of the Southeast Asian diaspora, which given some of the anti-Asian sentiment surrounding COVID, was particularly timely. In terms of what we would have done differently, we were going to launch the anthology at WorldCon in New Zealand. We had such plans for the book launch and catching up with writing friends, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be.
Lee: As Geneve says, before the pandemic broke, we had envisioned announcing the release of Black Cranes at the HWA StokerCon event in Scarborough (UK) in March, and then release the book for WorldCon (ConZealand) in early August 2020, where five of us hoped to meet. When both events were forced to go virtual, I had chat with Kate Jones at Omnium Gatherum, much as I had with Steve regarding Grotesque. What should we do? Could we launch the book later, perhaps in the fall? Would bookstores even be open? Kate suggested delaying a month or two, so on 27 March 2020 we sent a message to our Black Cranes sisterhood to let them know that we intended to push on, but our release date might be delayed by a month or two. We offered those who needed it additional time to write, which turned out to me because my father died ten days later. However, our contributors’ desire to see the anthology go forward was overwhelming; they were watching Anti-Asian sentiment play out in the news, sometimes in their own neighbourhoods, and occasionally even directed at them. One writer said, “Given the current situation in the world, I am so happy that Black Cranes is moving ahead. I think it’s an important time, more important than ever, to be visible and confident in the face of this virus that many people are blaming on Asians.” One writer told me she was so upset about the hate she was seeing that she bashed the keyboard as she wrote her story. Nor do I think it is a coincidence that fury is a key theme of Black Cranes, several of our writers choosing to use the word in the titles of their work. And from their comments made privately to Geneve and me, those, who, like me, had lost family members in those early months of the pandemic, saw the act of continuing the book as symbol of resilience and survival.
As well as curating and editing, I wrote two stories for Black Cranes, “Phoenix Claws” and “Frangipani Wishes” both of which I believe I wrote in May. To this day, I really don’t recall writing them because I believed my creativity was stunted as you can see from this frank response I sent to Rena Mason, author of “The Ninth Tale”, in April: “Totally understand the lack of writing mojo thing. I’ve been foundering, too. Fuggy. Slow. Overwhelmed. Partly, I think it is this weird state of delayed grief for my dad, and also the confinement.” When another contributor sent an apology to excuse a slower response to emails after losing a relative to COVID, I wrote, “So many of us have increased workloads, and this sense of numbness that accompanies the uncertainty is simply overwhelming—no one could have expected this when we set out to put together a little book.”
In the end, we delayed the book’s release two months, releasing it in late September, on my birthday. There were no in-person launches—for Black Cranes or for Grotesque: Monster Stories—and yet, for me, sending the books into the world felt cathartic, important. Perhaps it had something to do with the loss of my dad, and the realisation that we can’t always guarantee tomorrow.
Silvia: I know what you mean, catharsis and that sense of impending doom gave us the drive to do as much as we can while we can. That is exactly what made me push through my own poetry projects during the pandemic as I took 2020 off work to focus on myself and my mental health. I think it is important to remember that while some of us have been overwhelmed with increased workloads, others have found themselves in the opposite place. Double isolated due to personal problems, unemployment, etc as well as creative obstacles. What would be your advice for them? How are you wrapping up your head around the pandemic while keeping yourself grounded?
Lee: As someone who also suffers from depression and anxiety, I am so sorry to hear of your struggles with your mental health, Silvia. Challenging under normal circumstances, and especially so during the pandemic. And research indicates that creatives are more likely to suffer from mental illness than the general population. I’m a mentor for a number of organisations, and one thing I noted during 2020 was that my mentees, and my critique colleagues, were highly prolific, sending me more work than usual to critique and edit, much of it confronting and insightful. Since many writers, including writers of horror, claim that the act of writing and creating can help to placate their mental health demons, I wonder if this accounts for the greater output and exceptional quality of works produced in this traumatic period. For me, although I found it difficult to write during those very stressful months while New Zealand was in lockdown, I didn’t stop trying to be creative. Just the act of sitting down and working on a story or a poem was important, with the focus on the process rather than the product. The horror writing community has kept me grounded. People like Geneve Flynn and the Black Cranes sisterhood. In a bizarre twist, the pandemic, while isolating us physically, has opened up some wonderful opportunities for connection and inclusion that weren’t readily available to us previously. Yes, we’re heartily sick of screens by now, but the fellowship I’ve experienced through participating in virtual conventions, vlogs, and podcasts has been vital for keeping the black dog at bay. There is something reassuring about being invited into an author’s living room and spying their washing basket in the background, or a small child running about evading bath time, and it reminds us that we’re all human and that we’re in this together.
Silvia Cantón Rondoni
Silvia Cantón Rondoni is a Spanish-born Australian poet, writer, and visual artist who identifies as neurodivergent and pansexual. Her poetry collection Stark Naked was released worldwide by IFWG Australia in June 2021. The poems in Stark Naked reveal her transition from childhood through grief and trauma to the resilient woman she is today, and are illustrated by artist Silvia Nieto. Silvia Canton Rondoni is also the editor of the poetry anthology Infectious Hope which brings together outstanding literary and genre poets writing about their experiences of hope and resilience during COVID. Infectious Hope is due for publication in late 2021. Experienced editor and literary translator, Silvia runs Telltale Literary Translation. She focuses on interpreting works published in English and aids authors with their tales' transition into the Spanish language while remaining faithful to their original tone, voice, and style. Silvia has worked with award-winning authors Lee Murray and David Bowles. Silvia has an Associate Degree of Writing and Editing from RMIT and lives in Canberra with award-winning New Zealand writer Paul Mannering and her bulldog Patch. Find her on
https://poetsilviacr.wixsite.com/poetsilviacr
https://poetsilviacr.wixsite.com/poetsilviacr
Lee Murray
Lee Murray is a multi-award-winning author-editor from Aotearoa-New Zealand (12 Sir Julius Vogel, 3 Australian Shadows), and a two-time Bram Stoker Award®-winner. A Shirley Jackson Award-winner, her work includes military thrillers, the Taine McKenna Adventures, supernatural crime-noir series The Path of Ra (with Dan Rabarts), and debut collection Grotesque: Monster Stories. Nominated for the Aurealis and Imadjinn Awards, she is proud to have edited eighteen volumes of speculative fiction, among them Black Cranes: Tales of Unquiet Women and Midnight Echo #15. She is co-founder of Young NZ Writers and of the Wright-Murray Residency for Speculative Fiction Writers, HWA Mentor of the Year for 2019, NZSA Honorary Literary Fellow, and Grimshaw Sargeson Fellow for 2021 for her poetry collection Fox Spirit on a Distant Cloud.
Read more at https://www.leemurray.info/
Read more at https://www.leemurray.info/
Geneve Flynn
Geneve Flynn is a Bram Stoker Award® and Shirley Jackson Award-winning fiction editor. Her work has also been nominated for the Australian Shadows Award, and the Aurealis Award. She loves to help authors write what they mean and mean what they write. She has two psychology degrees which she only uses for nefarious purposes. Geneve is a proud member of the Institute of Professional Editors Ltd (IPEd), the Australasian Horror Writers Association, and the Horror Writers Association. She’s also a horror writer with a love of tales that unsettle and B-grade action movies. Her short stories have been published in Australia as well as internationally. Read more at http://www.geneveflynn.com.au/
Book links:
https://www.amazon.com/Black-Cranes-Tales-Unquiet-Women-ebook/dp/B08GF8K6CQ
https://www.amazon.com/Grotesque-Monster-Stories-Things-Well-ebook/dp/B089V6RBLN/
https://www.amazon.com/Infectious-Hope-Poems-Resilience-Pandemic/dp/192255622X/
https://www.amazon.com/Stark-Naked-Silvia-Cant%C3%B3n-Rondoni/dp/1922556106/
https://www.amazon.com/Black-Cranes-Tales-Unquiet-Women-ebook/dp/B08GF8K6CQ
https://www.amazon.com/Grotesque-Monster-Stories-Things-Well-ebook/dp/B089V6RBLN/
https://www.amazon.com/Infectious-Hope-Poems-Resilience-Pandemic/dp/192255622X/
https://www.amazon.com/Stark-Naked-Silvia-Cant%C3%B3n-Rondoni/dp/1922556106/
TODAY ON THE GINGER NUTS OF HORROR WEBSITE
[BOOK REVIEW]
BRAND NEW DARK: A BISHOP RIDER BOOK BY BEAU JOHNSON
THE HEART AND SOUL OF HORROR FICTION REVIEWS
![[INTERVIEW] ALARIC CABILIN](../../uploads/3/4/5/1/34519054/interview-alaric-cabilin_orig.jpg) | It’s a fear of the unknown that leads to a fascination with it. We don’t know why we’re attracted to stories of hauntings, except that we generally do not know what is going to happen after death. We’ve been conditioned to see things like the afterlife and mundane life with a safety net and conservative outlook, so some of us tend to rebel against those viewpoints. We challenge the fear of the unknown by taking humor and entertainment value at things that are scary in reality. |
Could you tell the readers about yourself?
Hi. My name is Alaric. I’m Filipino-American, a former resident of Richmond, Virginia, and coincidentally, a big fan of Edgar Allan Poe. I currently live in Manila, Philippines. I’m an author and producer, and I might attend university again in the near future. I’m not an English major. I majored in Computer Information Systems, but I principally worked as a technical writer and editor. I’ve always wanted to be a writer; it was Poe who got me started as a horror fan. Later, I discovered the Del Ray series, which included books by Michael Arnzen, Poppy Z. Brite and Brian Hodge among others.
Which one of your characters would you least like to meet in real life?
The title story of my new book is named after the character’s nickname, Il Migliore Del Mondo, which translates to “the best in the world.” He’s a wonderful character, a gifted artist (hence the designation), but meeting him in a chance encounter also means that you’ve been sentenced to a gruesome death by Santa Muerte, the deity of death in the Caribbean. Although I love meeting talented artists, writers, and musicians, meeting the nameless entity that bears my title story’s name means a brutal reckoning and a harrowing afterlife. I’d much rather take my chances with a doggo.
Other than the horror genre, what else has been a major influence on your writing?
I love thrillers: serial killer stories, psychological thrillers. I also loved Ray Bradbury’s crossover dark fiction and dark fantasy classic, The October Country. It’s eerie.
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?
Horror is great entertainment for me. In terms of fiction, there’s something about the atmosphere and the imagery evoked by horror that is never unsettling. It feels like home. I’ve been reading horror for over twenty years and don’t feel I read enough. Horror movies and their jumpscares are more intimidating because there’s such a visceral impact to the blood and violence. However, when I watch with a friend, it’s a perfect opportunity to bond and have a good time. I don’t think that there’s something sinister and devious about loving horror. There’s a more pronounced negative impression of the metal genre in music, which closely resembles horror fiction and movies in imagery, too. It’s artistic expression, and it’s all fun.
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 tropes will include other elements of contemporary life. Outbreaks and pandemics have led to the evolution of the zombie movie template, for example. I think there’s going to be more inclusion and more diversity in horror as more international entities and their cultural backgrounds are exposed to other audiences. In the Philippines, ghost stories are unique to our culture and language. It will be interesting to see writers from all over the world express their unique voices.
Given the dark, violent and at times grotesque nature of the horror genre why do you think so many people enjoy reading it?
It’s a fear of the unknown that leads to a fascination with it. We don’t know why we’re attracted to stories of hauntings, except that we generally do not know what is going to happen after death. We’ve been conditioned to see things like the afterlife and mundane life with a safety net and conservative outlook, so some of us tend to rebel against those viewpoints. We challenge the fear of the unknown by taking humor and entertainment value at things that are scary in reality. That would be my opinion.
What, if anything, is currently missing from the horror genre?
More diversity. There are folktales, myths, and crazy urban legends everywhere in the world that don’t get as much exposure as they should. Especially from parts of the world rarely explored by Hollywood movies and such.
What new and upcoming authors do you think we should take notice off?
I’ve discovered books that delve into queer horror like Hailey Piper’s. We need more diversity and rarely-explored subject matter like that.
Are there any reviews of your work, positive or negative that have stayed with you?
One of my self-published books got slammed with a “If I could give it zero stars, I would,” review. It stayed with me because the reviewer claimed she speed-read through the book because she barely had time to finish it; she claimed that she didn’t want to get a DNF (Did Not Finish) from Netgalley. I think that if you don’t plan to give a book a chance, then you shouldn’t review it. I’m okay with negative reviews, though, if a reviewer states some reasons why they felt that way. Giving reasons helps other fans know whether they’ll like a book or not.
What aspects of writing do you find the most difficult?
Leaping metaphors. I can construct a scene with vivid detail, but those details need to be fleshed out with comparisons to similar things to make them more tangible. I need to think about just what those comparisons are and when to use them.
Is there one subject you would never write about as an author?
Something preachy based on the Bible.
Writing, is not a static process, how have you developed as a writer over the years?
I’ve learned to take time with my process. The editing process tends to take more time for me. I’ve also learned to occasionally refresh my eyes by reading books in between shifts, watching movies at night after workdays, trying other creative things to get a fresh perspective on my work. Once you have fresh eyes, it’s easier to spot errors and things you don’t like or need to add or revise.
What is the best piece of advice you ever received with regards to your writing?
More diversity. Include your unique cultural characteristics. Also, read other writers and learn from them.
Which of your characters is your favourite?
Hard to say. Some characters from Il Migliore Del Mondo & Other Stories will live to see a sequel or so: Alejandro del Potro, Dr. Wolfgang Schmidt, Il Migliore Del Mondo.
Which of your books best represents you?
Il Migliore Del Mondo & Other Stories has Basil and Evan. Those two characters have some of me in them.
Do you have a favorite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us?
“Once an artist, always an artist, it doesn’t wash out. It flows in your veins.” It’s the same for writing.
Can you tell us about your last book, and can you tell us about what you are working on next?
Il Migliore Del Mondo & Other Stories was just published almost two weeks ago, and I am excited. It has horror stories as well as some thriller stories with horror elements. There are two serial killer stories in them; they’re lengthy. They’re novelettes, I think. The two stories number fourty-something to fifty pages each. There’s an overarching theme: how artists go to extreme lengths to satisfy their creative impulses. The more extreme those ambitions get, the bloodier the results.
My next book is called The Last Stop. It’s a novel about a Filipino-American contract killer who has come to a sparsely-populated rural town in Northern Virginia and is killing everyone in sight. He’s the most prolific killer on record, and the FBI doesn’t know why he’s killing everyone in town. They need to know what the stipulations of his contract are to catch him. He’s slippery and is gifted with heightened senses. They send an army of state troopers and deputies to catch him. There are horror elements here, too, largely supernatural horror elements.
If you could erase one horror cliché what would be your choice?
The zombie craze is overrated right now. I wouldn’t erase the whole zombie cliche. It’s classic and there are great examples, but some mainstream hits, lately, have looked mediocre in terms of story line.
What was the last great book you read, and what was the last book that disappointed you?
I love reading horror anthologies right now. Short stories hit the spot for me. It’s been a while since I’ve read a zonk. I don’t remember. I’m pretty selective.
What's the one question you wish you would get asked but never do? And what would be the answer?
I don’t really know if I’ve ever wished for a certain question. Maybe, something like, why aren’t there more horror writers from your part of the world? I can tell them that some of our writers have delved in horror. We just don’t get international exposure often.
Hi. My name is Alaric. I’m Filipino-American, a former resident of Richmond, Virginia, and coincidentally, a big fan of Edgar Allan Poe. I currently live in Manila, Philippines. I’m an author and producer, and I might attend university again in the near future. I’m not an English major. I majored in Computer Information Systems, but I principally worked as a technical writer and editor. I’ve always wanted to be a writer; it was Poe who got me started as a horror fan. Later, I discovered the Del Ray series, which included books by Michael Arnzen, Poppy Z. Brite and Brian Hodge among others.
Which one of your characters would you least like to meet in real life?
The title story of my new book is named after the character’s nickname, Il Migliore Del Mondo, which translates to “the best in the world.” He’s a wonderful character, a gifted artist (hence the designation), but meeting him in a chance encounter also means that you’ve been sentenced to a gruesome death by Santa Muerte, the deity of death in the Caribbean. Although I love meeting talented artists, writers, and musicians, meeting the nameless entity that bears my title story’s name means a brutal reckoning and a harrowing afterlife. I’d much rather take my chances with a doggo.
Other than the horror genre, what else has been a major influence on your writing?
I love thrillers: serial killer stories, psychological thrillers. I also loved Ray Bradbury’s crossover dark fiction and dark fantasy classic, The October Country. It’s eerie.
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?
Horror is great entertainment for me. In terms of fiction, there’s something about the atmosphere and the imagery evoked by horror that is never unsettling. It feels like home. I’ve been reading horror for over twenty years and don’t feel I read enough. Horror movies and their jumpscares are more intimidating because there’s such a visceral impact to the blood and violence. However, when I watch with a friend, it’s a perfect opportunity to bond and have a good time. I don’t think that there’s something sinister and devious about loving horror. There’s a more pronounced negative impression of the metal genre in music, which closely resembles horror fiction and movies in imagery, too. It’s artistic expression, and it’s all fun.
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 tropes will include other elements of contemporary life. Outbreaks and pandemics have led to the evolution of the zombie movie template, for example. I think there’s going to be more inclusion and more diversity in horror as more international entities and their cultural backgrounds are exposed to other audiences. In the Philippines, ghost stories are unique to our culture and language. It will be interesting to see writers from all over the world express their unique voices.
Given the dark, violent and at times grotesque nature of the horror genre why do you think so many people enjoy reading it?
It’s a fear of the unknown that leads to a fascination with it. We don’t know why we’re attracted to stories of hauntings, except that we generally do not know what is going to happen after death. We’ve been conditioned to see things like the afterlife and mundane life with a safety net and conservative outlook, so some of us tend to rebel against those viewpoints. We challenge the fear of the unknown by taking humor and entertainment value at things that are scary in reality. That would be my opinion.
What, if anything, is currently missing from the horror genre?
More diversity. There are folktales, myths, and crazy urban legends everywhere in the world that don’t get as much exposure as they should. Especially from parts of the world rarely explored by Hollywood movies and such.
What new and upcoming authors do you think we should take notice off?
I’ve discovered books that delve into queer horror like Hailey Piper’s. We need more diversity and rarely-explored subject matter like that.
Are there any reviews of your work, positive or negative that have stayed with you?
One of my self-published books got slammed with a “If I could give it zero stars, I would,” review. It stayed with me because the reviewer claimed she speed-read through the book because she barely had time to finish it; she claimed that she didn’t want to get a DNF (Did Not Finish) from Netgalley. I think that if you don’t plan to give a book a chance, then you shouldn’t review it. I’m okay with negative reviews, though, if a reviewer states some reasons why they felt that way. Giving reasons helps other fans know whether they’ll like a book or not.
What aspects of writing do you find the most difficult?
Leaping metaphors. I can construct a scene with vivid detail, but those details need to be fleshed out with comparisons to similar things to make them more tangible. I need to think about just what those comparisons are and when to use them.
Is there one subject you would never write about as an author?
Something preachy based on the Bible.
Writing, is not a static process, how have you developed as a writer over the years?
I’ve learned to take time with my process. The editing process tends to take more time for me. I’ve also learned to occasionally refresh my eyes by reading books in between shifts, watching movies at night after workdays, trying other creative things to get a fresh perspective on my work. Once you have fresh eyes, it’s easier to spot errors and things you don’t like or need to add or revise.
What is the best piece of advice you ever received with regards to your writing?
More diversity. Include your unique cultural characteristics. Also, read other writers and learn from them.
Which of your characters is your favourite?
Hard to say. Some characters from Il Migliore Del Mondo & Other Stories will live to see a sequel or so: Alejandro del Potro, Dr. Wolfgang Schmidt, Il Migliore Del Mondo.
Which of your books best represents you?
Il Migliore Del Mondo & Other Stories has Basil and Evan. Those two characters have some of me in them.
Do you have a favorite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us?
“Once an artist, always an artist, it doesn’t wash out. It flows in your veins.” It’s the same for writing.
Can you tell us about your last book, and can you tell us about what you are working on next?
Il Migliore Del Mondo & Other Stories was just published almost two weeks ago, and I am excited. It has horror stories as well as some thriller stories with horror elements. There are two serial killer stories in them; they’re lengthy. They’re novelettes, I think. The two stories number fourty-something to fifty pages each. There’s an overarching theme: how artists go to extreme lengths to satisfy their creative impulses. The more extreme those ambitions get, the bloodier the results.
My next book is called The Last Stop. It’s a novel about a Filipino-American contract killer who has come to a sparsely-populated rural town in Northern Virginia and is killing everyone in sight. He’s the most prolific killer on record, and the FBI doesn’t know why he’s killing everyone in town. They need to know what the stipulations of his contract are to catch him. He’s slippery and is gifted with heightened senses. They send an army of state troopers and deputies to catch him. There are horror elements here, too, largely supernatural horror elements.
If you could erase one horror cliché what would be your choice?
The zombie craze is overrated right now. I wouldn’t erase the whole zombie cliche. It’s classic and there are great examples, but some mainstream hits, lately, have looked mediocre in terms of story line.
What was the last great book you read, and what was the last book that disappointed you?
I love reading horror anthologies right now. Short stories hit the spot for me. It’s been a while since I’ve read a zonk. I don’t remember. I’m pretty selective.
What's the one question you wish you would get asked but never do? And what would be the answer?
I don’t really know if I’ve ever wished for a certain question. Maybe, something like, why aren’t there more horror writers from your part of the world? I can tell them that some of our writers have delved in horror. We just don’t get international exposure often.
ALARIC CABILIN
Alaric Cabiling is an author and producer living in Manila, Philippines. He resided in Richmond, Virginia, United States, for seventeen years, and much of his work takes place there. Cabiling loves the psychological horror, supernatural horror, thriller, and suspense genres. He uses magic realism in his work. He is disabled and identifies as gay.
Twitter: @alaricpcabiling
Website: alariccabiling.net
Twitter: @alaricpcabiling
Website: alariccabiling.net
IL MIGLIORE DEL MONDO & OTHER STORIES
BY ALARIC CABILING
Artists want one thing: catharsis. The characters in the following eight stories will go to great lengths to find boundless inspiration, and the more complicated those means get, the bloodier. It starts with a man called Il Migliore del Mondo, the best in the world at painting portraits for the deity Santa Muerte, whom he is cursed to serve. The story is followed by Painter of Dead Girls, about an artist so inspired by sadism, he puts together a plan to showcase his paintings at the heels of a series of brutal murders. The collection ends with Morbid Destitution of Covenant, a quirky title for a chess match novelette, featuring an ensemble cast of law enforcers and clinicians, all intent on proving that one man in custody is the killer in a series of brutal killings. The stories included in this collection will keep you on the edge of your seat and guessing until the thrilling climax.
TODAY ON THE GINGER NUTS OF HORROR WEBSITE
[FEATURE]
THE HORROR OF MY LIFE BY KATHERINE SILVA
the heart and soul of horror author interviews
 | When the “real” supernatural threats waned, the fictional supernatural threats increased. When the real thing isn’t there, we still need it, so we make it up. I think horror taps into something primitive, something buried deeply in the brain. |
Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?
I write horror, mystery, and western stories and novels. Reading pulp magazines from the ‘30s and ‘40s initially sparked my interest in writing. Manly Wade Wellman and Fritz Leiber were favorites. I always admired the versatility of those writers, so I work with multiple genres, too. My first three books will release over the next 15 months: the first is horror, the second is a mystery, and the third is a western.
Aside from writing, I’m a professor of history. I teach Medieval and Early Modern European history. That interest always works its way into my stories.
Which one of your characters would you least like to meet in real life?
There’s a character in Grimoire of the Four Impostors named Barnabas the Coffin Maker. Barnabas is a mechanical man brought to life in 1680s Hungary, and his only drive is to remain human. There is something uncanny about him that I find disturbing. His nickname comes from his time in a magician’s show, where he would hammer nails into planks.
Other than the horror genre, what else has been a major influence on your writing?
Studying history has impacted my conception of horror more than anything. There’s no better way to know human nature than the study of history. There’s nothing in fiction worse than the things people have done to one another in the past.
People believe ugly things, and they do ugly things – that translates to any century. On the surface, the world changes, but people are people whether it’s the 5th or 21st century. Just look at the conspiracy theories that flourished at the height of COVID-19. You find that type of thinking throughout history. What’s scarier than such a fundamental lack of change?
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 don’t have an issue with labeling the genre “horror.” For me, horror falls under the larger banner of speculative fiction, and I think an understanding of that would help fight mainstream prejudices against the genre. Horror isn’t about being “brutal,” which some assume it to be. It isn’t about being “disturbing.” Horror can be those things, but it’s much more diverse than that.
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 is going to address the COVID-19 pandemic and the dehumanization of putting economic concerns above matters of public health. The genre is going to address the politicization of science, too. I think horror and science-fiction will tackle these ideas effectively.
I believe the diversity of voices in the genre will increase, too, especially with the success of independent publishers. We’ll see more writers from underrepresented communities telling stories in the years to come, and that’s fantastic.
Given the dark, violent and at times grotesque nature of the horror genre why do you think so many people enjoy reading it?
Here’s something I find fascinating: in the 18th century, in the western world, there was a decline in supernatural beliefs. Witchcraft was decriminalized in many areas. The colony of Massachusetts paid reparations to victims of the Salem trials. Coinciding with this, we have the birth of Gothic literature, which is horror. We have the rise of phantasmagoria shows with the magic lantern, which is horror. We have the paintings of Francisco Goya, which are horror. What’s that have to do with anything? When the “real” supernatural threats waned, the fictional supernatural threats increased. When the real thing isn’t there, we still need it, so we make it up. I think horror taps into something primitive, something buried deeply in the brain.
What, if anything, is currently missing from the horror genre?
A more prominent position in mainstream publishing. I’d love to see large publishers taking chances on unknown entities with new stories. Everything with books and films, at least where a lot of money is concerned, is so safe now. There are few artistic risks taken. We talk about eliminating gatekeepers, but I think arbiters of taste are alive and well at the highest levels of publishing, and their taste is the status quo.
What new and upcoming authors do you think we should take notice of?
Everyone should read Laird Barron, although he isn’t that new, I suppose. From the last few years, I’d say Stephanie Ellis, Eric LaRocca, and D.T Neal. Excellent writers who have a lot to say and great stories to tell. Seek them out!
Are there any reviews of your work, positive or negative that have stayed with you?
Fiends in the Furrows: An Anthology of Folk Horror (2018) garnered a review that impacted me. The reviewer wrote that I’m what you get when you cross M.R. James with Robert E. Howard. M.R. James is one of my idols. Things like that can drive you forward when you feel doubt.
What aspects of writing to do you find the most difficult?
Once I get to the halfway mark of a novel, I set my eyes on the finish line. It’s a constant fight from that point to not focus on finishing the story, but to focus instead on telling the story, letting it develop, allowing it to unfold. That’s tough because I agree with the mantra: “I hate writing. I love having written.”
Is there one subject you would never write about as an author?
Not that I never allude to it in the course of a story, but I never depict scenes of sexual abuse. The pain it could trigger in readers is cruel.
Writing is not a static process, how have you developed as a writer over the years?
When I first started, I wrote what I wanted to read. I had no intention of selling stories. When I began to submit stories to publications, I moved toward writing things I thought people wanted to read, and that got me away from the escapism of going to the places I wanted to go with my writing. Essentially, I tried to be more literary, more serious. That sapped the fun from writing. To keep going, I went back to the point where I started, and I wrote what I wanted to read again. That’s where I found my voice as a writer. I had to find the confidence to be myself. Finding that courage was a long, slow process.
What is the best piece of advice you ever received with regards to your writing?
In the introduction to Bradbury Stories, Ray Bradbury explained that he considered his education to be the first million words he wrote. I was eighteen when I read that. I decided I’d write 200,000 words a year until I reached one million. I had a lot of failures along the way, but I learned from every story.
Which of your characters is your favourite?
Dorin Toth from Grimoire of the Four Impostors. He’s a doctor of theology from the University of Vienna in the 1600s, and he’s an investigator of the occult. He’s amassing a library of grimoires. He travels with a greyhound named Vinegar Tom.
I’m doing a spinoff series of novels with Toth. I’m planning the first for a 2023 release.
Which of your books best represents you?
Grimoire of the Four Impostors. The combination of history and occult horror taps into everything I find interesting. There are elements of folk horror and quiet horror. The book has an aesthetic similar to Nosferatu (1922). I’m proud of capturing that tone. This book represents what I love about the genre and things that frighten me about history.
Do you have a favorite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us?
I always enjoy dialogue that reveals a character. In The Hangman Feeds the Jackal: A Gothic Western, my novel releasing in 2022, the protagonist Elijah Valero sums up his philosophy while speaking to an undertaker about three (human) murder victims:
“He beat the horse,” Valero said. “It was either I take the horse or kill him.”
“You’d kill for that?” the undertaker asked.
“Sure.”
“But not for that?” He nodded to the back door, beyond which waited three victims.
“That’s different,” Valero said.
“How so?”
“I like horses.”
Can you tell us about your last book, and can you tell us about what you are working on next?
Grimoire of the Four Impostors is my first book, and it’s a collection of six linked tales set in the 17th century. The tales come together to form a whole. I envisioned the book as the equivalent of the Amicus anthology films of the ‘60s and ‘70s with four stories bookended by wraparound tales.
I have a few novels releasing over the next year, too. A Séance for Wicked King Death is a mystery/noir novel set in 1956. It’ll be out from Level Best Books in January 2022. The Hangman Feeds the Jackal: A Gothic Western will release from Nosetouch Press after that in 2022. The Switchblade Svengali, which is a sequel to Séance set in 1968, will follow from Level Best Books in February 2023.
Those books are all set. As far as new projects, I’m working on the first Dorin Toth novel now. This will be a mix of mystery and occult horror set in the 1600s. I can’t wait to share more about it!
If you could erase one horror cliché what would be your choice?
I want jump scares (especially when books imitate horror set pieces from movies) to disappear entirely.
What was the last great book you read, and what was the last book that disappointed you?
The Last Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France by Eric Jager is the most recent (to me) great book I’ve read. This is a 14th century criminal case that escalated from local nobility all the way to King Charles VI. Charles allowed Jean de Carrouges and Jacques LeGris to engage in a trial by combat, a fight to the death, in front of a crowd in Paris. It’s one of the most gripping books I’ve read.
As far as disappointing, I believe books unpublished during an author’s lifetime shouldn’t be published posthumously. For instance, my favorite author is Philip K. Dick. I’ve read all the novels published during his lifetime. When I ran out, I started the unpublished works. I read Lies, Inc recently, which was an expanded, unpublished version of The Unteleported Man. Honestly, it soiled The Unteleported Man.
What's the one question you wish you would get asked but never do? And what would be the answer?
If you were to deconstruct your aesthetic, what would the individual ingredients be?
M.R. James + Nosferatu + Raymond Chandler + Lucio Fulci
I write horror, mystery, and western stories and novels. Reading pulp magazines from the ‘30s and ‘40s initially sparked my interest in writing. Manly Wade Wellman and Fritz Leiber were favorites. I always admired the versatility of those writers, so I work with multiple genres, too. My first three books will release over the next 15 months: the first is horror, the second is a mystery, and the third is a western.
Aside from writing, I’m a professor of history. I teach Medieval and Early Modern European history. That interest always works its way into my stories.
Which one of your characters would you least like to meet in real life?
There’s a character in Grimoire of the Four Impostors named Barnabas the Coffin Maker. Barnabas is a mechanical man brought to life in 1680s Hungary, and his only drive is to remain human. There is something uncanny about him that I find disturbing. His nickname comes from his time in a magician’s show, where he would hammer nails into planks.
Other than the horror genre, what else has been a major influence on your writing?
Studying history has impacted my conception of horror more than anything. There’s no better way to know human nature than the study of history. There’s nothing in fiction worse than the things people have done to one another in the past.
People believe ugly things, and they do ugly things – that translates to any century. On the surface, the world changes, but people are people whether it’s the 5th or 21st century. Just look at the conspiracy theories that flourished at the height of COVID-19. You find that type of thinking throughout history. What’s scarier than such a fundamental lack of change?
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 don’t have an issue with labeling the genre “horror.” For me, horror falls under the larger banner of speculative fiction, and I think an understanding of that would help fight mainstream prejudices against the genre. Horror isn’t about being “brutal,” which some assume it to be. It isn’t about being “disturbing.” Horror can be those things, but it’s much more diverse than that.
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 is going to address the COVID-19 pandemic and the dehumanization of putting economic concerns above matters of public health. The genre is going to address the politicization of science, too. I think horror and science-fiction will tackle these ideas effectively.
I believe the diversity of voices in the genre will increase, too, especially with the success of independent publishers. We’ll see more writers from underrepresented communities telling stories in the years to come, and that’s fantastic.
Given the dark, violent and at times grotesque nature of the horror genre why do you think so many people enjoy reading it?
Here’s something I find fascinating: in the 18th century, in the western world, there was a decline in supernatural beliefs. Witchcraft was decriminalized in many areas. The colony of Massachusetts paid reparations to victims of the Salem trials. Coinciding with this, we have the birth of Gothic literature, which is horror. We have the rise of phantasmagoria shows with the magic lantern, which is horror. We have the paintings of Francisco Goya, which are horror. What’s that have to do with anything? When the “real” supernatural threats waned, the fictional supernatural threats increased. When the real thing isn’t there, we still need it, so we make it up. I think horror taps into something primitive, something buried deeply in the brain.
What, if anything, is currently missing from the horror genre?
A more prominent position in mainstream publishing. I’d love to see large publishers taking chances on unknown entities with new stories. Everything with books and films, at least where a lot of money is concerned, is so safe now. There are few artistic risks taken. We talk about eliminating gatekeepers, but I think arbiters of taste are alive and well at the highest levels of publishing, and their taste is the status quo.
What new and upcoming authors do you think we should take notice of?
Everyone should read Laird Barron, although he isn’t that new, I suppose. From the last few years, I’d say Stephanie Ellis, Eric LaRocca, and D.T Neal. Excellent writers who have a lot to say and great stories to tell. Seek them out!
Are there any reviews of your work, positive or negative that have stayed with you?
Fiends in the Furrows: An Anthology of Folk Horror (2018) garnered a review that impacted me. The reviewer wrote that I’m what you get when you cross M.R. James with Robert E. Howard. M.R. James is one of my idols. Things like that can drive you forward when you feel doubt.
What aspects of writing to do you find the most difficult?
Once I get to the halfway mark of a novel, I set my eyes on the finish line. It’s a constant fight from that point to not focus on finishing the story, but to focus instead on telling the story, letting it develop, allowing it to unfold. That’s tough because I agree with the mantra: “I hate writing. I love having written.”
Is there one subject you would never write about as an author?
Not that I never allude to it in the course of a story, but I never depict scenes of sexual abuse. The pain it could trigger in readers is cruel.
Writing is not a static process, how have you developed as a writer over the years?
When I first started, I wrote what I wanted to read. I had no intention of selling stories. When I began to submit stories to publications, I moved toward writing things I thought people wanted to read, and that got me away from the escapism of going to the places I wanted to go with my writing. Essentially, I tried to be more literary, more serious. That sapped the fun from writing. To keep going, I went back to the point where I started, and I wrote what I wanted to read again. That’s where I found my voice as a writer. I had to find the confidence to be myself. Finding that courage was a long, slow process.
What is the best piece of advice you ever received with regards to your writing?
In the introduction to Bradbury Stories, Ray Bradbury explained that he considered his education to be the first million words he wrote. I was eighteen when I read that. I decided I’d write 200,000 words a year until I reached one million. I had a lot of failures along the way, but I learned from every story.
Which of your characters is your favourite?
Dorin Toth from Grimoire of the Four Impostors. He’s a doctor of theology from the University of Vienna in the 1600s, and he’s an investigator of the occult. He’s amassing a library of grimoires. He travels with a greyhound named Vinegar Tom.
I’m doing a spinoff series of novels with Toth. I’m planning the first for a 2023 release.
Which of your books best represents you?
Grimoire of the Four Impostors. The combination of history and occult horror taps into everything I find interesting. There are elements of folk horror and quiet horror. The book has an aesthetic similar to Nosferatu (1922). I’m proud of capturing that tone. This book represents what I love about the genre and things that frighten me about history.
Do you have a favorite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us?
I always enjoy dialogue that reveals a character. In The Hangman Feeds the Jackal: A Gothic Western, my novel releasing in 2022, the protagonist Elijah Valero sums up his philosophy while speaking to an undertaker about three (human) murder victims:
“He beat the horse,” Valero said. “It was either I take the horse or kill him.”
“You’d kill for that?” the undertaker asked.
“Sure.”
“But not for that?” He nodded to the back door, beyond which waited three victims.
“That’s different,” Valero said.
“How so?”
“I like horses.”
Can you tell us about your last book, and can you tell us about what you are working on next?
Grimoire of the Four Impostors is my first book, and it’s a collection of six linked tales set in the 17th century. The tales come together to form a whole. I envisioned the book as the equivalent of the Amicus anthology films of the ‘60s and ‘70s with four stories bookended by wraparound tales.
I have a few novels releasing over the next year, too. A Séance for Wicked King Death is a mystery/noir novel set in 1956. It’ll be out from Level Best Books in January 2022. The Hangman Feeds the Jackal: A Gothic Western will release from Nosetouch Press after that in 2022. The Switchblade Svengali, which is a sequel to Séance set in 1968, will follow from Level Best Books in February 2023.
Those books are all set. As far as new projects, I’m working on the first Dorin Toth novel now. This will be a mix of mystery and occult horror set in the 1600s. I can’t wait to share more about it!
If you could erase one horror cliché what would be your choice?
I want jump scares (especially when books imitate horror set pieces from movies) to disappear entirely.
What was the last great book you read, and what was the last book that disappointed you?
The Last Duel: A True Story of Trial by Combat in Medieval France by Eric Jager is the most recent (to me) great book I’ve read. This is a 14th century criminal case that escalated from local nobility all the way to King Charles VI. Charles allowed Jean de Carrouges and Jacques LeGris to engage in a trial by combat, a fight to the death, in front of a crowd in Paris. It’s one of the most gripping books I’ve read.
As far as disappointing, I believe books unpublished during an author’s lifetime shouldn’t be published posthumously. For instance, my favorite author is Philip K. Dick. I’ve read all the novels published during his lifetime. When I ran out, I started the unpublished works. I read Lies, Inc recently, which was an expanded, unpublished version of The Unteleported Man. Honestly, it soiled The Unteleported Man.
What's the one question you wish you would get asked but never do? And what would be the answer?
If you were to deconstruct your aesthetic, what would the individual ingredients be?
M.R. James + Nosferatu + Raymond Chandler + Lucio Fulci
Grimoire of the Four Impostors
by Coy Hall
JOURNEY INTO THE OCCULT, WHERE HISTORY IS HORROR.
Presented in six tales, Grimoire of the Four Impostors takes readers on a dark tour of the 17th century, where corners of the world stand in shadow. Here grimoires possess secrets, impostors beguile the unwary, temptation turns macabre, and the night is no friend.
Embrace the Martyr
Touch the Nightshade
Taste the Brine
Wield the Hatchet
DECIPHER THE GRIMOIRE
Presented in six tales, Grimoire of the Four Impostors takes readers on a dark tour of the 17th century, where corners of the world stand in shadow. Here grimoires possess secrets, impostors beguile the unwary, temptation turns macabre, and the night is no friend.
Embrace the Martyr
Touch the Nightshade
Taste the Brine
Wield the Hatchet
DECIPHER THE GRIMOIRE
Coy Hall
BIO
Coy Hall lives in the US in the state of West Virginia. He splits time as an author of horror and professor of history. His first book, Grimoire of the Four Impostors, releases on September 7, 2021 from Nosetouch Press.
WEBSITE LINKS
Author Website: www.coyhall.com
Twitter: @CoyHallBooks
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCoyHall/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4849254.Coy_Hall
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Coy-Hall/e/B01CC9IL5M
Coy Hall lives in the US in the state of West Virginia. He splits time as an author of horror and professor of history. His first book, Grimoire of the Four Impostors, releases on September 7, 2021 from Nosetouch Press.
WEBSITE LINKS
Author Website: www.coyhall.com
Twitter: @CoyHallBooks
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorCoyHall/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4849254.Coy_Hall
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Coy-Hall/e/B01CC9IL5M
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