Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?


I’m a lifelong horror fan. I saw An American Werewolf in London way too young. I saw Jaws when I was five or six. Those experiences imprint on you at that age. I was lucky enough to grow up when some of the greatest horror films of all time were being made – A Nightmare on Elm Street, Fright Night, Gremlins, Hellraiser.


I love movies, comics, books. I have three children and a woman who claims to be my wife (we had some sort of strange ceremony with a guy dressed like a wizard, and they put a ring on one of my many fingers, and now I can’t get it off).


I’ve been writing for a while. I messed around in film and made comics for a while before delving into prose which is where I’ve been spinning yarns since around 2008.

Which one of your characters would you least like to meet in real life?


The Magdalene from my novella The House of Tears which rounds out my collection Diabolique. She’s essentially a succubus. She is a being who brings destruction to any man who encounters her. She is the head denizen of a demonic sex club known as The House of Tears. For all her allure, for the sexuality and sensuality she exudes like pheromones, she’s a predator.

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


I’ve had a long fascination with the Beat Generation, Burroughs, Kerouac, Ginsberg. Burroughs for his off-kilter subversive works. He really pushed the envelope of what could be considered literature with Naked Lunch and the Nova Trilogy. On the Road may have been Kerouac’s seminal work, but I always chimed with Big Sur better, along with The Dharma Bums. Big Sur is a novel obsessed with Kerouac’s self-destruction and reflections on his mortality. I found the juxtaposition of the explosion of life he found on Big Sur that dazzled him, enthralled him, the clarity of the water in the stream, the cleanliness of the air, the giddiness he found in the company of his friends, while at the same time he was plumbing the depths of alcoholism, to be profoundly sad.

Bret Easton Ellis’ monstrous American Psycho is a book I’ve returned to many times.

The Invisibles by Grant Morrison absolutely blew my mind when I first read it and I delved into his work with a fervour I’ve never really found for any other creator bar Clive Barker. The Filth, Animal Man, Doom Patrol, We3, Flex Mentallo, Zenith…I could go on all day about his ability to metatextualise what some would consider a children’s medium. I know Alan Moore is considered higher in the pantheon of creators, and for good reason, but I’ve always loved Morrison’s work. I find he opens doors in my imagination that other writers have never even knocked upon.
I also love poetry. Seamus Heaney is a particular favourite of mine.


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?


Most people shy away from the term “horror”. When you mention horror to people they squirm, a peculiar look comes over their face, their features screw up. “Oh, I don’t go for that sort of thing,” they say. But any genre can have horror in its DNA. Tell them that The Silence of the Lambs is a horror movie, and they won’t believe you, but we all know it is. Se7en is a horror film. I see David Fincher’s masterpiece Zodiac as a very real horror film. Jaws is as scary a film as you’ll find.

Horror, to me, is anything that forces us to confront our mortal nature, or our beastly, animalistic side. The side we pretend we don’t have because we live in polite society. Those impulses that simmer under the lid of civilization. We look upon those urges as repellent, as despicable, but they’re part of human nature. They’re part of us. The Monster. The Demon. All our monsters are metaphors for other, darker things. I think that’s what the best horror does. It forces us to reflect on those parts of ourselves we’d rather bury, padlocked, and chained in a small metal box and buried ten feet under the ground.


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


We’re essentially watching a renewal of the cold war, but we’ve doubled our number of enemies. Facing the “west” now is both Russia and China. The last time we lived through times like these we had a run of Body Snatcher type films. I do wonder if we’re due a remake of that classic film (even though there’s at least three versions of it).

Given the renewed interest, and serious reporting of, UFOs/UAP phenomenon, I would like to see a wave of extra-terrestrial themed horror. The Thing is probably my favourite horror film. It’s perfect and plays on the paranoia that the cold war bred in people – who can you trust if your enemy looks like your friend?

Given the dark, violent and at times grotesque nature of the horror genre why do you think so many people enjoy reading it?


Release. Fear is an emotion that really has no utility in the human experience any longer. It’s possibly the oldest emotion, it’s definitely the most important one we ever developed. It was needed when we lived our lives under threat of predation. That threat is mostly gone now. We’ve slain the beasts. We’ve risen above that threat. Horror gives us a dose of that ancient emotion, and the endorphin rush that we receive when we’ve survived the threat. I think that’s what people get from Horror.


What, if anything, is currently missing from the horror genre?


In the modern era, comedy. Horror films used to have laughs in them. An American werewolf in London is as funny as it is scary. Edgar Wright rekindled the horror-comedy with Shaun of the Dead and The Worlds End. I’d like to see more of it.

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


Sam L Edwards. Paula D. Ashe. Russell Smeaton. Alan Baxter is pretty established in Australia, but I always recommend his work.

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


Everyone who has read my short story The Outsider seems to really like it. Lynda E Rucker suggested I write a gritty crime novel after she read it. I may take her up on that someday.


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

Somedays it’s just the grind of sitting down and putting words on the page. Sometimes it’s finding the actual time to do it. I struggled for a few years with finding ideas for stories, but that doesn’t seem to be a problem these days. I think the issue was that I was looking for stories to come to me fully formed, or I was trying to force the ideas to come to me. Nowadays I just start with an image, or a character name, or maybe even an ending that I can see in my head and then I sketch out a semi-rigid plot and get to work. I’m not a heavy plotter. I tend to give myself a light framework of what the story might look like and then see where it goes.

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

I don’t think there’s anything I would shy away from if I felt I could do the subject justice and write it in a sensitive manner. It depends. As a father I abhor stories with violence towards young children, so that’s not something that features heavily, or at all, in my work to date.


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

My ability to visualize, to work through an idea, has developed over the years. My style has certainly developed since I began writing, the ways to express an idea, to get it down on the page, to elaborate. I think my use of language has sharpened.


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

Just do the damn work. My kids are superb athletes and the mantra I hear often is “hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.” I think that applies to just about every profession.


Which of your characters is your favourite?

I’m going to say two characters because they’re essentially a double act. My occult detective character Anna Barlow and her ghost sidekick Turk. Writing them is a breeze. They bounce off each other. They’re funny. I don’t have to work on their dialogue at all, they just speak it. I never find myself bouncing words around looking for the right way to say things. They’re both facets of myself, as are all the characters in my work, but these two moreso. I’d go so far as to say I love the pair of them. When I’m writing them it’s like being with old friends. It’s a strange sensation. I’ve written three stories in their world, a short novella, and have plotted out (very loosely) a novel. One of their stories Angelus was published in Occult Detective Quarterly and has been reprinted in Diabolique.


Which of your books best represents you?

Diabolique. It maps the interior of my creative life and obsessions. It’s an eclectic mix of horror stories that explore different threads of horror that I find interesting – body horror, sex, obsessions. There is comedy in there, some light threaded through the darkness.

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


“The woman’s voice crackled with electricity, charging the very fabric of the room like static air before the breaking of a thunderstorm.

“Are you prepared, Mr de Leeuwin?”

She was shrouded in shadow, standing in the corner of the room and as such was mostly invisible on the camera’s lens. Liam only saw part of her face illuminated in the glowing embers of the cigarette she would occasionally raise to her lips. The sleek curl of her mouth, a sharp cheekbone, the glint of fire in her eye.” – The House of Tears.

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


Diabolique dropped in October. This year I’ve been writing a novel, tentatively titled Delirium. The first draft is finished, so I’ll be taking a break to write a novella that I’ve been asked to write by my publisher (Hybrid Sequence Media) before getting into the second draft. It probably has another 6-9 months of work before it’ll be finished. Having three kids and a full-time job takes up a lot of my time, so I only get an hour or so to write at night. I have another novel plotted out, but that’s probably a year or so away before I get down to the actual writing of it.

If you could erase one horror cliché what would be your choice?

Jump scares. Jesus Christ, just stop doing them. You’re cheating your audience. A jump scare should be earned. Just making things quiet then going LOUD isn’t doing anyone any favours. You want to know how to do a real jump scare? Watch The Exorcist 3.

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


The last great book I read was Richard Matheson’s classic I Am Legend. It’s such a great book. If anyone hasn’t read it, I’d say go look it out right now.

The last book to disappoint me? There’s plenty of them. I don’t finish a book if I’m not enjoying it. Most recently I was on a sci-fi kick and started Dune Messiah. The original Dune is an absolutely stellar book, but Dune Messiah I put it down after a hundred or so pages.

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

If you had to fight a hundred duck-sized horses, or one horse-sized duck, which would it be and why?

I would fight those tiny little horses. Doesn’t matter if there’s a hundred of them, I think I could punt those equine bastards to the moon. A horse-sized duck on the other hand could be a formidable beast and I’m not sure I’d win that. Have you seen the size of horses?!

BIO
John Paul Fitch lives in Perth, Western Australia with his wife and children. He is the author of short story collection Diabolique.

WEBSITE LINKS
https://www.amazon.com/John-Paul-Fitch/e/B07KNGG71R%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share
​

                                      https://johnpfitch.wordpress.com/
​

Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?

Hello! I’m Frazer, and I write scary books and make scary films sometimes. I grow my own pumpkins and am 90% coffee. Crisps are my terrible and ultimate downfall.

Which one of your characters would you least like to meet in real life?

The Skin Mechanic from my novels The Lamplighters and The Skintaker. His interest in people only goes skin deep, so to speak! (shudder)

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

J. G. Ballard who could take the most banal, everyday thing and make it so vividly disturbing.


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 agree with the assertion that ‘horror’ is an emotion, but to expand on that I think it is a series of emotions. We can feel concern for our protagonist, and complicity with our antagonist, the unbearable tension of entrapment, and its release, all within a single scene. I’d argue that horror stories can make us feel all the more alive for having experienced them.

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 think horror is going to continue exploring poverty and environmental abuses in the context of the climate crisis and the seemingly never-ending governmental support for the 1%.

Given the dark, violent and at times grotesque nature of the horror genre why do you think so many people enjoy reading it?

A lot of horror lovers have told me that they feel somehow comforted by the terrors. To me, a ghastly old Hammer Horror is like a warm, cosy blanket. Perhaps we feel that we can control our fears, or at least explore them in a controlled environment, for a little while before we return to the uncertainties of real life.

What, if anything, is currently missing from the horror genre?

I’m going to chance my arm and say that the film I’m planning to do next is currently conspicuous by its absence. But I’m working on it!

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

Check out the writings of Michelle Renee Lane, Christa Carmen, Clare Castleberry if you haven’t already!

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

Tobe Hooper once told me that my film Red Lines gave him ‘the total creeps’. That was a moment, let me tell you.

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

There’s this period of soul-destroying self-doubt that usually happens around the middle of a project. Luckily, the characters can be feeling it too (in the story) so you can pull together with your creations and get through it. But it ain’t easy.

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

‘There are no limits.’


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

Impatience to get on to the next thing, and the next, is still a driver, but I’ve thankfully learned to take a break now and then. Getting old, I guess.

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

When people at parties tell me I should ‘write something that everyone wants to read’ I am reminded why I don’t go to parties very often, if ever.

Which of your characters is your favourite?

I had a soft spot for Jupiter ‘Brian’ Crash in my folk horror novel The Jack in the Green, but I have no regrets about the manner of his departure.

Which of your books best represents you?

I think The Jack in the Green does. I’m very angry about HS2 tearing gaping holes in the countryside and gobbling up our ancient forests so some rich arsehole can get richer, and another can shave a massive 20mins off his journey, it they every finish the ridiculous thing. And I’m a sucker for a chainsaw or three.

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

I’d rather my readers (all three of them, ha!) find something they like in my work. Answers on a postcard please?

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

My seventh novel Damnation: The Gothic Game was published on Halloween 2022 and is a tie-in with Blackletter Games’ revamp (pun intended!) of my all time favourite horror board game. In the shadow of the Carpathian Mountains a group of shady Victorian strangers stay the night at Castle Dracula and are lured into a deadly game of battle royale. I’ve always wanted to write a Dracula story, and an ardent a fan of the game so writing it was a nightmare come true for me. Up next is something I can’t talk about yet. Not being fancy, but I signed a NDA! Watch this space: www.frazerlee.com

If you could erase one horror cliché what would be your choice?

I kind of love the clichés, but sometimes I long for the time when ‘no signal’ wasn’t an issue. It’s partly why I set my novel The Skintaker in the 1920s.

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

The Deathless Girls, a YA novel by Kiran Millwood Hargrave, rocks. Honestly can’t remember the last time a book disappointed me, apart from perhaps my own sales figures, ha ha!

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

Dear Frazer, would you write/direct* delete as appropriate [insert dream project here] for us? My answer would be a hot YES of course.

FRAZER LEE is a novelist, screenwriter and filmmaker.
Film credits include acclaimed horror/thriller feature Panic Button, and multi-award winning shorts: On Edge, Red Lines, Simone, The Stay (Edgar Allan Poe Gothic Filmmaker Award Winner), and True Horror with Anthony Head (TV promo campaign director for Discovery Channel series).
​
Novels include: The Lamplighters (Bram Stoker Award®, finalist for ‘Superior Achievement in a First Novel’), Panic Button: Official Movie Novelisation (Amazon No. 1 Horror/thriller novel),The Jack in the Green, The Skintaker, Hearthstone Cottage (Amazon No. 1 Celtic horror novel), Greyfriars Reformatory, and The Daniel Gates Adventures novella series.

Frazer acts as a screenwriting and story consultant for Movie Mogul, The Asylum, Mediente International, eMotion, and Vanquish Alliance Entertainment, and was voted a Top 12 UK director in MySpace.com’s Movie Mash-up contest by representatives from 20th Century Fox, Vertigo Films and Film Four.

He is also the Head of Postgraduate Creative Writing at Brunel University London, and is an active member of Horror Writers Association, International Thriller Writers, and the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers (IAMTW), as well as a guest speaker for London Screenwriters Festival and Guerilla Filmmakers Masterclass. Frazer lives with his family across the cemetery from the actual Hammer House of Horror in Buckinghamshire.

WEB LINKS:Official website: www.frazerlee.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/frazer_lee
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorFrazerLee
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4451295.Frazer_Lee
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Frazer-Lee/e/B002L2PVAE
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0497281/
Vimeo reel: http://vimeo.com/user9527259

Hello Russell, I hope all is well with you; as well as being an author, you are also a professional narrator; which came first? And what prompted you to move into your second artistic endeavour?


I actually started writing first! I’ve been writing since I was in elementary school and wrote stories in a notebook by hand (and even provided my own poorly done illustrations). I tried self-publishing in the early 2010’s but didn’t realize what success in that area actually entailed, so I dropped off the writing radar for a while. I continued to write short stories and submit to magazines with two of my stories being accepted to a small publication called Sanitarium Magazine. I eventually found my true calling as a voice over talent and was fortunate enough to go full-time in that area, but I got my start narrating audio books. This led me to network with authors and such and I found a publisher that was willing to take a look at my self-published books for potential publishing through their company. Now, I’m here. Publishing my first trilogy (after one stand-alone novel) while living my dream as a VO talent!


What was the first book you narrated, and how do you feel about your performance compared to how you developed as a narrator?

Just like any artistic endeavor, you have to learn, grow, and improve. I read somewhere that your first youtube video, your first song, your first drawing, your first story isn’t going to be perfect. Just start doing what your passionate about and get better.

The difference between my first book I narrated and my most recent is vastly different, but that means I improved. My first book was a 12-hour-long sci-fi romance called The Braxin King. It was the first bit of voice over I ever did and you can definitely tell. If you look back on some of your earlier work and feel a little cringy—whether its voice over, writing, sculpting, painting, or whatever it may be—that’s a good thing. It means you’ve improved. In voice over, this includes not only your skill but also your equipment and editing skills. All three have improved in my case and the feedback on my narration is quite positive…which always feels good.


What's the biggest mistake that people make when narrating a book?

Everyone’s voice over journey is a little different. It’s what makes this industry so great but also so frustrating. Some people come out of high school or college with acting classes and such and others find it later in life, like me. Some get tons of coaching before even starting on anything while others jump feet first and start narrating. I’m somewhere in the middle on that one. Some would say never try to narrate anything before getting coaching while others have just bought their first mic and started reading. With that in mind, I think the biggest mistake one can make when narrating a book is simply this: not doing it at all.

If you’re an author and want to narrate your own book, you should definitely look into what it takes. It’s not as simple as sitting at your computer, turning on your computer mic, and reading. There’s the technical aspects to your audio file that make it viable for publication platforms, the time required not just to read but also edit the narration. So, if you want to narrate your own you should look into the details, but if you still want to do it on your own, you should still try! Not doing it at all is just one more regret you don’t want. If you have to hire a narrator, then so be it. We’re here. But don’t be afraid if you want to give it a go yourself—just make the proper preparations.


Who would be your dream author to narrate for?

So many…Stephen King, Laird Barron, J.R.R. Tolkien, George R.R. Martin, Andrzej Sapkowski, R.A. Salvatore, Ramsey Campbell, Thomas Ligotti, Patrick Rothfuss…


I am fascinated by the dynamics of the process of narrating a book; how do you prepare for it?

I try to keep my process simple for both myself and the author. I make sure I get a list of pronunciations from authors since I’ve dealt mostly in fantasy and sci-fi. I also ask for brief character and species descriptions so I can decide on vocal differences. Most of the time you don’t have a “Saturday Morning Cartoon” vibe to characters so I give subtle changes to tell characters apart. I subscribe to the school of thought that I’m telling a story directly into listeners ears, not performing a stage play. The feedback on my voice is that listeners love the gravelly, gentlemanly sound that I have and so I go for books of that nature to play on my strengths.


And how do you tackle the process of narrating different characters?

I always ask for brief descriptions and pronunciations. Just a few key traits is enough. I’m one person voicing sometimes dozens of characters, so subtle differences is often the key.

Do you have any tips for those looking into becoming a narrator?

Do some research! There’s more to it than just reading the book out loud. Everyone finds their own sound, of course, but there’s still a flow to audio book narration. Also, unless you’re going into a studio for a big publishing company you’ll be doing the editing yourself. Nowadays, most recording is done remotely so going into a studio is unlikely so you’ll need a space in your home to work. You’d be surprised how many VO talents work out of their closets or at least got their start working in their closets. The acoustics are surprisingly great!

Also, make sure you’re ready for the commitment. Recording for a promo, commercial, or the like is fairly quick work. Audio books are a marathon, not a sprint. You’re looking at a 5-10 hour audio book and that’s just the finished product. For every finished hour, there’s at least 2-3 hours of work that goes into it; including the narrating and editing. And that’s for experienced narrators. I’m at about a 1.5-2:1 hour ratio, but beginners are looking at everywhere from 3 to 5 hours per finished hour. You can also find multiple platforms to get started. ACX is a popular one. You can record a few samples of you narrating books in your wheelhouse and upload them as samples and start auditioning! The other course of action, if you can afford it, is to get some coaching and cut a demo. Like I said, the journey is different for everyone! I would recommend research, first, personally.


How about we put the cat amongst the pigeons for a minute? There is still this neverending discourse on social media about audiobooks not being "real reading" what are your thoughts on this?

One of the things I did before becoming a VO was teaching high school English. I also have my MAT (Master’s of Arts in Teaching), so reading is something I’m pretty passionate about.

In today’s world, any time you can get someone involved in a story, a narrative, characters, and the like, the vector to which they get involved shouldn’t be an obstacle. Yes, reading a book in a physical format is important, but if listening to audio books is what it takes to get someone into a story then let them enjoy it! It may lead them to reading physical copies. As an author, I just want people to enjoy my stories, settings, and characters so if they choose an audio book to do so, then I’m perfectly fine with that.


Let's talk about your writing now; how would you describe your writing style concerning genre placement?

I write mostly in fantasy and horror, particularly dark fantasy (so…fantasy horror). I think my writing style so far has leant itself to a “mystery” bent because of my preferred genre and authors, which is cosmic horror and authors like H.P. Lovecraft and Laird Barron and fantasy from Tolkien and Sapkowski. My stories tend to have a mysterious component that results in the characters not being too happy with what they find. I like to leave things out there for the reader to wonder about and even be afraid of what the end game is going to be: kinda good or very, very bad? It could very much go either way. I also follow the trend of Lovecraft’s idea: “don’t explain anything.” Horror tends to sometimes “overshow,” and that’s perfectly fine given what the creator is trying to do, but I prefer the kind of horror that drives readers nuts (including myself) with the “What really happened?” It’s what you don’t see or hear that makes things scarier. If you leave a little blank in parts of your horror, the readers’ have to fill that in with their own imagination. Sometimes, they’ll come up with something worse than you could. It’s that gut-punch of “they found/experienced something awful, but what there’s something worse…what was it???”


Audiobooks are widely popular, but I have to put my hand on my heart, and as much as I would love to get into them, I can focus enough, and they seem to wash over me; what am I doing wrong?

I have a hard time with audio books, too! But because I’m a narrator I nitpick when I hear narration so it’s my own doing. I honestly can’t offer any helpful advice here, unfortunately—except maybe save your audio book listening for times when it’s the only option you have. Like traveling in your car, waiting on an appointment, etc. I know that’s what a lot of people do.


Why do you think audiobooks are continually gaining in popularity?

For some of the reasons listed above, for one. Lots of commuting back and forth to work (which can literally take hours), waiting around on appointments, kid’s practices, and such. Also, it’s cheaper and more viable. Back in the day you had to listen to an audio book on multiple CD’s or a literal box of cassettes. Now you can download an audio book to your phone and have the whole thing right there; actually, you can have a whole library on your phone and listen at your leisure.

Do your experiences as a narrator give you an insight into how to get the rhythm of a novel and the character's identities correct?

Yes! It make me cautious about several things in my writing because I often read my work as I’m writing to see how it sound out loud.


Your latest novel, Ashes of Aldyr, is described as a Lovecraft meets Tolkien, that's a heady mix of genre influences; what drew you to placing the novel within this type of genre fiction?

My initial thoughts for The Obscured Throne Trilogy, of which Ashes of Aldyr is the first book, was, “What if a Tolkien-esque world was invaded by Lovecraftian abominations?”

I also wanted to write a post-apocalyptic-style dark fantasy. This made for a good mix in my mind, as the apocalyptic event would be what brought these unspeakable things into the fantasy setting. Although the name changed, I at first called the event “The Fall” because I was literally looking at having a High Fantasy setting brought down to Low Fantasy in the post-apocalypse as the characters dealt with the world they now lived in—a literal “fall” from High Fantasy to Low Fantasy. So, that’s basically what you have in the books: different stories of different characters living a broken world where things that can’t be described are lurking in the forests, oceans, and the remains of the broken and uninhabitable cities of the old world.

Why do you think that Tolkien and Lovecraft still have an enduring appeal? Especially with regards to Lovecraft and his views on race etc.?

That consistently comes up in conversation with my friends and me in conversation around Lovecraft. Lovecraft is probably responsible for many of the horror elements we’re most familiar with since he influenced writers like Stephen King, Wes Craven, and many others. The characters, creatures, and settings of Lovecraft are all incredibly creative and intriguing. His troubled mind definitely leaves a dark stain on his legacy. He was agoraphobic, insulated, sickly, and had many other explanations for his views on race, but certainly nothing to excuse it. S.T. Joshi can probably explain all of it a lot better than I can, but there are definitely those who can’t read Lovecraft’s work because of those views. He appeared to be changing them towards the end of his life, but he died fairly young before he could try to redeem himself from his obviously racist viewpoints. Tolkien, of course, practically created modern fantasy as we know it. And then you have the Lord of the Rings trilogy of movies from the early 2000’s, which still hold up today in terms of storytelling and effects. It brought fantasy into the fold as a mainstream genre that all people could enjoy. If not for LotR, we wouldn’t have Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, or anything else like that to enjoy on our screens! Not to mention, it spiked interest in fantasy altogether.


People still get caught up with genre labels, and you describe Ashes of Alder as a "dark fantasy" from your perspective. What is the difference between dark fantasy, horror and fantasy?

There are definitely some thematic differences between horror and fantasy, and I feel dark fantasy is more a subgenre of fantasy.

Some say dark fantasy is also low fantasy, like Conan the Barbarian and Game of Thrones, where magic and dragons and mythical creatures aren’t at the forefront of the story. Dark fantasy also has darker themes, like the hero not coming out with a full win if they come out with at all or even alive. The world’s are grittier, maybe more “realistic” in terms of outcomes and repercussions for the characters. The world’s of dark fantasy are harsh, cruel, and the lives of many are bitter and hard-fought. Yes, the Lord of the Rings trilogy has moments like this, but compare it to something like Berserk or In the Name of the Wind and you can see the differences in the work. In a dark fantasy narrative like the video game Dragon Age, for example, elves aren’t an ancient and noble race; they’re second-class citizens if they live among humans and, in the forests, they struggle to maintain their culture and existence. Outright horror elements also exist much more heavily in dark fantasy.


People read different books for different reasons; what do you look to connect with, say, a horror novel instead of a fantasy novel?

My favorite aspect of horror is the unknown and the “gribbly” for lack of a better word. My favorite subgenre is cosmic horror, where humanity is inconsequential in the universe and there are things out there beyond our understanding, that escape the very bounds of our minds, and the characters that get even a glimpse of that knowledge are driven insane or drop dead on the spot from their consciousness caving in on itself.

I love fantasy because of the escapism, the creativity, the majesty of its settings and my love for romantic medieval notions. Combining them into dark fantasy is like putting my chocolate and peanut butter together, if you will.

I enjoy surrounding creepy villages, cults, towns with a dark secret, entities that are older than time and investigators/academics searching for some bit of knowledge and getting in too deep before they realize it. Mostly because this is so disconnected from real life that I can really just enjoy the story without any of life’s real dramas.

There is a very similar world building in many fantasy novels; in terms of "familiar" fantasy worlds, does your book lie, and how did you ensure that your world felt fresh and not just a rehash of another world?

In this trilogy, I wanted to take those tropes and turn them on their head. Who cares about goblins when there’s some giant thing just beneath the surface of the ocean outside the city that’s causing anyone who looks at it to walk languidly to their death off the cliff facing it?

An underground dwarven kingdom? What happens when the world reshapes and mountains collapse from an apocalyptic event? Why has no one heard from dwarves since then? What terrors are they dealing with that have been awakened by reality itself turning against everyone?

A lot of fantasy world-building often involves bustling cities, politics, and the interactions characters have with such places. Things change when the cities become the main targets of the otherworldly god-like beings and all become uninhabitable if not downright hostile to be in or around. Even more mysterious…what’s with this city that doesn’t seem to be affected at all?

The nature of magic itself becomes altered as the history of the world of Alda (the setting of The Obscured Throne trilogy) becomes revealed over the course of the books.

Despite the massive success of books, film, television, etc., fantasy and horror are frowned upon by those who don't consume them; how do we, as fans and creators, move past this?

I think we just continue to do our work and write what we love! Horror and fantasy have certainly come a long way in my lifetime, where it’s more mainstream than ever and creative people are making new stories rather than relying on rehashing old favorites.


Who would you say is the perfect audience for Ashes of Alder?

Fans of dark fantasy, and horror and fantasy overall, will find something to like in Ashes of Aldyr and the upcoming second book, Ghosts of Alda. Cosmic horror fans will especially enjoy the nature of the horror in the book. Short story fans will like the structure of the novels as the narrative is told through multiple viewpoints with a few characters and story arcs comprising the core fate of the world.

My favorite way of describing it is that it’s like a mosaic, with each story being a contained piece of that mosaic and building a bigger picture.

Once the third book, Shadows of the Throne, is released, I’m hoping that the full mosaic will leave readers shuddering and thinking about the holistic terror of the trilogy long after they’ve finished the last page.

Thank you for this brilliant interview Russell; for those interested in finding out more about your work, where should they head to?

Thank you! Anyone who wants to know more can visit my website, www.russellarchey.com or my publisher’s site, www.5princebooks.com.
They can also sign up for my newsletter on my site.
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Good reading everyone!

​Wrathful gods and crumbling societies of men and elves are to be found between the pages of audiobook narrator Russell Archey’s latest dark fantasy Ashes of Aldyr. A story-teller and world-builder at heart, he masterfully sets the scene and sets into motion a fantastical high-stakes adventure that will span three books, making the complete Obscured Throne Trilogy. With a full cast of skilled and mysterious characters, otherworldly monsters, and earth-shattering catastrophes, it’s perfect for lovers of H.P. Lovecraft and J.R.R. Tolkien. 

Told across nine separate stories, Ashes of Aldyr describes a fantastical world of men and elves torn apart by cataclysmic, otherworldly events. With bloodshed abundant and nightmare-worthy creatures around every corner, happy endings are not to be found for the unfortunate creatures of Alda as the entities of the Obscured Throne wreak havoc. 
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On a hillside in the outskirts of the village of Alda, a hermitted member of the Black Gnarl cult culminates his life’s work by breaking the seal between this world and one of utter darkness and destruction. A scribe unlocks the secrets of the cult’s divine power, only to become part of the growing infection taking over. An elven noble roams through the remains of her shattered life, unknowingly playing a key part in a sorcerer’s sinister plan. Ashes of Aldyr is told from the perspectives of villains and heroes alike, from nobles to terrifying beasts with each story making up threads that form a larger tapestry of horror and insanity.

You wake up and find yourself in a horror franchise, what franchise would you prefer to wake up in and why?


Hellraiser. I would definitely make a good Cenobite.


You find yourself as the “Final One”  which monster / villain would you most like to go up against ands why do you think you would survive?

John Carpenter’s The Thing. MacReady and I are wired the same: focused, cool-headed monster killers willing to die to protect others. We survive because we refuse to allow emotions to overrule intellect. Also, we both flourish in extremely cold environments.


And which creature would you least like to go up against?


The Dark Seekers in I Am Legend. Definitely one of the top horror movies ever made, in my opinion. The solitude; the eerie quiet; Will Smith’s spot-on acting. Just so well done. And those strong, fast-moving people-eaters are just awful! The scene where Will follows his dog into the dark building; sneaks up on a nest of them in stasis, breathing in a circle; and he tries to walk backwards without them discovering: this is the most suspenseful scene in horror moviedom. Those creatures are the worst, but I would not like to get slowly digested inside Shai-Hulud’s giant Dune sandworm’s gut, either.


You find yourself in Scooby Doo, which character are you, and who would most like to have as the other members of Mystery Inc?

I’m Fred, except not dressed like a sixties douchey mod trust fund mutant. I’d definitely keep Shaggy and Scooby for comic relief. Daphne and Velma: what boy growing up in the Seventies didn’t have a crush on those two? Keeping all four in my Mystery Machine for sure.





Pinhead pops round for an evening of fun, what are you pains and pleasures?
Tony Masi, the producer of Hellraiser: Evolutions is a friend of 20 years! Me and Jamie Clayton, the new Pinhead, equipped with 28/0 stainless steel hooks and chains would definitely test some limits. Such fun!


The Wishmaster gives you three wishes

1.  You can wish to write in any franchise
2. You can wipe on franchise from the minds of everyone
3. You can date your horror crush

What do you chose?

1) I LOVE Clive Barker’s writing. To pair up with him would be a dream job.

2) Pet Sematary. Stephen King’s creepy, scary, perfectly written hard-hitting horror story turned into a banal movie franchise. It needs a complete do-over with King closely advising the new producer. The new focus must be on Louis Creed’s grief. Also please lose the music soundtrack. Quiet is spooky! At some point many years ago, movie-makers started adding loud musical scores to horror movies. Consider two major successes: Halloween and Shawshank Redemption. What do you hear? Ominous single piano notes in Halloween; sparing, tasteful piano throughout Shawshank with a string section added at climactic moments. In most every other horror movie, the music pulls the viewer out of creepy tingles; also it dates the movie. Pet Sematary movies must be erased from every mind. Read the book!
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3) Daphne Blake from Scooby Doo. I simply cannot resist a redhead in a purple top, dress, pink pantyhose, matchy-matchy shoes, a plastic purple headband and a green scarf. I am rendered powerless inside the alluring, captivating, enchanting gravitational force of Daphne’s event horizon.

Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead burst onto the scene with 2012’s “Resolution”, a smart and tense sci-fi thriller which marked them as masters of the high concept and a distinctive visual style. 2017 saw the release of “The Endless” – a sequel of sorts to the Resolution, but expanding dramatically upon that premise – and from then on, the hands-on co-directors have gone from strength to strength. 2020 saw them direct an episode of Jordan Peele’s reboot “The Twilight Zone”, and they’ve recently directed two episodes of Marvel’s 2022 Moon Knight. And now 2022 sees the release of their new film, “Something In The Dirt” – an ambiguous tale of doomed friendships, conspiracies and the preternatural invading the mundane.


The film saw its UK debut at the Arrow Frightfest festival on Saturday the 27th of August. Journalistic integrity (aka anxious preparation and planning) meant that I missed it on the big screen, but thanks to a screener I was able to watch it – and even having watched it on a small mobile screen, I can vouch for the films power and effectiveness. A full review will be forthcoming, but circumstances meant that I was lucky enough to bag an interview with the two directors and their producer. It was worth missing Dario Argento on stage for.

So, early evening at a small table outside the Soho Brasserie at the West End of London, Ginger Nuts of Horror got to sit with Aaron Moorhead, Justin Benson and producer Dave Lawson Jr. Keir – their PR guy – told us they were talkative and that we might struggle to get through all of our questions in the timeframe, and he wasn’t wrong – they were friendly, affable and enthused. Aaron was briefly away from the table, so we briefly touched on their experiences that morning at the Frightfest screening.


JUSTIN: It's funny in all of a lot of years of being lucky enough to play at film festivals and to have small theatrical releases, I don't think we've ever seen it that nice. Like with that nice of a screen. It's like - it's exactly as we mixed it. You never hear the sound exactly as you mixed it.


DAVE: We literally didn't even touch it, we just-


GNOH: You just went for it.


(Aaron arrives)


GNOH: Nice to meet you.


AARON: You too. Cool tattoos.


JUSTIN: Aaron, Dave and I just made an interesting observation. That was one of the first times that we've had our movie played back and the audio was the same time as the last time you heard it in the mix.


AARON: Yeah, my God.


GNOH: I'm going to have to be absolutely honest now; My wife got to see your Frightfest screening but I was off preparing for this. I got to see it on a screener at 7am this morning on my mobile phone.


JUSTIN: That’s what it's supposed to be!


GNOH: It worked perfectly well on the screen of my Samsung.


AARON: We designed the movie to be watched while jogging, wearing cheap headphones, on your way to work.


GNOH: A lot of the footage is pretty low-fi anyway, to be fair.


JUSTIN: It is funny, because we realise a majority of people are not going to see this at the theatre because that's not how any of us consume the majority of our media. So, it was always like 'yeah, that'll work on a - that'll work on a small screen'. Then we were like we never actually thought about the reverse really - I mean I wonder what this is gonna look like on a really big screen. Ah! It looks brilliant - Great. I'll just be over here smiling ear to ear.


AARON: You can see all of our pores.


JUSTIN: There was one shot of you - it was wow. Those macro shots were tight.


AARON: When I was sweating?


JUSTIN: It was a different one - just an extreme close-up.


GNOH: It's an amazingly sized screen.


JUSTIN: It transfers really well too; we've played on IMAX before, but it wasn't quite as bright as the film should have been, because of - whatever.


GNOH: Some hidden Imax control panel setting somewhere!


DAVE: I mean that's always tough. It's so big! But not bright.


JUSTIN: But the thing is the screen was so big, and the technical perfection was so amazing, I wanted to shout out "Put on Dune!".  I don't care about this right now! Put on Dune! We can watch this on a smaller screen.


GNOH: It’ll please Aaronofsky, because he was moaning that everybody would watch Dune on their mobile phone screens. It'll keep him perfectly happy. Anyway, I'll introduce myself properly - I'm David, and am officially here for Ginger Nuts of Horror today. I'll be brutally honest with you - I was here as a punter but found there was a slot available to interview you, so very little preparation whatsoever!


JUSTIN: I love it!


GNOH: Literally winging it.


AARON: Tell us about this tattoo.


GNOH: That's my Twilight Zone one.


JUSTIN: You know we did an episode of that, and it's an about an octopus. Is your other tattoo an Octopus?


GNOH: That's supposed to be Cthulhu.


AARON: Aah!


GNOH: It needs a redo. It peeled a bit.


AARON: All I'm hearing is that you got a tattoo of our Twilight Zone about a hyper-intelligent octopus.


DAVE: You know what? That's why he didn't prepare for the interview. I'm joking!


GNOH: I do have questions! The first one is the one all writers hate being asked, but what was the inspiration for “Something in the Dirt”?


AARON: Dave should answer it this time!


GNOH: And what was their pitch to you, Dave?


DAVE: Their pitch to me was that I never answer this question and they want to see how well I answer. A lot of this film has come from the last 12 years of us making movies together and writing pitches and scripts that never got made, and doing research into weird left of centre figures in history. We had a bunch of projects that were going into production including one with Justin and Aaron that got kind of curtailed because of COVID and then we were sitting around prepping for that one, preparing for whenever the restrictions lifted and Indy film became something you could do again. We quickly realised that that's not gonna be how this plays out. Like we were like, hey four months, September we'll be able to go back at it.  It quickly became clear that was not going to be what was going to happen. We've always been the team who are like - let's go make a movie, so that became our pivot as a team. I think the original idea was it was only to be the two of them - Justin and Aaron - who would be on set. And you even shot a day as a test.


AARON: Yeah, Day Zero.


DAVE: Which, technically would have worked, but maybe not for a whole feature. Then we realised, no, there needs to be at least three of us. The running joke on set was - one more set of hands. We really could have used one more set of hands.


AARON: Always one more set of hands.


JUSTIN: We should have had four.


DAVE: Yeah, we should have had four people on set. I don't know if we'll ever make that three person movie again, but four person maybe.


GNOH: The scales of Resolution and Endless were so vast, big sprawling vistas. Did the pandemic force you down the route of making a smaller more intimate film, or were you planning something bigger and that was curtailed?

​AARON: You know it's funny. The movie we had planned that didn't go, that we wanted to do when we exploded out the gates after the pandemic was over, which of course it's never going to be over, but you get the idea. That movie was not much bigger in scale than this one - two people in a house, in the desert. But it would have had massive visuals, and still would have felt like a larger film. This one, we felt like the scale could come from exploring the parts of the city that we love in ways that are normally pretty inaccessible, either through times of not being locked down or not having a crew of three. You know if you bring a whole crew of 25 to Griffith park and you don't pay for it, there's a problem. But we could just run around every little piece of it, and that's how we wanted to bring scale to it is that we would show these little pieces of Los Angeles and use visual effects to composite these sacred symbols that aren't really there, and following this coded rabbit hole all around the city that ends up ending up right where they began. That was our idea of scope. We felt that it would end up having more scope than our movie "Resolution", but also I'd say that scope was like, thing number 15 on our checklist of things we wanted to accomplish.  We just really wanted to make sure we nailed the character work first, the mythology second and as long as you hit the character work and mythology, and far down that road is something like scope.


GNOH: As an aside, I thought it was your best work yet. Absolutely loved it.


JUSTIN: Thank you. We're so proud of it.


GNOH: I was particularly impressed, because I inherently have a problem with unreliable narrators in fiction, because you get half way through the film and you think 'why am I watching this?'. You did a great job of unravelling that concept though - you did them excellently well, and that's in a movie with two of them.


AARON: I think the reliability or unreliability of the filmmaking being done and the story being told - who's telling it - I think that the things we did with it narratively in the movie, the things we tried. I think it's the first time that we've been frightened by the idea of doing something, frightened to the point where we thought let's make sure we have a backup, so we could edit the movie into not being that if we wanted. And then now - we literally saw the first cut, and we were like oh no, no, no - that is the movie. I don't think this is a spoiler - it's the re-enactment moment, yeah, that revelation. But I genuinely think that was probably our first time that we were a little afraid - let's make sure we have an emergency lever.


JUSTIN: The fact that something that wild ended up seamlessly working and becoming the crux of why the movie works probably has emboldened us that those who hire us in the future will find us desiring to do something that strange, because our biggest swing seemed to connect, and we'll be chasing that for a while.


GNOH: I was worried that I'd read too much into the re-enactment stuff, because it literally changes the whole narrative. Because everything you've watching might not have happened.


JUSTIN: Might not.


GNOH: We know you'd been to Frightfest in Glasgow - how many have you been to? Do you enjoy the Frightfest experience?


AARON: I'm going to tell you something that'll blow your mind - today is our first day ever being at Frightfest. We had a late night last night, we came in for the Frightfest parties. We had a late night, and we all gathered - huddled up this morning - got together, took the tube here, got here, and Paul McEvoy grabbed us, like "let me take you on a tour". And we were like, do we need a tour, we haven't had coffee yet, and we see this staircase lit up with blood and thousands of people and the screen is like bigger than a skyscraper. We've been going to film festivals for over a decade, and we've never been to one like this. Literally the biggest. I mean, everything is bigger. The audience is bigger, the screens are bigger, and the level of excellence of presentation is on some other level. 


DAVE: I mean, it was really fun. We were screening at 10:30 and 11:00, and we were like who is going to come at this time of the morning? And those screens were packed. 


AARON: There’s a curse that every film maker has. You finish your film to a technical standard - you colour grade it, and you're like "this is how it should look". Especially with the sound mix - you mix the music, and it's perfect in a very precise way and it takes weeks, and it's expensive. And I say "you" but I mean your sound mixer, because I don't want to take anything away from them. And then it never looks or sounds that good ever again. You get to the top, and everything is just a little calibration different. It's always like a little gut punch, like a twisting in your gut, like something is like a little wrong, and you can't explain it, you can't apologise for it. And it's so cool to come here to Frightfest, and it looked better than ever. It looked and sounded exactly like it should, and it's just so wonderful. But it's all downhill from here.


GNOH: Did it magnify any errors you missed?


JUSTIN: No! What's wild too, is that as we were making it, we were all hoping that we want it to look like 16mm - how do you do that - you're an Indy filmmaker and you're making a little movie, often making films costs are prohibitive. There are ways to do it - I mean, Joe Begas does it beautifully. For us, we just haven't quite figured that out so we're shooting RED and it does look great because Aaron is an amazing cinematographer - but the whole process is "we want to make it look sixteen millimetre" and those are all the conversations. Huge fans of Joe Begas, and we're aiming for that look and we don't know because we've never seen it with an audience, and then after the screening today three people walked up to Aaron and asked, "Did you shoot film, shoot 16mm?" and we were like "YES!"


AARON: It was like a moment from the office, where it pans to me and I'm Jim and just nodding my head. Just a little wry smile - Yes!


DAVE: And the it pans back to me, and I'm like - See, we don't have to shoot film.


JUSTIN: You're wrong, Dave. It's happening.


GNOH: We're wondering as well - are you here for the whole festival. Wondering whether there are any things you've caught, or want to see.


DAVE: I came in yesterday, and I leave tomorrow.


GNOH: No, then!


DAVE: These gents are living here now.


JUSTIN: We've been living here since April, but we don't get many days off. A three day weekend is pretty unheard of. Yesterday we came to the first Frightfest party, and there were so many friends we hadn't seen in years, and it feels like we've been on vacation. But it also for us feels like going to church - it's been really, really cool. The short answer is we live here, but it feels like we're on vacation.


GNOH: The Frightfest crowd is a really nice crowd. I mean, it's been going so long now that they've got it absolutely sewn up to a tee.


JUSTIN: It's really nice that you can identify the Frightfest crowd - not just from the red lanyard, everyone lets their freak flag fly. I mean the shirts - you see the shirts and you think 'that's my people'. Tattoos, coloured hair, cool t-shirts. What's your shirt?


GNOH: This is mine. We do a horror podcast - it's my own. we're repping our own merch.


DAVE: So are we!


GNOH: So, I noticed the references to Arcadian in "Something in the Dirt", so I think it's safe to assume it's a shared universe now?


JUSTIN: yeah, there's a lot of connections.

GNOH: Any more plans to set anything else inside that universe?


JUSTIN: I mean, yeah. We've got a bunch of stuff that we've been working on. Gosh. It's weird - Knock on wood - it feels like there's not a world where those things don't happen. It doesn't seem like it.


DAVE: I'd be shocked.


JUSTIN: But like I say, knock on wood. We have several things in that world. We spend all of our free time talking about it.


AARON: I mean, I think we're free to talk about it. Smiling Dave: The Reckoning?


DAVE: No, no, nooo - there's no Smiling Dave spin off.


AARON: Alright, alright, I guess we won't talk about that yet.


DAVE: You can't afford me.


GNOH: I'm going to start a petition.


DAVE: Go ahead. I'm not even going to give a number, because I know these guys will fight to get that petition up to whatever number it needs to be.


GNOH: How do you divvy up the work between yourselves?


JUSTIN: I mean, it's kind of like playing 52 card pick-up.


DAVE: Yes and no. I mean, on this one, one set was very specific and we had things to do. Specifically, with those two being in every scene, almost. So, they would have to change between scenes, so Aaron as the DP would give me the layout for the next scene then would go change into the next costume. I would rough everything in, and then we'd come back together and then we had a reset. We had a wall - it was our checklist wall - that was like 'here's everything we do before we hit record'


AARON: By the way, you know that wall. You know that famous meme with Charlie Day? That was our conspiracy wall, with all the scenes connected to each other. You know, here's the shot list, and here's continuity. If a strong wind would blow, there'd be a huge amount of papers. We shot most of everything in order, at least in the apartment. What needed to be there, what was the set-up of the room, but we would go to it everything. I mean, it was kind of specific but was literally the three of us going down a sheet of paper, going through everything step by step on what would be somebodies department.  I mean. does Aaron have his glasses, does Justin’s hair need to be blue - silly things.

JUSTIN: I have a really soft spot in my heart now for script supervisors who have to work with us  because we've done so many movies without someone managing - someone specifically managing continuity, and then we edit those movies, so we know like the lengths of what we get away with, and so I feel so bad for script supervisors who have to come up to us and go "what about this and this?" and we're like "doesn't matter, doesn't matter, doesn't matter." and they're like "we have a job to do" and we're like "we know, we know.”


DAVE: “You're too good at it. Problem is that you're an expert. We need an amateur."


GNOH: We're huge Twilight Zone fans, and we know you worked on an episode. Jordan Peele's revamp is pretty good, but we have to ask - does he just let you get on, or does he have a hand in things?


JUSTIN: That's a really good question. That's so fun. Actually, first off, that job was a gift from God-thing. It worked out scheduling wise that we had maybe more interaction with Jordan than many other film makers did, and he comes in there, and at least on set he wasn't giving us notes, or anything like that but you get to obviously do the obligatory him doing the  Twilight Zone thing, the role of Rod Serling. But we got to tell him, we got to express to him that on every one of our movies on our downtime now we show people his Gremlins 2 sketch from Key and Peele. We were like, do we tell him? Do we tell him? And we told him - and we're big fans. And also, by the way, we were kind of blown away that he had time to make small talk with us because post Get Out Peele is an insanely busy guy. He's got so many responsibilities, it was wonderful he had time to make small talk with us and hang out, have a dinner. And, Aaron, what was his response?


AARON: I don't know how you're going to write this - you're just going to have to describe it or something. We said to him "We're just going to have to tell, that Gremlins 2 sketch was our life blood for many of our productions". He just gave the biggest sigh and then -


JUSTIN: Hold on, wait for it.


(Aaron looks up, smirking with a cheeky smile).


AARON: "What do you wanna know?" He loves that stuff. He loves talking about it. He told us every detail about it, about shooting it, about how he pitched it to get it made, and we're probably not at liberty to tell his stories.


GNOH: Fantastic. I think "Nope" feels like it could fit into your universe, a little bit Endless. Big Eldritch things in the sky.


AARON: Big Eldritch things in the sky, and amateurs trying to document the supernatural.


JUSTIN: Dave, have you seen "Nope" yet?


DAVE: Not Yet.


JUSTIN: Hey, there you go. It's special. It's a very, very good movie. I wish we had more Summer movies like that. Unapologetically weird.


GNOH: It's just a great Monster movie.


JUSTIN: yeah, it's beautiful as well. Shall we talk about "Nope" for an hour?


GNOH: Could do, but you've got people waiting. This is a question that I ask a lot of people - how many marshmallows do you think you could fit in your mouth?


AARON: Oh my god. 45.


GNOH: We're not talking size.


DAVE: No, we have to, because that's critical to the question.


AARON: Camp-fire marshmallow size. Still 45.


DAVE: I could fit 50.


JUSTIN: 63.


GNOH: And I'll ask the question you're probably not allowed to answer. How's the Marvel work going? How's Loki coming along?


AARON: Oh my god, no hang on. Can I just tell you the entire plot of the new season of Loki?


GNOH: Have you started work on it yet?


(Aaron looked nervously about, checking the skyline).


AARON: Tom? Can you just turn off the sniper?


DAVE: Three predator dots will just turn up.


GNOH: It never hurts to ask. Thank you for your time, gentlemen. Much appreciated.


After a long day of interviews, the guys needed to get food. We chatted about that I’d also seen a film called “Everybody Dies By The End” which starred Vinny Curran (from “Resolution” in a starring role), and they were singing his praises as an actor. Aaron took a photograph of my tattoos to send to his girlfriend, insisting to her that I only got them because I was a really big fan of their Twilight Zone Episode..  And as the patterns in “Something In The Dirt” may attest to, perhaps they are. Perhaps even before they’d filmed the episode, it was destined that I would have the tattoos in place. There are patterns everywhere.

​“Something In The Dirt” had its UK Premiere at Arrow Frightfest and will be in UK Cinemas from the 4th of November.

Check out David's review of Something in The Dirt here 

About David Court
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About Tara Court
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