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 Grimoire of the Four Impostors |
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