FRAZER LEE PLAYS THE GOTHIC GAME!
28/11/2022
 Tobe Hooper once told me that my film Red Lines gave him ‘the total creeps’. That was a moment, let me tell you. 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. Damnation: The Gothic Game |
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