HORROR AUTHOR INTERVIEW : JEREMY BRENNET

Jeremy Bennett was born deep in the heart of Alaska. It had been rumored and prophesied that his coming would heralded a great and fantastic age of wonder, and to celebrate such an event Duran Duran released their hit single Hungry Like the Wolf in his honor. It was a bold move on their part, but one that would ultimately pay off.

He received an Anthropology degree specializing in Archeology with a minor in philosophy. Neither one helped pay the bills. So,he continued to work construction to make beer money.

Soon after graduation Bennett finished his first book called Maleficarum: Hunger of the Witch. We have yet to see how that turns out.

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Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?

Well, I was born in Alaska, but moved down south when I was young. Then moved back and forth a few dozen times to avoid some felony warrants dealing with a chicken, alcohol and a bulldozer. Worst Thanksgiving ever! I have a degree in anthropology specialising in archaeology. I spent years studying the subject and still can’t spell anthropology or archaeology without the use spell check, but what are you going to do?         

Do you prefer the term Horror, Weird Fiction or Dark Fiction?

Horror… its always horror. The term has a negative conation for a lot of readers, and many people will not even read a book if has that label. If you dress your story about a serial killer up and call it a thriller then you’re more likely to get readers. However, that’s not what it is. It’s a horror story.

I do understand why people want to use different labels, and I don’t hold it against them. Money and respect are awesome, but for me its horror because that’s what it is. I also admit that I like the taboo nature of the word as it will usually keep a story a bit more underground, and that gives a work more of a forbidden feel. I want people to feel like they have just cracked open the Necronomicon when they read my book. Even if the book is mostly immature jokes I still want it to feel forbidden.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that I’m keeping it real or some shit. I’ll sell out at the first chances I get. However, I think the word horror helps add horror, and as a horror writer my chief job if to horrify you. So, I think the label its self can make a work seem scarier than it actually is for a lot of people.            

Who are some of your favourite authors?

I love CS Lewis, Clive Barker, Ambrose Bierce, Sydney Fowler Wright, and the mac daddy of them all HP love Craft. 

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

A book by David Wong called John Dies at the End. I liked the movie so I finely got around to the book the other day, and the book is way better. Exactly the kind of thing I’m into

Clive Barker’s book the Great and Secret Show disappointed me. I like Barker but he can be hit or miss. I fully admit he’s a better writer than me, but that one just could not hold my interest.    

How would you describe your writing style?

I like to mix stupidity with hyperbole and then add blood.   

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

Not really. Very interesting I know. If I can make myself laugh with my own words then I don’t care what others think too much. Since I happen to like my own sense of humour its kind of a low bar, but that’s how I like it because my vertical sucks.

What’s your favourite food?

Anything from the sea.

Who would be on the soundtrack to your life story?

The doors, Guns and Roses, Tiny Tim, The Pixies, Pantera, Bucket Head, Black Label Society, Tom Petty, Soundgarden and most importantly Primus.

What’s the most important lesson you have learned about writing?

Hire an editor. Let’s face it nobody is so good they can get it right to the existent that a book needs to be right to be published. Your friends and family are good for the first go, but they will not give you something that other people will pay money for. Your friends and family are good at making sure you don’t look like a retard in front of an editor, but the editor is good at making sure you don’t look like a retard in front of the world.

I mean I didn’t have an editor for this and look at how many spelling mistakes there are.      
What aspects of writing do you find the most difficult?

Editing! Some people love that shit. I don’t get it. Just shitting a book out of your head is supper simple, but that’s just what it is its shit. You must edit, edit, edit, edit, edit and edit, and then you’ll still have trouble convincing people you didn’t eat paint chips as a kid. It’s gruelling but it must be done if you ever want to do anything with your story. It’s the biggest and most important part, and it’s the part that hurts the most. You should edit until you hate your own work and then do it three more times, and then do it again.   

How do you think you’ve evolved creatively?

I’m a one trick pony for the most part. The stories haven’t changed much but I have gotten better at the technical aspects.   

What is the best piece of advice you ever received from another author?

You write like someone that can’t read. Stop doing that.

Who is your favourite character from your book and why?

I would have to say Ann. Normally I like the bad guy, and I love Hegel to death, but Ann seems like a cool cat to me.   

How about you’re least favourite character?  What makes them less appealing to you?

Beverly is probably my least favourite. It’s not that I hate her or anything. It’s just that writing the strait man in any story is just always kind of a chore. She is too much like a real teenage girl for me. She’s just kind of negative and whiny. I don’t normally hang around a lot of teenage girls, but if I had to pick one to chat up for a few hours it wouldn’t be her.      

Fame, fortune, or respect?

Fame gets you sex and that is good, respect get you admiration and that is good, but fortune get you a dental plan and I need that shit. You can’t have sex or respect if I look like a toothless hobo. Fuck the other two just give me money as I can buy both respect and fame with sufficient cash.  

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

My new book it’s got killer blow up dolls in it. That makes me giggle like a drunken twenty two year old girl on laughing gas.

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

Well, it’s about cannibalistic witches that attack a group of young teens and twenty somethings, and it has a lot of demons and exploding bladder in it. I’m a big fan of Evil Dead, Return of the living Dead, and Dead Alive so I tried to combine their feel in the book. However, I did forget to add the zombies so I don’t know how successful I was.

It’s hard to say what I’m going to do next. I get bored quick. Right now I’m working on a part two to Maleficarum: Hunger of the Witch and a lot of other crap. I’ve got one about Punk rockers in 1982 fighting communist monster during the height of the cold war, I’ve got one about brain parasite told from the parasites perspective, and I’ve got one about a werewolf in the old west me and my brother came up with. Hard to say which if any of them I’ll finish first as I short attention span.          

What's the one question you wish you would get asked but never do?

Would you like to have a harem of 300 hot chicks and a big pile of money? 

Find out more about Jeremey by following this link 

Maleficarum is a gripping tale of horror, action and killer blow up dolls.Two teen girls, Beverly and Ann, are stalked by a ravenous witch and her evil brethren. In their desperate attempt to survive they barricade themselves in a New Age bookstore called The Black Crystal. 

As the fight for survival kicks into high gear the besieged teens use what ever weapons they can find, but with one gun and only a few bullets the situation grows more and more desperate. The modern world, the occult and supernatural beings clash in this fast passed story about the darkness that lurks just out of sight, and as hordes of cannibalistic witches gather outside it becomes clear that they’ll need more than locked doors to survive the night.


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