HORROR AUTHOR INTERVIEW : WILLIAM TOOKER
13/8/2014
 ECHOES OF THE FALL A sarcastic quip machine who could have gone either way William made friends with a group of smart kids who were just as bored. They provided him a fertile playground for his imagination. Then he went off to The Ohio State University to perform on stage and drink a lot. He did manage to end up as a recurring character in the Ohio State Lantern’s comic strip The Neighbors by Jeff Yoakum. He circulated from San Francisco to Tampa Bay to Denver and finally Columbus, OH where his legacy of terror and cheese lives on. Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself? I am from Marysville, Ohio. It’s a small town with a big Honda plant, or it was when I grew up there. Growing up I started 3 people on smoking habits and then quit myself. So as a young man I was already shortening lifespans. What do you like to do when you're not writing? I watch nerds argue online. I like to noodle around with the camera. During the cooler months I sell stolen corpses to evil scientists. What’s your favourite food? The exquisitely marinated heart of an albino lion tamer …and Chipotle Who would be on the soundtrack to your life story? Judas Priest, Cage the Elephant, The Offspring, Audioslave, Stone Sour Do you prefer the term Horror, Weird Fiction or Dark Fiction? I actually prefer the term Speculative Fiction as it suggests you never know what you’re getting but I always answer to Horror. Who are some of your favourite authors? Roger Zelazny, Martin Adil-Smith, Glen Cook, Stephen King, Clive Barker, Robert E; Howard, Clark Ashton Smith. Michael Moorcock, Heather Gladney, Stepehen R. Donaldson, Gerry Spence and Snookie one of these is a lie What is your all-time favourite horror novel, and film? Even though the author isn’t on my list of favourites the book Al Hazred blew me away If you could erase one horror cliché what would be your choice? Now that’s an interesting question. I think probably the supernaturally invulnerable slasher bugs me the most. I want inside the head of one. What runs through your head when you’re picking off teenagers? What’s he getting out of it? Which fictional character would be you perfect neighbour, and who would be your nightmare neighbour? Dworkin of Amber would be the best- super powerful and able to bend reality while crazy as a shit house rat. The Witch King of Angmar…always with the cawing of the Fell Beast and he thinks he’s so fancy with his stupid invisible burning head with a crown on it. What do you think of the current state of the genre? I think the market is saturated with sexy vampires, and other immortal teenagers living out these romance novel fantasies. But zombies are making it a popular genre again. I just wish that 4 out of every 5 horror movies wasn’t complete horseshit. What was the last great book you read, and what was the last book that disappointed you? The great one was The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King. The disappointing one was called The Reincarnationist. It was written by some professor of creative writing and I saw everything coming. The narrative was pristine but it was very predictable and everything I wished I never had to read again from my high school library. How would you describe your writing style? I believe my favourite description would be “inside your head.” Are there any reviews of your work, positive or negative that have stayed with you? My friend Lindsey Beth Goddard once reviewed something of mine and my favourite line was “He’s so smooth it makes me wonder if I’m even hip at all.” What aspects of writing to do you find the most difficult? Edits. There is some weird time limit before which your own mistakes are invisible to you. It’s as if you can only see what you meant to write not what you actually did write. Is there one subject you would never write about as an author? What is it? I don’t see any reason to put that sort of limit on creativity. If you could kill off any character from any other book who would you chose and how would they die? Jonathan Harker. The brides kill him in the castle before Dracula can rescue him. Then Dracula kills Van Helsing and Lucy;s suitors fall apart and are rudderless. Then Mina becomes his bride and when he reaches a moment of bliss he thanks god for bringing her back and is released from the curse. Mina however suddenly sees him as food and tears him to shreds feeding on him. And yes, I realize that in the book the star crossed lovers plot didn’t exist but I just really like my answer. What do you think makes a good story? An emotional connection with at least one character. How important are names to you in your books? Do you choose the names based on liking the way it sounds or the meaning? I’m not sure what importance they bear to the reader but when I’m hunting for a name some feel right to me and some I reject offhand. So you get the names of characters that I like seeing over and over. Of course sometimes I make jokes to myself in the names. How do you think you’ve evolved creatively? When I was younger I could create content that was compelling but couldn’t figure out how to connect everything. I had trouble trying to just start a scene of real life. I had to figure out how to take inventory of what was actually going on for everyone. The little details and listening to myself think and interacting in unusual circumstances with people nothing like me. I could always describe but having a life was what made that ability interesting. What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers? A vocabulary. A passing knowledge of any 3 or 4 world mythologies. Something to say. How do you market your work? What avenues have you found to work best for your genre? Podcasts, book signings, social media…when you start writing books you don’t realize you have to talk about it and yourself so much you get a little bored with yourself Who is your favourite character from your book and why? Jane Devore- I remember having a very strong sense of her as I was writing. She is a survivor but with an open heart. She’s smart, tough and a little damaged but so determined. The sort of person I respect the most in real life. How about the least favourite character? What makes them less appealing to you? Big Chico. He was useful as a bad guy but every time I wrote a scene with him it smelled like tequila and asshole in my mind. Fame, fortune, or respect? Respect can be had for the effort of being true to yourself and fame just makes you a target, but if I had the fortune I’d like to use a lot of that to help animals find homes and help get kids proper education so a rocky start doesn’t mean a hard life. What piece of your own work are you most proud of? The story Never Send a Monster from my Creephouse Comics imprint. It was an honest unleashing of my imagination. And are there any that you would like to forget about? It seems I already have. For those who haven’t read any of your books, what book of yours do you think best represents your work and why? If we’re talking straight text books Echoes of the Fall is my freshman effort but there are a lot of different angles in this book so I think it shows a lot of my sides. Can you tell us about your last book, and can you tell us about what you are working on next? Echoes of the Fall is the story of the town of Veil, CA. It is a town whose entire population is at the mercy of powerful beings playing games with their lives for sport and conquest. In the wreckage of high society a gala has been going on for nearly 100 years and the spectral recipients dance on. Mysterious Flying Objects are spotted over town. The police won’t go to the Downs because of the murdering shape shifter they know is there. You can’t trust your dreams and the kids can’t trust the toys. It’s a ride. Next is the Invisible Society. Sorcerers have been living unseen among us for all of civilization. This is the foundation story that builds the Universe of the Invisible Society. A demon has come sniffing around looking for a particular flavor of blood, the blood that will grant it dominion over the mortal world. Why is this turning the world upside down for Jack Fugazi; because no good deed goes unpunished. What's the one question you wish you would get asked but never do? And what would be the answer? To what do you attribute to your success in dodge ball in high school? I attribute it to my ability to appear nonchalant in enemy territory when they blow the 3 quarter court whistle. Find out more about William and his work by following the links below The Great California Earthquake of 1916 claimed many casualties. In the tourist town of Veil, CA it granted 4 men life and powers beyond their scope. The remnants of a long destroyed alien city were revealed as the affluent section of town dropped into a sinkhole. Now armed with deadly and alien biological technologies they battle for control of the town of Veil with the unsuspecting citizens as pawns in an infernal struggle for power. Shape shifters, monsters, cultists, dreams and even the toys of children are deadly weapons in a war for territory and souls. The Heart and Soul of Horror InterviewsComments are closed.
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