THE DARK MISSIVES WITH DAN HOWARTH

23/4/2021

Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?

I’m a writer from the North of England where the scenery and way of life bleeds heavily into my work. I’ve been writing seriously for 4/5 years. Before that I would only really call myself a dabbler, at best. Now I write every day. I’m dedicated and hungry to get better.

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

Probably the art gallery owner in my story ‘Collaboration’. Whilst I admire the guy’s drive to create, his methods are questionable in the extreme.

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

Crime books. Straight out of university I worked in a call centre and in the downtime between calls I read. I binged Ian Rankin’s Rebus books as well as books by David Peace and Val McDermid. I’d read a lot of horror as a kid, mainly supernatural stuff, but the crime books I read anchored horror in real life. That became formative for me.

Moving on a number of years, I binged David Peace’s Red Riding Quartet and it blew my mind. Not just the horrific content but the unflinching, spare prose. Those four books have left their mark on me for sure.

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’d never shy away from the term horror. Personally, I prefer the term dark fiction, but horror is fine.

I think within the genre, nobody really cares about using the word horror. When you mention it to a layman, they instantly assume you write about ghosts and vampires.

Genres are boxes that make it easier to categorize and sell media. But the lines that divide them aren’t as straight as the lines of a bookshelf. There’s horror in everything. Horror is an emotion at the end of the day, anything that makes you feel that repulsion, that fear, is horror, whether people want to accept that or not.

I’m not sure that as a genre, we need to break out or break past. In my own experience, those that like the darker fiction will find their own way here.

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?

Assuming (praying) that things return to some kind of normal following the pandemic, the two biggest issues to my mind are the climate crisis and the institutional and systematic racism and discrimination in our major nations.

These two things are the great horrors of the modern world. They’ve been ably attacked by the genre, be it through writers like Adam Nevill and Jeff VanderMeer tackling environmental horror or writers and directors like Jordan Peele taking on racism. That’s something I expect to see continue, but I think needs to continue to keep audiences thinking and evolving in their views.

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

For escapism really. People like to be shocked, like to be shaken from their own routines and worlds. Horror provides that. It allows us to dream and to fear with no consequences. Reading or watching horror is the ultimate escapism as we can simply turn it off or close the book if it gets too much. Unfortunately, that’s not something we can do to horrors that happen every day.

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

I’d say diverse voices. It seems to me that horror is leading the way in making writing and submitting stories accessible to those who have previously been marginalized and deliberately kept quiet. Whilst there’s a long way to go, the last couple of years in particular give me hope that everyone will one day be empowered and enabled to tell their own stories and be heard.

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

I’d say Kev Harrison is definitely one to watch. He’s been knocking it out the park with his work lately. His novella The Balance was really good and well received. I know there’s more in the tank from Kev.

Also, I have a friend, Grant Longstaff, who is not only a fantastic beta reader but a great writer. He’s appeared in a few anthologies so far and I’m really excited to see what he can bring to the table in the next few years.

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

Someone randomly tweeted me a few months back as part of a larger thread about stories that have disturbed them. She said that even months after listening to ‘Collaboration’ on The Other Stories podcast, the ending still made her shudder. That was a nice moment.

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

Tough one. It’s all difficult depending on the day. Lately though, I’ve started to find it easier to get first drafts done. Now I need to teach myself to edit harder. To really hammer that story into shape more and make it sing. That in itself, is a separate skill.

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

As long as topics are handled with care, I think there are valid points to be made about almost anything. But the care taken by the writer is key. That’s where the exploration of any topic lives or dies. If you don’t treat your subject matter with respect, the story is worthless.

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

I’d like to think that I’ve started to find my own voice, particularly in the last few years. I’ve not only identified the topics I like to write about, but the way in which I approach prose has changed. I think some of my initial story attempts were a bit stuffy, written as though a teacher would grade them for grammar etc. When you write like that, you’re never true to yourself.

Now I feel as though I’ve discovered more about who I am and not only that, it translates onto the page a lot more too.

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

Writing advice is subjective so that’s quite tough. I’ll go for one specific thing and one general.

I’ve found the use of crutch words to really slow down my fiction in the past. Namely using “was” and “had” too much. Adding excess words to sentences that didn’t need to be there. I think by eliminating that, I’ve managed to make my writing snappier.

But the best advice you can give to any writer is simply to do it. To write as much as you can. Writing craft books are great and they can really help inform what you do, but unless you do it often, all that advice is worthless.

Turn up. Do the work. It’s the only way.

Which of your characters is your favourite?

I’d probably say Dustin from my story named after him. It opens my collection and is the first story I was happy with my voice in. Dustin is effectively a costume of a cartoon tiger worn by staff at a rundown holiday resort in my story. There’s a lot of horror in my mind about that place. There are lots more things for Dustin to see.

Which of your books best represents you?

As the author of one full-length book the answer to this is pretty easy. Dark Missives. There are eleven stories in the book, pretty wide-ranging in terms of their themes and subjects. I like to think they provide a decent insight into the things that make me tick in terms of the fiction I like to read and write.

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

I’ve written five novels in the last few years. Some horror, some not. Ideally, I’d like to get at least one of them out there. I’ve just finished a novel, a near-future dystopian horror story. That’s a real passion project for me. I like that book. Now I need to make it shine and get it a home.

I’ve got a novella that I’m looking to home as well. It’s with beta readers at the minute so once that’s knocked into shape, I’ll have to find a plan for it.

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

I don’t know if this is a cliché but it bugs the hell out of me. People falling over as they run away from a killer/monster/alien. People hardly ever fall over, but as soon as they’re being chased, they fall all the time, usually dropping and smashing their phone etc. It’s so boring to see in a film or TV show. Ugh.

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

I really enjoyed Will Carver’s Hinton Hollow Death Trip. He has a delicious sense of bleak humour to everything he writes. I’d also highly recommend (if not more so) his novel Nothing Important Happened Today. This book is like my Fight Club. It has blown me open.

I’d also massively recommend My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite. Pretty much for the same reason, this book has a brutal, dark sense of humour. One of my favourite ever reads.

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

Currently that question would be, do you want to go for a pint? The answer would be yes, as long as we can go back to 2019 in order to do so.

Dark Missives by Dan Howarth

DARK MISSIVES is the debut collection from author Dan Howarth, bringing together 11 stories that encompass the full range of horror.

A holiday camp employee finds himself in the middle of a murder spree. A band’s biggest fan discovers just how far he will go for new music. A detective investigating a series of murders gets pulled into the seedy underbelly of the city. A delivery driver gives in to temptation and opens a suspicious package. The owner of a gallery is determined to leave his own legacy on the art world.

Let DARK MISSIVES take you on a tour of the roads less travelled in Northern England to explore what truly lies in the shadows.

https://books2read.com/darkmissives

Dan Howarth

I’m Dan Howarth, a writer from the North of England. I mostly write horror, which is fitting as I am Mancunian born but now find myself living on Merseyside.

I am the author of Dark Missives, a collection of short horror fiction. Dark Missives is my first full-length release as a writer and collects a eleven of my short stories from various places as well as some original stories.

My stories have featured in numerous publications both online and in print. Most notably, a number of my stories have featured at The Other Stories podcast where they have been downloaded over 100,000 times.

I have also co-edited three themed anthologies with James Everington. The Hyde Hotel (2016) collects stories from a range of writers, including one of my own, with all stories set in the same sinister hotel. Imposter Syndrome (2017) collates stories from a diverse set of writers on the theme of doubles and doppelgangers. Imposter

Syndrome was short-listed for a British Fantasy Society Award in 2018. Pareidolia (2019) collects stories about the phenomenon of seeing faces in other objects.
When I’m not writing, I enjoy craft beer, German football and barbecue food.

WEBSITE LINKS
www.danhowarthwriter.com

Twitter - https://twitter.com/danhowarth20

Amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dan-Howarth/e/B07D7YDSZ5?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1618475534&sr=8-1