TO DUST YOU SHALL RETURN BY FRED VENTURINI (AUTHOR INTERVIEW)

22/6/2021

Another, deeper reason I’ve wrestled with is that it makes us happier. It’s forced “negative visualization” that is scientifically proven to increase happiness and contentment, and has been practiced for a couple thousand years, most notably by the Stoics.

Could you tell the readers a little bit about yourself?

I’m Fred Venturini, a lifetime fan of the horror genre and a novelist with a new horror/action book hitting the streets, To Dust You Shall Return.
I was set on fire when I was 10, so I’m a burn survivor. That’s about as close as it gets to living out a horror movie in real life.

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

Without question, the villain of my latest book, known only as the Mayor. Imagine that Clark Kent grew up as a prick and decided to dominate and torture Smallville, and that’s the Mayor. He’s obsessed with inflicting pain and crushing the hope of the people he sees as his subjects and playthings.

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

The satire and minimalism of Chuck Palahniuk’s work, and the writing community that rallied around him in the early 2000’s. Once I discovered his novels, I started to experiment more with voice, with tense, with POV. I felt the limits of writing lift and my horror sensibilities turned into pure transgressive fiction.

Another big influence is 80’s and 90’s action cinema, and the best action movies of the 2000’s. I always joke that I write books because I grew up in a small town, didn’t know how to make movies, and wanted an unlimited budget. I try to write cinematically and my favorite archetype is the “reactivated badass” that you find in many of these stories. I also love how kinetic and funny action movies can be. You won’t find better audience movies than a well-executed horror movie or a slam-bang action movie.

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?

When you say “horror” to most people, they think of iconic slasher movies and Stephen King. This is my unofficial poll, of course. The problem is that horror has so many distinct subgenres and almost everyone has one they just can’t handle, so if they can’t handle the deep end of the pool, they simply refuse to jump in.
We’re left with a reflex to Trojan horse it into stories without calling it horror, which may soften those assumptions over time.

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?

Because of the pandemic and the political climate, I think we’ll see “living with the monster” as more of a theme vs. fighting the monster. To me that unlocks the potential for a lot of new stories and a deeper sense of dread and terror.

Horror has always been on the cutting edge of commenting on social justice, and I think that trend will continue and we’re going to see some books and movies we’ll be talking about for decades coming out of this era.

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

Horror is scary, and scary is fun. It’s the same reason a roller coaster is popular.
Another, deeper reason I’ve wrestled with is that it makes us happier. It’s forced “negative visualization” that is scientifically proven to increase happiness and contentment, and has been practiced for a couple thousand years, most notably by the Stoics.

And when you’ve had a shitty day, week, month, or year, or maybe even a shitty life entirely, at least you’re not getting your face wrecked by Freddy Krueger or getting eaten by Pennywise.

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

Going right to meta and self-referential commentary as an evolution has skipped over some rich storytelling territory.

Instead of commenting on the tropes, I think horror stories exist that can use the established rules to build new stories and worlds without the need to explain those rules. It’s a shortcut and there are interesting, peripheral stories to tell.

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

The fresh voices and points of view from authors like Stephen Graham Jones, Gabino Iglesias, and Gwendolyn Kiste have blown me away.
Now, SGJ has been writing his tail off for a long time and I think finally, just now, he’s starting to get his due in wider circles.
But the other two? Look’em up if you don’t already know them, and you’re in for a treat.

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

I had a capsule in The New York Times and it was positive, so I’ll never forget that one. I certainly don’t sweat bad reviews and find them important to make the good ones stick.

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

Marketing your books! Selling eight hours of entertainment for $15 has never been harder. Publishers don’t exactly know how to do it well, and aren’t building new authors. They’re investing in the big, bankable authors and a bunch of lottery tickets, waiting for someone to stick before they push their chips in.

Marketing as an author is exhausting and overbearing and it seems like everyone has a book they’re pushing. I just wish I could write and publish without trying so hard to sell the book.

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

I would write about anything, without limit. But I’d be careful about publishing certain things. There are certain points of view I’d be afraid I couldn’t handle, and I’m not qualified to handle.

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

Writers in their formative years stick to the familiar, as I did. So, you run the risk of feeling and sounding like a knockoff. My writing hasn’t developed as much as my voice has, and the confidence to get away from the familiar and do bold things on the page. I’ve settled into this groove of just accepting I like what I like, and they can exist together: horror and action, horror and superheroes/sci-fi, horror and YA love stories.

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

I was at an event with Chuck Palahniuk and he gave out a piece of advice I’ll aways remember: live an interesting life. I see a lot of teenage and college-age wannabe writers that don’t have anything interesting to say about the world and just want to be published, so I think this advice is critical.
And at my age (40 if you care to ask), it’s still advice I take to heart.

Which of your characters is your favourite?

Dale Sampson of The Heart Does Not Grow Back was my first protagonist, and man, did I put that kid through the wringer. Somehow he made it out on the other side with his soul in-tact, and he’s out there somewhere even though the world thinks he’s dead, with a gift he’ll be strong enough to share with the world someday.

Which of your books best represents you?

This one is easy: The Escape of Light. If it seems like an outlier in my canon to have a YA love story, it’s because The Escape of Light is the book I had to write just to get it out of my system and open up the pipeline.

It’s about a burn survivor (like me) who shares a couple of unexpected tragedies with me from real-life events.

The novel represents me best mostly because of my belief in resilience as a critical skill and how we can find happiness under any circumstances if we just stop looking everywhere but inside of ourselves.

Do you have a favorite line or passage from your work, and would you like to share it with us?

I’ve always liked “The suffering of human potential comes from the lack of a true pinnacle.” It aligns with my philosophy, that our misery comes from striving and we fetishize never being satisfied as “drive.”

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

To Dust You Shall Return is a passion project of mine I’ve always wanted to see in print, with the things I love the most mashed into one, crazy story.

I wanted to take a classic “reactivated badass” action hero character and drop him smack dab into a Stephen King plot.

I’m working on a novel now that is a different take on the slasher subgenre. I’m interested in why, after being attacked so many times by the same obviously supernatural killer, do the citizens choose to keep living there? What kind of person is attracted to a clearly haunted place that is massacred every few years? Imagine a prestige TV series called Haddonfield and that’s the vibe I’m going for.

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

Oh, a few. First of all, when’s the last time any of us experienced a car that wouldn’t start?

No one falls down all that much when running for their lives.
And I’m over dumb characters. Stop doing silly things like splitting up or running away from a car without at least hopping off the road.

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

Great is such a big word - I’d have to say Stephen Florida. The novel blew me away, and it has this unreliable narrator that intrigues and repels you for the length of the book. While it’s quite the literary novel, I think horror fans would dig it, you feel like something terrible is around the corner at any moment and that Stephen is capable of literally anything in pursuit of his goals.

Writing is a tough enough gig; I just can’t bring myself to call out an author or his/her/their novel for being disappointing in a public space.

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

Can you do a really good impression of Arnold Schwarzenegger?

Answer: I know everyone has an Ah-nold impression but I have lovingly crafted mine over the course of many years and rarely get a chance to use it.

Fred Venturini

Fred Venturini has eleven scars from eleven separate incidents, the most interesting of which is the time he was set on fire. He is the acclaimed author of the novels The Heart Does Not Grow Back and The Escape of Light, and his short fiction has been featured in Chuck Palahniuk’s Burnt Tongues anthology. He lives in Southern Illinois with his wife and daughter.

WEBSITE LINKS

Website: https://fredventurini.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/venterminator
Twitter: https://twitter.com/fredventurini
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/venterminator/

Book buy links
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Dust-You-Shall-Return/dp/1684426340/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=to+dust+you+shall+return&qid=1621954947&s=books&sr=1-1
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/to-dust-you-shall-return-fred-venturini/1137992228?ean=9781684426348
Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/books/to-dust-you-shall-return-9781684426348/9781684426355
IndieBound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781684426348

To Dust You Shall Return by Fred Venturini

"Venturini doesn't write in words and sentences. Instead, he lines the page with barbwire, concertina wire and spike strips that deliver the story deep into the reader's skin." –#1 New York Times Bestselling Author Chuck Palahniuk

A town ruled by evil. A man ruled by darkness. Only one can survive.

Curtis Quinn is a Chicago mob legend with a particular set of skills and a price on his head. When the woman he loves disappears, Curtis follows her trail to the occult town of Harlow, where no one is allowed to leave, and an enigmatic, sinister overlord known only as “the Mayor” rules by an autocratic regime.

Beth Jarvis is a plucky teenager unwrapping the secrets of her hometown―Harlow―and the mysterious ceremony that awaits her on her eighteenth birthday. What Beth doesn’t know is the truth about her sister Kate, who escaped their strange town over a decade ago and has evaded the Mayor and his disciples ever since.

What Curtis doesn’t know is that Kate is the woman he’s fallen in love with, and she’s running from a threat far greater than the mobsters who want to kill him. His fate collides with Beth’s as she tries to escape Harlow and the disgusting fate that awaits her, and Curtis finds himself unraveling a mystery that leads to an impossible and terrifying conclusion―that the Mayor of Harlow is more than just a man, and the hardest target he’s ever tried to kill.