SNAKEBITE MEETS JEFF STRAND
With THE SINISTER MR CORPSE being our book of the month and
with WOLF HUNT being released on E-Book, I managed to track down horror author
Jeff Strand for a quick interview:
Firstly I wanted to give you tons of praise for THE SINISTER MR CORPSE, what inspired the storyline?
The mental gestation period on that book was so long that I can't pinpoint any specific inspiration, but one day I started writing a screenplay where scientists were bringing a corpse back from the dead while a camera crew filmed them and reporters watched. One of the scientists had his fingers in the corpse's mouth, and I kept stretching out the gag where you KNEW the body was going to come back to life and bite his fingers off. It was about a page of prodding around in there before the inevitable happened.
I abandoned that script after only a few pages, but later I took that concept and changed it to live television. From there, of course, our zombie had to become a national celebrity, and I thought it would be funny to write a novel about a zombie who starts out as a complete jerk but learns to become a better person. The feel-good zombie novel of the year!
Speaking to you previously I can tell you have a great sense of humour, have you passed some of your traits into the main character, Stanley’s persona?
I'd like to think that I'm nowhere near as obnoxious as Stanley. There's not much that he says in the book that I can imagine myself saying in real life. I tend to have a pretty dry sense of humour in person, and though I guess he has some of my sarcasm, Stanley's sense of humour is very much about covering for some big-time insecurity.
I have spoken to many writers over the years about various writing styles, What kind of writer are you? i.e do you plot your work or go with the flow?
It varies a lot from project to project. With THE SINISTER MR. CORPSE, for example, I knew how things were going to work out in the last two chapters, and I had ideas for a couple of key scenes along the way, but most of it was just made up as I went along. DWELLER, on the other hand, had a detailed chapter-by-chapter outline. PRESSURE is divided into four parts; I knew where each part began and ended, but not much beyond that. WOLF HUNT had a full synopsis before I started writing. THE SEVERED NOSE was a 100% "go with the flow" book--I don't think I could have told you what was going to happen more than a page ahead. Generally, though, I like to have a vague idea of where things are headed and then leave myself open to all of the ideas that occur to me while I'm writing a book.
I can’t interview without mentioning DWELLER (which without a shadow of a doubt was my favourite book of 2010). The relationship between the boy and his monster is a sad tale an unbreakable friendship but also the loneliness one person can feel inside himself, was the story based on some inner feelings or just a brilliant story that popped into you head?
It came from the concept of "A boy becomes friends with a monster, and the novel follows them throughout their entire lifetime, from childhood to old age." The whole "bullied kid has a murderous monster pal" has been done before, but I'd never seen that idea told in a way that covered a few decades. The book wasn't really based on any personal inner feelings; it was just about figuring out what kind of person WOULD form a lifetime bond with a big hairy clawed fanged creature in the woods. Toby, the main character, makes some pretty freaking awful decisions during the course of the novel, but my goal was to make sure the reader could understand his feelings, even if you're screaming "No! No! Don't do it!" at the page.
What got you writing horror?
It's what I liked to read! I'd written horror as early as high school, but my first three published novels were all comedies. Then my novel GRAVEROBBERS WANTED (NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY) got me labelled as a "horror author," and I completely embraced that.
With the closure of many book stores in both America and the UK how do you see the book trade going in the future?
Digital! I honestly think that a lot of the people who despise the idea of e-books would change their mind after five minutes with a Kindle. As much as I love browsing bookstores, there's something incredible about the fact that I can be sitting at home listening to a podcast, hear a recommendation for a book that sounds interesting, and have a free sample of it on my e-reader in 60 seconds. If I like the sample, I can have the full book in another 60 seconds.
I look back fondly at the several years I spent in the late 80's and early 90's desperately seeking a copy of Jack Ketchum's OFF SEASON. When I FINALLY found a copy in a used bookstore it was like a heavenly light shone down upon me while a choir sang. I loved the thrill of the hunt, and there's some nostalgia about the days of obsessively scouring bookstores for rare titles...but ultimately, I'd rather read the book than look for it.
Are you more of a horror fiction or horror film fan?
I'd rather read a really good horror novel than watch a really good horror movie...but I'd rather watch a really bad horror movie than read a really bad horror novel.
What is you favourite book and film?
My favourite book is BOY'S LIFE by Robert McCammon. My favourite film is SHAUN OF THE DEAD.
WOLF HUNT has just been released can you tell our readers a little about the story?
George and Lou are a couple of thugs for hire who've been given a pretty simple job: to transport a man in a cage across the state of Florida. The man, they're told, is a werewolf. I wanted to call the novel THE MAN IN A CAGE WHO MAY OR MAY NOT BE A WEREWOLF BUT YOU'LL HAVE TO READ THE BOOK TO FIND OUT FOR SURE to avoid spoilers, but decided against it, so I'll reveal that yes, he is a werewolf. And he gets loose, leading George and Lou to go on a...WOLF HUNT!
After the bleak DWELLER, I was in the mood to write more of a "fun" book. I'm not sure I'd call it a full-on horror/comedy like THE SINISTER MR. CORPSE or BENJAMIN'S PARASITE...it's really more of an action/horror novel with lots of laughs and no lack of gore.
What is next for Jeff Strand?
My next novel, FANGBOY, comes out in April from Delirium Books. It's a fairy tale and much more on the "comedy" side of the horror/comedy equation. Then I have a novella called FAINT OF HEART, which is much more on the "horror" side of the equation. It's a very dark suspense tale. That one isn't yet scheduled, but it'll be from Sideshow Press. Beyond that, I'm currently without a deadline at the moment, which means that I'm having fun working on lots of different projects at once. Even I don't know which one will be finished first!
JEFF STRAND IS THE AUTHOR OF SOME BRILLIANT BOOKS. SOME OF THOSE BOOKS INCLUDE: DWELLER, THE SINISTER MR CORPSE AND PRESSURE
FOR MORE INFO ON JEFF VISIT HIS WEBSITE: http://jeffstrand.wordpress.com/
TO BUY A COPY OF JEFF'S NEW BOOK WOLF HUNT VISIT AMAZON: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wolf-Hunt/dp/B004RYVGQM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1300488935&sr=8-1
Firstly I wanted to give you tons of praise for THE SINISTER MR CORPSE, what inspired the storyline?
The mental gestation period on that book was so long that I can't pinpoint any specific inspiration, but one day I started writing a screenplay where scientists were bringing a corpse back from the dead while a camera crew filmed them and reporters watched. One of the scientists had his fingers in the corpse's mouth, and I kept stretching out the gag where you KNEW the body was going to come back to life and bite his fingers off. It was about a page of prodding around in there before the inevitable happened.
I abandoned that script after only a few pages, but later I took that concept and changed it to live television. From there, of course, our zombie had to become a national celebrity, and I thought it would be funny to write a novel about a zombie who starts out as a complete jerk but learns to become a better person. The feel-good zombie novel of the year!
Speaking to you previously I can tell you have a great sense of humour, have you passed some of your traits into the main character, Stanley’s persona?
I'd like to think that I'm nowhere near as obnoxious as Stanley. There's not much that he says in the book that I can imagine myself saying in real life. I tend to have a pretty dry sense of humour in person, and though I guess he has some of my sarcasm, Stanley's sense of humour is very much about covering for some big-time insecurity.
I have spoken to many writers over the years about various writing styles, What kind of writer are you? i.e do you plot your work or go with the flow?
It varies a lot from project to project. With THE SINISTER MR. CORPSE, for example, I knew how things were going to work out in the last two chapters, and I had ideas for a couple of key scenes along the way, but most of it was just made up as I went along. DWELLER, on the other hand, had a detailed chapter-by-chapter outline. PRESSURE is divided into four parts; I knew where each part began and ended, but not much beyond that. WOLF HUNT had a full synopsis before I started writing. THE SEVERED NOSE was a 100% "go with the flow" book--I don't think I could have told you what was going to happen more than a page ahead. Generally, though, I like to have a vague idea of where things are headed and then leave myself open to all of the ideas that occur to me while I'm writing a book.
I can’t interview without mentioning DWELLER (which without a shadow of a doubt was my favourite book of 2010). The relationship between the boy and his monster is a sad tale an unbreakable friendship but also the loneliness one person can feel inside himself, was the story based on some inner feelings or just a brilliant story that popped into you head?
It came from the concept of "A boy becomes friends with a monster, and the novel follows them throughout their entire lifetime, from childhood to old age." The whole "bullied kid has a murderous monster pal" has been done before, but I'd never seen that idea told in a way that covered a few decades. The book wasn't really based on any personal inner feelings; it was just about figuring out what kind of person WOULD form a lifetime bond with a big hairy clawed fanged creature in the woods. Toby, the main character, makes some pretty freaking awful decisions during the course of the novel, but my goal was to make sure the reader could understand his feelings, even if you're screaming "No! No! Don't do it!" at the page.
What got you writing horror?
It's what I liked to read! I'd written horror as early as high school, but my first three published novels were all comedies. Then my novel GRAVEROBBERS WANTED (NO EXPERIENCE NECESSARY) got me labelled as a "horror author," and I completely embraced that.
With the closure of many book stores in both America and the UK how do you see the book trade going in the future?
Digital! I honestly think that a lot of the people who despise the idea of e-books would change their mind after five minutes with a Kindle. As much as I love browsing bookstores, there's something incredible about the fact that I can be sitting at home listening to a podcast, hear a recommendation for a book that sounds interesting, and have a free sample of it on my e-reader in 60 seconds. If I like the sample, I can have the full book in another 60 seconds.
I look back fondly at the several years I spent in the late 80's and early 90's desperately seeking a copy of Jack Ketchum's OFF SEASON. When I FINALLY found a copy in a used bookstore it was like a heavenly light shone down upon me while a choir sang. I loved the thrill of the hunt, and there's some nostalgia about the days of obsessively scouring bookstores for rare titles...but ultimately, I'd rather read the book than look for it.
Are you more of a horror fiction or horror film fan?
I'd rather read a really good horror novel than watch a really good horror movie...but I'd rather watch a really bad horror movie than read a really bad horror novel.
What is you favourite book and film?
My favourite book is BOY'S LIFE by Robert McCammon. My favourite film is SHAUN OF THE DEAD.
WOLF HUNT has just been released can you tell our readers a little about the story?
George and Lou are a couple of thugs for hire who've been given a pretty simple job: to transport a man in a cage across the state of Florida. The man, they're told, is a werewolf. I wanted to call the novel THE MAN IN A CAGE WHO MAY OR MAY NOT BE A WEREWOLF BUT YOU'LL HAVE TO READ THE BOOK TO FIND OUT FOR SURE to avoid spoilers, but decided against it, so I'll reveal that yes, he is a werewolf. And he gets loose, leading George and Lou to go on a...WOLF HUNT!
After the bleak DWELLER, I was in the mood to write more of a "fun" book. I'm not sure I'd call it a full-on horror/comedy like THE SINISTER MR. CORPSE or BENJAMIN'S PARASITE...it's really more of an action/horror novel with lots of laughs and no lack of gore.
What is next for Jeff Strand?
My next novel, FANGBOY, comes out in April from Delirium Books. It's a fairy tale and much more on the "comedy" side of the horror/comedy equation. Then I have a novella called FAINT OF HEART, which is much more on the "horror" side of the equation. It's a very dark suspense tale. That one isn't yet scheduled, but it'll be from Sideshow Press. Beyond that, I'm currently without a deadline at the moment, which means that I'm having fun working on lots of different projects at once. Even I don't know which one will be finished first!
JEFF STRAND IS THE AUTHOR OF SOME BRILLIANT BOOKS. SOME OF THOSE BOOKS INCLUDE: DWELLER, THE SINISTER MR CORPSE AND PRESSURE
FOR MORE INFO ON JEFF VISIT HIS WEBSITE: http://jeffstrand.wordpress.com/
TO BUY A COPY OF JEFF'S NEW BOOK WOLF HUNT VISIT AMAZON: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wolf-Hunt/dp/B004RYVGQM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1300488935&sr=8-1
Snakebite meets cult zombie master David Moody
As snakebite horror has made AUTUMN book of the month this month we thought we would track down DAVID MOODY for a quick interview:
You grew in cult status for your zombie series Autumn as a self published author, why did you decide to go to a bigger publisher?
When the Hater movie deal was announced and Guillermo del Toro was linked to the project, there was a sudden surge of interest in my books. At that time I was still self-publishing and I was making a decent number of sales. One thing which always frustrated me as a self-published author, however, was the fact that it's incredibly difficult to be taken seriously. Booksellers and media outlets such as genre magazines frequently don't deal with self-published books, and lots of people assume that all self-published books are second rate stories written by second-rate authors who couldn't get published traditionally. After the announcement of the Hater movie deal, I was approached by a large US publisher to take over my books. Although I knew I'd be giving up a lot of the control over the books that I had when I published them myself, I also knew that signing with them would mean I'd get much more exposure and have the benefit of working with editors, marketing teams and designers with vast amounts of industry knowledge. It proved to be a good decision - the Hater series has sold to more than 15 different countries now and the books have done really well for me. To put things into perspective, within 6 months of the re-release of Hater, I'd sold more books than I had by myself in the preceding 5 years!
Why are you re-issuing Autumn from the start and not continuing from the next book in the series?
I'm very proud of the Autumn series, but as I mentioned in my previous answer, they were self-published and as such didn't get the kind of exposure I really wanted. When Thomas Dunne Books in the US took the series on, it made sense to start again from the beginning. It's given me a welcome opportunity to revisit the earlier books and re-edit them. I'm thrilled with how they're turning out.
What did you think of the film adaptation of Autumn?
I think it's fair to say I have mixed feelings about the Autumn movie. It was by no means perfect, but I think it was unfairly mauled by a lot of reviewers. Like the books, it tried to do something different with the zombie genre, and that alienated a lot of people who just wanted more of the blood and guts and flesh eating which are typical of zombie films. The production company really put a huge amount of effort and dedication into the project and they managed to assemble a really good main cast (Dexter Fletcher, Dickon Tolson and the late David Carradine in particular). They were limited by a very small budget and as a result the film's not a complete technical success - there were certain things they just couldn't do with the resources they had. I'm still very proud of the fact that a movie was made from my novel. A lot of people who've enjoyed the books who knew what to expect seemed to enjoy the movie too.
You have recently released DOG BLOOD the sequel to HATER is there any plans for a 3rd book in series?
Yes, the third and final Hater book is called 'Them Or Us' and it'll be released in late 2011. It's a continuation of the story of Danny McCoyne, but it takes the whole Hater story in a very different direction and I hope people will enjoy it.
What is happening with he film adaptation of HATER? Have they found a new director?
I'm actually waiting for an update right now. The original director, J A Bayona (who directed The Orphanage) is currently working on another movie, and Guillermo del Toro (the busiest man in the movie business it seems) is juggling about a thousand and one projects, so I'm just sitting here impatiently waiting to hear what's happening!
What are you currently working on?
Right now I'm finishing up Them Or Us, and I'm also working on edits for the Autumn books. There's going to be another book in the series, so I'm planning that too.
You grew in cult status for your zombie series Autumn as a self published author, why did you decide to go to a bigger publisher?
When the Hater movie deal was announced and Guillermo del Toro was linked to the project, there was a sudden surge of interest in my books. At that time I was still self-publishing and I was making a decent number of sales. One thing which always frustrated me as a self-published author, however, was the fact that it's incredibly difficult to be taken seriously. Booksellers and media outlets such as genre magazines frequently don't deal with self-published books, and lots of people assume that all self-published books are second rate stories written by second-rate authors who couldn't get published traditionally. After the announcement of the Hater movie deal, I was approached by a large US publisher to take over my books. Although I knew I'd be giving up a lot of the control over the books that I had when I published them myself, I also knew that signing with them would mean I'd get much more exposure and have the benefit of working with editors, marketing teams and designers with vast amounts of industry knowledge. It proved to be a good decision - the Hater series has sold to more than 15 different countries now and the books have done really well for me. To put things into perspective, within 6 months of the re-release of Hater, I'd sold more books than I had by myself in the preceding 5 years!
Why are you re-issuing Autumn from the start and not continuing from the next book in the series?
I'm very proud of the Autumn series, but as I mentioned in my previous answer, they were self-published and as such didn't get the kind of exposure I really wanted. When Thomas Dunne Books in the US took the series on, it made sense to start again from the beginning. It's given me a welcome opportunity to revisit the earlier books and re-edit them. I'm thrilled with how they're turning out.
What did you think of the film adaptation of Autumn?
I think it's fair to say I have mixed feelings about the Autumn movie. It was by no means perfect, but I think it was unfairly mauled by a lot of reviewers. Like the books, it tried to do something different with the zombie genre, and that alienated a lot of people who just wanted more of the blood and guts and flesh eating which are typical of zombie films. The production company really put a huge amount of effort and dedication into the project and they managed to assemble a really good main cast (Dexter Fletcher, Dickon Tolson and the late David Carradine in particular). They were limited by a very small budget and as a result the film's not a complete technical success - there were certain things they just couldn't do with the resources they had. I'm still very proud of the fact that a movie was made from my novel. A lot of people who've enjoyed the books who knew what to expect seemed to enjoy the movie too.
You have recently released DOG BLOOD the sequel to HATER is there any plans for a 3rd book in series?
Yes, the third and final Hater book is called 'Them Or Us' and it'll be released in late 2011. It's a continuation of the story of Danny McCoyne, but it takes the whole Hater story in a very different direction and I hope people will enjoy it.
What is happening with he film adaptation of HATER? Have they found a new director?
I'm actually waiting for an update right now. The original director, J A Bayona (who directed The Orphanage) is currently working on another movie, and Guillermo del Toro (the busiest man in the movie business it seems) is juggling about a thousand and one projects, so I'm just sitting here impatiently waiting to hear what's happening!
What are you currently working on?
Right now I'm finishing up Them Or Us, and I'm also working on edits for the Autumn books. There's going to be another book in the series, so I'm planning that too.
Snakebite meets the Ford brothers, the directors of THE DEAD
Fightfest saw the premire of the new Ford Brothers film THE DEAD, a harrowing zombie film that took the festival by storm. Snakebite horror's Mark Goddard managed to get a few questions with Jon and Howard after the festival.
1) First off well done on such a fantastic film. How did you feel the world premiere went at frightfest?
HOWARD: Thanks a lot! It was amazing seeing the film on that 55ft screen and the reaction after was amazing. It was so gratifying to hear that so many people had understood what we were trying to do with the film and also felt the emotion we were going for. We are very grateful for the generous reactions we’ve been seeing emerge online. Someone alerted me to one comment about someone being so tense in some parts they were squeezing their partners hands harder than when they gave birth!. Ha. It’s an amazing thing to feel support from the true fans of the genre as Jon & I are fans too and that’s who we made the film for! It was also really weird being banded around in the press afterwards having cameras shoved in our faces and doing autographs etc. Bizzare!!
JON: Thank you very much! I felt the premier went really well! I was watching the audiences reactions and was very happy to see they jumped in the right places and seemed to be really involved in the story. Many people came up to me afterwards to say how surprised that they had became so emotionally involved in a Zombie movie! They just weren't expecting that!
2) When the creators of the Best Selling Computer game Resident Evil 5 decided to set the game in Africa they were barraged with complaints, Did you get any Criticism for also setting THE DEAD in Africa?
HOWARD: Great question and it’s a sad reality that even a small number of people might try and twist the sentiment of the movie like this. We have a great many friends in Africa, some were also involved in this project and in fact I recently mentioned the small amount of reaction we had had in this respect to them and they found it ridiculous and actually had a hard time believing that people could misunderstand the movie in this way. Luckily, everyone who has seen the film so far can see that we actually portray the African characters in the film as strong characters with high morals – more so even than our American lead who is more of a flawed character and learns good lessons from the African people he encounters.
JON: There are always going to be a small minority who complain and try to take the moral high ground about this sort of thing. The fact is pretty much everyone who has seen the film knows nothing could be further from the truth. The underlying theme of the film is about how people from different cultures can forget their differences and unite together for the good of all.The locals in Africa are proud people who were so pleased to be making a film that is purely about entertainment and doesn’t patronise them with the usual "look at the poor starving Africans" routine. They actually told me this on many occasions. They wanted the opportunity to show the world that they too could be part of a movie which can work internationally, and then maybe pave the way for more to be made over there, which would really help the local economy. HOWARD: Also, I must add that 2 of the most famous zombie films of all time – ‘Night of the living dead’ ‘Dawn of the Dead’ – set in the US of course – the lead male is Black and he happens to have to battle with lots of zombies, most of whom happen to be white. Of course there is absolutely nothing controversial in this unless you are someone who looks for that sort of thing – you can find negativity in anything if you are inherently negative. ‘The Dead’ happens to be set in Africa – it is set in Africa as we wanted a beautiful landscape in which to set our film – a place that was very open (traditional huts that are vulnerable and not with big cities where a situation like this can be contained) and an environment that is harsh, hot, dry and not so easy to survive unless you have a lot of supplies. It also makes dramatic sense that the main character is as ‘foreign’ as he can be to this land so it is unfamiliar to him in every way. Africa was the perfect place, and naturally Africa happens to contain many Africans and I hope that your readers agree that it would have been morally wrong for us to portray the African locals as anything other than black!
3) You seem to have gone back to the basic style of slow zombies, why did you decide to use slower zombies apposed to the more modern faster Zombie?
Jon: It's funny i always saw the modern running Zombie as the more basic one, because when the Zombies run it always becomes an action scene at the cost of suspense and ultimately horror. When the Zombies are creeping up on you there is a much greater scope for the tension to be really cranked up, Don't get me wrong i also like some of the running zombie movies but in my book the slow ones are much more scary. Besides if we all decided that vampires were now able to operate in the light and they no longer needed to be staked in the heart etc it would ruin the fun a bit by destroying the myth! In effect they would no longer be vampires at all. Howard: Also, we wanted ‘The Dead’ to be a journey movie that is also as reflective and poignant as it is horrific . Its party about loneliness and death stripping away all of the things that life has to offer us and the fact death is creeping up on all of us no matter how far away we think it might be and stylistically running zombies would have killed the mood to say the least! I remember having dreams as a child that must have been set off by hearing my heart beating whilst lying in bed – I would hear the sound as footsteps creeping up on me. I would imagine that I was far away from this ‘creature’ and be slightly comforted that it was at least moving slowly so I had some time but I also felt that if I slept for too long no matter how slow this thing was it would eventually catch up with me and it was a horribly terrifying thought!
4) You told the fans at Frightfest that during filming of THE DEAD you were faced by many dangers. What kind of dangers did you face? and how did this effect filming?
JON: The problems severely effected the filming! We all became ill especially the lead Rob Freeman who contracted full blown malaria. I myself was diagnosed with malaria, we were robbed by the local police on many occasions! Howard was mugged a knife point right at the start. The shipping company at Tilbury Failed to ship our equipment so we had next to nothing with which to make the film for the first five weeks! The set got hit by a tornado which destroyed one of our 35mm movie cameras! Then things rapidly got worse from there! Lol
HOWARD: Outside of the local African people we encountered in the villages who were such open and honest people, its hard to get into words how horrific it was trying to get ‘The Dead’ in the can. I also felt so personally responsible as Producer/Director and many times I felt the additional wrath of anger from a frustrated cast and crew who were so far out of their comfort zone it was unreal. After Rob Freeman got out of hospital, I even offered him a way out – he could fly home and we would re write the script so he died early on but he simply would not quit! He’s got to be admired for that! Everyone became ill at some point, including the African members of our cast and crew and they were as fearful and frustrated as we were when we were held up by police for money. Some people call what we faced corruption, some might say its people using their position to do what it takes to get food on their families table. I don’t know the answer but I can tell you that its incredibly inconvenient when you’re just trying to stay on schedule! Some of the things that happened have caused us to seriously consider that the production has been cursed and there was so much horror in making ‘The Dead’ that i am writing a book about it, documenting every single painful incident that happened. This will hopefully be released with the film.
5) How did you create such a harrowing zombie tale? and what films inspired you?
JON: Thank you! There are so many films that inspired us which include the more obvious ones ie Dawn of the dead, Fulci's movies, And a great almost unknown film from the mid seventies called Lost in the desert. There are many more but it'll be fun to see how many people spot the references.
6) What are you both working on next?
HOWARD There are a couple of other projects bubbling away nicely but to quote a cliché, we can’t tell you much more at this stage. Finally getting our zombie movie on screen has certainly been the realisation of a dream but I believe we’ve got a lot more to offer the film world besides ‘The Dead’. Of course, it’s all hinging on how this one goes but our aim is to make films that are first and foremost, entertaining, but also can be enjoyed by an audience who like to explore subject matters with a deeper meaning than what appears to be on the surface. There is also talk of a follow up to The Dead and if the fans support this by viewing it on anything other than a pirate copy then firstly we thank them for their support but they should also know that this will pave the way for us to be able to deliver more and whilst we’re already overflowing with ideas on it, we’ll be looking out for feedback on what true fans of the genre would like to see! Thanks for talking to us.
1) First off well done on such a fantastic film. How did you feel the world premiere went at frightfest?
HOWARD: Thanks a lot! It was amazing seeing the film on that 55ft screen and the reaction after was amazing. It was so gratifying to hear that so many people had understood what we were trying to do with the film and also felt the emotion we were going for. We are very grateful for the generous reactions we’ve been seeing emerge online. Someone alerted me to one comment about someone being so tense in some parts they were squeezing their partners hands harder than when they gave birth!. Ha. It’s an amazing thing to feel support from the true fans of the genre as Jon & I are fans too and that’s who we made the film for! It was also really weird being banded around in the press afterwards having cameras shoved in our faces and doing autographs etc. Bizzare!!
JON: Thank you very much! I felt the premier went really well! I was watching the audiences reactions and was very happy to see they jumped in the right places and seemed to be really involved in the story. Many people came up to me afterwards to say how surprised that they had became so emotionally involved in a Zombie movie! They just weren't expecting that!
2) When the creators of the Best Selling Computer game Resident Evil 5 decided to set the game in Africa they were barraged with complaints, Did you get any Criticism for also setting THE DEAD in Africa?
HOWARD: Great question and it’s a sad reality that even a small number of people might try and twist the sentiment of the movie like this. We have a great many friends in Africa, some were also involved in this project and in fact I recently mentioned the small amount of reaction we had had in this respect to them and they found it ridiculous and actually had a hard time believing that people could misunderstand the movie in this way. Luckily, everyone who has seen the film so far can see that we actually portray the African characters in the film as strong characters with high morals – more so even than our American lead who is more of a flawed character and learns good lessons from the African people he encounters.
JON: There are always going to be a small minority who complain and try to take the moral high ground about this sort of thing. The fact is pretty much everyone who has seen the film knows nothing could be further from the truth. The underlying theme of the film is about how people from different cultures can forget their differences and unite together for the good of all.The locals in Africa are proud people who were so pleased to be making a film that is purely about entertainment and doesn’t patronise them with the usual "look at the poor starving Africans" routine. They actually told me this on many occasions. They wanted the opportunity to show the world that they too could be part of a movie which can work internationally, and then maybe pave the way for more to be made over there, which would really help the local economy. HOWARD: Also, I must add that 2 of the most famous zombie films of all time – ‘Night of the living dead’ ‘Dawn of the Dead’ – set in the US of course – the lead male is Black and he happens to have to battle with lots of zombies, most of whom happen to be white. Of course there is absolutely nothing controversial in this unless you are someone who looks for that sort of thing – you can find negativity in anything if you are inherently negative. ‘The Dead’ happens to be set in Africa – it is set in Africa as we wanted a beautiful landscape in which to set our film – a place that was very open (traditional huts that are vulnerable and not with big cities where a situation like this can be contained) and an environment that is harsh, hot, dry and not so easy to survive unless you have a lot of supplies. It also makes dramatic sense that the main character is as ‘foreign’ as he can be to this land so it is unfamiliar to him in every way. Africa was the perfect place, and naturally Africa happens to contain many Africans and I hope that your readers agree that it would have been morally wrong for us to portray the African locals as anything other than black!
3) You seem to have gone back to the basic style of slow zombies, why did you decide to use slower zombies apposed to the more modern faster Zombie?
Jon: It's funny i always saw the modern running Zombie as the more basic one, because when the Zombies run it always becomes an action scene at the cost of suspense and ultimately horror. When the Zombies are creeping up on you there is a much greater scope for the tension to be really cranked up, Don't get me wrong i also like some of the running zombie movies but in my book the slow ones are much more scary. Besides if we all decided that vampires were now able to operate in the light and they no longer needed to be staked in the heart etc it would ruin the fun a bit by destroying the myth! In effect they would no longer be vampires at all. Howard: Also, we wanted ‘The Dead’ to be a journey movie that is also as reflective and poignant as it is horrific . Its party about loneliness and death stripping away all of the things that life has to offer us and the fact death is creeping up on all of us no matter how far away we think it might be and stylistically running zombies would have killed the mood to say the least! I remember having dreams as a child that must have been set off by hearing my heart beating whilst lying in bed – I would hear the sound as footsteps creeping up on me. I would imagine that I was far away from this ‘creature’ and be slightly comforted that it was at least moving slowly so I had some time but I also felt that if I slept for too long no matter how slow this thing was it would eventually catch up with me and it was a horribly terrifying thought!
4) You told the fans at Frightfest that during filming of THE DEAD you were faced by many dangers. What kind of dangers did you face? and how did this effect filming?
JON: The problems severely effected the filming! We all became ill especially the lead Rob Freeman who contracted full blown malaria. I myself was diagnosed with malaria, we were robbed by the local police on many occasions! Howard was mugged a knife point right at the start. The shipping company at Tilbury Failed to ship our equipment so we had next to nothing with which to make the film for the first five weeks! The set got hit by a tornado which destroyed one of our 35mm movie cameras! Then things rapidly got worse from there! Lol
HOWARD: Outside of the local African people we encountered in the villages who were such open and honest people, its hard to get into words how horrific it was trying to get ‘The Dead’ in the can. I also felt so personally responsible as Producer/Director and many times I felt the additional wrath of anger from a frustrated cast and crew who were so far out of their comfort zone it was unreal. After Rob Freeman got out of hospital, I even offered him a way out – he could fly home and we would re write the script so he died early on but he simply would not quit! He’s got to be admired for that! Everyone became ill at some point, including the African members of our cast and crew and they were as fearful and frustrated as we were when we were held up by police for money. Some people call what we faced corruption, some might say its people using their position to do what it takes to get food on their families table. I don’t know the answer but I can tell you that its incredibly inconvenient when you’re just trying to stay on schedule! Some of the things that happened have caused us to seriously consider that the production has been cursed and there was so much horror in making ‘The Dead’ that i am writing a book about it, documenting every single painful incident that happened. This will hopefully be released with the film.
5) How did you create such a harrowing zombie tale? and what films inspired you?
JON: Thank you! There are so many films that inspired us which include the more obvious ones ie Dawn of the dead, Fulci's movies, And a great almost unknown film from the mid seventies called Lost in the desert. There are many more but it'll be fun to see how many people spot the references.
6) What are you both working on next?
HOWARD There are a couple of other projects bubbling away nicely but to quote a cliché, we can’t tell you much more at this stage. Finally getting our zombie movie on screen has certainly been the realisation of a dream but I believe we’ve got a lot more to offer the film world besides ‘The Dead’. Of course, it’s all hinging on how this one goes but our aim is to make films that are first and foremost, entertaining, but also can be enjoyed by an audience who like to explore subject matters with a deeper meaning than what appears to be on the surface. There is also talk of a follow up to The Dead and if the fans support this by viewing it on anything other than a pirate copy then firstly we thank them for their support but they should also know that this will pave the way for us to be able to deliver more and whilst we’re already overflowing with ideas on it, we’ll be looking out for feedback on what true fans of the genre would like to see! Thanks for talking to us.
Snakebite Horror meets David Gatward
You seem to have a love of horror films. What is your favourite horror film to date?
Ah, the impossible-to-answer question first, eh? I have favourites, all jostling for position! I love Evil Dead; just genius and really was instrumental in getting me to love horror. So much fun! HellRaiser is a cracker and I watched it again a few weeks back. May is a brilliant, brilliant, BRILLIANT movie, and so original. The Lost has one of the best leads I’ve ever seen on the screen; a blow out of a performance by Marc Senter as Ray Pye. The Innocents staring Deborah Kerr is just horrendously creepy. The Crow has a very special place in my heart. Devil’s Rejects almost took my head off. You see my problem?
Why did you decide to go into teen horror and not adult horror?
I’ve done some short adult horror stuff, but I didn’t really ‘decide’ as such. I had an idea, the idea grew, and here I am. I’d love to do adult horror. I just need to find that one idea that’ll let me go nuts… And that could actually be published.
Recently, via facebook, you posted a very interesting playlist based around your book. Do you listen to music whilst you write? And what would be the top 5 songs to best describe The Dead?
I LOVE that playlist! I love music; can’t imagine life without it. And I don’t stick to one specific thing (tho I have to actually walk out of the room if Simply Red or Elton John come on the radio). Sometimes I listen to music when writing, other times I don’t. Absolute silence is great, but sometimes I need to get a bit of atmosphere and I plug myself in to some tunes. At the minute I’m listening to Jeremy (Pearl Jam) and before that was Divinations (Mastadon). I love Doomed on SomaFM; insane, dark music! Just brilliant; Hell’s own soundtrack. Music seems to play a part in me coming up with ideas and scenes and I’ll visualize what’s going on and what music I’d have on if it were on the big screen. Top Five for The Dead? Not sure I can nail that. It’s not so much about the lyrics as the feel of a track, the drive behind it, how it makes you feel. So: Chop Suey (SOAD); War Pigs (Black Sabbath); Dig (Mudvayne); Midnight Rider (Allman Brothers); Peace in Mississippi (Earth). How’s that?
What inspired you to write The Dead?
No single thing inspired it. I decided to have a go at a YA horror after sending something to my agent that I’d been working on. She didn’t like that idea particular idea, but encouraged me to go with the darker style of writing I was using. So I worked up a few ideas, and out of those came The Dead. From the off, though, I wanted to do something that wasn’t just zombies being dumb and slow and nothing more than reanimated corpses. I wanted it to be the actual ‘Dead’ desperate to live again. So I had to think about an afterlife, how that would work, who the ‘Dead’ would actually be, what Hell would be about. Sometimes, the whole thing makes my head hurt! I also wanted to write something that was seriously fast paced, like you’re watching a crazed horror movie that’s dragging you along with it, breathless. And I wanted to do something splatter-worthy and gooey and messy…
If you had to choose between Horror films or horror fiction which would you choose?
Well, I’ve just bought this fantastic HP Lovecraft collection. It’s a massive, leather-bound book, with stunning black and white illustrations. And I’m loving it! I’ve read a fair bit of Lovecraft, but not enough. Also some of the other Tchthullu stuff written by other writers, taking his mythos further (such as the stuff by the guy behind Conan). So I’d have to say horror fiction. I love movies. I recently watched Dead Snow which was such a blast from start to finish. Just fantastic! But then I’m currently reading Ghost Story, by Peter Straub, and this Lovecraft collection, and Mr Hands by Gary A Braunbeck. So fiction it is.
You website is full of famous horror film quotes, but which quote is your favourite?
I’ve always loved Pinhead’s ‘No tears, please; a waste of good suffering,’ but one I really always like is from The Crow: ‘Victims, aren’t we all?’ That one quote seems to say so much about everyone and I think it’s really haunting.
In between writing do you find time to read much from other authors? If so who has inspired you?
The reading is an ups and downs thing. Sometimes I’ll rattle through a book (The Hellbound Heart; what a ride that was!), other times I’ll be on a book for ages (Ghost Story is taking me a while). But all the writers I get in to kind of inspire me, because every time I read, I think to myself how each and every book began in the mind of someone who ended up, sitting on their own, at a typewriter/computer, just writing it. Just like me, doing this. That’s pretty inspiring I think, a weird sort of connection with every writer out there. But books that have really hit home? Well: Salem’s Lot; Pet Semetary; Tooth Fairy; Poppy; Weirdstone of Brisingamen; Skullduggery Pleasant; The Hellbound Heart; The Damnation Game; Twentieth Century Ghosts; The Woman in Black; The Devil’s Footsteps; The Voyage of the Sable Keech… so, quite a lot!
Will this series stay as a trilogy or will there be more to come?
I’ve got ideas penned for books 4-6 and I’d love to take myself through those and perhaps even on to 7-9. Have to see what happens. But fingers crossed, there’s definitely more to come.
For those who may be interested in your new series, how would you describe The Dead?
A breathless, blood-drenched race in to darkness, filled with vivid set pieces, relentless monsters, reluctant heroes with confused motives, friendship, and a seriously cool truck!
Ah, the impossible-to-answer question first, eh? I have favourites, all jostling for position! I love Evil Dead; just genius and really was instrumental in getting me to love horror. So much fun! HellRaiser is a cracker and I watched it again a few weeks back. May is a brilliant, brilliant, BRILLIANT movie, and so original. The Lost has one of the best leads I’ve ever seen on the screen; a blow out of a performance by Marc Senter as Ray Pye. The Innocents staring Deborah Kerr is just horrendously creepy. The Crow has a very special place in my heart. Devil’s Rejects almost took my head off. You see my problem?
Why did you decide to go into teen horror and not adult horror?
I’ve done some short adult horror stuff, but I didn’t really ‘decide’ as such. I had an idea, the idea grew, and here I am. I’d love to do adult horror. I just need to find that one idea that’ll let me go nuts… And that could actually be published.
Recently, via facebook, you posted a very interesting playlist based around your book. Do you listen to music whilst you write? And what would be the top 5 songs to best describe The Dead?
I LOVE that playlist! I love music; can’t imagine life without it. And I don’t stick to one specific thing (tho I have to actually walk out of the room if Simply Red or Elton John come on the radio). Sometimes I listen to music when writing, other times I don’t. Absolute silence is great, but sometimes I need to get a bit of atmosphere and I plug myself in to some tunes. At the minute I’m listening to Jeremy (Pearl Jam) and before that was Divinations (Mastadon). I love Doomed on SomaFM; insane, dark music! Just brilliant; Hell’s own soundtrack. Music seems to play a part in me coming up with ideas and scenes and I’ll visualize what’s going on and what music I’d have on if it were on the big screen. Top Five for The Dead? Not sure I can nail that. It’s not so much about the lyrics as the feel of a track, the drive behind it, how it makes you feel. So: Chop Suey (SOAD); War Pigs (Black Sabbath); Dig (Mudvayne); Midnight Rider (Allman Brothers); Peace in Mississippi (Earth). How’s that?
What inspired you to write The Dead?
No single thing inspired it. I decided to have a go at a YA horror after sending something to my agent that I’d been working on. She didn’t like that idea particular idea, but encouraged me to go with the darker style of writing I was using. So I worked up a few ideas, and out of those came The Dead. From the off, though, I wanted to do something that wasn’t just zombies being dumb and slow and nothing more than reanimated corpses. I wanted it to be the actual ‘Dead’ desperate to live again. So I had to think about an afterlife, how that would work, who the ‘Dead’ would actually be, what Hell would be about. Sometimes, the whole thing makes my head hurt! I also wanted to write something that was seriously fast paced, like you’re watching a crazed horror movie that’s dragging you along with it, breathless. And I wanted to do something splatter-worthy and gooey and messy…
If you had to choose between Horror films or horror fiction which would you choose?
Well, I’ve just bought this fantastic HP Lovecraft collection. It’s a massive, leather-bound book, with stunning black and white illustrations. And I’m loving it! I’ve read a fair bit of Lovecraft, but not enough. Also some of the other Tchthullu stuff written by other writers, taking his mythos further (such as the stuff by the guy behind Conan). So I’d have to say horror fiction. I love movies. I recently watched Dead Snow which was such a blast from start to finish. Just fantastic! But then I’m currently reading Ghost Story, by Peter Straub, and this Lovecraft collection, and Mr Hands by Gary A Braunbeck. So fiction it is.
You website is full of famous horror film quotes, but which quote is your favourite?
I’ve always loved Pinhead’s ‘No tears, please; a waste of good suffering,’ but one I really always like is from The Crow: ‘Victims, aren’t we all?’ That one quote seems to say so much about everyone and I think it’s really haunting.
In between writing do you find time to read much from other authors? If so who has inspired you?
The reading is an ups and downs thing. Sometimes I’ll rattle through a book (The Hellbound Heart; what a ride that was!), other times I’ll be on a book for ages (Ghost Story is taking me a while). But all the writers I get in to kind of inspire me, because every time I read, I think to myself how each and every book began in the mind of someone who ended up, sitting on their own, at a typewriter/computer, just writing it. Just like me, doing this. That’s pretty inspiring I think, a weird sort of connection with every writer out there. But books that have really hit home? Well: Salem’s Lot; Pet Semetary; Tooth Fairy; Poppy; Weirdstone of Brisingamen; Skullduggery Pleasant; The Hellbound Heart; The Damnation Game; Twentieth Century Ghosts; The Woman in Black; The Devil’s Footsteps; The Voyage of the Sable Keech… so, quite a lot!
Will this series stay as a trilogy or will there be more to come?
I’ve got ideas penned for books 4-6 and I’d love to take myself through those and perhaps even on to 7-9. Have to see what happens. But fingers crossed, there’s definitely more to come.
For those who may be interested in your new series, how would you describe The Dead?
A breathless, blood-drenched race in to darkness, filled with vivid set pieces, relentless monsters, reluctant heroes with confused motives, friendship, and a seriously cool truck!
Snakebite Horror meets Jack Ketchum
Your work tends to concentrate on the extremes of human cruelty. Why did you decide to take the route?
The awful things we do tend to illuminate the good things we do and vise versa. So there's immense room for moral complexity and discussion there. But it's a fact of human nature -- it's the awful things that first get your attention.
There has been word flying around that you have a new book being released entitled ‘THE WOMAN’ which will be the third sequel to your debut book offseason. Is this true? If so can you give us any details on the plot?
The Woman is the story of the last survivor of a feral tribe of cannibals who have terrorized the east coast from Maine into Canada for years now. Badly wounded in a battle with police, she takes refuge in a cave overlooking the sea. Christopher Cleek is a slick, amoral -- and unstable -- country lawyer who, out hunting one day, sees her bathing in a stream. Fascinated, he follows her to her cave. Cleek has many dark secrets and to these he'll add another. He'll capture her, lock in his fruit cellar, and tame her, civilize her. To this end he'll enlist his long-suffering wife Belle, his teenage son and daughter Brian and Peg, and even his little girl Darlin', to aid him. So the question becomes, who is more savage? The hunter or the game?
You are within an ever growing group of authors who aim for the extreme horror fiction sub genre, who, in this area, do you respect the most?
I admire good fiction, period. And I take issue with the factoid that I'm "within a growing group of authors who aim for the extreme horror sub-genre." If you read me -- all of me -- you'll find that some of my stuff goes in that direction and some definitely doesn't. Seems to me that most writers who "aim" for anything miss the mark. You're supposed to write what you feel, not write for a genre. That's hack-work. Might as well be writing cookie-cutter romances. And I don't like any of it.
Did you always want to be an author? And what other career would you have liked to do if you didn’t write?
Yeah, I always wanted to write, since I was in my pre-teens. But in another life I'd love to have become a palaeontologist. Dig me up a dinosaur or two.
Your debut novel Offseason was edited when it first came out due to the hardcore content. What was it about the book that the publisher didn’t like?
The violence-level made them very nervous. They also hated the idea that I wanted to kill off one of the main characters at the end. I gave in on that one because it was my first book and I was chicken, then restored the original ending as soon as I got a second publisher for it. I think it's much more powerful with that ending.
The Girl next door (one of my favourite books of all time) was a very difficult read. Where did you get the idea for the book?
Read an entry in J. Robert Nash's BLOODLETTERS AND BADMEN, an encyclopaedia of American crime, which described the Likens murder and featured a photo of Gertrude Baniszewski which proceeded to haunt me for years -- the empty mundane bitterness there. I knew that eventually I had to write about it.
The girl next door has recently made it to DVD in the UK but how did you find the books jump from page to screen?
Quite successful I thought. They changed the ending because they ran out of the money to do the ending I wrote, but they got the period down, the themes and the essence of the book down, and there were some fine performances from the cast, particularly Blanche Baker as Ruth and Blythe Auffarth as Meg -- but it was clear to me that everybody involved worked their asses off trying to get this thing right. For that I'm quite grateful.
With film rights sold for Offseason and Offspring why was offspring released and offseason not?
Two different companies bought the two different books. The one who bought OFF SEASON hasn't found the financing yet. It's uncertain that they ever will.
Which film adaption did you like the most? Red, the girl next door, the lost or offspring? And will anymore of your books be coming out as films?
Not going to answer the first part of that question. It's like telling one of your kids, "hey, daddy likes YOU best!" There are options on several of my books at the moment, and THE WOMAN, the novel and screenplay of which I co-wrote with director Lucky McKee, begins filming in August.
What is next for Jack Ketchum?
Like John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee, I make a decent score and then take some retirement time so I don't have to wait until I'm in my eighties to enjoy it. That's what I'm doing now. After that, we'll see.
Snakebite Horror meets Sam Enthoven
What gave you the idea for CRAWLERS?
The first spark came from the real location where the events of the book take place – a London building called the Barbican. Built in the 1950s and '60s the Barbican was intended to be the most futuristic structure its designers could possibly think of: now, over half a century on, stranded by time, it looks wonderfully sinister and bizarre. I thought it was a great place to set a horror story.
Partly, too, CRAWLERS came about because I'd been thinking about survival horror – that classic "mixed group trapped somewhere, menaced by something" situation – and how the best survival horror stories are as much about the group as the threat. I'd been thinking about that might work particularly well in a book for young readers, because of how much survival horror situations are actually just like school. Can you remember your first day at a new school? Being trapped in a roomful of people you don't know, possibly don't even like, and being expected to get on, team up, do things? All right: you're not technically under threat from zombies, werewolves, aliens, whatever. But you might as well be.
Then, of course, there was the monster. I wanted something that could take over or infect members of the group – something that would make them as distrustful of and paranoid about each other as possible. I was thinking about John Carpenter's The Thing; I was also thinking about Jack Finney's Invasion of the Body Snatchers; stir in a dash of good old Alien/Half-Life parasite action and away you go.
The monsters were fun. As anyone who reads my books will notice fairly quickly(!) I love thinking about monsters. But the characterization – writing eight individual, believable teenagers and how they react to each other – that pushed me out of my comfort zone until my blood felt like it was going to well out of my eyeballs. I'm pretty proud of CRAWLERS. I hope people get a kick out of it.
What made you write books for a younger audience?
An agent suggested it, after reading a short story I'd sent her soon after I graduated from university. I was surprised at first, but after a while I realised that this was one of the best pieces of advice I've ever been given.
I particularly love writing for the age I write for – eleven to fifteen – because, for many people, that age is the 'last chance saloon' for reading. That's the kind of age when, if you haven't yet come across a book that shows you, personally, why reading is so amazing, then you might – as sadly happens all too frequently – never actually read a book again. Conversely, if you're that age and you do find the right book – the first one that makes an afternoon fly past without you noticing, that makes you worry about the characters when you're not reading it, that sends that particular jolt to your mind and heart that only the right book at the right moment can do – then you'll never forget that book for as long as you live. You might even become a reader for life.
If you're writing for young people, those are the stakes. Would writing for adults offer anything that compelling? I don't think so!
If you had to choose between THE BLACK TATTOO, TIM, DEFENDER OF THE EARTH and CRAWLERS which would you say is your best work?
I don't want to give the impression that I think of my books as people, because obviously that would be weird. But what you're asking is a bit like: 'If there was a fast-burning fire in a house containing all of your family and friends and you knew you couldn't save everyone, who would you save?' I'm glad I don't have to choose.
The further along I get with writing, the better I'll get at the technical aspects – I hope. But I try to put my passion and commitment into every book I write. That means that all those books (and all the ones I hope to write) have a piece of my heart inside them.
I write standalone books: I reckon each one can hold its ground, fight its corner. The reader can choose their favourite - not me!
What inspired you to get into writing?
I wrote stories at school, but because they tended to have (ahem-!) monsters or space battles or murders or wizards or explosions or swordfights in them, sometimes my teachers were disparaging. Still, nudged by a friend I signed up for a creative writing course as part of my English Language and Literature degree at Manchester University - and I loved it. By the third year my stories were being graded, contributing to my final result: I still loved it, and I came back home to London afterwards pretty much set on being a writer. Ten years, four previous failed novels and one hundred and thirty-four rejection slips later, THE BLACK TATTOO was published. TIM came out in 2008. CRAWLERS was out this year, 2010. There'll be plenty more where those came from - if I keep pedalling. ;D
Yourself, Andy Briggs and a host of other authors have gotten together to create the web site Trapped By Monsters. How did this come about?
Trapped By Monsters is the mutant brainchild of Tommy Donbavand, author of the awesome comedy horror series for younger readers, SCREAM STREET: he had the idea of putting together a joint author blog that, we hope, appeals to young readers as much as to their gatekeepers. We have a very silly premise (for which I must admit I'm largely responsible, having provided the name) and from there we talk about… whatever we want. We offer writing advice, of a nuts and bolts kind. We talk about each other's books – so it's a good promotional opportunity, sure. But we also blog recommendations for anything else that we think is brilliant, together with competitions, illustrations, guest spots, stories, rants, etc, etc. It's about enthusiasm and delight about books for young people, as well as passion and commitment. And, obviously, monsters.
As it happens (exclusive announcement!) the site is about to move into what we hope will be a very exciting phase: as well as the original eight of us, we're going to be joined on the blog by whole new group of authors - a sort of Trapped By Monsters: The Next Generation if you will. While keeping true to our scurrilous roots the aim is to make TBM the go-to place to hear from the latest up-and-coming authors of thrilling new writing for young people. Tentacles crossed. :D
What do you read when you are not writing?
All sorts. From first thing in the morning when I'm cleaning my teeth to last thing at night when I'm about to go to sleep, I read any chance I get. For a selection of my favourites, and what I'm reading now, check my LibraryThing profile. And in the hope that the above has made you want to find out more about me and what I do(-?!) here's my homepage.
Thanks and best wishes to everyone who reads this –Sam (31st May 2010)
The first spark came from the real location where the events of the book take place – a London building called the Barbican. Built in the 1950s and '60s the Barbican was intended to be the most futuristic structure its designers could possibly think of: now, over half a century on, stranded by time, it looks wonderfully sinister and bizarre. I thought it was a great place to set a horror story.
Partly, too, CRAWLERS came about because I'd been thinking about survival horror – that classic "mixed group trapped somewhere, menaced by something" situation – and how the best survival horror stories are as much about the group as the threat. I'd been thinking about that might work particularly well in a book for young readers, because of how much survival horror situations are actually just like school. Can you remember your first day at a new school? Being trapped in a roomful of people you don't know, possibly don't even like, and being expected to get on, team up, do things? All right: you're not technically under threat from zombies, werewolves, aliens, whatever. But you might as well be.
Then, of course, there was the monster. I wanted something that could take over or infect members of the group – something that would make them as distrustful of and paranoid about each other as possible. I was thinking about John Carpenter's The Thing; I was also thinking about Jack Finney's Invasion of the Body Snatchers; stir in a dash of good old Alien/Half-Life parasite action and away you go.
The monsters were fun. As anyone who reads my books will notice fairly quickly(!) I love thinking about monsters. But the characterization – writing eight individual, believable teenagers and how they react to each other – that pushed me out of my comfort zone until my blood felt like it was going to well out of my eyeballs. I'm pretty proud of CRAWLERS. I hope people get a kick out of it.
What made you write books for a younger audience?
An agent suggested it, after reading a short story I'd sent her soon after I graduated from university. I was surprised at first, but after a while I realised that this was one of the best pieces of advice I've ever been given.
I particularly love writing for the age I write for – eleven to fifteen – because, for many people, that age is the 'last chance saloon' for reading. That's the kind of age when, if you haven't yet come across a book that shows you, personally, why reading is so amazing, then you might – as sadly happens all too frequently – never actually read a book again. Conversely, if you're that age and you do find the right book – the first one that makes an afternoon fly past without you noticing, that makes you worry about the characters when you're not reading it, that sends that particular jolt to your mind and heart that only the right book at the right moment can do – then you'll never forget that book for as long as you live. You might even become a reader for life.
If you're writing for young people, those are the stakes. Would writing for adults offer anything that compelling? I don't think so!
If you had to choose between THE BLACK TATTOO, TIM, DEFENDER OF THE EARTH and CRAWLERS which would you say is your best work?
I don't want to give the impression that I think of my books as people, because obviously that would be weird. But what you're asking is a bit like: 'If there was a fast-burning fire in a house containing all of your family and friends and you knew you couldn't save everyone, who would you save?' I'm glad I don't have to choose.
The further along I get with writing, the better I'll get at the technical aspects – I hope. But I try to put my passion and commitment into every book I write. That means that all those books (and all the ones I hope to write) have a piece of my heart inside them.
I write standalone books: I reckon each one can hold its ground, fight its corner. The reader can choose their favourite - not me!
What inspired you to get into writing?
I wrote stories at school, but because they tended to have (ahem-!) monsters or space battles or murders or wizards or explosions or swordfights in them, sometimes my teachers were disparaging. Still, nudged by a friend I signed up for a creative writing course as part of my English Language and Literature degree at Manchester University - and I loved it. By the third year my stories were being graded, contributing to my final result: I still loved it, and I came back home to London afterwards pretty much set on being a writer. Ten years, four previous failed novels and one hundred and thirty-four rejection slips later, THE BLACK TATTOO was published. TIM came out in 2008. CRAWLERS was out this year, 2010. There'll be plenty more where those came from - if I keep pedalling. ;D
Yourself, Andy Briggs and a host of other authors have gotten together to create the web site Trapped By Monsters. How did this come about?
Trapped By Monsters is the mutant brainchild of Tommy Donbavand, author of the awesome comedy horror series for younger readers, SCREAM STREET: he had the idea of putting together a joint author blog that, we hope, appeals to young readers as much as to their gatekeepers. We have a very silly premise (for which I must admit I'm largely responsible, having provided the name) and from there we talk about… whatever we want. We offer writing advice, of a nuts and bolts kind. We talk about each other's books – so it's a good promotional opportunity, sure. But we also blog recommendations for anything else that we think is brilliant, together with competitions, illustrations, guest spots, stories, rants, etc, etc. It's about enthusiasm and delight about books for young people, as well as passion and commitment. And, obviously, monsters.
As it happens (exclusive announcement!) the site is about to move into what we hope will be a very exciting phase: as well as the original eight of us, we're going to be joined on the blog by whole new group of authors - a sort of Trapped By Monsters: The Next Generation if you will. While keeping true to our scurrilous roots the aim is to make TBM the go-to place to hear from the latest up-and-coming authors of thrilling new writing for young people. Tentacles crossed. :D
What do you read when you are not writing?
All sorts. From first thing in the morning when I'm cleaning my teeth to last thing at night when I'm about to go to sleep, I read any chance I get. For a selection of my favourites, and what I'm reading now, check my LibraryThing profile. And in the hope that the above has made you want to find out more about me and what I do(-?!) here's my homepage.
Thanks and best wishes to everyone who reads this –Sam (31st May 2010)
Snakebite Horror meets Bill Hussey
With the success for you previous books ‘Through a Glass Darkly’ and ‘The Absence’ what made you make the transition to teen fiction?
It all came about after a book club discussion of Through a Glass, Darkly. I’d been invited along to chair Boston Waterstones monthly club meeting and, after the event, I got chatting to Deborah Chaffey, the store’s children’s fiction bookseller. Deborah told me about the huge popularity of horror in children’s publishing and of the quality of the stuff being produced. It was a light-hearted chat, but at the end Deborah threw down the gauntlet and challenged me a write a Young Adult horror book. At that time I was searching around for ideas for my next adult book, having just handed in The Absence to Beautiful Books, but I’d hit a block. I wanted to complete the loose Fen Horror Trilogy that had started with TAGD, and had an idea for a ghost story set in a Victorian seaside resort, but I just couldn’t get the idea to work. My thoughts turned back to Deborah’s challenge.
I’m a great believer in research generally, and I was keen to know my market before I put pen to paper. And so I went away and picked up about 25 of the best kids’ horror titles out there. Honestly, I was blown away! Not only did these YA horror titles hold their own against the stuff being produced for adults, in many cases these books were far superior! There was a real drive and energy in the texts, coupled with some fantastic writing. And the gore on display! I was inspired. Excited. I sat down, drafted a very loose framework for the story, and started writing. Four months later the book was in its fourth draft and I’d sent it off to my agent. She started to read – turned off her phone – and got back to me within two days, saying she loved it.
What gave you the idea to write a series based on witches?
In TAGD there is a very minor character called Elspeth, the Isle Witch. While researching the book I became a bit obsessed with Elspeth, the time in which she lived, her character; so much so that I really wasted weeks on what was just a bit of background detail. There’s a lesson there for any aspiring writer: research is very comforting. You feel that you’re actually doing something productive – and if you’re researching as you should, then you are – but it can become an excuse for not getting on with the business of writing. It can became another form of the writer’s greatest sin: procrastination. So I spent a lot of time in the cosy environs of Sheffield University Library wading through tome after tome on the witchcraft persecutions of the 17th Century… But there is a school of thought that all writing and research is grist to the creative mill. If a detail isn’t used this time it will find its way into your work somewhere down the line.
This was certainly the case with Witchfinder. After reading all those brilliant YA books I started to think about the kind of book I would like to have read when I was a kid. Something scary, fast-paced, mysterious, gory, gruesome… Then, for some unfathomable reason, all that witch research popped into my head. And with it, a story arrived, almost fully formed. I’d bring the 17th Century idea of witchcraft – the idea of witches having to work with demons in order to conjure their spells – right up to date. I’d use the historical persecutions as background for a modern horror story, and I’d put my own stamp on the mythology. So there you go – research is always useful in the end!
Do you find the teen audiences more enthusiastic then your old audiences
They are certainly more forthright! You have to work harder to engage kids, but boy do they repay your efforts. I’ve just started taking the Witchfinder Event into schools, and I realised pretty early on that you have to grab their attention from the start. If you manage to do that then kids will be the most receptive audience you could wish for. They yearn to be entertained, informed – they want you to spark their imaginations, even if it appears that they couldn’t care less.
With the Witchfinder Event I start off by telling them I write horror stories - kids give you a certain amount of respect for writing horror anyway, but it only buys you a few moments. Then I tell them that I’m going to get one of them out of the audience, try them as a witch, torture a confession out of them, and then execute them. Now they’re engaged! That’s the Trial of a Witch section of the schools event – an historically accurate re-enactment of a 17th Century witch-hunt – and kids just lap it up! I also perform a short reading from Witchfinder and I’ve been overwelmed by the reaction – kids leaning forward in their chairs, eyes wide! Then we have a Q&A where they can ask me anything they like about the books, the real witchfinders, writing and getting published. There are always one or two surprising questions! The events seem to be going really well, and the testimonials from teachers and pupils have been excellent.
By the way, if any schools would like me to come in with the Witchfinder Event they can contact Katie Hovell at Oxford University Press: [email protected]
How did you get into writing?
I’d always written. I can remember writing and drawing comic books when I was four years old. Later, I realised that my artwork was appalling but that the writing side wasn’t bad, so I continued with short stories and I finished my first novel when I was fourteen. It was no masterpiece, I can tell you! I wrote all the way through university, turning in short stories to local magazines and penning plays for amateur dramatic organisations. After taking the deathly dull Legal Practice Course, I started my apprenticeship at a solicitor’s office and was contemplating a grey life as a glorified form-filler. Then, one lunchtime, I saw a local news piece on the Masters Degree in Creative Writing offered by Sheffield Hallam University. It was one of those turning points that come around once or twice in a lifetime. I was scared silly – I’d invested a lot of time and hard work in my career – but this just felt right. I handed in my notice that afternoon and spent the evening filling out an application to join the course. That was the start really – I met some wonderful writers, was turored by award-winning novelist Jane Rogers, and found an agent. And I owe it all to BBC regional news!
Did you always want to be a writer?
Short answer – yes, but it always felt like a pipe dream. Writers were other people, gods who sat in the mist of a literary Olympus far away from the common man. I always wrote, but getting published was a hard slog, as it is for most writers. I actually think it should be hard, because in the struggle you become better.
I must say – and I think a lot of writers will identify with this experience – there were a lot of people who told me it was an impossible dream and that I’d sacrificed my career for the sake of it. People without dreams love nothing better than to tear down other people’s aspirations, but I must say (a tad smugly) I don’t hear much from those people any more. So yeah, I always wanted to be a writer. I hid that ambition for a long time, because it seemed unachievable in the face of those who told me it was. Now, when I go into schools and talk to kids who want to write, I don’t sugar the pill – I tell them how hard it is – but I also tell them to ignore the doubters, to work hard, to read more than they write, to keep plugging away, and then you honestly stand a fair chance of achieving that dream.
Who is you idol in the field?
Boring answer, but it has to be Stephen King. If that literat Olympus exists then he is Zeus! I honestly believe that when historians look back on the culture and social mores of late twentieth century America their first reference point won’t be Thomas Pynchon or John Updike – it will be King. Not only is he a master of horror, he is a cultural touchstone – a storyteller as evocative of his time as Dickens was of his.
Which of your books would you say was the most fun to write?
Definitely Witchfinder. The story just flowed out of me, as has its sequel Gallows at Twilight and the final book, The Last Nightfall. There is something about this story, these characters, that makes me bounce out of bed in the mornings and hurry to the computer. I’ve never felt a stronger urge to write, and have never been more satisfied by the end product. It’s a truism that a book is never finished, it’s only ever abandoned. That is true with Witchfinder, but I’ve never been more comfortable in that abandonement.
I was a huge fan of The absence. But what was your inspiration for the novel?
The background for The Absence was the overlooked mythology of the Fen country. The myths of Linconshire have never really made an imprint on the popular imagination as, say, the myths of Ireland, Scotland or the West Country have. And yet there is a deep and rich vein of folklore in my home county just waiting to be uncovered. It is also a somewhat disturbing folklore – full of ghosts, strange visitations and dark creatures. I’ve also always been interested in the idea of god-creation through worship and the notion of what might happen to those gods whose followers have fallen away: would they change into darker, spiteful, more vengeful forms? All of this is also tied into notions of forgiveness and redemption which I wanted to bring out in a very human story of pain and loss.
What is next for William Hussey?
Well, it will be ‘William Hussey’ for the foreseeable future! The second Witchfinder book comes out in January 2010 and that is swiftly followed by the last in the trilogy in September. By the end of this year I hope to be starting a new series of horror stories for kids – the pitches are with my editor at OUP right now. In the immediate future I’ll be taking the Witchfinder Event on tour through schools, libraries and bookshops in England, Scotland and Ireland, culminating in a joint event with Derek Landy of Skullduggery fame. Then I have events dotted throughout the year, including one with fellow YA horror writers Sam Enthoven (‘The Black Tattoo’, ‘Crawlers’) and Barry Hutchison (‘Invisible Fiends’) at the Big Green Bookshop in Wood Green. All details of upcoming events can be found at the Witchfinder wbsite – witchfinderbooks.co.uk
It all came about after a book club discussion of Through a Glass, Darkly. I’d been invited along to chair Boston Waterstones monthly club meeting and, after the event, I got chatting to Deborah Chaffey, the store’s children’s fiction bookseller. Deborah told me about the huge popularity of horror in children’s publishing and of the quality of the stuff being produced. It was a light-hearted chat, but at the end Deborah threw down the gauntlet and challenged me a write a Young Adult horror book. At that time I was searching around for ideas for my next adult book, having just handed in The Absence to Beautiful Books, but I’d hit a block. I wanted to complete the loose Fen Horror Trilogy that had started with TAGD, and had an idea for a ghost story set in a Victorian seaside resort, but I just couldn’t get the idea to work. My thoughts turned back to Deborah’s challenge.
I’m a great believer in research generally, and I was keen to know my market before I put pen to paper. And so I went away and picked up about 25 of the best kids’ horror titles out there. Honestly, I was blown away! Not only did these YA horror titles hold their own against the stuff being produced for adults, in many cases these books were far superior! There was a real drive and energy in the texts, coupled with some fantastic writing. And the gore on display! I was inspired. Excited. I sat down, drafted a very loose framework for the story, and started writing. Four months later the book was in its fourth draft and I’d sent it off to my agent. She started to read – turned off her phone – and got back to me within two days, saying she loved it.
What gave you the idea to write a series based on witches?
In TAGD there is a very minor character called Elspeth, the Isle Witch. While researching the book I became a bit obsessed with Elspeth, the time in which she lived, her character; so much so that I really wasted weeks on what was just a bit of background detail. There’s a lesson there for any aspiring writer: research is very comforting. You feel that you’re actually doing something productive – and if you’re researching as you should, then you are – but it can become an excuse for not getting on with the business of writing. It can became another form of the writer’s greatest sin: procrastination. So I spent a lot of time in the cosy environs of Sheffield University Library wading through tome after tome on the witchcraft persecutions of the 17th Century… But there is a school of thought that all writing and research is grist to the creative mill. If a detail isn’t used this time it will find its way into your work somewhere down the line.
This was certainly the case with Witchfinder. After reading all those brilliant YA books I started to think about the kind of book I would like to have read when I was a kid. Something scary, fast-paced, mysterious, gory, gruesome… Then, for some unfathomable reason, all that witch research popped into my head. And with it, a story arrived, almost fully formed. I’d bring the 17th Century idea of witchcraft – the idea of witches having to work with demons in order to conjure their spells – right up to date. I’d use the historical persecutions as background for a modern horror story, and I’d put my own stamp on the mythology. So there you go – research is always useful in the end!
Do you find the teen audiences more enthusiastic then your old audiences
They are certainly more forthright! You have to work harder to engage kids, but boy do they repay your efforts. I’ve just started taking the Witchfinder Event into schools, and I realised pretty early on that you have to grab their attention from the start. If you manage to do that then kids will be the most receptive audience you could wish for. They yearn to be entertained, informed – they want you to spark their imaginations, even if it appears that they couldn’t care less.
With the Witchfinder Event I start off by telling them I write horror stories - kids give you a certain amount of respect for writing horror anyway, but it only buys you a few moments. Then I tell them that I’m going to get one of them out of the audience, try them as a witch, torture a confession out of them, and then execute them. Now they’re engaged! That’s the Trial of a Witch section of the schools event – an historically accurate re-enactment of a 17th Century witch-hunt – and kids just lap it up! I also perform a short reading from Witchfinder and I’ve been overwelmed by the reaction – kids leaning forward in their chairs, eyes wide! Then we have a Q&A where they can ask me anything they like about the books, the real witchfinders, writing and getting published. There are always one or two surprising questions! The events seem to be going really well, and the testimonials from teachers and pupils have been excellent.
By the way, if any schools would like me to come in with the Witchfinder Event they can contact Katie Hovell at Oxford University Press: [email protected]
How did you get into writing?
I’d always written. I can remember writing and drawing comic books when I was four years old. Later, I realised that my artwork was appalling but that the writing side wasn’t bad, so I continued with short stories and I finished my first novel when I was fourteen. It was no masterpiece, I can tell you! I wrote all the way through university, turning in short stories to local magazines and penning plays for amateur dramatic organisations. After taking the deathly dull Legal Practice Course, I started my apprenticeship at a solicitor’s office and was contemplating a grey life as a glorified form-filler. Then, one lunchtime, I saw a local news piece on the Masters Degree in Creative Writing offered by Sheffield Hallam University. It was one of those turning points that come around once or twice in a lifetime. I was scared silly – I’d invested a lot of time and hard work in my career – but this just felt right. I handed in my notice that afternoon and spent the evening filling out an application to join the course. That was the start really – I met some wonderful writers, was turored by award-winning novelist Jane Rogers, and found an agent. And I owe it all to BBC regional news!
Did you always want to be a writer?
Short answer – yes, but it always felt like a pipe dream. Writers were other people, gods who sat in the mist of a literary Olympus far away from the common man. I always wrote, but getting published was a hard slog, as it is for most writers. I actually think it should be hard, because in the struggle you become better.
I must say – and I think a lot of writers will identify with this experience – there were a lot of people who told me it was an impossible dream and that I’d sacrificed my career for the sake of it. People without dreams love nothing better than to tear down other people’s aspirations, but I must say (a tad smugly) I don’t hear much from those people any more. So yeah, I always wanted to be a writer. I hid that ambition for a long time, because it seemed unachievable in the face of those who told me it was. Now, when I go into schools and talk to kids who want to write, I don’t sugar the pill – I tell them how hard it is – but I also tell them to ignore the doubters, to work hard, to read more than they write, to keep plugging away, and then you honestly stand a fair chance of achieving that dream.
Who is you idol in the field?
Boring answer, but it has to be Stephen King. If that literat Olympus exists then he is Zeus! I honestly believe that when historians look back on the culture and social mores of late twentieth century America their first reference point won’t be Thomas Pynchon or John Updike – it will be King. Not only is he a master of horror, he is a cultural touchstone – a storyteller as evocative of his time as Dickens was of his.
Which of your books would you say was the most fun to write?
Definitely Witchfinder. The story just flowed out of me, as has its sequel Gallows at Twilight and the final book, The Last Nightfall. There is something about this story, these characters, that makes me bounce out of bed in the mornings and hurry to the computer. I’ve never felt a stronger urge to write, and have never been more satisfied by the end product. It’s a truism that a book is never finished, it’s only ever abandoned. That is true with Witchfinder, but I’ve never been more comfortable in that abandonement.
I was a huge fan of The absence. But what was your inspiration for the novel?
The background for The Absence was the overlooked mythology of the Fen country. The myths of Linconshire have never really made an imprint on the popular imagination as, say, the myths of Ireland, Scotland or the West Country have. And yet there is a deep and rich vein of folklore in my home county just waiting to be uncovered. It is also a somewhat disturbing folklore – full of ghosts, strange visitations and dark creatures. I’ve also always been interested in the idea of god-creation through worship and the notion of what might happen to those gods whose followers have fallen away: would they change into darker, spiteful, more vengeful forms? All of this is also tied into notions of forgiveness and redemption which I wanted to bring out in a very human story of pain and loss.
What is next for William Hussey?
Well, it will be ‘William Hussey’ for the foreseeable future! The second Witchfinder book comes out in January 2010 and that is swiftly followed by the last in the trilogy in September. By the end of this year I hope to be starting a new series of horror stories for kids – the pitches are with my editor at OUP right now. In the immediate future I’ll be taking the Witchfinder Event on tour through schools, libraries and bookshops in England, Scotland and Ireland, culminating in a joint event with Derek Landy of Skullduggery fame. Then I have events dotted throughout the year, including one with fellow YA horror writers Sam Enthoven (‘The Black Tattoo’, ‘Crawlers’) and Barry Hutchison (‘Invisible Fiends’) at the Big Green Bookshop in Wood Green. All details of upcoming events can be found at the Witchfinder wbsite – witchfinderbooks.co.uk
Snakebite Horror meets Sarah Pinborough
With the release of your debut crime novel are you choosing to move away from horror for good?
Absolutely not. In fact, although A Matter of Blood is a crime novel it has a supernatural subplot and there are some horrific elements. I think however, I wanted to move away from straightforward horror and do something more subtle. After 6 straight horror novels in 5 years I really wanted a change. Plus, I've grown as a writer - (my novella from PS publishing, The Language of Dying, is magical realism and I guess borders on literary, although I'm not overly keen on that word) - and the types of stories I want to write are different now. I like challenging myself, and I think I'm finally finding my feet in this writing game.
What gave you the inspiration for your novels feeding ground and breeding ground?
Breeding Ground was definitely inspired by John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids. I love Wyndham, and just to make the homage absolutely clear I have one of the characters reading The Kraken Wakes at one point. Feeding Ground was slightly different as I knew it would be my last horror novel for a while so I wanted to make it a fun creature feature in the style of James Herbert's Rats and Shaun Hutson's Slugs which were the books that freaked me out when I was in my early teens. I guess both books are inspired by books which gripped me as a child.
Are you a fan of horror fiction your self? if so what authors do you enjoy?
I prefer reading horror short stories rather than full length novels. The irony of writing so much is that your reading time becomes limited - after writing a book all day it's much more preferable to chill out in front of a movie than to read a book - especially one in the same genre! I tend to read more thrillers than horror these days but I like dipping into anthologies. I think horror works really well in the short form.
In you own oppinion what is your best novel you have written so far?
It's always hard to pick a best book - it's normally the one you're currently working on! I would say that The Language of Dying was a landmark piece of work in my writing career, but I'm equally proud of A Matter of Blood and my first YA novel coming out later in the year The Double-Edged Sword. I worked really hard on those three and are stories that I really wanted to tell that I think are unique to me, rather than trying to emulate the writers' I loved as a child; King, Herbert, Barker, Wyndham etc.
Absolutely not. In fact, although A Matter of Blood is a crime novel it has a supernatural subplot and there are some horrific elements. I think however, I wanted to move away from straightforward horror and do something more subtle. After 6 straight horror novels in 5 years I really wanted a change. Plus, I've grown as a writer - (my novella from PS publishing, The Language of Dying, is magical realism and I guess borders on literary, although I'm not overly keen on that word) - and the types of stories I want to write are different now. I like challenging myself, and I think I'm finally finding my feet in this writing game.
What gave you the inspiration for your novels feeding ground and breeding ground?
Breeding Ground was definitely inspired by John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids. I love Wyndham, and just to make the homage absolutely clear I have one of the characters reading The Kraken Wakes at one point. Feeding Ground was slightly different as I knew it would be my last horror novel for a while so I wanted to make it a fun creature feature in the style of James Herbert's Rats and Shaun Hutson's Slugs which were the books that freaked me out when I was in my early teens. I guess both books are inspired by books which gripped me as a child.
Are you a fan of horror fiction your self? if so what authors do you enjoy?
I prefer reading horror short stories rather than full length novels. The irony of writing so much is that your reading time becomes limited - after writing a book all day it's much more preferable to chill out in front of a movie than to read a book - especially one in the same genre! I tend to read more thrillers than horror these days but I like dipping into anthologies. I think horror works really well in the short form.
In you own oppinion what is your best novel you have written so far?
It's always hard to pick a best book - it's normally the one you're currently working on! I would say that The Language of Dying was a landmark piece of work in my writing career, but I'm equally proud of A Matter of Blood and my first YA novel coming out later in the year The Double-Edged Sword. I worked really hard on those three and are stories that I really wanted to tell that I think are unique to me, rather than trying to emulate the writers' I loved as a child; King, Herbert, Barker, Wyndham etc.
