Kevin Lucia's Blog, page 43

"Lament At Sundown", My First Non-Supernatural Story, Debuting at AnthoCon, Next Week

"The best stuff, the stuff that lasts, comes out of late night conversations with your very own self" - Mort Castle

Next weekend, my story "Lament at Sundown" will debut at  AnthoCon in Four Horsemen's first anthology, Anthology: Year One. It's a different story for me - my first non-supernatural tale - and, in many ways, very personal, a perfect embodiment of the quote from Mort Castle above.

It began, ironically enough, with a good-natured, running gag in one of my classes. Several of my honors students had this running joke with one of their mates - a student of an Arabic/Middle-Eastern background (but fully, whole-heartedly American) - that she was Native American. This led to random references to hunting buffalo, scalping, pow-wows, and fire-water, whenever the time seemed right: in the middle of conversations, tests, class discussion...pretty much whenever. It became our class's version of the time-honored "That's what she said" joke.


Now, I know what you're thinking - how could I allow such cultural insensitivity in the classroom?  But, I knew these students well - had known this one student's family for over ten years - and it was clear that everything was offered in good fun (and I checked with said student, several times). Sure enough, for Halloween, the student in question came into class dressed in full-tilt Native American garb - headdress and tomahawk and all - and proceeded to "scalp" several of her fellow students for their insolence. 

This, ironically enough, on a slow day, led to a discussion about my writing process. They asked how I came up with new stories, and I told them what I tried to do was draw as much inspiration from life as possible.

I then referenced their running gag and said: "Here's the thing: you guys have all been really kind and laid-back about this, it's obviously a joke between old friends. But what if it WASN'T? What if there was meanness and violence behind it, and what if...what if...the victim, a female, decided she wasn't going to take it anymore? Was going to take matters into her own hands?"

And thus, this story - in its earliest form - was conceived with the help of these ten students (Thanks, guys. You know who you are).

This story deals with other things, also. The helplessness I sometimes feel as a teacher, in trying to touch students' lives...and failing, so often. Also, it's a hard look at how fear and prejudice and even racism start as very small, innocuous seeds, sprout, grow into something dark and deadly...often claiming those most innocent. 

This story is rather bleak.  I know, several weeks ago, I posted about claiming the title of Idealist, and being proud of it. But, I also noted that short stories are very different animals than novels, and because of that, my short stories will very often be darker and bleaker than my long work, because in many ways, they're meant to be quick gut-checks, sharp jabs to the kidneys, forcing the reader - hopefully - to think, forcing them into a greater awareness of the world around them. Have no idea if I accomplished this, but I tried, especially with this one, to step above genre, aim at something deeper.

Structurally, I tried something a bit different, also. Hope it works. At the very least, I tried something interesting, so if comes off as a failure, maybe it'll be at least an interesting failure.

Either way, looks to be a great collection. If you're at AnthoCon this year, pick one up. If not, it'll be available through all the usual markets afterward.  The TOC is below:

What do my characters want? And trying to unravel another writing mess....

"But with your character, he or she must do the thing that launches the story, and then everything he or she does is because of that first misstep or boundary-crossing moment." - Douglas Clegg

This post details EXACTLY why I'm suddenly struggling with my current novel, which began life as a semi-solicited novella (as in someone saying, "Hey, I'd love to read your work) that has now sprawled into a novel that I wasn't expecting. At first I thought: "Okay, we'll run with it."

But then?

Well, like always with me and writing "the novel", everything sorta went SPLODEY, real fast.

In short? I've got 400-500 pages of decently written, loosely connected action that's got no core, no OOMPH....

Because I have no idea what all my characters WANT. They have no goals.

I don't know what THEY want.  I don't really know what drives them, so there's nothing really driving the story.

My Billy the Kid Project (which I'm returning to soon, if this current thing doesn't sort itself out), went along so swimmingly because I FIGURED out what my characters wanted. They had goals. I could say:

"Billy the Kid is a man who..."

or

"Pat Garrett wants..."

or

"Natchez is trying to live up to his father's shadow...."

or

"Dr. Hoyt is a man of science obsessed with the unknown..."

And with this current project?

Nothing. Nada. Zip.

Part of the problem is, I think, my original plan to write a novella. I was thinking short, crisp, fast action, tight characterization, something that moved. Well, when I realized the plot was too thin and incomplete and bumped it up to a novel, I just started adding in stuff, without also realizing that NOW, I really needed to get inside my characters and figure out WHO they were, and what they wanted.

So, I guess I am participating in NanoWriMo (though not really, with 60,000-some words already written). Basically, I'm giving myself to the end of November to sort this baby out. If I can't, I'll return to Billy and finish that bad boy, because I KNOW what they all want. I know THEM, and they're waiting patiently for me to return and bring them back to life.

If this current project doesn't work out, so be it. I'll shelve it, and move on, never stop writing. They say it took Stephen King nearly 13 years to figure out It (one of my all time favorites), and Ron Malfi has said it took him several years to nail down the equally wonderful Floating Staircase. Much as I hate to admit it, this project may prove to be the same type of deal.

But I won't let it stop my writing. Because leaving off writing is like trying not to breathe....

Live Interview on Scary Scribes

UPDATE: For those viewing the show later, here are some easy-to-find links pertaining to some of our potential topics:

My podcast series at Tales to Terrify, "Horror 101"

The "devil house", and how I was first turned to horror

The first installment of my new serial novella, "And I Watered It, In Tears", free in many formats.

My thoughts on the philosophy of horror and post-modern horror

My recent paper on post-modern horror film

And the Goodreads Giveaway of Hiram Grange & The Chosen One, which ends in three days.



Anyway - Hope you'll listen in at the live link, here:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/paranormaleh/2012/10/28/scary-scribes

Writing For Myself, Part II

As I envisioned this several days ago, writing Part I, I thought I'd have a lot more to say on the subject.  However, after spending several days thinking about it, I'm not sure what else there IS to say, whether or not this would become a case of beating a dead horse. 

I write horror. Monsters, demons, weird things happening, eerie nights, human frailty, weakness, failures, fears, and nightmares are all part of the bag.  Bad things happen to good people, and I see tragic stories in the news every day, domestic tragedies that make my heart ache and make me ask, "Why?"

Gary Braunbeck says something similar in his memoir, To Each Their Darkness - that he wants to know WHY. Why do bad things happen? Why suicide, murder, abuse, death, misery and destruction? So I'm always asking myself these questions, and thinking about stories that try to form an answer through telling a tale.

BUT.

Because of the way I've been raised - Baptist/Christian - because of who I AM, an optimist who always sees the glass as half-full, who believes that while the world has become an awfully scary, dangerous place: life is beautiful and wondrous, and because of that,  beauty still exists on this bad old planet of ours...I'm an Idealist.

I HAVE to be, especially considering my son's autism. He's made great strides in such a short time, is much better off than many others, and is a bright, wonderful little boy. But the very real fact remains: he may never enjoy a normal life. Ever. May never be able to live on his own. A friend of the family's son is autistic, and is a genius. Has memorized the entire Bible. But he can't live on his own, because he can't manage the simple machinations of day-to-day life.

So I HAVE to be idealistic. I have to believe in something better for Zack, have to believe that Someone, Up There was in control and Knows What They're Doing, because if not, I'd never be able to get through every day, especially the hard ones, when Zack is struggling.

I want to write fiction - not necessarily horror - that goes to dark places, looks at disturbing things with an unflinching gaze, so that we can get through it, to the light at the end. And yes - sometimes, in real life, we don't get to see that light. So, the Realists say, your story lacks realism. It's not true to life.

But to some people, that's what ART is. It strives against the chaos of life, by imposing an order - that's perhaps otherworldly, certainly Other - upon that chaos.

Art is essentially serious and beneficial, a game played against chaos and death, against entropy. - John Gardner

Now, a lot of people would maintain Gardner was saying this tongue in cheek, based on some of the fiction he turned out himself. But for me, the quote speaks volumes. Of course, I want my characters to walk and talk realistically, want scenarios to be realistic, as well as descriptions, and settings.  

But I'm not a Realist. I'm an Idealist. So, in the end, straight-to-world realism isn't my primary goal, because for me, if I'm crafting an Idealistic tale...it's part of my art.

How will this affect my future writing? Well, it has lead me to turn down a few gigs, just because the stories weren't "me", or at the time, I could find a slant that worked for me. But, ironically, I don't see it as changed my focus very much. My current serial novella, And I Watered It, In Tears in Lamplight Magazine, is dark. There's death, and some wrenching personal stuff there, too.

But for me, things need to have meaning. Order. Purpose.  Because to me, that's what Art is: Balance, Order, Harmony.

I'll write dark things. I'll go there. But to play it off the light, to make it shine all the brighter.

Writing For Myself, Part I

Its best to write for yourself if you want to sound like yourself and not someone else. We all do the ventriloquist act a bit, and we never lose some of the voices we've stolen or borrowed. But influence is quite different from being a copy cat. Write like everyone you know is dead, and that you don't have to worry about what other people think. Write the story you would like to see, even if its vulgar, violent, or romantic and soft, or all those things. Write the story that means something to you. You won't always write a story with heavy meaning, because some days we just want something light and simple, other days, something more insightful and complex, and at our best, a combination of those things. - Stolen from Joe Lansdale's Facebook

So, it's amazing how long it takes us to learn some things. Things you'd think are so basic, so intrinsic to who you are, they'd be simple, straightforward, and as plain as the nose on your face.

Of course, if you're like me, you get caught up in things. Especially when they're exciting, especially when they seem like the fruition of life-long dreams. You go along with the flow, not only because that's what's expected of you, but also because you want to fit in, want to "play ball", play "nice", and get along with everybody.  As a writer, you also want an audience, and you want to appeal to that audience.  And at the beginning, you really don't know who that audience is, maybe just because you haven't figured out who YOU are, yet. Not totally.

You've all heard this before. Admittidly, this is extreme navel-gazing, me threshing out my thoughts and ideas on my blog.  That having been said...

I began my "career" in the CBA (Christian Bookseller Association). My faith and belief in God and Something Bigger has always been a driving force in my life, and at the time I felt that would be a reasonable place for me to find my voice, find my audience...

Even though I'd never read much "Christian" Fiction, really. 

Even though, the little Christian Fiction I'd read, I hadn't exactly liked. 

But I figured maybe I wasn't reading widely enough in the CBA, so I jumped right in, entering contests, submitting chapters, reviewing for several sites and publications. And I discovered several  things:

1. I hated most Christian fiction. It was poorly written, proselytizing, reductive, and did I mention poorly written?

2. I wanted to be a WRITER. Not a preacher. Not a missionary. I wanted to use all the tools I could, even the CBA-unmentionables: swearing, drinking, drug use, sexual innuendo. Also, I wanted to write about PEOPLE. Real, every day people. I could give two-hoots about whether or not my fiction boasted whatever it was  the CBA considered "correct theology," I just wanted to have fun writing, write the kinda stuff I'd like to read.

3. Most of all, I wanted to tell a story that was ME, and enjoy doing it. All the writing I did trying to break into the CBA didn't sound like ME, even though I'd barely figured out what ME was supposed to sound like, at the time. All I knew, what the CBA offered wasn't it.

So, after three years toiling in that genre, I jumped ship to the secular horror market with my sale of "The Water God of Clarke Street" to Shroud Publishing's anthology, Abominations. Writing that story, and several others, including my Hiram Grange novella, I felt freed of the CBA's constraints, felt like I could write whatever I wanted, and could use all the tools I needed, and be me.

Mostly.

Because there were a few short stories early on that I wrote specifically as "horror stories", because, hey: I had finally embraced the tag "horror writer." This is what horror writers wrote about. And hey: those stories paid decently, and had been invitations.  But I was making a "name" for myself, right? I certainly liked and felt like I belonged in the secular horror community much more than I ever did in the CBA community, so it'd be best to just "go with this", right?

So, sadly, I tried to write several "horror novels" after Hiram Grange. They failed, primarily, because they weren't me. They were horror novels, very reflective of the reading I'd done...

But they weren't me.

This past summer, I rediscovered Dean Koontz, in reading his biography: A Writer's Biography. See, I had been a  big fan of Dean Koontz, but I soon learned when I jumped into the secular horror writing scene that he'd become "persona non grata" because he was too hopeful, too idealistic, too preachy, too transparent about his personal beliefs, drew too rigid of lines between good and evil, his good characters TOO good, his evil characters TOO evil...

So, like a good little horror writer who wanted to fit in (because, as said, I liked the horror market - and still do - much more than the CBA), I stopped reading Koontz. Started reading all the other authors horror folks recommended. And, granted, many of those authors: Charles Grant, Ramsey Campbell, Norman Patridge, F. Paul Wilson, T.E.D. Klein, Karl Edward Wagner, Alan Peter Ryan, Gary Braunbeck, Norman Prentiss, Ron Malfi, Rio Youers, Mary Sangiovanni, and many others have been wondrous, wondrous discoveries. 

But some of those other writers?

Not so much. Writing violence and death and sex for the sake of, not in service of an important story or plot.  And nihilistic. So nihilistic.  And, I realized that I'd written and sold several short stories along those lines, because I'd believed: "I'm a horror writer. This is what horror writers write."

I'd come full circle. I'd given up on the CBA because religious fiction wasn't for me. And, even though I'd no intention of giving up on the horror market, I found myself, as of a year ago, wondering if I really fit in here, either.

See, I don't mind a dark, disturbing story. One that has emotional substance and an intellectual point that provokes thought. I have no problems with gore and sexual innuendo that's tastefully done, and believe that profanity is like any other literary tool: it can be used or (and often is) over used.

But I can't abide nihilism. I am SO not post-modernist. I believe in "right and wrong." Stories don't always need to end "happy", (and short stories serve a very different function than novels) but I want, in novel-length works especially, goodness and love and truth and kindness to prevail. I DON'T believe that right and wrong is "all relative."

I am, admittedly...and idealist.  And I plan on staying that way, and plan on writing that way, also. Because otherwise, it wouldn't sound like me. It wouldn't be me.

And if doesn't sound like me, and isn't me...what's the point?

I want to be and write like ME. And no one else.

Which of course, doesn't mean I'm going to start writing like Dean Koontz. To be honest, his stories are often OVER THE TOP in saccharine goodness. And his plots are formulaic, and his characters all speak in the same kind of voice, really.  And, I also believe that short stories are entirely different animals - they are designed for hard, sharp jabs in the gut, so they don't need full-blown resolutions that set everything "right" with the world. I have no problems writing short stories like these.

So I'm not going to mimic Dean Koontz, now. But I am allowing myself to enjoy the idealism in his novels again, without feeling guilty. And, I saw something in his biography that spoke to me, so deeply,  made something inside me leap up and exclaim: "THIS is what I want to write. THIS IS ME."

 I want to say to the reader, 'Take my hand. We're going to go through this terrible place, and things will happen that are too horrifying to think about, but it's going to be all right on the other end. There's going to be meaning and a purpose to this. Trust me.'  - Dean Koontz, A Writer's Biography

 How has this fleshed out, how will this flesh out? Come back Tuesday....

Tales to Terrify 39: The Next Installment of Horror 101

So the next installment of my podcast series with Tales to Terrify - Horror 101 - is live. This time up, I'm looking at the "supernatural gothic" versus the "natural/explained gothic", focusing on Matthew Lewis' novel "The Monk", and Anne Radcliffe's "The Mysteries of Udolpho." I also look a little at Radcliffe's essay "Supernatural in Poetry", and try - in my own feeble way - to make some connections between horror's gothic origins and horror today.

Currently, I'm reading Melmoth the Wanderer, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and if I'm really beast, I'll be able to fit in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, also. It'll be a "forbidden knowledge" edition, next time... 

Annual Halloween Goodreads Giveaway

I know, I know - I've been terribly remiss about blogging. Getting back to school this year has been killer, and with several projects on the burner, unfortunately the blog has been shoved to the wayside.

Anyway, I'm hoping to start blogging - even if it's just mini-blogging - at least twice a week, soon. To start off: here's the annual Halloween Goodreads Giveaway of my Hiram Grange novella, Hiram Grange & The Chosen One:

Hiram Grange doesn't believe in fate. He makes his own destiny. That's a good thing, because Queen Mab of Faerie has foreseen the destruction of the world, and as usual... it's all Hiram's fault. He must choose: kill an innocent girl and save the universe, or rescue her and watch all else burn. Just another day on the job for Hiram Grange.

In Book Four of the Scandalous Misadventures of Hiram Grange, author Kevin Lucia, takes his readers on a wild chase through Belfast's darker boroughs as Hiram Grange faces his toughest--and perhaps most unusual--assignment yet.

Blurbs:

“In the mood for a wild ride of a book? Something smart and scary and exciting? Kevin Lucia’s HIRAM GRANGE & THE CHOSEN ONE fits the bill to perfection. It teems with monsters and demons, with arcane lore, black magic and narrow escapes. What could be more delicious? Long live Hiram Grange!”
Robert Dunbar, Bram Stoker Nominated author of THE SHORE and MARTYRS & MONSTERS

“HIRAM GRANGE & THE CHOSEN ONE moves fast, fun and furious... I couldn't put it down! If you've always thirsted for James Bond to have a serving of Lovecraft -- you'll eat this one up.”
John Everson, Bram Stoker Award Winning Author of Covenant
Brilliantly paced and with very few moments for the reader to stop and catch their breath, Hiram Grange and the Chosen One is an adrenaline drenched jaunt through the realms of horror, fantasy and dark humor. Violence and gore abound, presented expertly by Lucia in a way that not only shows his raw talent, but the ruggedness of Hiram’s character as well.

Apex Publications

There is non-stop action seasoned with Lovecraftian chills, forming a page-turning final product that satisfies.  Lucia’s pacing is tight and his writing descriptive.....each chapter leaves you wanting to see what happens next.

Serial Distractions

I found Lucia’s Hiram version to be one of the best developed in the Hiram series, from dialog to description....Lucia’s writing flows well and the action is well done. The story is interesting enough to keep you looking forward to the next chapter. Lucia delivers a great novella, well worth the read.

The Event Horizon 
 
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Goodreads Book Giveaway Hiram Grange and the Chosen One by Kevin Lucia Giveaway ends October 31, 2012.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter to win

The Catharsis of Childhood Memory

Not too long ago, I blogged about that "coming of age novel" I really want to write, that I've wanted to write ever since I first started writing, what made me want to write in the first place. This summer, I've been taking my daughter out to my parents nearly once a week, and the childhood memories have been coming hard and fast, so I've been pretty busy - even while writing other things - compiling a list of notes about the childhood memories I'd incorporate into that novel.

This past Thursday, after soccer practice, Madi and I went to my parents for her first official sleepover at Grandpa and Grandma Lucia's.  

We had a grand time roasting marshmallows and hot dogs by the fire, and the next day, helping Dad with the chores (feeding goats and chickens  and such). Madi slept in her Aunt Chantal (my sister)'s room.

I slept in my room.

And Holy-Bombarded-By-Childhood-Memories, Batman.

I turned in around 10:30.  Spent the next two hours, in my bed, writing a feverish, first person (which I rarely do) prologue for that "coming of age novel", using my room - and what it used to look like - as a springboard.  And the whole thing is wonderfully ironic: I essentially "wrote" most of my first novel in that bed, where I spent almost two hours writing this past Thursday night.

I was a fairly busy high school kid (not compared to today's little bundles of stress, though). I played sports, had homework and lived in the country, which = chores. And I read like a fiend, so taking time to write wasn't something I did, then. But, somehow or other, my senior year in high school I found myself, after lots of false starts, writing a novel. In a Mead spiral notebook. And I'd do it late at night, after everyone else had gone to bed, with a flashlight, under the covers, simply because I had no idea when else to do it.

So, it was with a great sense of irony that I opened my "prologue" the other night with:

I wrote my first novel in this bed.
Now, I'm pretty busy with other things right now. Have to get back to my Billy the Kid project, and school is starting. So I don't know where this is taking me, how much more of it'll get written. And, oddly enough, I'm a little....scared...to try and go rewrite what I scribbled down the other night, worried that the "magic" of writing those first twenty pages in my childhood bedroom will somehow be gone in my office.
I'm putting it off for the day. Heading out to Horrorfind Weekend in Gettysbury for the day.  Hopefully, tomorrow, I'll go back into that opening, and still find some of that magic there.
But I don't doubt that the next time we sleep over at my parents, I'll produce another 20 pages or so....

Carousel Revelations on Writing the Short Story

So I was riding the carousel earlier today with my kids at the zoo, and the inevitable urge to write a story about a haunted zoo popped up, as it has for the past three years, every time I go to the zoo.  

It's a setting inspired story, really, so I've been circling the idea for a few years now, not really knowing WHAT I want to happen in the story, just that I've wanted to write a "haunted zoo" story for some time, now.

And I had a revelation. 

Yes, I know.

Regular readers of this blog will probably think: "Oh, great. ANOTHER revelation about his writing career. Like we haven't heard THAT before." My only defense is two-fold, I suppose:



1. I over-analyze things. And probably always will. That's just the way I am

2. I've only been pursuing a writing career seriously (and by seriously, I mean submitting for publication) for the past five years.  So honestly, I'm still trying to figure this all out

Anyway, here it is, really simply: I started thinking about writing a short story about a haunted zoo. And, as I always automatically do, I thought: "This would be so much better as a novella."

And then, I actually got DEPRESSED thinking about trying to meet a 5,000 and under word limit.  It felt tedious. Like a chore. Something I had no desire to do, whatsoever.

And then I thought: "If that's the case, why do it?"

There's lots of things writers need to do that's not "fun". Setting a committed writing schedule. Sacrificing time and energy and freedom. Rewriting. Accepting critique. But we endure those things in pursuit of something we want, and usually the things we want, we really like, too.

I just don't want to write 5,000 word and under stories. I don't. And it's not even a matter of style: "killing your darlings", "cutting the fat out", "kill every adverb" etc, etc. When I think of writing stories 5,000 words and under, I don't get excited. 

I get depressed.

There's something wrong, there.  That MEANS something. 

So why? Why PUSH myself to write short stories if I don't really want to? If I DREAD the prospect of doing so? It's obviously not my forte, or my strongest point, so...

Of course, as this revelation lightened the load on my shoulders, gave me a sense of peace (and I'm not joking here, it did - peace on a broken down carousel), it also presented a sobering reality:

1. this really narrows the market. Not many places accept stories in the 8,000 - 10,000 range.  Those that do, don't pay a lot. Or, they're on the other end of the spectrum, and will be very hard for me to crack. 

2. so I go on splurge and write a slew of novellas - who's gonna publish them? No one, right at the moment. I'm not exactly sought-after. Publishers aren't lining up at my door, asking for novellas.  And I'm certainly not in the financial position to take the self-publishing plunge.

So what does this all mean?

If I say "Screw 5,000 words an under, I don't feel like writing stories that short", I'm either going to have to wait for a decent anthology accepting that length, or try cracking into the really GOOD publications that accept that length, or be okay with writing a bunch of novellas that won't see the light of day for awhile. Or, maybe forever.

And I guess I'm okay with that. Because, as has happened more and more over the past year, I've just fallen in love with the writing. Because that's the only thing that matters, in the end. The writing. The story.  If it needs to be 8,000 words and not 3,000 words, so be it. If it needs to be a novella, so be it.  Whatever the story needs to be.

Which doesn't mean I'm going to slack on my Bradbury-maxim of reading one short story a day. Whether or not I make it as a short story writer, I've got some AWESOME editing opportunities coming up, and I want to at least be a short story editor someday (read: want to be asked by good publishers, not throw an anthology together with a micropress publisher). So I still need all that short story reading, desperately.

And I'm not going to abandon short stories.  Just remove this admittedly self-applied pressure to become a short story writer.  I seem to do okay with solicited stories (like I'm ever going to see many of those), so even though this is like waiting for my lottery number to come up when I only have half a ticket, maybe I just need to sit, be patient, and wait for solicitations (yes, I know, tongue-in-cheek) instead getting myself into a vicious submission-rejection-submission cycle.

Waiting. Being patient. 

Something I'm getting a lot more used to.

Tales to Terrify: The Gothic Novel, Rudolph Otto and the "Numinous" and The Philosophy of Horror, Redux

The next installment in my podcast series for Tales to Terrify, Horror 101, is up today. We're beginning discussion of the earliest forms of the Gothic novel, starting specifically with The Castle of Otranto, by Horace Walpole. In today's podcast, I give a brief introduction to Noel Carroll's treatment of the Gothic novel in his treatise on horror, The Philosophy of Horror , briefly discuss German theologian Rudolph Otto's beliefs of "religious dread" and the "numinous", then move on to break down some of Castle's more interesting points, and how those sync with Otto's "religious dread".  

One thing I'd like to emphasize: By no means am I posing myself as an "authority" on the origins of the horror genre.  In many ways, I'm embarking on a journey of study and self-discovery, and simply chronicling my findings in this podcast show. If anyone ever has any recommendations of works I should read, or if anyone ever feels I've overlooked some important facet of the horror genre, please, by all means - let me know!

In any case, in The Philosophy of Horror, Carroll outlines this potential breakdown of the Gothic novel:

1. historical gothic - tale in an imagined past, no supernatural elements

2. natural/explained gothic - all supernatural elements are explained away

3. supernatural gothic

4. equivocal gothic -renders the supernatural ambiguous by means of psychologically disturbed characters

So, come check out the podcast, get a brief primer on Otto and the Numinous, also see where I place The Castle of Otranto on that list, and why. And, if you missed my debut episode, you can listen to it in the archives, here.

Ironically enough, author and podcast host and blogger Kristi Peterson Schoonover is running my blog series breaking down Carroll's The Philosophy of Horror on her blog. If you didn't catch it the first time, head over there and keep tabs on that blog, drop by and comment. 

And of course, I'm not going to pass up another chance to point folks to the debut of my serial novella, "And I Watered It, With Tears" in the first issue of LampLight: a Horror Quarterly. First issue is free over at Smashwords. I recommend the downloadable .pdf.