Glen Hirshberg's Blog - Posts Tagged "influences"
Influences
From Sci-Fi Signal June 2 interview with Kristin Centorcelli
GH: I never set out to write “horror” or any other genre. I just love telling stories. But I do think there’s something about ghost stories and horror—the atmosphere, the essentially eerie and beautiful imagery, the primal and universal fears that encode so much human behavior and interaction, the way those fears trigger and heighten other primal and universal emotions—that seems to bring out some of the best writing I have in me. All those things, predictably enough, are also what I love about reading dark fiction. Although, honestly, I love reading any good fiction. Actually, any good anything.
KC: You’ve undoubtedly influenced more than a few authors with your work, but who has influenced you in your work?
GH: I still feel as though I’m being influenced by something new and marvelous every single minute. But at the core? Robert Louis Stevenson for the charm of his voice and the generosity of his spirit (and the pirates, and those foggy, monstrous streets); Kipling, for the sheer virtuosity and range of his storytelling; Shirley Jackson, for the sustained sense of menace and devastating psychological acuity; Ramsey Campbell, for the variety and majesty of his spellcasting; Val Lewton movies for their skewed realities, alluring shadows, surprising sweetness; Mark Rothko paintings for that impossible, untraceable light; Richard Skelton’s music, and K. Leimer’s, for their restless stillness (if that makes any sense at all), their wells of winking melancholy. P.G. Wodehouse, for the sheer pleasure of his wordplay.
Read the full interview here--->.
GH: I never set out to write “horror” or any other genre. I just love telling stories. But I do think there’s something about ghost stories and horror—the atmosphere, the essentially eerie and beautiful imagery, the primal and universal fears that encode so much human behavior and interaction, the way those fears trigger and heighten other primal and universal emotions—that seems to bring out some of the best writing I have in me. All those things, predictably enough, are also what I love about reading dark fiction. Although, honestly, I love reading any good fiction. Actually, any good anything.
KC: You’ve undoubtedly influenced more than a few authors with your work, but who has influenced you in your work?
GH: I still feel as though I’m being influenced by something new and marvelous every single minute. But at the core? Robert Louis Stevenson for the charm of his voice and the generosity of his spirit (and the pirates, and those foggy, monstrous streets); Kipling, for the sheer virtuosity and range of his storytelling; Shirley Jackson, for the sustained sense of menace and devastating psychological acuity; Ramsey Campbell, for the variety and majesty of his spellcasting; Val Lewton movies for their skewed realities, alluring shadows, surprising sweetness; Mark Rothko paintings for that impossible, untraceable light; Richard Skelton’s music, and K. Leimer’s, for their restless stillness (if that makes any sense at all), their wells of winking melancholy. P.G. Wodehouse, for the sheer pleasure of his wordplay.
Read the full interview here--->.
10 Books
Got tagged by that nasty Paul Tremblay to do one of these impossible 10 books that left a lasting impression on me memes. Am I the only one who thinks it would be easier to do 10,000? Right, then, without spending the day in the shelves (although, come to think of it, that sounds fun...), and in no order, and with the caveat that these are TODAY's--or, really, this hour's--10, only:
1. Robert Louis Stevenson-- Treasure Island
2. Ramsey Campbell-- Dark Companions
3. Italo Calvino-- Cosmicomics
4. Ellen Willis-- Beginning to See the Light: Pieces of a decade
5. Federico García Lorca-- Collected Poems/Blood Wedding
6. Harry Crews-- A Feast of Snakes
7. Arthur Machen-- The Great God Pan
8. Julio Cortázar-- The End of the Game
9. Raymond Chandler-- The Long Goodbye
10. Twan Eng Tan-- The Garden of Evening Mists
1. Robert Louis Stevenson-- Treasure Island
2. Ramsey Campbell-- Dark Companions
3. Italo Calvino-- Cosmicomics
4. Ellen Willis-- Beginning to See the Light: Pieces of a decade
5. Federico García Lorca-- Collected Poems/Blood Wedding
6. Harry Crews-- A Feast of Snakes
7. Arthur Machen-- The Great God Pan
8. Julio Cortázar-- The End of the Game
9. Raymond Chandler-- The Long Goodbye
10. Twan Eng Tan-- The Garden of Evening Mists
