G.R. Yeates's Blog, page 8
March 27, 2012
'What do you fear?' Wednesday welcomes Kate Jonez
Today I would like to welcome Kate Jonez, Chief Editor at Omnium Gatherum Media and keeper of strange things in jars.
1. Your story in the Phobophobia anthology is about Electrophobia – the fear of electricity. What was the original inspiration for this or were there a number of sources that you drew upon?
We use electricity constantly, but most of us don't really understand it. I couldn't explain the difference between an amp, a volt or a watt especially not if the electricity went off. Lots of things we don't understand scare us. Every time I stick a knife in a toaster I think that a monster is going to zap me. The inspiration for E is for Electrophobia came when I asked, what if electricity really did come from a monster?
2. The protagonist in your story could be characterised as a mad scientist – what is the appeal of this particular character type to the horror writer? What do you think he represents about humanity?
Scientists, the great ones, at least, think differently than the rest of us. They find the answers to questions the average person doesn't even think to ask. I've always thought that they might actually be a different species. How can someone who unravels String Theory, for example, be the same sort of being who doesn't get Introductory Algebra no matter how many times she had to take that damned class? Science at the very highest levels is fascinating, but also dangerous. Scientists wield great power. And when they go mad… horrifying things could happen.
3. What do you fear? Tell me about your own phobias.
I like to explore my own fears in my stories for the very same reason that I prefer to write horror and dark fantasy. Phobias and fear comes from a deep, dark honest place that logic doesn't go. I'm personally afraid of crowds. Logically, I know that the chances of the suburbanites at the local mall devolving into a rioting, bloodthirsty mob, is slim. But the physical sensations I experience in a crowd is exactly the same as if I were in a sewer filled with swarming rats. I find it curious and a good excuse to shop online.
4. Your story incorporates a fear of the dark to contrast with the title fear and the individuals suffering from these fears are blood relatives – male and female – was this juxtaposition intentional from the beginning, or did it naturally evolve?
Giving the secondary character a fear of the dark seemed like a natural thing to do. Unlike her Uncle Elmo, the scientist, Dora is a simpler person. She believes what she sees. When things are hidden in the dark she fears them.
5. One of your hobbies is researching the odd and the obscure in history – do you have an odd and obscure fact or two that you would like to share with us?
One of my favorite characters of all time is Athanasius Kircher. He was a 17th Century scholar of ancient language, geology and medicine. He stumbled in to the odd position of Royal Inventor. He's responsible for creating all sorts of wonderfully baroque automatons like a biological clock that runs on sunflowers, and his most famous invention the cat powered piano. He's also the inventor of the magic lantern, the very first oil-powered movie projector. The Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles has small models of his automatons and lots of online information: http://www.mjt.org/exhibits/kircher.html
6. Tell me more about your collection of 'things in jars' and what additions there have been recently?
There is nothing more effective at creeping guests out (the real hobby) than shelves lined with jars of scary and disgusting looking stuff. My most recent addition is a fetal pig. He's very cute, though.
7. You have a Monster Blog that is regularly updated with information about monsters, myths, legends and how to shrink a human head – what is it about monsters that makes us create them and then remain fascinated by them? And have you verified the head shrinking recipe through practical experiment?
I began writing my monster blog as a resource for writers. I thought that every time someone was tempted to write a story about a familiar monster they could visit my blog and choose one that's had a bit less exposure. And then I got a little carried away. There's so many! Every time I discover a new one I want to put it in a story. Monsters are like simplified versions of ourselves. They are creatures that only have one personality issue or problem to work on. I think that's why we like them. I have not yet tried out my head shrinking recipe, enemies just won't come over to visit anymore.
8. How are things going at Omnium Gatherum Media? Lots of exciting things are coming from Omnium Gatherum in 2012 .
Each of the authors currently published with Omnium Gatherum are hard at work on their next book. And we've got several exciting new authors too. On April 30th, Hunter's Moon: Visceral Tales of Terror from R, Scott McCoy will be available in paperback and Ebook. The best way to find out about books from Omnium Gatherum is to sign up for our newsletter. We send out news of upcoming releases and offer discounts and special giveaways for newsletter members. The sign up page is here.
9. Tell me about one of the other stories in Phobophobia that you enjoyed and why. How many can I talk about? Lalalalalala. I really enjoyed Y is for Ymophobia by Magen Toole. The layers of the story added to the build-up of tension. John Palisano's O is for Osmophobia did a great job building a character around a peculiar fear. And Adrian Chamberlin's A is for Aquaphobia had wonderful atmosphere.
10. So what does 2012 hold for Kate Jonez? Any last words?
In 2012 I've got plans to finish up my second novel Bombay Island. If all goes well, Candy House my first novel should be in print by the end of the year. And of course lots of exciting titles are coming from Omnium Gatherum this year.
Thank you Kate!
Phobophobia is available at the following links:
If you want find out more about Kate and Omnium Gatherum, please visit the following links:
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‘What do you fear?’ Wednesday welcomes Kate Jonez
Today I would like to welcome Kate Jonez, Chief Editor at Omnium Gatherum Media and keeper of strange things in jars.
1. Your story in the Phobophobia anthology is about Electrophobia – the fear of electricity. What was the original inspiration for this or were there a number of sources that you drew upon?
We use electricity constantly, but most of us don’t really understand it. I couldn’t explain the difference between an amp, a volt or a watt especially not if the electricity went off. Lots of things we don’t understand scare us. Every time I stick a knife in a toaster I think that a monster is going to zap me. The inspiration for E is for Electrophobia came when I asked, what if electricity really did come from a monster?
2. The protagonist in your story could be characterised as a mad scientist – what is the appeal of this particular character type to the horror writer? What do you think he represents about humanity?
Scientists, the great ones, at least, think differently than the rest of us. They find the answers to questions the average person doesn’t even think to ask. I’ve always thought that they might actually be a different species. How can someone who unravels String Theory, for example, be the same sort of being who doesn’t get Introductory Algebra no matter how many times she had to take that damned class? Science at the very highest levels is fascinating, but also dangerous. Scientists wield great power. And when they go mad… horrifying things could happen.
3. What do you fear? Tell me about your own phobias.
I like to explore my own fears in my stories for the very same reason that I prefer to write horror and dark fantasy. Phobias and fear comes from a deep, dark honest place that logic doesn’t go. I’m personally afraid of crowds. Logically, I know that the chances of the suburbanites at the local mall devolving into a rioting, bloodthirsty mob, is slim. But the physical sensations I experience in a crowd is exactly the same as if I were in a sewer filled with swarming rats. I find it curious and a good excuse to shop online.
4. Your story incorporates a fear of the dark to contrast with the title fear and the individuals suffering from these fears are blood relatives – male and female – was this juxtaposition intentional from the beginning, or did it naturally evolve?
Giving the secondary character a fear of the dark seemed like a natural thing to do. Unlike her Uncle Elmo, the scientist, Dora is a simpler person. She believes what she sees. When things are hidden in the dark she fears them.
5. One of your hobbies is researching the odd and the obscure in history – do you have an odd and obscure fact or two that you would like to share with us?
One of my favorite characters of all time is Athanasius Kircher. He was a 17th Century scholar of ancient language, geology and medicine. He stumbled in to the odd position of Royal Inventor. He’s responsible for creating all sorts of wonderfully baroque automatons like a biological clock that runs on sunflowers, and his most famous invention the cat powered piano. He’s also the inventor of the magic lantern, the very first oil-powered movie projector. The Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles has small models of his automatons and lots of online information: http://www.mjt.org/exhibits/kircher.html
6. Tell me more about your collection of ‘things in jars’ and what additions there have been recently?
There is nothing more effective at creeping guests out (the real hobby) than shelves lined with jars of scary and disgusting looking stuff. My most recent addition is a fetal pig. He’s very cute, though.
7. You have a Monster Blog that is regularly updated with information about monsters, myths, legends and how to shrink a human head – what is it about monsters that makes us create them and then remain fascinated by them? And have you verified the head shrinking recipe through practical experiment?
I began writing my monster blog as a resource for writers. I thought that every time someone was tempted to write a story about a familiar monster they could visit my blog and choose one that’s had a bit less exposure. And then I got a little carried away. There’s so many! Every time I discover a new one I want to put it in a story. Monsters are like simplified versions of ourselves. They are creatures that only have one personality issue or problem to work on. I think that’s why we like them. I have not yet tried out my head shrinking recipe, enemies just won’t come over to visit anymore.
8. How are things going at Omnium Gatherum Media? Lots of exciting things are coming from Omnium Gatherum in 2012 .
Each of the authors currently published with Omnium Gatherum are hard at work on their next book. And we’ve got several exciting new authors too. On April 30th, Hunter’s Moon: Visceral Tales of Terror from R, Scott McCoy will be available in paperback and Ebook. The best way to find out about books from Omnium Gatherum is to sign up for our newsletter. We send out news of upcoming releases and offer discounts and special giveaways for newsletter members. The sign up page is here.
9. Tell me about one of the other stories in Phobophobia that you enjoyed and why. How many can I talk about? Lalalalalala. I really enjoyed Y is for Ymophobia by Magen Toole. The layers of the story added to the build-up of tension. John Palisano’s O is for Osmophobia did a great job building a character around a peculiar fear. And Adrian Chamberlin’s A is for Aquaphobia had wonderful atmosphere.
10. So what does 2012 hold for Kate Jonez? Any last words?
In 2012 I’ve got plans to finish up my second novel Bombay Island. If all goes well, Candy House my first novel should be in print by the end of the year. And of course lots of exciting titles are coming from Omnium Gatherum this year.
Thank you Kate!
Phobophobia is available at the following links:
If you want find out more about Kate and Omnium Gatherum, please visit the following links:
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March 23, 2012
Phobia Friday welcomes Willie Meikle
Today, Phobia Friday welcomes pulp horror king, Willie Meikle.
1. You are a prolific writer of fiction and you have tackled such genre favourites as Holmes, Carnacki and giant crustaceans – what is the appeal of writing about such iconic characters and creatures for you?
Big beasties in particular fascinate me. Some of that fascination stems from early film viewing. I remember being taken to the cinema to see The Blob. I couldn't have been more than seven or eight, and it scared the crap out of me. The original incarnation of Kong has been with me since around the same time. Similarly, I remember the BBC showing re-runs of classic creature features late on Friday nights, and THEM! in particular left a mark on my psyche. I've also got a Biological Sciences degree, and even while watching said movies, I'm usually trying to figure out how the creature would actually work in nature — what would it eat? How would it procreate? What effect would it have on the environment around it? On top of that, I have an interest in cryptozoology, of creatures that live just out of sight of humankind, and of the myriad possibilities that nature, and man's dabbling with it, can throw up.
Then there's the iconic detectives.
It's all about the struggle of the dark against the light. The time and place, and the way it plays out is in some ways secondary to that. And when you're dealing with archetypes, there's only so many to go around, and it's not surprising that the same concepts of death and betrayal, love and loss, turn up wherever, and whenever, the story is placed. Plus, there are antecedents – occult detectives who may seem to use the trappings of crime solvers, but get involved in the supernatural. William Hjortsberg's Falling Angel (the book that led to the movie Angel Heart) is a fine example, an expert blending of gumshoe and deviltry that is one of my favorite books. Likewise, in the movies, we have cops facing a demon in Denzel Washington's Fallen that plays like a police procedural taken to a very dark place.
And even further back, in the "gentleman detective" era, we have seekers of truth in occult cases in John Silence and Carnacki. Even Holmes himself came close to supernatural conclusions at times.
I love exploring this sub-genre for myself, in the Midnight Eye Files stories, in a series of Carnacki stories, and I even got a chance to have Holmes fight a Necromancer in Edinburgh in an anthology appearance in Gaslight Grotesque, and to bring Moriarty back in REVENANT. It seems there is quite a market for this kind of merging of crime and supernatural, and I intend to write a lot more of it.
2. Your story in the Phobophobia anthology is about Jesusophobia – the fear of Jesus. What were the influences and sources for your story?
I had a traditional Church of Scotland upbringing. Back in the '60s that meant both Church visits, and Sunday Schooling as well as Religious Education at the normal school. There I learned more about the perils of sin and the dangers of fornication than I ever did about love and compassion, and the whole experience managed to put me off organised religion by my early teens.
The story comes from straight that period, from sitting in cold draughty churches and church halls listening to red-faced Ministers shouting about Hell while all I could think about was wanking and girls.
3. What do you fear? Tell me about your own phobias.
One thing has creeped me out since I was a child, and that is monks, in long robes, with their hoods pulled up and forward so that their faces are in deep shadow. There used to be one that came at night all through my childhood and stood at the foot of my bed. Peter Jackson has been in my dreams and used them as a model for the Dark Reaper in THE FRIGHTENERS and the 9 Dark Riders in LOTR.
Apart from that, losing family to sickness is a biggie, and getting bigger every year as my parents get older and near their '80s.
Oh, and spiders, and women. And spider women.
4. Your story features some satire with Hell being portrayed as a corporate bureaucracy – I take it you have your own ideas about where politicians and other weavers of red tape should go to when they die?
I spent too much of my own working life in IT support in faceless bureaucracies in the NHS, Local Government and big Insurance Companies. I know exactly where a certain kind of people need to go. And I'll be there waiting, with the pitchfork and the red-hot pokers.
5. Jack, your protagonist, is a writer – does he have a lot of you in him as a character?
There's a little bit of me in Jack, the main part being in the section about his marriage. My first marriage was a disaster, and some of my anger at that has seeped through into this story. But I'm more centred than Jack. If it was me in his place, I'd be ready to make a deal for a better situation rather than just accepting what came to me.
6. Ballygrampus runs through the seven deadly sins in your story – do you think these sins have any credence? If there was one sin amongst them you could get rid of, which would it be?
I think as rules to live by, anything that preaches moderation in all things is a better option rather than just outright banning. I mean, I enjoy a bit of lust now and again, and gluttony gets indulged quite frequently after a few beers. Personally, I'd like to get rid of Sloth, as I suffer from long bouts of it that are sometimes hard to shake.
7. Several stories in Phobophobiadeal with the fear of the spiritual and the holy – why do you think this is so prevalent when such things are meant to be sources of comfort to us?
I mentioned earlier, my "churching" consisted of more than few attempts to frighten me into having faith, so I don't think fear of the spiritual is an unusual thing at all. A lot of people are mortally afraid of the very real prospect, to them, of going to hell.
Sure, religion can be a source of comfort to many. But for many others, it's also a control mechanism to keep the proles in line, and that's where a lot of the tension in writing this kind of material comes from.
8. Are you hoping for an afterlife, nothingness, reincarnation or none of the above?
I wrote this in one of my books, and as a personal philosophy, it'll do for me.
Life is an opportunity to create meaning by our actions and how we manage our way through the short part of infinity we're given to operate in. And once our life is finished, our atoms go back to forming other interesting configurations with those of other people, animals, plants and anything else that happens to be around, as we all roll along in one big, happy, ever changing, universe.
Plus, I like the idea that some of my atoms will probably be around to see the death of Sol. That'll be cool.
That said, I have had several personal experiences with dead family members showing up that means I need to leave some wiggle room in my philosophy for some kind of afterlife – but I'm keeping all bets open on that one.
9. Tell me about one of the other stories in Phobophobia that you enjoyed and why.
Simon Kurt Unsworth continues to impress me. He's got the ability to put what he imagines on the page while still leaving a great deal to the reader's own imagination. He has a smooth, readable style, and is growing in stature as a writer with every passing year. I believe he's going to go on to big things, and good luck to him.
10. So what does 2012 hold for Willie Meikle? Any last words?
I've got some exciting stuff in the pipeline this year, publications wise. I have a new novel NIGHT OF THE WENDIGO, coming in hardcover from DARKFUSE, and a new Lovecraftian collection, also in hardcover, coming from DARK REGIONS PRESS. There's also several really cool anthology appearances, including one in DANSE MACABRE from Edge Publishing where I'll be alongside Tanith Lee, Brian Lumley and John Shirley, and a short story in NIGHTLAND magazine in Japan (in Japanese) where I'll be alongside Joe Lansdale and a Robert E Howard reprint. Fanboy heaven!
My most current book is CRUSTACEANS, out now from DARK REGIONS PRESS in deluxe limited edition hardcover and trade paperback. Giant killer crabs take Manhattan. What else to you need to know?
Thank you, Willie!
Phobophobia is available at the following links:
CRUSTACEANS is available at Dark Regions Press
If you want to find out more about Willie and what he's up to, please visit the following links:
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March 21, 2012
What do you fear? Wednesday welcomes Ian Woodhead
This Wednesday I would like to welcome Ian Woodhead and ask him "What do you fear?"
1. You write in a style that reminds me of the 80s boom in horror pulp fiction; particularly Guy N. Smith and Shaun Hutson – what is it about these writers and this approach to horror that appeals to you both as a writer and a reader?
Clarity is the key word here, I think. These guys (and thank you for comparing me to them) don't need to write twenty paragraphs of text to set up a scene. I admire their ability to be able to trim the fat without losing any of that precious meat.
2. Your story in the Phobophobia anthology is about Icthyophobia – the fear of fish. What were the influences and sources for your story?
Influences and sources you ask? Ha! I just trawled the net, looking for any phobia that began with the letter 'I' The fear of fish grabbed my attention.
3. What do you fear? Tell me about your own phobias.
What do I fear? I don't have a phobia, at least I THINK I don't. I'm not too keen on wasps. Wait, let me rephrase that. I hate the little bastards. Can't stand them.
4. Your story features a vindictive sister as did Tracie McBride's H for Hagiophobia, what is it about sibling rivalry that you think makes good material for a horror story?
What can you do when that person whom you hate is linked to you by blood alone? Just because you share parents, doesn't automatically mean that you're supposed to get on. Imagine the shoe is on the other foot, just think how miserable your life would be if your brother/sister hated you.
5. Scott is a disabled protagonist and such protagonists could be considered a minority in horror fiction – why do you think this is?
Stories are a reflection of reality, don't you agree? I mean we all base our prose on what we see, our observations and so on. Unless you actually work with the disabled, most of the folk who pass you on a daily basis have full use of their limbs.
6. Your story is one of the more light-hearted in Phobophobia – was the humour a conscious choice or did the story just come out that way? What do you think of the relationship between horror and comedy?
When I started writing the phobia story, it wasn't my intention to create a light hearted story. I've just re-read it and I believe the humour comes from how the boy interacts with the reader. The lad is an innocent really; he sees the world through his games and his binoculars. His only real experience with the outside world comes from his mother and his sister and they're both a bit cuckoo.
7. Why do you think in tales of the horror and the supernatural, we so often find stories of justice being dealt out when it so rarely is in real life?
Reading, just like watching the box, surfing the net or playing games is a form of escapism. The reader doesn't want the hero to lose at the end, well not usually anyway. As you said, they see enough of that in the outside world.
8. Tell me more about your zombie horror series – what was the original inspiration behind The Unwashed Dead?
Zombies, did you know that until I started researching the subject, I had no idea just how many folk out there are fans? I mean, don't get me wrong here, I love the zombie genre, The original Dawn of the Dead is in my all time top films list, right under Alien and The Thing. Thing is, of the books that I'd previously read, not one had been set on a British housing estate. Well, I just wished to re-dress the balance.
9. Tell me about one of the other stories in Phobophobia that you enjoyed and why.
I did enjoy Metathesiophobia by Marie O'Regan. Ava's character fascinated me. Oddly enough, her passion for order is the complete opposite to me. I did enjoy how the story ended.
10. So what does 2012 hold for Ian Woodhead? Any last words?
At the moment, I'm collecting notes for a story set in a town where nearly everyone is bad. Murderers, rapists, sexual deviants, basically the dregs of society. The idea is that this town plus a few others scattered around the planet have to exist to provide balance for the rest of society. Of course, no country lives in some sort of utopia, but without the towns providing equilibrium, our society would just collapse. The town has a set of guardians that ensure the ones born in town never leave, also their disgusting acts happen out of sight, behind closed doors. Now this town does house a large number of 'normal' people who don't see any of the debauchery, but are aware that the place is tainted. Our story starts with the owner of one of the largest factories in the town wanting to bring everything out into the open. He wants the blood to run through the streets. The man achieves this and the results are gruesome, bloody and horrifying. The working title for the story is Rags and Bones.
I aim to start writing this one up at the beginning of April. Whilst doing this, I'll be finishing off the notes for another story called Duplicity.
The synopsis for this one is – a couple go on a caving holiday and become lost, they are chased by a tribe of carnivorous humanoids. Remember the movie The Descent? Well, it's nothing like that. The creatures in my story are shape changers. They consume the couple and take on their appearance. They also emulate their personalities and, well, in fact, they actually believe that they are the people they helped to eat. Our story really begins a few months later. Our 'changed couple' came back to 'their' town and essentially took over the lives of the dead couple. Everything seems just fine until the male keeps getting asked if he has a twin. You see, the rest of the tribe has tracked the 'couple' down. They have also taken on the 'couple's' appearance, the major difference is the tribe have retained their original predatory personalities. They come to town to feed and to mate. I think you can imagine the fun I'm going to have with that one!
There's another three stories bubbling away as well but I've given too much away as it is.
Thank you for whetting our appetites, Ian!
Phobophobia is available at the following links:
The Unwashed Dead is available from the following links:
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March 19, 2012
Hell's Teeth Launch – 19th March 2012
Critically-acclaimed author, G.R. Yeates, releases Hell's Teeth – the final book in the Vetala Cycle!
Out at sea, off the coast of Gallipoli, the black teeth of Cape Helles await!
Gallipoli, 1916. The campaign is lost. The Turks are driving the Anzacs from their dugouts. Amongst them is Tom Potter, a man who left England in disgrace, hoping to start his life over in New Zealand. But his ghosts have not let him go and, when he is cast adrift, lost at sea, they seek him out, they maroon him upon a grey and dismal island. A place where Tom discovers he is not alone, that he is being watched by horrors who have fed upon the blood spilled in the trenches of Passchendaele and the streets of London, and now, they wish to feed upon him.
Hell's Teeth is exclusive to Amazon and you can pick up the entire trilogy for just $2.99 from 19th – 21st March as G.R. Yeates will be making the first two books completely FREE!
Hell's Teeth $2.99
The Eyes of the Dead FREE!
Shapes in the Mist FREE!
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March 18, 2012
Sample Sunday: Hell's Teeth Preview V
They let him pass as he made his way out. Tom could see their eyes shining with a nocturnal opacity, the mean set of their mouths and the grinding of their teeth, hungry flies roaming in their grave-greasy hair. He followed the track out of the dugouts that went down into the valley below. He did not have a reel of telephone wire with him, what was the point in collecting it? He was being sent out into no man's land to die, this place was waiting to feed on him, one way or another. Taking a communication trench, empty of the unliving, Tom kept on going until it petered out into a small path, led around the base of the hill, and took him up into a steep, narrow gully that would terminate in no man's land.
Tom stopped.
Wishing he had some fags and a Lucifer to light them with, the dead didn't smoke, a definite failing of theirs. He wanted a little something in his system to perk him up before he undertook the next stage of his journey, he did not know what was waiting for him up there, no idea at all.
No sense in worrying myself away here though, he thought, I have no cigarettes and no lighter. I'll have to do without them, that's that.
He heard the incoming whine of a shell, dead overhead. He threw himself to one side into the unyielding brush, his hands flung over his head for protection. The shell fell, tearing apart with a hot growl, close to his heels.
Tom felt nothing. He uncurled his arms from around his head, shaking, he got to his feet. His ears ringing, he looked around, searching for shrapnel. There was none. The ground had not been disturbed in the slightest. Frowning, Tom's ears picked up another whistle, then two, taking a step back, his heart banging, Tom waited. The shells fell, exploding a few feet away, but there was nothing to see or feel. They were ghosts of war, echoes screaming in the skulls of the dead.
The path became steep, forcing him to gouge handholds into the rough earth with his bare hands. He could feel his fingers and palms bleeding from the digging, cut open by sharp stones and hard clumps of sandy ground. A rushing sound came from ahead.
Tom lifted his head, peering into the dimness before him.
The rushing became louder.
Storm waters came thundering down the path, the entrails of no man's land borne by surging currents; debris, rocks, shell casings, chunks of limber wheel, all churning in the mud. Tom fought, keeping his grip, not losing his footing as the battering waves hit. His eyes stung and his muscles burned from the sudden cold surrounding them, and Tom groped blindly through the freezing wet thunder for purchase, an outcrop, a means to anchor himself and not be swept away by this tumbling roaring of chaos.
Water struck him in the face, the ground was being chewed from under his feet, he could feel it muddying, giving way. He was sinking up to his ankles in crumbling soil. The flood was growing in ferocity, his shins felt like they were being flayed with razors. He felt sick. He'd swallowed a stomachful of soiled water, feeling the earth sliding out from under him, he knew he was going to fall. A punch of water struck him in the guts. Tom's arms went wind-milling out to his sides, his arse hit the ground, the ground bit into the back of his head. His skull sore, buzzing, Tom rolled over onto his side, got to his feet, nursing the shallow cut to his crown. The waters were gone, the path was dry, the way ahead was clear. He looked around. No-one was there, but he was sure he'd just heard a whisper of laughter, and he understood.
The land was silent, no rustling in the brambled bushes, little wind stirred the stale air. Tom ran a hand through his hair as he stood looking out to sea – what he presumed to be the sea here, in these Gravelands. There were murky lights out there, flickering on, flickering off, tapping out a Morse code that Tom did not understand. Whatever was out there, he doubted that the lights were coming from battle ships or lighters. Moving to the edge of the plateau upon which he stood, he crouched down, went flat on his belly, and peered over.
The beaches were below, where Beanpole had said the supply lighters pulled in, Tom could see the boats. By dim pulses of electric light, the pasty nzambi of Anzacs and Brits were dragging the supplies onto the dusty grey shore, the supplies were like none Tom had ever seen. Long sausage-shaped bundles, tied tight with rope and cord. The charnel soldiers were busy undoing the bindings, slow work with rigor mortis hands. One of the bundles unfurled, the sheeting peeling off, within lay a dead man. As Tom watched, he saw it move – first, an arm, then, a leg, then, a twitch of the head, eyes opening, mouth slack – it jerked upwards, snapping into a rigid sitting position. Its jaw working, it let out a long and wretched howl. As the scream withered and died in its throat, he saw the other bundles writhing, sitting up, struggling with their bonds. His gaze moved on to the lighters, idling by the shore. Squinting, he peered into the cabins at the bows of the sinister craft, trying to make out the helmsmen.
Hell's Teeth
will be launched on March 19th 2012 as part of a KDP Select Promotion. The Eyes of the Dead and Shapes in the Mist will be free from 19th – 21st March. You can sign-up to the public Facebook event here: http://on.fb.me/xcpbmM
Copyright © G.R. Yeates 2012
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March 16, 2012
Phobia Friday welcomes Barbie Wilde
For Phobia Friday, I would like to welcome Barbie Wilde to my website – known to horror fans as the Female Cenobite in Hellraiser II, Barbie's career has been one of wide variety and great experiences – read on and find out more!
1. You have had a very eclectic career as an actress, mime, television presenter, film critic and an interviewer – out of all the interviews that you conducted, which was the most memorable?
I had a lot of fun interviewing Cliff Richard — you can't really get more memorable than him, except for perhaps Johnny Rotten, who was also great fun and just as professional as Cliff.
I also enjoyed interviewing a very young Nicholas Cage. I was making a pilot for a TV show in the late 80s and we managed to bamboozle our way into the Brighton Film Festival. The only question I can remember asking Mr Cage was: "What color are your underpants?" His answer was very interesting: he didn't want to tell me what color they were, but he did say that his underpants were covered with an ant motif. When I asked him why, he launched into a detailed explanation of his fascination with bugs, his bug collection and the wonderful display cases that he had specially made in Italy to show off all his bugs.
2. Has the variety been driven by choice, pragmatism, both or neither?
Definitely both. To be frank, after my serious "I am a classically-trained mime artist" fringe theatre days, I dyed my hair blue and co-created a dance-mime-music group called Shock with a few fellow mime artists, dancers and actors. (We had some modest success: we released a couple of singles with RCA Records, performed in New York City and supported Gary Numan at Wembley in the early 1980s.)
After Shock broke up a few years later, I unsuccessfully tried a song-writing/singing career, then went back to my acting roots. Since I didn't particularly want to go back to the "boring" me (complete with jeans and bubble perm), I still looked rather extreme (blue hair, black leather outfits, etc.) and that look did inform the roles I got. However, since I couldn't do an English accent to save my life, I thought that really looking like a punk, or New Romantic, or whatever, gave me a bit of an edge for roles of that type. For instance I went up for the part of Nancy Spungen in Sid and Nancy. I didn't get it, but I had a wonderful audition with Alex Cox. (I think I just came across as being too nice to portray Nancy, who would have given the Female Cenobite a run for her money any day.)
3. Your story in the Phobophobia anthology is about Uranophobia – the fear of heaven. What was it that inspired you to draw from Greek mythology and, in particular, their heaven, Olympus?
I really wanted to write a story about the fear of home invasion. (There isn't actually a specific phobia for that, believe it or not. It's lumped under the heading of Xenophobia: an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange — or Anthropophobia: the fear of people.)
I chose Uranophobia because I thought it might be amusing for readers, considering I previously played a demon from Hell, that I was writing a story about the fear of Heaven. Doing my research, I noticed that the phobia wasn't only about the fear of conventional heaven, but of the sky, or even the god of the sky, Uranus (hence the name of the phobia). I've been fascinated by Greek myths since I was a kid, so I loved delving back into the stories again.
4. What do you fear? Tell me about your own phobias.
My worst fear is one of the most common: Arachnophobia. I can't believe I actually watched the film of the same name. I foolishly thought that it might cure me. News Flash! It didn't.
My second worst phobia is fear of home invasion, funnily enough. The idea that someone is trying to get into your home — knowing full well that you're there — just creeps me out. I have bad dreams about it.
I also have a fear of flying and a fear of heights. I tried to cure those fears by going skydiving. I actually jumped out of an airplane with a parachute… twice! Needless to say, it didn't cure me, but at least I can say that I faced two of my fears head on.
5. Your story drew upon the macabre side of ancient myth. As a student of world mythology, I'd be interested to hear which you think are some of the most bloodthirsty myths and legends you have come across over the years?
I used to read all the myths and legends that I could get my hands on when I was a kid. As mentioned before — Greek and Roman myths, Norse myths, American Indian legends — I loved them all. The Greeks did seem to have the most blood-thirsty ones. Just the story of Gaia, Uranus and their children is pretty horrific.
Isn't it interesting what humans used to come up with while they're sitting around the campfire shooting the breeze back in ancient times? You'd think they'd be chatting about happy things like pink bunny rabbits or something, but no — even though they're already scared to death of the dark, or whatever — they're making up stories about blood-thirsty gods slicing their father's genitals clean off. Much more entertaining I guess!
6. Gaia also brought to mind, for me, Eileen Wuornos and Valerie Solanas in terms of how she finally had taken enough of being abused, which caused her to snap – did you have any real-life inspirations for this character?
Specifically? Not really — just from absorbing the stories of women like Eileen and Valerie over the years. I've done a lot of research into the criminal mind for my novel and even attended an international conference on paedophilia and child abuse, so I was familiar with the subject.
7. Having worked in such a variety of different roles in the media, do you feel that they have all complimented each other and helped you to develop as an individual and an artist?
Absolutely! (Of course, I'd have to say that, wouldn't I?) My eclectic career wasn't really planned that way. When the music business door shut on me, I went through the acting door. When that shut, I went through the presenting door. When that shut, I went through the casting director door. When I shut that door myself, I opened the writing door. One thing has led quite smoothly to the other.
However, I have written fiction through all the years I was trying other things, so I'd like to think that I've finally reached the point where I've really found something that I love doing and that other people seem to appreciate. (Although I'll always have a soft spot for performing.)
8. What do you enjoy about the short story as a form, and how do you feel it differs from the novel and the poem in terms of its strengths?
I was never really interested in writing short stories (especially horror short stories, since crime was "my beat") until Paul Kane asked me to contribute to the Hellbound Hearts Anthology. I really enjoyed the process of writing Sister Cilice, because writing novels is a long-winded and timely (at least for me) process. To use an analogy from the music business, writing short stories is like releasing a single. Writing a novel is like recording and releasing a concept album.
9. One of the roles you are most well-known for is the Female Cenobite in Hellraiser II. What do you think it is about Clive Barker's vision that continues to be so inspiring and enduring?
Clive has a very unique voice and an extraordinary way of looking at things. His imagination is so fertile. I don't think he's had an unproductive day in his life. And it's not just the Cenobites that have become icons of horror, but also the character of Julia, who was a powerhouse of sex and emotion, determined to do anything to bring back her lover from Hell. Ya gotta love a girl like that. (And of course, Clare Higgins' portrayal of Julia is one of the greatest performances in horror film history, in my humble opinion. )
10. Tell me about one of the other stories in Phobophobia that you enjoyed and why?
Sadly, I haven't had a chance to read all the stories yet, but since I'm interested in insanity (or the fear of it) I thought that I'd read "D is for Dementophobia" by Emile-Louis Tomas Jouvet first. I thought it was excellent: very filmic, muscularly poetic and strange. The moods and images stay in your mind long after you've read the story.
I'm really looking forward to reading all the stories in the anthology. I've got a lot of catching up to do with reading three anthologies! (See next answer below!)
11. So what does 2012 hold for Barbie Wilde? Any last words?
I have two other short stories that have come out in print recently: American Mutant: Hands of Dominion in the Mutation Nation Anthology from Rainstorm Press and Polyp in the Mammoth Book of Body Horror Anthology from Robinson. I've just signed a publishing deal for my novel, The Venus Complex, which is a fictionalised diary of a serial killer. (Writing from the viewpoint of a very troubled man was really interesting!)
I've got an idea for a horror movie jumping around in my head and two ideas for crime-horror novels. And finally, I've been co-writing the book for a musical drama that's "Inglourious Basterds meets Moulin Rouge!": a seething cocktail of war, revenge, love, passion, jealousy and violence played out in the ruins of post-war Marseille with fantastic, atmospheric songs.
Any last words: Well, I just want to say a big "Thank you" to anyone who has taken the time to read my stories and enjoyed them.
Thank you, Barbie!
Phobophobia is available at the following links:
To find out more about Barbie, please visit her website where you will find further interviews and details of her novel, The Venus Complex.
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March 14, 2012
What do you fear? Wednesday welcomes John Prescott
Today, I would like to welcome John Prescott to my website. His story in Phobophobia was T for Teratophobia – in short, he wrote about a fear that is quintessential to the horror genre – Fear of Monsters!
1. "Not all fears should be faced alone" – this is your story's opening line, do you agree with this?
I do up to about 95%. There are some that can be handled on your own but others I would be afraid to even think about going at alone.
2. Your story in the Phobophobia anthology is about Teratophobia – the fear of monsters. What were the influences and sources for your story?
Every creature feature I've ever seen and I've seen quite a few. The topic of bullying has been in the mainstream now for a while and I got to thinking that humans are probably the worst kind of monsters, there are especially the kind that breeds or nurtures into the all-out crazy individual.
Also, the mind of a young kid say to about 9 or 10 is so open and impressionable. They will believe anything still, but they are at that tip when they are losing the innocence of being a kid. It's a fine line during that age where, "hmmmm, that could happen or that's real" and then the maturing adolescence kicks in, and they can actually see and understand the consequences and ramifications of it. I've got a novel in the wings after the Revelation Chronicles ends that I want to jump into hard and with both feet. It deals with this heavily.
3. What do you fear? Tell me about your own phobias.
Well, the fear of losing a loved one and family members, but that's a general one most of us share I would hope. But the two biggies that bug me the most are the fear that I know I'm about to die, say in an airplane and its engines go out and we start to plummet, or I'm caught in a blazing inferno and realize I'm about to be a screaming alpha fire and a few seconds later a burnt smouldering heap of ash on the floor. The second would be demonic possession. That is probably my biggest fear of all. It's almost a contradiction because of my faith, which states I have nothing to fear, but that truly scares me. I still can't watch the exorcist with the lights off, but I love that movie as well as many others that deal with that subject. I guess I need to write a novella or novel about that to exorcise the fear out eh? See, that I could do on my own. =)
4. There are a number of board games available these days such as Arkham Horror and Mansions of Madness – were these an inspiration for your own creation? Tentacles are often associated with H.P. Lovecraft, after all.
Actually my brother was the main inspiration for this story. He had a board game, LIFE I think it was if I remember correctly, that he and his friends used to play constantly to the point of obsession. I remember being very young and looking at that board and feeling the raised edges of the landscape and it giving me a very odd vibe. He also had a very elaborate chess set that just intrigued me to no end. It was handcrafted and just beautiful. So it's basically a mix of bunch of different things just added into the pot and stirred around a bit.
It's no secret I'm a gamer as well. I have both sets you mentioned above. Another thing which is no big secret to anyone that knows me is that I'm a huge Lovecraft fan at heart. So yeah, a short story about monsters? Why sure I have to put in a little HP reference!
5. Which of the many monsters out there in the genre was the first one to truly scare you?
The vampire, but not the original one in Transylvania. It was Stephen King's Salem's Lot movie, which has Barlow depicted all wrong from the novel, but does make a very impressive creature of the night. But that's not what really scared me about it. The movie reminded me a lot of my home town, small, somewhat secluded, and me understanding with the movie that that could happen out here in the country and no one would know about it. I had nightmares the night I watched it. I remember dreaming that my friends across the road were scratching on my window wanting to get in and they both had long very sharp teeth, and I'm sure my mom kicked herself a few times for letting me watch it because I woke her up late at night a lot that week.
6. Which monster would you have over for a beer and pizza to watch his greatest cinematic hits?
A vampire, but I would want either Barlow or Lestat, because they are so good at what they do for what they are. One I would absolutely DETEST to have over is Edward. I would laugh him out of the house. If you have to ask why well, there is nothing to fear from him. It still amazes me and saddens me what two good-looking young men and a brilliant marketing team can do to the American Public.
7. School bullying makes an appearance in your story with the focus on intolerance for mental illness – why do you think the former and latter (i.e. madness, real and implied) are recurrent features of horror fiction?
Hmmm, I think Dave J. could answer this question far better than me, but I will have a stab at it. Simply, it's reality made very real and shoved in your face. This or that could happen, and it's also conditioning us to a degree for those unlucky few when it does happen they don't go mad themselves and can deal with it on some sane level.
The mother in my story is the A-typical parent who just won't accept the fact that something is wrong with their child even though it's been said to them that there is. They just go blindly on with their lives till it reaches a boiling point and the release valve is "Just get over it, Johnny so I can get on with my life, I've spent too much time with this and I don't want to be burdened with it any longer." It's a sad fact, but a true fact to the point where the parent won't even discuss the problem anymore with their child. I know that's harsh, but it's the truth.
8. Tell me more about your post-apocalyptic trilogy, the Revelation Chronicles, that began with Pray and continues with Hell – also, what do you think it is that appeals to writers about the trilogy as a structure for a linked series?
It's a story arc I've had with me for over 7 years before I started writing it. I figured I best get on with it before someone else came up with the idea to do it. It's a trilogy that deals with the book of Revelation in the Bible with some pretty big twists added in. I've had a blast writing it, and researching about it. The things people believe or used to believe would make your jaw drop to the floor. I'll give you two examples of these things. There was a huge moment of worry after J.F.K. got shot. There were a whole slew of people who thought he was the Antichrist and they waited for him to rise up out of his coffin three days later. Another was a group of people who thought that the B-29's from WWII were the locusts that sprang out of Hell because they had the tail guns at the back of the plane and thought these (the guns) were the stingers of the locusts. These are just SOME of the things I've read. The Book of Revelation is just a fascinating book to me and I wanted to explore it and write a good story while trying to shed some knowledge on all its meanings. If you just picked up the Bible and read the book of Revelation you would be lost 80% of the time and it wouldn't make much sense. Hopefully after reading the trilogy all who read it will have a better understanding about it, that's my goal at least.
Well, the book of Revelation has 3 distinct parts, so it fit naturally for me. I originally planned to have it done in 4 books, but I found some areas where I could cut it down to three. I thought of doing a series but I have more stories I want to tell. I often look back and wonder how a series would have done; I certainly could have had more time with the characters, which are a boatload to keep up with. I think there are over 20 characters in Pray that have significant roles during the course of the novel and with the amount of material and information I've had to write about there isn't much time. I think that hurt it at times and then at other times I think I did ok with it. But the main thing for me for such a rapid pace novel was I had to grab the reader quick and make him/her care for each of the characters as quickly as possible. I hope I've done my job well in that aspect. A one off for this story arc would be impossible to carry around so splitting it into 3 parts just seemed right to me.
9. Tell me about one of the other stories in Phobophobia that you enjoyed and why.
First off that's an unfair question. I laid out the book so I've read the stories at least three times each. I love them all; there is not a weak one within the pages of Phobophobia. But if it's one that comes to mind that I tend to gravitate towards, it's Adrian Chamberlin's. He set the mark high with his writing leading off the book, and it's just a dang good scary story. A witch's curse, what's not to love?
10. So what does 2012 hold for John Prescott? Any last words?
The release of HELL at the beginning of April, and hopefully the release of the third and final book: The End of All Things around Christmas time. HELL had a little bit of a setback due to work commitments, and then me changing some things within the story arc. I learned some lessons there that I won't touch on here, but will in the afterword of the book. I will also be releasing another book of short stories around late summer titled: Dark Roads on Dark Nights. Then it's a matter of which story (novel) wants to come next. I have around 5 novels floating in my head that want to be written, but I won't chose which one till I make the first keystroke on my laptop or IpadII. I'll let the story choose it for me.
I do want to add that it's been a total and unique pleasure to be included with such great authors in the Phobophobia book. I hope I'm asked to be included in a few more in the coming future, and thanks Greg for allowing me to ramble for a bit.
Thank you, John!
Phobophobia is available at the following links:
John Prescott's Pray is available from the following links:
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March 11, 2012
Hell's Teeth: Preview IV
He was so far from the sweeter things now, drifting on the burning wet glass of the sea, so weak and without strength. Tom dreamed about being with a woman, not out here; the scent of her sweat, the taste of her fingers, lips, nipples and toes, the erotic pain of the bites she left to blossom into bruises on a shoulder. His stomach was pitted and shrunken, his mouth tasted coppery and sour, his skin was sore from dehydration. These foul realities did not allow the sweet dreams to last for long.
I could die out here, he thought, die unloved.
What a thing, eh? What a way to go.
The raft, if you could call it that, was sinking bit by bit, and still they clung to it. Two rats unable to abandon their ship. Bell banged his forehead on the steel drum he was holding onto, splitting the skin apart, making it bleed. He wiped a dirty hand across his brow, licking the flakes of blood from his fingers, knowing it would do him no good.
"What fucking hope is there for us, soldier, eh?"
Tom looked at him, grinning but it was not a happy expression. There was something crazed and mental in the shape of Bell's dried-out face.
"Tom? Tom-boy, you still in there?" he asked, squinting.
"Still here," Tom rasped, "Still where I don't want to be, just like I was back home in London, just like back on the farm, now I'm here with you, never where I want to be, doing what I want to do."
Bell wasn't listening, nor talking, just chattering, too far gone. "Hang in there, mate. For me. Hang in there, please. Hanging there. Hanging. There. Hanging there, hanging there where no-one was before, except for her. Except. For. Her."
Will I be next, Tom wondered, will I lose my marbles out here too?
Tom was in a doze, half-dreaming. He would eat nothing but chocolate until his teeth fell out if he survived this, that was the solemn promise he made to himself in place of a prayer. He felt a weight on his head.
"Tom-boy, don' move. You've a gull on your head. Careful now, think you can snag it?"
"No worries," Tom croaked under his breath.
Keeping his head and shoulders still as he could, he lifted up his right hand, fluttering feathers brushed on sunburnt skin. He flexed his hand, loosening the sick-sore bones, and he snapped his fingers shut around its neck. The gull flapped, struggled, twisted and beat at his head with its feet and wings. Tom snapped his left hand up and squeezed tight around the bird's throat. He wrung the life out from it.
It made a horrible meal.
The gull had been elderly, its flesh was stringy grey stuff and the entrails were a slimy tastelessness. Bones and feathers were scoffed down with the rest of it, leaving their guts rumbling in discomfort as they licked bloodied juices from their lips and fingers. Then, Tom and Bell lay down to sleep as the evening began fading into the deepening rose of twilight.
Tom was awake and asleep, caught in a breathless purgatory between the two. He could taste the residue of the gull's life on his tongue, feel its uncooked flesh and guts stewing into sickness in his stomach. He was drunk on blood and nausea. The sun overhead fogged over; gulls circled in vulture circles, their feathers tatty and sparse with leprous grey skin showing through. Their cracked beaks caked over with barnacles and their eyes were pale cysts. The cries that came from them, he recognised. The voice from nowhere, from the place under the sands, calling, drawing him on, once again, with that strange black gravity.
"All hail the Grey Dawn."
Tom came to, gargling a mouthful of blood-flecked drool. Spitting it out, he rolled over and heaved himself into a sitting position. His wasted stomach crumpling inwards as a thick belch escaped from it, leaving the decayed taste of their crude meal to linger on his tongue.
"We should've let that gull alone," Tom muttered.
Tom felt an urge to vomit the half-digested gull over the side of the boat. With an effort, he decided against it. He would let his body glean what few nutrients from the dead bird that it could. Bell was looking as bad as Tom felt, his lips bloated and bleeding. His skin was sloughing away from dehydration. Long days of drinking salt water had taken their toll. Their eyes were little more than bloodshot balls, and Tom could smell the accrued stench of sweat and urine. They both wet themselves when they slept, it was better than shitting yourself but not by much. A little water and rest, that was all he needed. Both men tried to sleep but dreams would not let them alone.
The reality they were living was tainted by throttled gulls, sea water and the blistering sun. For dinner, they began to gnaw at their own flesh, scraping what little sustenance they could from open sores and festering wounds. Bell, laughing, scooped out his eyes to feast upon. They shared them, splitting the gristled orbs open and drinking heartily from the vitreous humours that ran through their fingers.
"This is my body which is for you."
They both burst out laughing, the laughter of the damned. Both soldiers were riding a rising inner tide of gross exposure, and it was frothing, running over with familiar faces, fingers, mouths and hands, all belonging to the dead and diseased. In their ears was the call, leading them on, desolate and primal, a lonesome summoning steering their carrion ship. They were tossed to and fro across insanity's seas. For how long, neither would ever know. Days were nights and nights were days. Sense was a foreign thing and long gone away. They remembered nothing afterwards but bits and pieces; impressions, suggestions and broken fragments of wet speech.
"All hail the Grey Dawn."
And still, the call of the Vetala came from far away.
Hell's Teeth will be released on March 19th 2012.
Copyright © G.R. Yeates 2012
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March 9, 2012
Phobia Friday welcomes Magen Toole
This Phobia Friday I am joined by Magen Toole to talk about mind-bending mathematical horror, Captain Kirk and the ghosts that haunt her shower.
1. As a Star Trek fan, tell me who your favourite captain is, your favourite series and why? Has Star Trek inspired you at all as a writer?
My favourite captain is James T. Kirk. I adore The Original Series and the subsequent films, despite the overwhelming cheese factor. I will be the first to concede that Jean-Luc Picard is the better captain by far, while Janeway and Sisko are great in their own rights. Basically, Picard is the kind of captain you would follow into Hell: diplomatic, eloquent, but willing to make the hard call for the greater good. Kirk? Well, I would follow him into the strip club.
Star Trek hasn't inspired my writing very much, just my very loud and obnoxious fannish tendencies. Those who know me personally know this all too well.
2. Your story in the Phobophobia anthology is about Ymophobia – the fear of contrariety. Whilst reading it, I was reminded of Darren Aronofsky's Pi – any influence there or were your sources different?
I originally wanted to write something about the fear of mirrors when I received the letter Y, but the alphabet didn't have that in the cards for me. Instead I ended up using reflections as a way to manifest that fear of contrariety so it worked out, but mirrors were still the real anchor for the story, at least in my mind. I was aware of the similarities to Pi at the time (Aronofsky's one of my favourite directors as a matter of fact), but it wasn't really present in my thoughts as I worked through the story.
Elias Paulson is loosely based on, among others, John Nash. At the time I was researching Game Theory and the RAND Corporation, and developing an interest in the mathematical principles of predicting behaviors. I wasted many an afternoon on Adam Curtis documentaries and John Nash interviews on the subject, trying to tease out a clinical use of these principles that still managed to sound vaguely convincing coming from a layman like me. (I guess you could say this is more A Beautiful Mind than Pi.)
3. What do you fear? Tell me about your own phobias.
I suffer from social anxiety, so my phobias tend to be a revolving door of terribly boring and irrational fears. Like having phone conversations with strangers, sending texts to the wrong person or ghosts seeing me naked in the shower, which is my personal favorite. I'm afraid the things that keep me up at night are not that scary.
4. A searching for God but from a materialistic and atheistic perspective drives the story – do you have a working definition of God yourself or were you just interested in exploring the concept in this context?
As an atheist, I can recognize and appreciate the importance of God in peoples' lives, but I still look at religion through the perspective of the observer. Like all other themes in my stories, I try to take a more clinical approach: It's a topic to be explored, a thought to be followed to its logical conclusion. Elias is very much the same way in his search. He's not looking for God for spiritual enlightenment; he's just trying to be the person to finally understand God, and to prove that he's not a sell-out. It's a purely scientific pursuit for him, even if it's driven by his desire to validate his own sense of worth, which makes it very detached.
On a similar note, I feel we've reached a point in the relationship between science and religion that they can't really ignore each other. If religion can use God to explain the realm of scientific phenomena, then science has the right to put God under the microscope as well, as part of the natural world that it's striving to understand. I don't think it's the role of science to try to prove or disprove God either way, but it's a topic I find interesting.
5. Control and the need for it is a theme in your story as well as others in Phobophobia - what do you think it is that makes us strive to such extremes just to feel we are in control of our lives?
The need to acquire and maintain power over the circumstances of our lives, be they internal or external pressures, is something built into human beings. We all feel compelled to exert control over others, in some capacity, despite whatever polite, civilized mask we put on to excuse ourselves. As someone who's felt out-of-control of my own life over the years, due to anxiety, external hardships, and other issues, I think my characters express that more than most. Elias is losing control of his life, his perceptions and his basic understanding of the natural world. That, to me, is very terrifying.
6. Monsters hide in mirrors – are they reflections of us? What do our fears make of us when we look into the polished glass?
While an interesting question, I'm not quite sure how to answer that. As it pertains to the story, the monsters that Elias sees are not so much monstrous as they are unknowable, coming from another plane of existence he doesn't understand. It's that fear of the unknown that is the hook of the story, and the source of Elias' fear, rather than a reflection of some unconscious manifestation of a deeper terror. Elias, I think, struggles with himself far more than he struggles with any monsters he may or may not be seeing.
7. Do you think God and whether He/She/It exists should remain one of the great unsolved equations or that the riddle should be untangled? Would we be able to handle what we found or would we go insane and end up broken by the knowledge?
I tend to think that God is one of those things that will remain a mystery. It's up to the individual to define his or her relationship with God, should they pursue one. I doubt any individual or group will ever be in the position to prove or disprove the existence of God, because it's a very subjective matter. It should probably stay that way.
8. Isolation features heavily in your story – do you think that the increasing atomisation of individuals and their relationships to one another in turn leads to a reaching out for something more?
Isolation is a theme I'm very partial to in all of my work. It's one of the few truly universal experiences that I find people latch onto the most, as it's something we're all afraid of but often feel as we move through our lives. Being alone – locked with your own neuroses with no one to take comfort in and nothing to look forward to – is a lot like death as we tend to imagine it. It's the total stagnation of the self.
As technology and modern conveniences allow us to turn our lives inward, with less need to go out into the world and deal with others to get what we what, that sense of anxiety and malaise is being felt by more people than ever. We all feel a greater void for contact and relationships, but seem to feel less motivated to go out and make them happen. People are stagnating, and that kind of spiritual death is a very frightening prospect.
9. Tell me about one of the other stories in Phobophobia that you enjoyed and why.
I've been working my way very slowly through the book since I received my contributor's copy, but unfortunately life, work and other projects keep distracting me from it. I did very much enjoy U for Uranophobia by Barbie Wilde, though, as I recall.
10. So what does 2012 hold for Magen Toole? Any last words?
I will continue to release my serialized horror novel Flesh Trap until its completion later this year and work on various short stories and horror comic books to be released in summer or fall. This is all while I avoid working on my follow-up novels and play a lot of Sims 3 instead. It looks like I'm going to be busy this year.
Thank you, Magen!
Phobophobia is available at the following links:
Magen Toole's serial novel Fleshtrap is available at the following link:
Magen Toole's blog is available here:
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