Duncan Ralston's Blog, page 2

The Birth of WOOM...

The savvier among you may have noticed I’ve got a new book out today, an extreme psychological horror novel from Matt Shaw Publications called WOOM. I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity to work with Matt Shaw, and very pleased with the results.
But this isn’t my normal style of book. Sure, I’ve written some brutal scenes in the past. But this is a Black Cover book. For THE Matt Shaw! It’s “edgy” (whatever the hell that means). It’s dark. It’s twisted and nasty and all of the things you’d expect of an “extreme” horror book. It’s definitely not for the faint of heart, and guaranteed to creep the hell out of you.
It might even make you sick to your stomach*.

“Trust me when I tell you, this is messed up.” - Matt Shaw, Author of Sick B*stards
Woom: An extreme horror

Synopsis:

The Lonely Motel holds many dark secrets… and Room 6 just might hold the worst of them all. Angel knows a lot about pain. His mother died in this room. He's researched its history. He's come back today to end it, no matter the cost, once and for all. Prostitute Shyla believes the stories Angel tells her can't be true. Secrets so vile, you won't want to let them inside you. But the Lonely Motel doesn't forget. It doesn't forgive. And it always claims its victim.

"I thought I had seen and heard it all until now." - Robin Lee, Amazon Top 100 Reviewer
Woom: An extreme horror

More about the book:

WOOM is part mystery, part psychological horror, part transgressive fiction. While writing WOOM, I thought of it as a mutant child of Chuck Palahniuk, Lars Von Trier, Black Mirror (the “White Christmas” episode), and THE Matt Shaw’s Porn.

"WOOM makes The 120 Days of Sodom seem like a palate cleanser." - Charles Scott, Author of Inversion
Woom: An extreme horror

More reviews:

"It’s an excellent example of some of the exciting dark fiction being written today and a tale that will leave a lasting impression on any horror fan brave enough to read it." - Adrian Shotbolt, Beavis the Bookhead

"Woom is a novel that achieves a lot in a very short amount of time. It's complex and surprising from start to finish. It's also truly horrifying - but in the best way possible." - Adiba Jaigidar, Cultured Vultures

"Don’t puff out your chest, down that plastic cup of beer and shout, ‘I can take it!’ It’s going to be a rougher ride than you might think. This book’s does not only cross boundaries, it annihilates them." - Alex Kimmill, Author of The Idea of North, for Confessions of a Reviewer

Do you dare enter The Lonely Motel?

If you’re feeling brave, you can get your own ebook** copy of WOOM at Amazon: myBook.to/Woom
Duncan Ralston
* Barfbags not included.
** Paperback and audiobook forthcoming.

GRISTLE & BONE Book Trailer

   

The Short Horror that Influenced Me Most….

(Originally posted at Thomas S. Flowers’s MachineMean.org)
When someone asks “What’s your favorite (book, movie, TV series, song)?” I find the answer about as difficult as choosing what to order when everything on the menu looks good and I haven’t eaten since breakfast. For the sake of Thomas’s request, I’ve narrowed it down to the two books that influenced me to start writing. Stephen King’s Night Shift, and Clive Barker’s Books of Blood were my first journeys into their terrifying minds, and still resonate with me long after reading. They aren’t necessarily my all-time “favorites,” but they’ve inspired me to achieve similar heights in my own writing.

Night Shift was on the shelf at the old cottage, and its creepy cover called to me… You may know the one: the hand covered in eyeballs and wrapped in gauze (this was the double cover, with the eyes peeking out from holes in the flap). It refers to the story “I Am the Doorway,” where an astronaut brings home an alien stowaway that uses him to peek into our world. Night Shift effectively blends science fiction, horror, terror (if you don’t know the difference, pick up his seminal non-fiction book, Danse Macabre), and gross-outs. Most may not be the best King shorts, nor the most chilling, but they are memorable for the far-outness of their concepts, and the sheer amount of adaptations they produced.
“Jerusalem’s Lot” and “One for the Road” serve as a sort of prologue and epilogue to the novel, ‘Salem’s Lot. “Children of the Corn,” about a couple who stumble into a creepy religious town where there are no adults, was made into more sequels than it deserved. “Trucks” became King’s directorial debut, Maximum Overdrive, with Emilio Estevez and an AC/DC soundtrack King probably listened to while he wrote the script.
My favorite of the bunch when I was a kid, “Battleground” (which I copied from memory for a school assignment on my dad’s Tandy laptop), was adapted well in the Nightmares & Dreamscapes miniseries, with John Hurt as the hitman besieged by the toymaker’s box of animated soldiers.
In a recent reread, I found two decidedly non-horror stories work very well for their surprising level of emotion and honesty. “The Last Rung on the Ladder” is a haunting story about siblings, trust, and suicide. “The Woman in the Room,” the first short film by Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Walking Dead), is a sad tale of a man’s inner demons and remorse as he prepares to pull the plug on his dying mother. I have a feeling King, whose mother had recently passed, wrote the story to purge his own demons, and those feelings shine through (darkly) on the page.
The book also stands out in my mind for two quotes about writing that have stuck with me, one from John D. MacDonald, and the other from King himself. In the Introduction, MacDonald wrote that when he met people at parties, someone would always said, “You know, I’ve always wanted to write,” to which he began gleefully replying, “You know, I’ve always wanted to be a brain surgeon.”
In the Foreword, Stephen King answers a question in a similar fashion: when asked “Why do you choose to write about such gruesome subjects?” King responds, “Why do you think I have a choice?” I think he was on to something.

***
“I have seen the future of horror… and his name is Clive Barker.” This quote by Stephen King was splashed across the covers of Clive Barker’s Books of Blood omnibuses that I happened across at my local library. (For a small town, the Millbrook Public Library seemed to have just about everything a young horror fan required to keep himself sane.) Barker’s short stories are still some of the most visceral and imaginative I’ve ever read. His prose is often spare, but always vivid.

It was Barker’s work that inspired me to try my hand at writing fiction outside of school assignments. My first few short stories as a teen were very Barker-esque, featuring sado-masochism and love-starved demons.
The omnibuses open with the eponymous frame story, in which we learn the Books have been carved into the flesh of a phony psychic by the ghosts of a haunted house. From there we take a ride on “The Midnight Meat Train,” following serial killer Mahogany into the depths of depravity. “In the Hills, the Cities” contains some incredible imagery and heavy metaphor, and introduced me to openly gay protagonists, which is significant mostly because I almost chose Barker’s 1996 novel, Sacrament, as my favorite, a book often criticized by cretins for a handful of explicit gay sex scenes.
There are other stories that return to my imagination like the animated dead from time to time: “The Body Politic,” in which our hands revolt, lopping each other from the oppressive shackles of our bodies and skittering off to conquer the world. In “Down, Satan!” a man seeks the attention of God by building a Hell on Earth. “The Age of Desire” is a chemical aphrodisiac experiment gone wrong. “The Forbidden,” a story about the power of legends, became the basis for one of my favorite horror movies, Candyman. It was Barker’s collection, filled with gruesome imagery, insane twists, poetic style, and in-your-face sex and violence, that made me decide to publish a short story collection of my own.
Stephen King once wrote that short stories are becoming a dying art. Everybody wants longer novels, series, sequels. I believe there will always be a place for them.
Anthologies are becoming increasingly popular, particularly in the horror genre. Short stories have the benefit of being read in one sitting. For a writer, there is no better spark for the imagination. Both Barker’s and King’s short stories have been and continue to be a huge inspiration for me and my writing.
What’s your favorite horror collection or anthology? Let me know in the comment box below!

Interviewing Thomas S. Flowers, Author of REINHEIT

For a change of pace, I sat down with Thomas S. Flowers, author of the excellent horror novel Reinheit (Forsaken, 2015), to talk shop. Okay, technically I didn’t sit down with him, as he lives in Texas and I’m in Canada, but I had to sit down at my computer to write the questions, and I assume he was also sitting when he answered them. Unless he’s got one of those standing desks, in which case, I sat while he stood and answered the questions I provided him.
The interview delves into a little of the psychology of writing as well as history, war, and what projects he’s got for us in the future. Thomas is not just a writer, but a veteran of the first conflict in Iraq, and has a Bachelor’s in History. Well-rounded? Uh, maybe a little!

Q: Hey, Thomas. Thanks for joining me. Let’s start off with an easy one: what’s your favorite book, and why?
A: An easy one? Jeez…hmm…okay, I can do this. Currently, my favorite book is All Quiet on the Western Front. Published in 1929 by Erich Maria Remarque, his work still remains potent. All Quiet is honestly the one book I’ve read and reread over and over, still finding new treasures and what I like to call “wisdom words.” Though All Quiet is not horror, the genre in which I write, I still find many of its aspects to be very inclined toward horror. You can sense it in the words, almost smell it in Remarque’s descriptions. All Quiet also has an interesting history, which I tend to gravitate toward. The Nazis banned the book and sent thousands to the burn pyre because it was considered to be anti-German, anti-war, anti-patriotic. If All Quiet is anti-war or not is beside the point: All Quiet ultimately is about the horrors of war. If that sounds anti-war, then so be it.     
Q: So what made you want to be a writer?
A: I’ve been writing more or less since grade school. In fact, I submitted a poem of sorts to some magazine I have long forgotten the name of, anyways, my creative writing teacher was so excited about the news she gave me a little paper award, which I have also lost. The memory is still there, though. I also painted and did other such mediums of art, however, writing was always there. I wrote poems throughout my enlistment in the Army, wrote a number of them during my first deployment in Iraq. During my third deployment, my wife and I wrote dozens of letters to each other, of which I’d like to publish someday.
After my enlistment was over, I began my college career. This reawakened that old desire of storytelling, I think. I took several creative writing courses. However, I focused almost exclusively on my course work. When I finished, I graduated with a BA in History and discovered that I had a huge pocket of energy and time that I had no idea what to do with. This is when I started writing for myself again, instead of just for course work. I had previously been involved with a homeless ministry, collecting clothing and first aid kits and journeying into downtown Houston to hand out. I took this experience and combined it with my sudden renewed itch to write creatively. My short story, “Hobo,” was born from this event. Shortly following this, I wrote “Are you hungry, dear?” and then Reinheit. So, long story short (too late?), there wasn’t just one thing that drove me toward being a writer. It was an experience of things, propelled me toward it, shaped it, defined it.   
Q: I understand you’re a veteran. Did your experiences in Iraq shaped your worldview in any way? Has it informed your writing?
A: Most certainly. For good or bad, take it as you will, the war lifted the veil, so to speak, on certain understandings I had. Surviving and living post-war has also shaped who I am, for better or worse. I know I am a very lucky man to have the kind of family support that I do, a net for me to fall into, for my wife especially. During my pre-veteran days, I had a kind of romantic notion regarding war, especially the Civil War, the Great War, and Vietnam even… I studied the battles, learned the names of the generals, the famous officers, and so on. I didn’t know any soldiers. I read about trench warfare, I read about Gettysburg, but the idea of those horrible battles was neither horrible nor a “battle,” it was something else entirely.
Now, in my post-veteran days all those romantic ideals have long since rotted away. Maybe from an outside perspective there are still battles and famous generals being talked about. Personally, I do not care about that anymore. My perspective as a solider has rubbed away the high shine of war and allowed me to see the ugly nakedness of it. Friends getting hurt or worse, those that didn’t make it back. The long nights of wondering if that next mortar has my name on it. The even longer drives on Route Tampa or somewhere else in Baghdad… when’s the next IED going to blow? Will I make it? What if I get hit, mangled, deformed? What will happen to me then?
This all may sound very depressing, and maybe it should, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any good left in this world. In fact, I believe my experiences, and surviving my memories, have forced me into clinging to that hope that the world can be a better place, that the world is a better place, if only we could see beyond the crystalline glass of pseudospeciation, otherwise known as a ethnocentrism, except that pseudospeciation can lead toward dangerous acts of dehumanization, discrimination, and eventually violence toward anyone who doesn’t fit within one particular groups ascribe notion of racial and cultural identity. My experiences from not just the war, but surviving after the war, have shaped my understanding of the world and the inherent dangers of the “us” and “them” mentality. For better or worse, this is who I am now. 
Q: Reinheit deals with the atrocities of World War II with a fairly detailed eye. Were you always interested in history, or is that something you’ve grown to enjoy as an adult?
A: I have always loved history; however, yes, it has also been something that has matured, or at least I should say, my discipline in studying history has matured over the years. History was also the subject of my studies in college as well. And it has worked out pretty well for writing. In Reinheit, I wanted to focus those energies toward writing something about the banality of WWII, the ordinariness of that evil that is not a singular event in history, contained within said era, but exists in the here and now. There is a bad joke that historians are some of the worst people to talk with because they can at times be insufferable know-it-alls. I’m not sure if that is true, but speaking personally, if someone wants to engage in a discussion of certain events, be sure to know that I will give my honest understanding and knowledge thereof. 

Q: The Queen Anne armchair appears to be a “cursed object,” or inherited evil. What was your inspiration for using this classic trope? Have you ever considered expanding on the mythology of the chair, ie. writing about its previous owners?
A: I love the idea of cursed objects. It is a magnificent trope to use in talking about “the things we pass along.” It’s also something we all grew up watching on Tales from the Crypt or the short lived Friday the 13th series. Considering the subject matter in Reinheit, I felt the cursed armchair was a perfect symbol for that notion of “passing along the evils of the past.”
I did not go into a lot of detail regarding the creation story of the armchair. I had some sort of myth worked out, but felt it would distract from the main theme. I’d love to go back to it, maybe delve into the past owners. The armchair certainly has a history that is quasi-mentioned in the book.
Q: Your next book, Subdue, sounds like it’ll be right up my alley. Could you tell us a little about it? Is there an autobiographical element to it at all, or is it all make-believe?
A: Subdue is a passion piece of mine. Semi-autobiographical. I drew a lot from my own experiences during the war and after the war. I was also reading a lot of All Quiet on the Western Front while writing it as well, so it has that sort of literary bent to it. Subdue is a thriller with a flair for science-fiction, working with strong characters and situation-driven storytelling. I hope to probe the psychological horrors of the Iraq War, and the aftereffects of war not only on returning soldiers, but also their loved ones. So, most of the characters deal in one way or another about the war. With PTSD, anger, guilt, depression, and especially suicide. And perhaps hope, as well.
The main characters are five inseparable teenagers, now grownups torn apart by the war, drawn back together to try to salvage their childhood friendship. But their happy reunion is short-lived, for the idyllic home in Jotham, Texas holds secrets. And in this aspect I try to examine the dark and unimaginable horrors within the concept of the American Dream, but perhaps it is something not singularly American, but universally shared, such as the Canadian Dream, the English Dream, the Mexican Dream, the basic concept that hard work will equate to success and social mobility.
Subdue is the longest work I’ve written to date. And while it deals in some pretty dark and depressing subject matter, I hope that it is also entertaining. 
Q: Here’s an easy one: what’s your favorite movie? What is it about this movie that speaks to you? Have you ever considered writing an homage to it?
A: Easy. My favorite movie of all time is John Carpenter’s The Thing. The mood and tone of the movie is horribly fantastic. I’ve written a few reviews on the movie before, especially regarding the use of practical effects. The isolation trope was also well-executed. And the somberness with the ending was great. It’s a rare movie which I can watch over and over without getting bored. There is always something new to find, some bit of dialogue to chew on. The biological aspect of the movie reminds me very much of a Cronenberg film, which makes it even more awesome.
As far as paying homage to it, I have written some of the concepts into Subdue and perhaps even “Are you hungry, dear?” but not what I’d consider a true “homage” yet. Maybe someday. At this time though, I feel pulled toward the classic tropes of horror, re-imagining the myths of Frankenstein, werewolves, witches, and vampires, that kind of thing.
* * *
Thomas S. Flowers is the author of several character driven stories of terror. He grew up in the small town of Vinton, Virginia, but in 2001, left home to enlist in the U.S. Army. Following his third tour in Iraq, Thomas moved to Houston, Texas where he now lives with his beautiful bride and amazing daughter. Thomas attended night school, with a focus on creative writing and history. In 2014, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in History from UHCL. Thomas blogs at machinemean.org where he reviews movies, books, and other horror related topics.
Reinheit (Forsaken edition, 2015) synopsis: Rebecca Moss never questioned the purchase of the strange seductive armchair. She wanted to please Frank. But the armchair has a dark purpose. Nazi officer Major Eric Schröder believed fervently in Hitler’s vision of purity. Now the chair has passed to Frank, an abusive thug who has his own twisted understanding of patriotism. There are those who want to destroy the armchair, to end its curse. But can the armchair be stopped before it completes its work?
You can purchase a copy Reinheit at Amazon.
Follow him on Twitter: @machinemeannow
And on Facebook: Thomas S Flowers

GRISTLE & BONE Blog Blitz!

GRISTLE & BONE will be on tour until August 18th! Dates include GIVEAWAYS, exclusive EXCERPTS, INTERVIEWS with me and characters from the book, and REVIEWS.
Dates/venues below. Stay tuned to this post, as I’ll be updating links when they are posted.

July 22nd: Book Review @ Sheri Williams

July 24th: Character Interview and Book Excerpt @ Compelling Beasts Blog

July 27th: Author Interview and Book Excerpt @ Author C.A. Milson’s Blog

July 28th: Promo Post @ Ogitchida Kwe’s Blog

July 29th: Book Review @ 100 Pages A Day

August 3rd: Author Interview @ Machine Mean

August 5th: Book Review and Book Excerpt @ Step Into Fiction

August 7th: Promo Post @ Undercover Book Reviews

August 9th: Author Interview @ BooksChatter

August 10th: Book Review @ Natural Bri

August 12th: Guest Post and Book Excerpt @ SolaFide Publishing Book Blog

August 13th: Book Excerpt @ Books and Tales

August 14th: Author Interview @ 2 Booklovers Reviews

August 16th: Book Review and Book Excerpt @ Bedazzled by Books

August 18th: Book Review @ Illuminite Caliginosus

August 18th: Author Interview @ Sharkbait Writes

The latest in NEWS/REVIEWS/INTERVIEWS:
Ken Preston’s (author of Joe Coffin) REVIEW at Dirge Magazine
Chris Hall’s REVIEW at DLS Reviews
Kit Power’s (author of Lifeline) REVIEW at The Ginger Nuts of Horror
Nev Murray’s INTERVIEW (Pt. 1) INTERVIEW (Pt. 2) with me, and his REVIEW at Confessions of a Reviewer
If you’re hungry for more, JOIN The Fold to get the PASSWORD for The Secret Room, where you can read the new meat-and-gravy, Forsaken edition of GRISTLE & BONE absolutely FREE!

GRISTLE & BONE Re-Release Week!

Well, Horror Fans and General Weirdos, the Forsaken repub of Gristle & Bone comes out this Friday the 17th, and big things are underway for the “launch.” Namely, some interviews, reviews, and (eventually) BIG giveaways.
Here’s the latest in NEWS/REVIEWS/INTERVIEWS:
Ken Preston’s (author of Joe Coffin) REVIEW at Dirge Magazine
Chris Hall’s REVIEW at DLS Reviews
Kit Power’s (author of Lifeline) REVIEW at The Ginger Nuts of Horror
Nev Murray’s INTERVIEW (Pt. 1) with me at Confessions of a Reviewer

 

If you’re hungry for more, JOIN The Fold to get the PASSWORD for The Secret Room, where you can read the new meat-and-gravy, Forsaken edition of GRISTLE & BONE absolutely FREE!

MUCH MORE TO FOLLOW, so keep an eye out! And as always, KEEP IT CREEPY!

Cover Reveal for Forsaken Edition of GRISTLE & BONE

The brand-new Forsaken edition of GRISTLE & BONE, available July 14th, has a new cover! Without further adieu…

Netgalley reviewers can read it for FREE right now. https://s2.netgalley.com/catalog/book/69671

With its fresh new edit, Gristle & Bone is a much leaner and meaner BEAST. This is the definitive, MEAT & GRAVY edition! 272 pages of cannibals, techno-terror, monsters and madness.

CHAINSAW COVER, RIP 2014 – 2015

Hello, horror fans.
It is with deep regret that I announce the death of Gristle & Bone‘s “Chainsaw Cover.” It had a good run, but ultimately, I found it didn’t quite capture the feel of the stories inside. It was too raw. Too bloody. Too over-the-top. Too chainsaw.
Not that what’s inside Gristle & Bone isn’t all of these things, just that it’s not all it’s about.
I wanted to give the new, improved Booktrope/Forsaken version of Gristle & Bone a touch of class. It’s bloody, as well. And it’s certainly dark. But it’s a much cleaner cover. Design-wise, it’s closest to what I’d imagined but had never been able to achieve when I first released Gristle & Bone as an ebook in the beginning of 2014.
Soon, I’ll be revealing the all-new cover. But for a short time, I’ll be offering the old Chainsaw Cover edition signed, for $15 USD plus shipping/handling. If this appeals to you, please message me on Facebook or Twitter. I’ll be taking orders until the end of June.
Thank you for your time and support.

Chainsaw Cover RIP 2014 -2015

An Unedited Excerpt from the Prologue of SALVAGE…

Lori’s little legs carried her into the surf before Owen made it halfway. She was up to her waist when he stopped dead where the waves made shapes in the sand, disintegrating a small mound of wet earth that had once been a sandcastle. Standing at the water’s edge, Owen no longer felt the sun’s baking heat; instead, a cold, shuddering fear gripped him from head to toe.
There were creatures in the water with sharp teeth and spiny fins. There were bloodsucking leeches and turtles with vicious alligator snouts. There were slippery, slimy things that squirmed in the muck at the bottom of the lake, hideous blind invertebrates that had never seen the light.
A wind whipped his hair. He watched it swish through the trees, tilting pines and rustling the branches of enormous maples, a frown of uneasiness knitting his brow as a steel-gray cloud passed over the sun. The sunhat blew off Lori’s head. She cried out, half-laughing, chasing it further into the water.
Out where it should have been far too deep to stand, a man stood up to his calves in the lake. Owen locked eyes, and found he couldn’t look away. The man wore a white, buttoned shirt and loose-fitting black pants; a glimmer of gold flashed in Owen’s eyes from their right pocket. As the same wind caught the man’s dark hair, a malicious grin spread below his thick mustache, and the man stretched out a hand toward him…

GRISTLE & BONE Reprint

Hey, Creepy Peeps!

Booktrope's Forsaken Imprint will be republishing Gristle & Bone: Stories in JUNE with a shiny, horrifying new cover and a brand new edit!

Stay tuned for more details! Paperback giveaways, free ebooks, etc. coming soon!